In the early years, parenting often leads to a more active lifestyle.  You’re carrying your child, crawling around on the floor with them, and the classic – running alongside their bike once the training wheels come off.  As they get older, you may play basketball with them, hike together as a family, or work out at the recreation center where their team practices.

But, as they become stronger and enter the world of competitive sports, your own fitness may go by the wayside.  You become the spectator and it’s not a quick sprint. This is an endurance event, commonly performed while sitting.  You watch them run around and burn a zillion calories while they’re playing. You check your phone or talk with other parents when they’re not on the field.  And when the event is over, you’re exhausted. Did you run the length of the soccer field 50 times? No. Did you swim in 6 events? No. But you’re exhausted.  Being sedentary usually has that effect.

Here are 7 techniques to increase your fitness and enjoy spectating more:

  1. The pre-event workout.  Can you get a workout in before you leave the house?  Or if your child has an early start, can you do it in the late afternoon or evening of the day before the event?
  2. The post-event workout.  Definitely a challenge after you’ve been sitting for most of a day, but you can do this is you have the right mentality.  Consider wearing your workout clothes to the event. Then you’re ready to take a walk, run, or hit the gym when it’s over.
  3. The break workout.  Take a look at the schedule.  Are there any breaks where you could get in some exercise?  Don’t want to sit around sweaty afterward? Take some dry clothes to change into.
  4. Check the venue.  Some events are held in recreation centers and many fields are near them as well.  It might be worth the price of a day pass to get in a good workout during down times.
  5. Find a partner.  Maybe another parent wants to work out as well.  Tag team with them so that one of you is always available in case your children need anything.
  6. Plan your week.  Get in some hard workouts when your parenting responsibilities allow.  Then do mini-workouts around actual events so you can focus on your child.
  7. Eat healthy.  You’ll feel better if you don’t snack on junk food all day.  You know that. The trick is making it happen. Pack snacks for you and your child so you can both eat well.

One final step – forgive yourself when you can’t seem to do any of the above.  Do your best to be more active, but understand that it’s just not always possible.  Like the rest of us mere mortals, you may eat an entire bag of potato chips while sitting on the sidelines one day.  Understandable. We’ve all been there. Or at least, I have. The trick is to move on and do better next time.

Spectating is like many aspects of parenting – sometimes inconvenient, occasionally aggravating, but also wonderful and inspiring.   You will feel better and ultimately parent better when you take care of yourself.

What tricks do you use to stay in shape and eat healthy when you’re spending a lot of time spectating?  Please share!

Take care, Sarah