My Active World

Jo McDiarmid - 21 Jul 16

Just when I thought I’d got the hang of this parenting of two lark, everything is changing… Maternity leave is finished and I’m back at work. My mind is spinning with the prospect of the juggling act, and the thought of where exercise and fitness does, and should, fit into my list of priorities crops up regularly. At Limelight Sports we pride ourselves on our belief in the #ActiveWorld and I’m really lucky to work in something I feel passionately about – both professionally and personally it plays a major part in my life. The definition of ‘active’ and ‘world’ can be different things to different people and our campaigns are designed to create opportunities that work for the individual. For me, the key thing is finding something that inspires you, keeps you challenged and lets you enjoy staying active, whilst providing a much needed breather from the hectic lifestyle most of us lead.

‘Active‘ has changed as my personal situation has. Before kids I was in to aerobics and also spent time in the gym, but since having my first child my fitness regime has been a combination of:

Fitness for Mummies – one of the many mums and babies classes offered so mums (and dads) can fit exercise around childcare – with our combined jiggly bits, and willingness to get back to full fitness, we’re a great advocate for the #thisgirlcan campaign;

Working out at home with the help of Davina McCall and her rousing DVDs – short bursts of exercise designed to be able to fit in with life, delivered with plenty of Davina’s straightforward ‘realness’ (who wants to work out with someone perfect looking, who doesn’t even seem to break in to a sweat?!);

And the age old mummy workout of running around after the kids (and let’s not even mention the 30 odd kg I’m pushing around every time the buggy & buggy board comes out… That’s over half my body weight, so has got to be doing some serious work!)

With the mums’ class I have been able to work out with the babies in the room and when I was pregnant with my second child it was great to work out with an instructor who understood the physiology of the pregnant body and who knew me well enough by that point to tell me when I could and couldn’t push it any further. My youngest will miss his weekly fix of dancing to house music (nothing like exercising whilst recapturing your youth – me not him, obviously!) now I’m back to work, but as it happens, there’s a class on one of my non-working days and the four-year-old is super keen to go to fitness again. Which brings me back to my point about the definition of world – nowadays this is my world – my kids, other mums, the local community. It’s my life day-to-day, and that’s what #ActiveWorld should be – something that is part of your day-to-day. These classes have given me the chance to combine them all and make it fit to my world, now. Not only that, they’ve exposed my kids to exercise from babyhood, I don’t think they will know a world without mummy staying fit (and a dad who runs regularly). And they love it and want to come with me – what better example could I set? And with pressures on kids so much worse than they were when I was young, I’d like them to be inspired by campaigns like Always’ #likeagirl and Bluebella
#bestrongbebeautiful

Equally it gives me a bit of headspace, even when the kids are there I can get into the zone that only a good workout can provide – having children is full on, so I need that time to recharge. I’ll need it even more so now, when you add a high pressure job to the mix.

So as for where exercise does, and should, fit in – it goes without saying that I will make the time. My ‘active‘ will continue to fit in with my ‘world‘ and it goes to show that no matter what your definition of active is, or what your world is – your immediate surroundings or the big wide world, sport and exercise will bring positivity and are worth making the effort for. Since I have returned to work, I’ve been introduced to a new initiative here #weallmove – we’re encouraged to all get active as a team once a month. I’ve also joined in with some colleague
s to run our combined ages in miles next month (not sure they quite bargained on how many miles, ahem, years, I had to throw in to the mix…)  It’s great to work somewhere so passionate about keeping active that we can make it part of our day. I’m a bit nervous about the running, as my stance is usually ‘I don’t do running’ but here goes nothing – a mum friend of mine recently extoled the virtues of a good run because, quite simply, you get to escape on your own for 40mins – hmm, suddenly it seems a lot more attractive…!!

Jo McDiarmid

Wife, mummy of two, Marketing Account Director at Limelight Sports. Simultaneously...

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