15-Minute Home Workout For Busy Parents

As much as you may love (or hate) to exercise, it is often difficult getting to the gym when you have children. Between school, ball games, meals, work and housecleaning, you may not have the extra 30-60 minutes to do a usual cardio and strength exercise routine. So here are a few exercises you can do at home with no equipment and only 10-20 minutes of time.

1. Push-ups. This is a great one to start with, as it pumps up your heart rate! Repeat until fatigue. This is also ideal between leg strengthening exercises.

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2. Triceps Presses. The further you straighten your legs, the more challenging! Extend your elbows to lift your body weight, then lower back down to position shown in picture. Repeat until fatigue.

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3. Jumping Jacks. This is also a good warm-up or can be done between strength exercises. Perform for 1-2 minutes.

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4. Plank Jumping Jacks. Be sure to keep your back straight and your arms/shoulders stable. Hands can be on the floor, as in the starting push-up position. Repeat quickly until fatigue (30-60 seconds at a time).

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5. Plank Mountain Climbers. Alternate legs quickly, while maintaining a strong plank position, for 30-60 seconds at a time.

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6. Forward Kicks with Alternate Forward Punches. Do you remember Tae Bo? This is a classic kickboxing exercise that incorporates arm and leg strengthening. Repeat 10-15 reps with right leg/left arm. Then do the same with left leg/right arm.

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7. Calf Raises (on one leg) with Lateral Leg Raises (other leg). Do the two at the same time. You may need arm support for balance. Repeat 10-20 reps, then do the same on the other sides.

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Gym Workouts For Beginners

I highly recommend joining a gym, if you can somehow add it to your budget. It is actually not that expensive, compared to other areas of spending, such as cell phone bills and eating out. You should be able to get a membership for $20-$25 per month, which is very reasonable, considering it is an investment in your body. If you are a newcomer to the gym world, it can be very intimidating because you may not know what to do or how to do it. So here are some basics that can help you.

1. Start with CARDIO. All cardio equipment is easy to start. Find the big green button that says Start or QuickStart, and you will start to move. Some cardio machines require that you start moving or pedaling before you press start. The easiest setting is MANUAL, which allows you to increase and decrease your resistance level throughout your workout. It saves you from having to select workout specifics or input your height and weight. Slowly increase to >30 minutes of cardio at a moderate-high intensity (you may need to start at 10-15 minutes at low intensity and progress over several weeks-months). Try to do some cardio every time you are at the gym, even on your strength training days.

2. Don't be afraid of the MACHINE WEIGHTS. They may look complicated, but most of them are very simple to operate. There are instructions written on each machine that explain your seat and angle adjustments. Then you select your weight/resistance. Try different weights until you choose the appropriate amount (moderately challenging; you should be fatigued by the last few repetitions of each set). Then perform 2-3 sets of 8-15 repetitions. For example, start with 2 sets of 10. Progress to 3 sets of  10 in a few visits. Then increase to 3 sets of 15. Once you can do 30-40 repetitions at one weight, you can progress to the next level. Do not be afraid to ask the staff to show you how to use a piece of equipment. I'm not sure why, but there are usually at least 5 staff members at the front desk of my gym.

3. Choose a WORKOUT SCHEDULE. This will help to guide your daily exercise and strengthen all your muscle groups. If you are using the machine weights, each one states which muscles you are working. Do not strengthen the same muscle group on two consecutive days. It may help to divide the strength training into groups, such as arms, shoulders, chest, upper back, lower back, abdominals, legs. Then choose which days of the week you will exercise each muscle group. Try to strength train each body part at least 1-2x/week.

4. Try out some of the GROUP EXERCISE CLASSES. These are ideal for those of you who need extra instruction or are new to the gym. If the class does not make you sweat, it is likely too easy for you.

5. Lastly, borrow exercises from other people. You can get some great ideas from the exercises trainers give their clients. Or find the ab corner of the gym; you will see people doing much more than just crunches and sit-ups.

