Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
TheConversationCanada
Flexible fitness: How moms can blend movement and motherhood for mental well-being
By Iris Lesser, Assistant Professor in Kinesiology, University of The Fraser Valley,
5 days ago
With mothers navigating never-ending to-do lists, expecting a traditional approach to exercise (travel to an exercise facility, engage in 30 to 60 minutes of exercise, travel home) is not going to make the cut. (Shutterstock)
Parents have received reassurance that their overwhelming stress surrounding childrearing is not going unnoticed: In the United States, the surgeon general recently announced an advisory on the mental health and well-being of parents .
With mothers navigating never-ending to-do lists, expecting a traditional approach to exercise (travel to an exercise facility, engage in 30 to 60 minutes of exercise, travel home) is not going to make the cut. Yet, this is what parents’ social media is flooded with, as some mothers promote their fitness routines and return to their pre-baby bodies .
Why workouts often don’t work
Structured exercise routines often don’t work for those who are challenged to find time in their schedule for self-care. (Shutterstock)
A 2020 study found that 39 per cent of working mothers in the United States did not engage in a single bout of vigorous activity during the week. Yet, those who were able to engage in regular physical activity had a higher quality of life.
Feasible fitness
A 2020 study of working mothers in the United States found that those who were able to engage in regular physical activity had a higher quality of life. (Shutterstock)
So, what is the solution? How can we promote physical activity to support mental well-being among mothers without adding to their overwhelming to-do list? From my own research with new mothers, it is evident that those who attempt to stick to more structured exercise often find it falls by the wayside, as even the best laid plan can be deterred by child sickness, work deadlines and softball tryouts .
In a recently submitted research study, my colleagues an I focused on having mothers engage in physical activity around their own feelings of readiness. This ensures that exercise doesn’t become another overload that their body isn’t recovered enough to handle. For instance, one participant described:
“I’m obviously not feeling so great so I’m not going to try to push myself to do anything too intense … kind of give you permission to kind of just more focus on yourself and just recover, so that was nice.”
“At the end of the day I was like yeah, no I’m not doing this video, I am going to bed. So that would make me feel […] I was not enough, […] I should have done that, I should have pushed myself more. So, it was a love-hate relationship with it.”
Flexible approaches
‘Exercise snacks’ have taken off as an opportunity to move in small bites throughout the day to achieve health benefits. (Shutterstock)
It appears that flexible approaches may be best when it comes to mothers adhering to physical activity, given the challenges in finding time to succeed at more stringent programming.
As a full-time working mom of two young children — and lacking a local support system — physical activity has changed dramatically for me in the last few years. I’ve squeezed in yoga at the office before school pick-up, have run or walked around baseball fields during spring sport chaos and lifted weights in the backyard while my kids ran in circles around me. It’s not perfect, but it’s getting the job done and I feel better for it.
While all mothers have divergent challenges and these may not be solutions for everyone, mothers missing out on physical activity during these stressful years does not promote their health and well-being. So maybe the solution is to be flexible and self-compassionate around physical activity engagement while recognizing the many demands being placed on mothers.
Iris Lesser does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0