Exercise

In her experience, certified personal trainer and Air Force spouse Angelica Campbell has seen military spouses struggle with motivation to exercise when their service members are deployed. But, she suggests two reasonable strategies to break through that barrier.

Quick Fix: 10-Minute Rule

“I tell my clients to make it manageable,” Campbell says. “Make a deal with yourself to get moving for 10 minutes a day.”

Whether it’s 10 minutes of walking outside or calisthenics at home, Campbell says it’s a simple but “great motivating tool” to get people revved up for more.

Total Body Workout

Campbell knows it’s not always affordable to have a gym membership or feasible to arrange for childcare, but those factors aren’t required for an effective workout.

“You can get a total body workout at home with high intensity interval training,” she says. “There’s no gym equipment needed. Just turn up some great music, and do as much as you can in fifteen minutes.”

High intensity interval training (HIIT) increases your metabolism and blood flow. Campbell recommends to set a timer for 15 minutes and repeat the following HIIT routine as many times as you can:

• 10 burpees
• 12 lunges (6 each leg)
• 14 push ups (modify from the knees if necessary)
• 16 squats

Committing to this will not only yield positive physical results, but it will also improve your mental outlook and fire your soul.

“This is like waking your body up from the inside out,” says Campbell. “Exercise is a natural antidepressant.”

Getting caught in a slump is easy, Campbell says. During deployment, we can become so exhausted from working, taking care of the kids, and managing the house, that we surrender to the couch at the end of the day.

“Sometimes people don’t even realize that deep down they’re a little bit depressed,” Campbell says. “But exercise gets you out of the house and around people, and it boosts your mood.”

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While our service members are called to perform high-intensity jobs during deployment, we spouses are called to do the same thing at home. Giving ourselves the fuel to push forward is essential to accomplishing our own mission.

After talking to these experts, I’m even more convinced that it’s not about being the poster child for the latest diet or fitness trend or looking like a supermodel; it’s about being in the strongest frame of mind and body, so that we can face the beast of deployment – and win.

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