Fitness Advice For New Parents

Fitness advice, especially if you and your partner are new parents, must feel like the last thing on your minds, right? After all, parenting is undoubtedly a 24/7 job. The tiny, fragile little ones depend entirely on their primary caregivers for all their needs and require complete attention.

But while parenting takes up all your time and energy, both you and your partner must remember to care for yourselves, too. As parents, it’s one of the best things you can do for your baby. Healthy parents ensure that their children are healthy, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.

Here is some of the best advice you can receive if you want to incorporate fitness into your daily routine.

Set A Fitness Goal

The first advice is to fully commit to a goal for fitness as new parents.

Fitness is not just something you can add to your daily routine and consider it done. Fitness is a mindset. As Aaron Judge once said,

• Nothing in life can be achieved without a goal, including fitness. Your goal can vary from losing weight, gaining more stamina and strength, or simply because it’s a healthy choice, but you should set a target and work toward it.
• In the early stages of parenting, consistency should be more important than intensity. Pat yourself for every small victory. Make plans and set goals that are flexible, realistic, and achievable.

Lower The Bar (And Lift When You Can)

Don’t push your bodies beyond their limits and pace yourselves.

You are already adjusting to a whole new lifestyle, and now is not the time to go all out.

• Accept that short workouts count. A 10-minute session is better than none.
• Focus on consistency, not intensity.

This will help you both remain motivated towards your fitness goals. If you need proper guidance, you can hire a professional personal trainer to get into your fitness routine.

Opt For Micro-Workouts

Set the timer for quick workout sessions.

For new parents, getting an entire uninterrupted 30 minutes to themselves for acting on fitness advice is like a dream. But it’s hardly achievable on a daily basis. So, to keep yourselves motivated:

• Break your exercise into 5 to 10 minute bursts throughout the day.
• Do pushups, squats, or jumping jacks while waiting for a bottle to warm.

Tag Team With Your Partners

Tag team with your partner.

If you find it hard to manage it all alone, team up with your spouse.

• Alternate workout times or go on family walks.
• Turn your baby’s nap time into your ‘me-time’ for a workout.

Exercising together as couples is always fun and a great way to bond again after navigating the whirlwind of a family life. Here are simple workouts that you can do with your loved ones.

Use Your Baby As A Weight

Lift your baby instead of weights.

Heavy and vigorous exercises can exhaust your energy for the day, which you still need to care for your baby. So, instead:

• Do squats while holding your baby.
• Try baby bench presses, lunges with a front carrier, or gentle yoga stretches together.

Walk, Walk, Walk

Walk and play with your baby in the park.

As new parents, the key advice is to incorporate fitness goals that suit your lifestyles. For instance:

• Walk to your local grocery store with your baby in the stroller instead of driving there.
• You can even hop and play around with your baby in the park to keep them engaged while you burn those calories.

Learn about the anabolic window, which will help you in maximizing your post-workout nutrition.

Prepare Meals In Advance

Making the food early frees up your time during the day.

Your nutrition intake plays a vital role in attaining your fitness goals, not just for your body but for your mind as well. Eating healthy will motivate you more to achieve your workout goals.

• Having healthy, available meals will let you avoid eating packaged goods or going for takeouts, as they don’t have much to offer in nutritional value.
• There are lots of healthy and simple recipes online that make healthy eating easy for new parents, so they can easily follow their fitness advice.

Prioritize Sleep Over Workouts (Sometimes)

You need your rest, so get it while you can.

Sleep plays a major part in fitness and your daily life routine, and after you’ve become a new parent, it will be a lot less of it for the initial few years. That’s why, if you feel too tired to work out, then you shouldn’t do it. Instead:

• If you’re running on fumes, choose rest over exercise.
• Your body recovers and adapts with rest, not just effort.

Don’t compare yourself with other parents, as every parenting path is different. Hence, despite all the advice that’s floating around for all you new parents, you have to sift through it to understand what’s best for you and your baby’s needs. If you end up experiencing fatigue, then this is a sign for you to rest. Remember to be kind to yourself as you navigate through this new chapter.