Workouts for Stay-at-Home Moms
It can feel tough – if not impossible – to find someone to take your place at home to go to the gym and get in that daily workout.
Thankfully, you don’t need to go much further than your living room with these workouts for stay-at-home moms.
The focus will be primarily on bodyweight exercises, but I’ll also provide you with workouts that use resistance bands and simple things around the house like a water jug or soup can.
Stay-at-Home Moms Bodyweight Workouts
If you don’t have fitness equipment at your house, that’s okay. Here are two workouts that you can do that require no equipment. I’d recommend performing these workouts on a carpeted area. You can also use a folded towel or pillow.
Total Body HIIT Workout
This is a total body workout that focuses on high-intensity intervals, which means fast-paced movements and minimal rest breaks until the end.
Complete all of the repetitions for one exercise and then immediately move on to the next exercise. Do not take a break until you’ve completed the repetitions for all exercises. Repeat this workout up to five times.
- Air Squats: 10
- YTWL: 3 for each direction – A total of 12 repetitions
- Romanian Deadlifts: 10
- Push-Ups: 10 (Go to kneeling push-ups if you cannot complete a traditional push-up)
- Mountain Climbers: 20
- Russian Twists: 10
Upper Body vs. Lower Body Split Workout
These workouts alternate throughout the week, allowing you to focus more on either the upper or lower body.
For example, you’ll perform Workout A on Monday, Workout B on Wednesday, and Workout A on Friday. The following week, you’ll perform Workout B on Monday, Workout A on Wednesday, and Workout B on Friday.
WORKOUT A: UPPER BODY
- Push-ups: 3 sets of 5 to 15 repetitions
- Superman: 3 x 10
- Pike Press: 2 x 10-15
- Triceps Dips: 2 x 15-20
- Oblique Crunch: 3 x 20
- V-Ups: 3 x 10
Do you have a pull-up bar at home? If so, here are some exercise substitutions:
WORKOUT B: LOWER BODY
- Sumo Squat: 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
- Walking Lunges: 3 x 10-12
- Side Leg Raises: 3 x 10-15
- Floor Bridge: 2 x 15-20
- Calf Raises: 3 x 20
- Russian Twists: 3 x 10
- Crunches: 3 x 15
At-Home Resistance Band Workout
If you own a pair of resistance bands, which I highly recommend investing in, here’s a total body workout that you can perform at least three times per week.
- Overhead Squat: 3 sets x 10 to 15 repetitions
- Deadlifts: 3 x 8-12
- Lunge and Press: 2 x 12-15
- Push-ups: 3 x 5-10
- Lat Pulldown: 3 x 8-12
- Triceps Extension: 2 x 10-15
- Bicep Curls: 2 x 10-15
- Woodchoppers: 3 x 15-20
Things Around the House Workout
The following workout can be completed with everyday objects around your house. I’ll mark the recommended objects (e.g., soup cans and water jugs), but if you have a pair of dumbbells, those would be ideal.
- Offset Overhead Squat (soup can or water jug): 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions
- Offset Step Back Lunges (water jug): 3 x 10-12
- Offset Pillow Push-Ups (pillow): 3 x 5-15
- Reverse Fly (soup cans): 3 x 8-12
- Arnold Press (soup cans): 2 x 8-12
- Triceps Kickbacks (soup cans): 2 x 10-15
- Hammer Curls (soup cans): 2 x 10-15
- Weighted Crunches (water jug or soup can): 3 x 20
How Often Should You Work Out?
The Center for Disease Control recommends at least 150 minutes per week of low-to-moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes per week of high-intensity exercise. I’d recommend both, incorporating time with your child into low-intensity exercise.
For example, HIIT workouts allow you to exercise in about 15 to 20 minutes. Do these types of workouts no less than three times per week (e.g., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).
In between HIIT workouts (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday), go for a 30-minute walk with your child in a stroller.
This allows you to take advantage of the benefits of low and high-intensity exercise while spending time outside with your baby.
