BeHappyMum | Home Exercises to Beat the January Blues!

We’ve had our festivities and new year celebrations, excessive food and drink and above all, shorter days, cold and wind… so feeling blue this month is a likely mood. However, the beginning of the year gives us a new opportunity for changes, so whatever your New Years resolution is, our 5 minute exercises for home coincide with the proven benefits of exercising little and often!

The OnePoll survey of 2,000 UK adults commissioned by Alpro found that female Brits feel the effects of the January blues much more keenly than their male counterparts, with 1 in 7 female respondents saying they enjoyed Christmas so much that they “couldn’t bear” to return to normal life. And Dr Steve Eccles, psychologist at Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust said “The best thing to do is to make small changes to your routine which increases the amount of exercise you do.”

Finding 5 minutes often sounds easier than it is, especially if you are a new mother with your routine based around your baby rather than yourself. Whether you’ve just had a baby and need to relieve pain or lose baby weight, or your children are a little older and you need something that doesn’t take up much time – there’s no reason why you can’t exercise at home little by little…

Next time you’re tidying or doing the housework, take note of the NUMBER OF TIMES you bend down to the floor, whether it’s to pick toys up, plug in appliances, loading the washing machine, hovering the floor etc. Now consider assuming the a squatting position, like our FitMama Rear In Gear exercise. You’d be WORKING OUT your rear at the SAME TIME! Not, strictly speaking, a workout, but something you could make into a very effective habit as a busy mum…

For maximum effect, the squats should be done at a right angle to the floor as if you are sitting on an imaginary chair, feet apart and buttocks moved far back…

Why not join your baby or toddler on the floor as they play? Of course, you’ll want to play with them – it’s a great way to help child development – but you can also fit in a 5-minute workout in, perfect to help improve your postnatal body!

Try our Beautiful Butt workout (clue’s in the name, ladies!) which is done in a kneeling position. We’re reckon your little one will think watching you is more fun than playing! You stimulate your little one with laughter and in return your could be on your way to losing baby weight!

Check the Right and Wrong section in our FitMama App to maximize the effect and let the app narrate the number of repetitions for you to make it even easier. If you like the idea of exercising on the floor whilst playing with your baby, the app has plenty more for your mummy tummy, thighs and waist line.

At some point in your day you’ll be wheeling your baby around in a buggy or ‘stroller’ as some would say! Science says it is very important to go out into daylight as much as possible to cope well with January blues and this is a great routine to implement if you suffer from anxiety or postnatal depression.

So why don’t you step up the pace for a 5-minute power walk? You can, we assure you, do this without a ‘jogging stroller’, and you’ll boost your metabolism as well as turning on those mood-enhancing endorphin’s all women entering motherhood need to maintain!

OK, it takes about 2 minutes before the kettle starts whistling – but the water will still be hot after 5! Keep standing and work out your Upper Body – how about the Bust Lifter or Bingo Buster workouts in our FitMama app, which you can do against the wall for a firmer bust or arms. If you’re looking for a more strenuous workout mums, try leaning against the kitchen worktop…a sure way to tackle post-pregnancy toning and weight loss after baby!

Next time you’re cooking, just clock how much time you spend WAITING – for the pan to boil, the toast to pop, the oven to ping… so, instead of hanging about, fit in a short exercise INSTEAD! Stay standing and do some more UPPER BODY work – like our FitMama Waspy Waist workout for (you’ve guessed it!) a trimmer middle to help us tackle our mummy tummy’s or simply tone up around the waist after pregnancy.

Enjoy exercising in the kitchen? Have a look at other exercises you can do.

If your water pressure’s anything like ours, you’ll be lucky if the bath is full in 5 minutes! So it’s a great opportunity to get down on the floor – bathroom or otherwise – and work on your lower body.

Your abs will benefit from our Super Abs workouts, which is a floor exercise. Do it in front of your baby to make them smile and giggle at mummy or get siblings to join in too!

Press your lower back into the floor.

For better awareness of the movement – place a small garment under your lower back and flatten it by pressing it down.

We all know that Junior’s nap time is your cue to fit in all the things you can’t do while s/he’s asleep! But before you start rushing around, why not do a 5-min exercise session? Perhaps try some Kegel exercises which are comfortable to do while you’re lying down. The resulting adrenaline boost will actually make the chores easier, and you’ll feel amazingly virtuous. Every mother needs a few of these in a day to boost mum energy!

Or if you feel stressed use your 5 or 15 minutes of your Me Time to relief your stress with some yoga poses sequences from our Wellmama app.

Hopefully, we’ve shown that it’s not impossible to fit a 5-min exercise burst into a BUSY MUMS ROUTINE. Give our suggestions a go – and do let us know your own tips for finding a precious few minutes whether post pregnancy or later!