Exercise for busy parents: fitting real training into a week run by children

Why parents move less

Bellows-Riecken and Rhodes reviewed research on physical activity and parenthood published between 1989 and 2007. Across 25 independent samples, parenthood was linked to lower activity compared with non-parents, with a meta-analytic effect of around 0.4 to 0.5, which the authors describe as clear. Mothers were generally less active than fathers. The links with employment, marital status and the number or age of children were inconsistent.

None of this is a surprise to anyone with young children. Time disappears into school runs, meals, homework and bedtimes, and what is left is often too short or too late for a traditional gym session. The answer is not more willpower but a different format.

What the guidelines really ask of you

The World Health Organization recommends that adults do 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, and muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days. It defines physical activity as all movement, including during leisure time, for transport and as part of domestic work.

Three details matter for parents:

• Any amount counts. The 2020 guidelines removed the old rule that activity had to come in bouts of at least ten minutes.
• Some is better than none. People who cannot reach the recommendations still benefit from doing what they can.
• Spread it out. The NHS suggests spreading activity over four to five days a week, or every day, and gives the example of ten minutes of brisk walking a day counting towards the total.

Three hours is less than 2% of a 168-hour week. The calculator below helps you see what is really left once work, sleep, travel and family commitments are counted.

Where the minutes can come from

Here is an illustrative example. Take Sam, 38, two children aged 4 and 7, working full time. Sam's week might find its three hours like this:

1. School run on foot or by bike, three days a week: 2 × 15 minutes a day, 90 minutes in total at a brisk pace.
2. Two strength sessions at home after bedtime: 2 × 25 minutes, 50 minutes.
3. Saturday morning active play or a family bike ride: 40 minutes.

That is 180 minutes, and only two of the slots are "workouts" in the traditional sense. The hotel room workout works equally well in a living room once the children are asleep, and push-ups and squats need no equipment at all.

Short sessions that actually work

A study of new gym members by Kaushal and Rhodes found that frequent, simple sessions built an exercise habit faster: four sessions a week for six weeks was the minimum that established the habit, and consistency and low complexity were among the strongest predictors. For parents, that argues for short, frequent, simple sessions rather than one long session that collapses as soon as a child is ill.

A useful structure for a 20 to 30 minute home session:

• Warm-up, 3 minutes: marching on the spot, arm circles, a few slow squats.
• Circuit, 15 to 20 minutes: squats, push-ups (on the knees or against a table if needed), lunges, a plank, a row with a backpack or water bottles. Repeat for as many rounds as time allows.
• Cool-down, 2 minutes: slow breathing and a few stretches.

If you can only train in the morning before the house wakes up, the morning workout routine shows how to fit a session before the first alarm goes off for everyone else.

Make the plan with someone

Parents rarely find time alone; they negotiate it. A meta-analysis by Peng and colleagues pooled 35 randomised trials and found that planning when, where and how you will be active increased physical activity. For a couple, that planning is shared: "You train on Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm, I take Wednesday and Saturday morning."

Write a coping plan for the predictable problems: "If a child is ill and I lose my slot, I do 15 minutes after bedtime." In the habit study led by Lally, missing a single opportunity did not materially affect habit formation, so the night of a fever does not cancel the habit. Our article on the missed workout explains how to restart.

Friends help as well. Other parents at the school gate face the same constraints, and a small group that trains at the same times, even in different houses, is easier to keep than a solitary plan.

After pregnancy and birth

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists notes that women who were active before pregnancy can continue activity during pregnancy and the postpartum period, and that physical activity can be an essential factor in preventing depressive disorders after birth. The timing and pace of the return, especially after a caesarean or a complicated birth, are individual.

After giving birth, ask your doctor or midwife when and how to restart, and start gradually. Pelvic pain, heavy bleeding, chest pain or dizziness are reasons to stop and seek medical advice.

Train with friends on Never Skip Club

Never Skip Club is made for weeks like these. A guided session is built in about a minute: choose the body area, a level (Easy, Medium or Intense), 20, 30 or 45 minutes, and train at home without equipment if that is all you have. Five or six exercises are shown in animation, so you can start the moment the children are asleep. You can also form a crew of 3 to 7 friends, perhaps other parents, with a rhythm such as three sessions a week; sessions of 30 minutes or more count, and the ranking rewards regularity, not who has the most free time.

Create your free account, choose your first two slots for this week, and invite another parent to your crew. If you would like a coach to come to your home or train with you at another time, find a coach from our network, or sign in if you already have an account.