by PM Coach Aubrey Hayes
Endurance sports are not just for the young and restless. In fact, the human body adapts and builds endurance over years, this is why you see adults in their 30’s winning local events. Now it doesn’t happen over night but the cumulative impact of consistency over months and years leads to increased aerobic ability. But how do you get to that point as a parent with a full-time job?
There is no easy button or special recipe to increasing your endurance but there is an important skill called consistency which as a parent, is often rare and sometimes even elusive. However, these are key factors to maintaining a consistent and healthy approach to endurance training that are wholly attainable as a parent:
· Time Management
· Involving your Family Members
· Crafting an Attainable Training Plan
Where are the pointers on hard workouts and the secret sauce? In reality, those skills are only a small piece of the larger training process. The focus should be on what keeps you (and your family) consistent and healthy both in training and in your daily life routine.
Time Management
Time management is definitely a challenge when it comes to involving others, it’s not simple, but it’s also not rocket science- it’s attainable with some organization and dedication. Your family is your support team. Sit down and discuss together what that one time of the day is where your workouts have the least impact on your family’s priorities and functions. That could be early in the morning, during lunch, or maybe even after the kids go to bed. Whenever it is, you must prioritize that time as “you time,” which will be better respected by everyone when it is decided as a team.
Plan with Family
An easy way to plan training for the week is to look at your training schedule every Sunday and map out when you would like to complete each workout. Share that with your partner/family and talk over how that time has the least amount of impact on the family and adjust as necessary.
Stick to the Plan
Once the schedule is in place don’t push off workouts because you’re a little tired or fill like “I’ll make it up tomorrow.”. As soon as you revert to this mindset, you have already put yourself behind. I offer this advice from my own experience; you will either never make up that workout or you will put yourself in a physical hole because you doubled up workouts. Stick to the plan and you will benefit physically and mentally.
Family Involvement
Depending on the age of your kids, it’s pretty easy to get the family involved in your workouts. I find it easiest to bring the kids along during my runs either during my warm-up or my cool down. This provides bonding time with the family and also shows that you’re not avoiding or forgetting about them (which is also helped by planning ahead as you would have already done). It may not seem like a lot, but it’s the little things like this that make for a stronger relationship and ensures that you can continue to train consistently.
But I have so much going on with my kids. Some parents find themselves at multiple practices and activities each week and this is a perfect time to get in a good ride or run in at the local park. Most practices are an hour, so it gives you a chance to get in a solid training session instead of sitting around. This can be considered involving your family just as much as time management. Again, planning ahead to manage your time makes this possible and easy.
Running provides a unique experience to see the world around us, so why not take your kids along with you? My son is 13 months old, and my favorite bonding moment is taking him out on my runs. This not only gives me time with my son, but it also gives my wife some needed rest and a chance to do her own workout.
Out on a Run!
This is not a sponsor, but I have used the Guava running stroller for the past 3 months and I would recommend it to anyone in the market.
Attainable Training Plan
Training plans can be overwhelming, excessive, and poorly built as a one-size-fits-all. Social media inflates the idea that training plans must be extravagant and volume-heavy, but that’s far from the truth. There are so many factors that go into a training plan such as your current fitness level, goals, race distance, etc. So why do people continue to buy plans not built for their individual needs? Why do we continue to listen to the mantra of “no pain no gain?” Ask yourself, how has that worked out for me so far?
In order to stay consistent, then your training plan must be attainable. If you only have 3 days a week to work out, then why have a plan that consists of 6 days of exercise? Be realistic with your expectations as a parent and spouse. Staying consistent working out for 3 days a week will get you further in your endurance journey than trying to squeeze extra days in and only getting partial workouts complete, which also adds additional physical and emotional stress to your life and that of your family.
Having a coach to guide you with your endurance goals is vital to your success in creating and maintaining an effective training plan. They can adjust your plan to meet your goals while navigating a busy life. All our coaches are dedicated to giving you the results you want without sacrificing your time with your family.
So, what are you waiting for? Click on the link below to contact a PM coach and get started with your custom endurance training plan. https://www.precisemultisport.com/contact-us