5 Benefits of Working Out at Home (By a Stay-At-Home Mom)
I’ll preface this by saying I like working out at the gym, and actually have a membership. I went to the gym almost daily before I nap trained my baby daughter and when my son was out of preschool for the summer. And depending on what my girl’s nap schedule looks like I’ve been able to go to the gym every so often for my workouts.
Having a place to ditch the kids so I can workout and shower in peace is amazeballs. Granted, I can rarely use the full 90 minutes of childcare. My daughter was always due to nurse before the time was up (I haven’t nursed in a little over a month now – 😭 but also 🎉), or they call me to come get her because they can’t calm her down or because she shat herself. But such is life.
Now that she’s sleeping in her crib for naps instead of in my arms (hooray for not being trapped under a baby all day! Seriously, I think my body got to the point it just started to reabsorb pee I held it so long), and my son is in preschool for a couple hours in the morning it is typically faster and more convenient to workout at home.
Someday I’ll get back to the gym more often, when life doesn’t revolve around nursing and naps and twice a morning trips to and from preschool. I’ve found working out at home to be enjoyable most of the time and I’ve discovered some nice, unique benefits of doing so:
1. Hello, it’s free! Gym memberships are expensive. Gym memberships with a childcare add-on are stupid expensive. I mean, houses are expensive, too, but at least you’re paying the same price whether you live there or live there AND workout. You don’t need any equipment to start working out – there’s plenty of body weight strength and cardio exercises to do. You can even use bottles of pop, liquor, or juice for free weights. But if you do decide to get some weights or a treadmill or something, find them used online for cheap! Just take precautions when buying online so you don’t wind up a sordid lampshade in some weirdo’s basement.
2. Look like a dumpster fire? No problem. Of course you can look like a homeless vagrant at the gym. I know I do. But sometimes when you’re rocking racoon eyes courtesy of yesterday’s mascara and years of sleep deprivation, booger covered clothes you definitely slept in, and hairy pits that would make Bigfoot swoon, you feel a little “less than” in public. Especially in the sea of high-waisted, hair did, eyebrows on fleek, 20-something crop-toppers (do kids still say on fleek?). At home you can literally roll out of bed, not even glance the direction of a mirror, fix your ponytail, or brush your teeth, and workout looking and smelling like you’ve been begging for change on a median for a whole summer. And you won’t care one bit.
3. Let those cheeks squeak. Everybody has gas. Everybody has to let it out. When you’re jumping, crunching, stretching, or just walking, sometimes you get the urge to let one rip. You’ve either been the person at the gym who crop dusts the free weights or you’ve smelled the person who cut the cheese on the neighboring treadmill. But guess what! At home you can let that ish leak out as much as necessary during your workout and you’re the only person there to disgust. Your farts can be audible and appalling at home. None of this trying to sneak it out SBD-ly BS. Just do it.
4. Hit the breaks! If you have kids you know they’re needy AF. All the time with the needing of everything. But if Daniel Tiger has taught me anything it’s “when something seems bad, turn it around, and find something good.” Along with “stopping and going right away,” of course. Every time your kids need something during your workout, you need to stop to tend to them. Seems like a bad thing, right? Turn it around, and find something good…hellooooo, break! Breaks are good because maybe you’re lazy and out of shape like yours truly and need a minute to catch your breath. Even if that “break” is to wipe asses or prepare snacks that aren’t yours. 🙄 Also, each interruption will spike your blood pressure and increase your heartrate, so it’s like hitting the NOS on your workout. Win-win!…..? You could even use your rest time between sets or circuits to switch the laundry and feel like a strong, multitasking domestic goddess. Yep, that’s all it takes. Being a SAHM housewife is that exciting.
5. Less running around. Getting to and from a gym can take 10 to 30 minutes, or more! You can knock out a good workout in 30 minutes. So if you’re strapped for time, save yourself the commute (and gas) and get your sweat on at home. The typically 8 minute drive to my gym has taken me 30 smoke-fuming-outta-my-ears, veins-in-my-forehead-about-to-pop minutes with unexpected accidents, construction, and traffic. My whole workout takes that long. Even a 16 minute round-trip commute is half my workout! With life revolving around feedings and naps, needing to pack snacks and sippy cups and make sure I have all the things, and risking running red lights or side-swiping cars trying to keep the kids awake and happy on the drives, it just makes sense to workout at home so I can use that prep and drive time for something more important. Like a chore, or watching an episode of Friends for the billionth time.
There are lots of benefits of working out at home. There are lots of benefits of NOT working out at home. There are lots of benefits of working out, period. There aren’t many benefits of NOT working out, though. So figure out what’s right for you and get after it. 💕
Here’s just a few of my home workout adventures with my little monsters…
