For a busy mother, it’s hard to squeeze in much in the way of personal time. Of course, if you’re a mother reading this I certainly don’t need to tell you that! And one of the things that a lot of mums (particularly new mums) find they miss is the chance to dedicate time to fitness. Taking the time to get to the gym is almost out of the question when you have young kids to keep track of, and organised sports or workouts with trainers are perhaps even trickier to fit in.

 

Because of this, a lot of mums ultimately find that their fitness efforts go further if they’re focused primarily on home exercise. And particularly these days, when there are innumerable fitness apps out there specifically to help people work out away from the gym, this is a pretty good option. Sure, you may still miss some of the communal aspects of gym sessions or group exercise – but the important thing is that you’ll be able to work up a sweat, stay healthy, and feel better as a result.

Keeping all of that in mind, I wanted to point to a few workout apps that are ideal for busy mothers.

Aaptiv

 

I’m starting with Aaptiv because I think it might be the most complete home workout app out there these days. As a review in In Style wrote quite accurately, there is literally a class for every fitness interest and level, or at least it feels that way. This is an app that streams actual fitness lessons, complete with motivators and high-energy music, to your mobile device.

You can simply scroll through, find whatever’s most appealing to you (from yoga to high-intensity interval training) and get moving. For some workouts you might need equipment, but it’s up to you which once you choose, and you can always purchase a little bit of in-home equipment for a particular exercise if you’d like to work it into your routine.

All in all, Aaptiv is just a perfect tool to start with to teach yourself that a home workout can be very effective.

7 Minute Workout

I don’t need to explain this one too much because it’s exactly what it sounds like. This is built for people who feel like they’re too busy to fit exercise in, and it’s one of the best ways to get your heart rate up and actually do some impactful fitness work in under 10 minutes.

Now, you shouldn’t delude yourself into thinking it can fully replace, say, an hour’s worth of exercise. But it’s certainly better than nothing, and you can also get into it a few times a day whenever you have a break.

The exercises are focused on short, challenging bursts for which you don’t need any weights or machines.

Pact

This is an app that’s built on the idea that incentives keep people working out. If that sounds like a dubious concept, consider this story that went public a few years back, and had nothing to do with this specific app.

Back in 2014, a British man decided that he wanted to lose 100 lbs. in a year. He made a £50 wager and managed to win £5,000 on the effort, basically proving that enough motivation can lead to a Herculean fitness effort. Most of us don’t have the opportunity to make wagers like that, however, and Pact is probably the next best (or at least simplest) thing.

This app challenges you to set goals for your own activity, wagering real money that you’ll meet them. It then tracks those goals – through photos of healthy meals, integration with run-tracking systems, etc – and pays small amounts to those who do what they set out to. It’s a wonderful way to force exercises into your crowded routine, even if it just means jogs around the neighborhood.

Daily Yoga

I’ll wrap things up with a little bit about yoga, which should certainly be worked into your fitness routine. For one thing, it’s one of the easiest forms of exercise to do at home, and can even be effective in 10 or 15 minute sessions. For another, it doubles as an excellent form of stress relief, which ought to sound appealing to most of the mothers out there.

There are actually several different apps to choose from in this area, and truthfully most of them are pretty good. But this one, in my experience, is the most comprehensive. A comparison (which you should read to get a feel for the alternatives in this category) noted that Daily Yoga offers several different goals, which is something a lot of people will appreciate it.

Basically, you can choose exercises and design a program for anything from strengthening legs to getting a healthier back to mastering meditation.