Secrets to squeezing a workout into your INSANE parenting schedule



SEATTLE -- Moms do it all, but finding time in a busy schedule for you can be tough. Q13 caught up with a couple local moms who are finding time for much needed fitness, and making it work for their schedules.

Mandy Levenberg is running two businesses from her home, walking her kids to school, and still making it to a group fitness class at Strength Studio. She admits her schedule seems impossible, even for herself.

She says especially, “when my kids were infants, when I was nursing or when I was in a full-time position where my butt had to be in my seat every day and I didn’t have an option to sneak out.”

That’s why Levenberg loves the latest fitness craze, FitMob and ClassPass. The companies are in the middle of a merger, but both provide a membership to nearly every gym in Seattle. They provide people with flexibility and options.

Levenberg said, “I’ve never done spinning until recently and I’m gonna try a barre class. And then also just being able to check the night before and see what’s available and schedule on a last minute based on my work schedule and my kids schedule, is really making the whole process faster in terms of getting at the exercise instead of planning for it.”

Other local moms are hitting the pavement with their strollers and pumping up their biceps while they pump up the nursery rhymes. Chelsea Startup says Stroller Strides, by Fit4Moms gives her a chance to workout with her babe in tow, and join a community of new moms.

She says, “Even on those days where you’re exhausted, you see other moms and they’re going through the same thing… You’re in good company here. You have someone to share the great times with and the really tough times.”

Should a mom feel guilty about getting that time in? Both moms say, “no way!”

Levenberg says, “I always tell my kids that it’s like me having a playdate. I need to go do that too... I remind them that they’re going to go and do their activities and this is my chance to go and have her fun and get her ya-yas out.”

Levenberg adds that it’s more than just checking off another box on the never-ending to do list.

“You feel like you got exercise in, you feel like you’ve got the rest of the day for giving, whether it’s your job or your kids or your neighbors. You just feel like a better person.”

Local expert and Strength Studio owner Susan Slater-Cotter recommends making exercise the first thing you do in the morning.

"Get up early, get it done. Whether you're leaving the house early or going to the gym to take an early morning class or you get up and you're watching a video at home, get it done early. That way, the rest of the day, you've fueled yourself with that energy, you're going to have more energy throughout the day. "



Strength Studio is a group fitness and personal training gym in Portage Bay. Fit4Moms Stroller Strides has local franchises throughout the state and is offering free classes all week for new members, in honor of Mother’s Day.

We asked viewers on Facebook to submit their own ideas about fitting workouts in. Here is a complete list of their ideas. Check it out to find a location or group working out near you.