The biggest lie that I have ever been told has been the lie that in order to make a difference my workouts needed to be an hour or more. I don’t know if I just made this up in my head or if at some point someone had told me, but from the amount of moms I talk to who say the same thing, I can’t have just made it up on my own. I feel like we especially begin to feel the pressure from this statement when we become moms because we suddenly lose a huge chunk of our time and autonomy. We can no longer just pick up and go to the gym let alone even complete a full 60 minute workout without interruptions from babies screaming, toddler whining, or our bladder leaking. It is a serious struggle.
When I was first confronted with this problem I decided to solve it by just ignoring my physical goals. I decided that if I couldn’t get the entire hour or two of a workout in then it just probably wasn’t worth it. I mean how could I possibly get any benefit from the 10 minutes of uninterrupted exercises that I could do? There was no way! So instead of setting myself up to fail I decided to quit before I even got started. What a great philosophy, Am I right? WRONG! The problem with this was that I was and still am a being who works out for her sanity. If I am stressed or something crazy is going on in my life working out gives me a healthy way to release all of that energy and get my head back on my neck. So the fact that I was just ignoring working out in what is arguably one of the most stressful times of my life was a horrible idea. I started lashing out at my husband, I was impatient with my baby, and I was even starting to hate myself.
One day I had had enough and decided something had to change. I needed to workout and bad! That day I stopped everything I was doing and did 20 normal squats, 20 sumo squats, 20 narrow squats, and 20 reverse squats. The next day I realized that everything I had thought about how long I needed to work out was completely wrong! My butt, hamstrings, and thighs were so sore that I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to walk for a week. I couldn’t believe how much of a difference that 5 minute squat workout made in how I felt physically and how I felt emotionally. I was so much more clear headed and was actually a happy and functional woman for once since becoming a mama.
Even though after my first I started to leave this mentality of how long I had to workout behind, it never fully left me. Instead it disguised itself as a modest, “Oh a 30 minute workout is the perfect amount of time.” I thought that this was a short enough time that I wasn’t being as ridiculous as I was before, but once again I was wrong! After my second I couldn’t put her down even for 3 seconds and life felt crazy! I felt like a ping pong ball of stress that jumped from one disaster to the next with absolutely no time left to even think of exercise. Once again I started to fall into the pithole of thinking that it wouldn’t be worth it if I couldn’t do at least 30 minutes, so once again I began to put it off. And once again I realized I couldn’t function without my workout and this is when I actually decided to research workout times.
In my quest to find out the optimal amount of time to workout I found so much research showing that even working out for a small amount of time daily can be better than crazy long workouts for a few times a week. In the research I was reading the short workouts were out performing the long workouts. Some of the things that I found included the fact that HIIT workouts are great when you are short on time but still want to burn calories. HIIT workouts can burn calories for many hours after your workout because of the way that they get your heart rate up and then drop it back down. If cardio isn’t to your liking, then you will love what I found about strength training. Research has shown that there is no significant difference in muscle mass and increase between those that lift every day versus those who do 3 sets of 9 reps 2 times a week for 10 different moves. Even better than that, there is not a significant difference between those who lift every day and those who lift 3 times a week with 2 sets of 10 reps for 10 different moves! These results were just astounding to me! I couldn’t believe that we had been lied to for so many years about how our workouts had to look.
Now it is my personal quest to let every mama know this! I want to empower you to take your health into your hands even if it can only be for 5 minutes a few times a week. Here are some of my fun-sized workouts that you can do when you are in a time crunch!
5 minute HIIT
This 5 minute HIIT workout is amazing because you can take the simple recipe and mix it up in all sorts of ways to make your workouts longer, shorter, more intense, less intense, cardio focused, and even strength focused. The basic formula is to take an amount of time to do your workout and then take a less amount of time to recover. You want your recovery to be just long enough to bring your heart rate down before shooting it back up. Here is an example of a 5 minute HIIT workout.
(45 seconds on, 15 seconds off)
Forward alternating lunges
Normal squat
Caterpillar walk
Wall pushup
Alternating front kick
If you have more time one day you can change this 5 minute workout into a 10 minute workout simply by repeating the moves. You of course can change this up to make a DIY workout that works in every situation!
Countdown workout
The countdown workout is another one of my favs for the simple reason that I can adjust it to fit any time frame and any need. The recipe is simple. You will pick 3 moves and start at 10 reps. You will count down from 10 reps then go to 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Each move will be executed at each rep level to give you the full workout. It is quick and you can even shorten it more by starting at a lower number of reps if you are in a time crunch. Here is an example of the countdown workout.
Bicep curls (10)
Sumo squats (10)
Modified Jumping Jacks (10)
Bicep curls (9)
Sumo squats (9)
Modified Jumping Jacks (9)
Bicep curls (8)
Sumo squats (8)
Modified Jumping Jacks (8)
.
.
.
Bicep curls (1)
Sumo squats (1)
Modified Jumping Jacks (1)
Toy pickup workout
I love this workout because I take something as simple as picking up toys and turn it into intentional movement to help keep you toned. It is super simple and keeps you fit through something that you would be doing anyways. What I do for the toy pickup workout is I intentionally squat down to pick up a toy and then raise it above my head in a shoulder press before I lunge forward and put it into the toy box. You can of course do different movements that feel good for you, but this is just what I do.
Live Moxie Mommy & Me workouts
Girls, you knew I couldn’t finish this up without of course talking about my favorite Mommy & Me workouts! I love doing Mommy & Me workouts so much that I decided to start bringing them to you live on Moxie. Three times a week I get up and show you how you can move even with your little ones running around like crazy! I teach you how to incorporate them into your workout and healthy lifestyle. The best part is that although I block out 30 minutes for this class, with the way I have the intervals set up you can leave at any time feeling like you have had an amazing workout and giving you the energy you need to get going with your day! Access to these Mommy & Me workouts is on my WORKOUT COURSES page. So go to the tab at the top and sign up for some amazing classes now!
I hope these ideas of some short and effective workouts help you mix your excuses as you start your fitness journey this year! Remember that it isn’t about time but rather about the quality of the work you do in your short amount of time. Living a healthy lifestyle is completely achievable as a mama and you can start today! You don’t have to stop living so keep it up mama!
