Training through the school holidays

Training throughout the school holiday period

We are heading towards the school summer holidays, so we decided this month to write about how to keep training when your kids aren’t at school.
There is a little problem though: I don’t have any first-hand experience with this, therefore, I decided to ask my clients for any tips on how they continue training when their children are off school.

The two main words that seemed to pop-up from them were prioritisation and planning. Another theme that came through was creativity.

Prioritising

I got a lot of feedback from these clients (Mums and Dads) that the only way they can get training done during the school holidays is by prioritising their training in their lives.
What I noticed was that they also supported their partner in getting their training done as well.

One client explained to me that training is an essential part of their lives, to make sure that they are healthy enough to look after their kids, it is non-negotiable.
I think this is a really important way of looking at it!

Planning

Once the prioritising is done, then it is a case of when the training can take place. One client, who takes care of the kids during the day, made an agreement with his wife that he would train in the evenings while she stayed with the kids. I think this one is quite common.

Another described it as becoming a tag team to allow each other to train. One said her child goes to a camp, and she can continue training at lunchtimes. They also spend some holidays with her parents in another country so they can help out.

One of them used a babysitter to allow her to get out for runs, and another was able to ask her own parents to help out when she came to see me for personal training. Clients have gone to outdoor boot camp-style classes and let their kids play or sit nearby. An extra benefit of this, mentioned by the parents, is that the kids see them train, which can help encourage them to take up sports themselves.

As kids get older, they can stay on their own a bit longer. Two parents told me they offer their kids some of their allocated screen time for the day while they head out. The kids are given instructions on how to call if there are any problems and which neighbours they can go to if needed. Another told me his son once didn’t even notice he was gone, 🤣

Creativity

What do you do when there is no partner at home, and training needs to be done? Two of my clients told me that online tools and apps are useful while the kids are encouraged to play by themselves. Sometimes, these sessions become shorter, just to do something rather than nothing.

When the family goes on holiday, one client told me that they often choose all-inclusive holidays in places where there are activities available for all the family. So, while the kids do their activities, the parents can join Pilates, Zumba, mountain biking, running, etc. Now that her kids are older, they do more active holidays with hiking or hill walking.

So, as you can see, my clients have used many different  ways to find to train, but in the end, it is all about how to make sure you treat it as a priority and plan it into your lives.