How to Fit in Time to Exercise When You Are a Busy Parent or Caregiver

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate or referral links. As an Amazon Associate and participant in other affiliate programs, I may earn a small commission if you click and make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products or services I believe in.

I crave physical activity and start to feel antsy and anxious when I don’t get enough exercise. The trouble is, I have a full-time desk job and two young kids who take up most of my time and energy. They keep me busy, but playing hide and seek isn’t exactly the kind of heart-pumping, sweat-inducing workout I need to stay healthy. That’s why I’ve had to get creative. What I’ve learned, and want to share with you, is how to fit in time to exercise when you are a busy parent, caregiver, or both!

We all know the benefits of exercise, but it’s worth repeating the highlights: it boosts energy, lowers stress, improves sleep, and supports long-term health. More importantly, it helps us build the kind of life we’re excited to live and gives us the resilience we need to show up fully for our multigenerational families.

In this post, I’ll share exactly what I do (and what I’m still working on) to fit in time to exercise despite the obstacles. I’ll cover desk job hacks, exercise snacking, lunchtime movement, gym goals, incorporating family and motivation. Of course, this is tailored for the busiest people on earth: the sandwich generation.

Before we begin though, a quick comparison of what exercise looked like for me pre-children versus with two young ones!

Fit in Time for Exercise at Work with Active Desks

If you’re working at a desk most of the day, why not turn some of that sitting time into moving time? It’s a simple way to fit in time to exercise while working. I started using a bike desk during long Zoom calls or when reading lengthy docs, and it’s been a game-changer. It keeps my legs moving and my energy up without requiring a separate workout window. I’ve owned the bike desk that I linked for over 2 years and still use it regularly during my workday.

However, you can’t bike all day, and sitting for extended periods of time really isn’t good for us. It poses health risks, including vascular problems like blood clots, back pain, heart disease, and obesity. A standing desk is a huge boost for your health, and if you add in a quality under desk mat, it’s a real health hack. On a personal level, they’ve helped me stay more alert, improve my back pain, and avoid my typical afternoon slump. Standing vs sitting makes a noticeable difference in how my body feels at the end of the day. The under desk mat I recommend above is the Topo Comfort Mat by Ergodriven and, while pricier than other mats, encourages slight movement while you stand, which is where the real health benefits kick in. Some of my coworkers use walking pads, aka under desk treadmills, and swear by them. I don’t have a specific one to recommend since I haven’t added that to my arsenal, but it’s another unique movement option to check out.

Obviously, exercise equipment in a work environment has its limits. Light biking or walking during meetings or simple tasks is wonderful. Sweating buckets and losing your breath from biking during a meeting is a hilarious thought but highly unprofessional – don’t do it!

If cost is a concern, ask work if they would allow you to expense some of the tools. I have a yearly stipend for office equipment so have used that to cover some of the recommendations above. Checking out second hand markets like Offer Up or Facebook marketplace is also an affordable option.

Embrace Exercise Snacking with Weights and Streaming Video

Have you heard of exercise snacking? If you’re like me, you assumed it meant incorporating food into your workouts, which is what encouraged me to read more about it! It turns out that there’s no food involved, for better or worse, but there is the idea of “snacking” on exercise instead of ingesting a full meal. Basically, it incorporates short bursts of intense activity, from under a minute to under half an hour.

What does this look like in practice? I can squeeze in 10–20 minutes of a HIIT workout during nap time, before work, or while the family gifts me with a grocery run I don’t need to join. I can do kettlebell swings for a few minutes when I need a break from my computer screen. The short but intense workouts change the way I feel in body and spirit. Part of my struggle with being a full time working mom is that it feels like I’m letting my strength fade away and my physical potential go unfulfilled. Small bursts of hard work connect me with the pre-parent part of myself that would regularly rock climb and run and lift weights.

It’s helpful to keep some home gym equipment around to help me connect with my old-badass self that did such hard physical things. I keep a small bin of weights, including my beloved kettlebell, resistance bands, and a yoga mat in our living room closet (and another set in my garage turned home office) so I can work out without much setup. YouTube channels like Fitness Blender and Caroline Girvan, plus apps like Peloton and Nike Training Club, offer free or affordable options for every fitness level.

Don’t sleep on the weights! According to this Harvard Health article, we start losing bone mass at a rate of 1% every year after age 40. Strength training not only slows bone loss but can reverse it. Resistance workouts, or strength training, involves things like free weights (easily done at home), weight machines (usually more easily available in a gym) and body weight exercises like push-ups and squats.

These harder workouts are essential, but I also really enjoy streaming quick yoga videos in the morning or evening for low impact movement and general stress reduction. Lately I’ve been streaming Charlie Follows and am loving her routines! The best thing you can do is try different instructors and find the ones you really connect with so you are more motivated to click “play” instead of sitting, doom scrolling, doing one more dish, etc.

Fit in Time For Movement at Lunch

Lunchtime movement can be quick and as low or high intensity as fits your midday needs. Right now, I love walking. Walking is so underrated. It clears my head, helps me digest, and gives me more of an energy boost than the extra cup of coffee I start to crave. Lunchtime walks have become one of my favorite regular rituals. I want to say daily, but it’s rare for anything I do to ever be daily. Life is too chaotic for that! It is “regular” though, which we can call a win.

Sometimes I listen to a podcast, sometimes I call my mom, and sometimes I just walk in silence and let my brain rest. There’s no pressure to hit a certain number of steps, but I will say that tracking my steps with my Fitbit is super motivating.

It might also be helpful to invite a coworker or friend to join you. Before I started working remotely, I had regular lunchtime walking and jogging partners. They were either in the same office as me or were friends who happened to live or work nearby. I actually think that starting the lunchtime movement habit with other people was essential to turning it into what I hope is a lifelong habit.

Fit in Time at the Gym

First of all, it’s ok for a gym to not be a typical paid gym. Maybe it’s a community center gym, a yoga/pilates/barre studio, a climbing gym, or something else. To me, gym means a place where I am surrounded by other people who are exercising and we have the shared tools to do that.

Second of all, this is the area I’m working on getting back into! Ever since my youngest was born I’ve gotten out of the habit. All of the hacks I shared with you above have such low barriers to entry that it’s fairly easy to turn them into habits. Visiting a gym or studio has just a bit more friction since it involves monthly fees, different clothes, gym or class hours, and leaving the house.

At the same time, working out in a dedicated space can be a big fitness boost for a few reasons. There’s a positive peer pressure to work hard, there’s equipment you most likely don’t have at home, and there are instructors or trainers that can elevate your workout. So, I definitely aim to get back into a good routine over the next year and will share my updates there.

That being said, I spent decades going to various gyms and yoga/pilates/barre studios, so can share my experience with how the time of day can affect my workout!

• Morning workouts help me start the day with energy and clarity, and make it more likely I won’t skip a workout.
• Evening workouts give me a mental reset after work and sometimes feel more doable if the morning got derailed, but exercising too hard in the evening will affect my sleep.
• Lunchtime gym sessions have a similar benefit to the morning, but can be slightly stressful due to the time pinch.

Whatever place or time you choose, try to go at a somewhat regular cadence (for example, twice a week), and give yourself credit each time! That’s my plan.

Exercise with your family

All of the tips above involve time away from family, but finding ways to move together is wonderful for everyone! My family all likes going to the climbing gym. Like I said, I’ve been out of the habit since my youngest was born. When it was just our daughter we could easily take turns bouldering or visiting the weights area while the other climbed with our kiddo. I’m excited to start trying this with our toddler soon!

My daughter and I also love doing YouTube workouts together. Usually she picks one or two kid workouts and I pick an adult workout and we finish them together. It’s always a good time.

Other family activities like hiking or biking are amazing ways to be outside, be healthy, and grow closer. If you live close to your parents, they can be involved too, depending on their health and ability. You could also enlist your parents to help out so you can get some exercise. A family park visit where you slip away for a 20 minute run can do wonders for your health and mood.

Working on this is a general lifestyle improvement for the whole family, and allows you to fit in time for exercise while getting closer to each other. You may even set a family fitness goal to work towards, like running a family friendly 5K or completing a challenging hike. Exercising together is a powerful fitness tool for mental health and family happiness.

Life of course throws its curveballs. Earlier this year I had just gotten into a weekly habit of running with my daughter while she rode her bike. There’s an amazing bike path along the riverfront near our house that we both love. It was a new habit that felt exciting. Then one night I started having terrible abdominal pain, fever, and chills. It kept me up all night and by lunchtime the next morning I was in the ER. Turns out I had appendicitis! They removed my appendix and told me I should hold off on exercise for the next few weeks. We totally lost the momentum of the new habit and months later we’re just trying to pick it up again. But hey, this is life, and at least we’re trying (*pat on back*).

Find Motivation by Redefining What Fitness Means for You

What does it mean to be fit anyway? In true caretaking fashion, I tend to measure my fitness by how well I can keep up and support those around me.

• If I needed to run for safety with a child in my arms, would I be completely out of breath within a block, unable to go on?
• If I needed to lift my dad up after a fall, would I be able to?
• If my husband wants me to lift a new couch up the stairs with him, can I?
• Once my kids are a little older, could I join them on adventures like climbing or backpacking, or would I need to stay back?

What are the scenarios you’d like to measure your fitness against?

It goes without saying that the questions above are in no way a replacement for the other health care questions and numbers that you should absolutely review with your health care providers. Health markers like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, respiratory rate, BMI, and the multitudinous other indicators available should obviously affect your plan. But I don’t find that a blood pressure reading gets me excited to work out, whereas thinking about being able to scale a fourteener (for those who don’t know, that’s a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet) with my kids when they are teenagers makes me crave a long term fitness habit.

Conclusion – You can fit in time to exercise

This post has challenged what it means to work out. Is it taking regular long runs or going to the gym several times a week? Those are wonderful options but definitely not the only definitions of exercise. It’s okay for your fitness goals to prioritize consistency over intensity, and small bursts of movement over extended length workouts.

Start where you are. Pick one small thing to add on this week: a lunchtime walk, a ten-minute video, or standing while you answer emails. Stack those habits slowly, and before you know it, movement becomes part of your rhythm instead of another thing on your to-do list.

You don’t have to do it all to make progress. Just fit in time for exercise naturally through your work and keep moving.

I’d love to hear from you. What’s your favorite fitness tip that helps you stay active in this busy stage of life?

---