Willpower, Exercise Priority and Why Dieting Does Not Work

Willpower
When you are trying to lose weight, it will be impossible unless you learn to demonstrate willpower in regards to food. You can make it easier on yourself by not having your favorite snack foods in the house, but at some point the food will stand before you, and you will have a choice. Indulge or have the willpower to say no? Think about what you do on January 2 when you see a plate of brownies in the break room. "No, thanks--my New Year's resolution is to lose 10 pounds." It is easy in January because you are motivated, you just set a goal, and everyone is doing it. But what about the rest of the year, long after your co-workers have given up? Saying no to food means that you have control over your mind and body. You can choose to say no, even though you may have never done so before. And depending on your weight loss goals and eating habits, you may need to say no forever! Having the willpower to avoid overeating will become a habit if you do it consistently, so try it daily for 30 days.

Making Exercise a Priority
If you have tried multiple diets over the years but never keep the weight off, you may simply need to stick to one program long-term and add in more EXERCISE! Exercise must become a top priority on your daily to-do list. If not, it will easily get pushed aside, and you will not do it enough to help achieve and maintain your weight loss. So how do you make exercising a priority consistently? Build it into your daily routine; do it at the same time every day. Don't give yourself the option of skipping. What are the activities that you do every day? How can you modify your busy life in order to add something for your own health? Try adding exercise to one of your other usual activities, such as watching TV (on the treadmill) or playing with your kids (taking them for a walk).

Exercise Specifics
Exercise long enough (>30-40 minutes) and hard enough (you should be sweating and breathing moderately hard)! Challenge yourself by increasing your speed and intensity of cardio. Progressively increase your repetitions and/or weights for your strength training. If you are new to exercising, start at 15-20 minutes of mild-moderate exercise, then increase in 5-minute increments. As your body adjusts, you will be able to work out for longer and at a faster pace. If you have the time, ideally try to increase your exercise to one hour per day, 6x/week. This should include both cardio and strength training. This is especially important for weight loss because it helps to burn calories, build muscle tone, and boost your metabolism!

Eating thin!
Lastly, think about the thin people you know. What are their eating and exercising habits? Many thin people may have genetically high metabolisms, but many also work at it! And in general, it is safe to say that they eat in moderate amounts and are likely pretty active individuals.

Health/Fitness Review: Gold's Gym

My review of Gold's Gym (Village at Sandhill in Columbia, SC)

The facility is a good size, with 3 main workout areas. The largest one has around 15 treadmills, 15 elliptical machines, 8 stationary bikes, 3 stair climbers, 1 upper body bike and a lot of machine weights. 

The second area has around 8 treadmills, 8 elliptical machines, machine weights, small dumbbells (2-15 lbs), exercise balls, medicine balls and mats.

The third area has all the free weights plus some machine weights. Very few women exercise in that area of the gym. Next to the free weights area is a basketball court.

There is a 3-lane pool, which is a comfortable temperature for swimming laps or doing water aerobics. When the water classes are in session, there is only 1 lane for lap swimming.

There is 1 large room for classes, including Zumba, body pump, aerobics, yoga, etc. The Zumba class (at least in the evenings) is always jam-packed! Classes are offered various times of the day and appear to be sufficient for the demand.

Another workout space is the cinema room, which plays movies and stays very dark. So bring your flashlight so you can see the buttons to start the treadmills. This room includes around 5 treadmills, 5 ellipticals and 5 recumbent bikes.

There is a small spinning room, which I have not yet used. It does not appear to get over-filled though.

For the more athletic type, there are 2 raquetball courts, which stay booked every evening and frequently at lunchtimes also. They can be booked ahead, if you call first! Good luck beating the veterans to the calendar!

The non-exercise areas include tanning, water massage table, whirlpool, steam room, sauna room, locker rooms, and the huge Kids Care room. I have been 100% pleased with the childcare providers there! The childcare hours are reasonable.

The staff are friendly and helpful. And there is a large staff of personal trainers available for an added cost.

The location of the gym is good, with easy access from Two Notch Rd, Clemson Rd or North Springs Rd. It is located in the Village at Sandhill mall, which makes it close to shopping and eating venues.

So...do I recommend Gold's Gym? Yes! The membership price is comparable to the other gyms and if you pay up-front for 1-2 year memberships you get quite a good rate. The price may even be lower than other gyms, depending on which specials you catch.

Is there a down side? Yes. The gym is very full in the early evening hours, making it difficult to find your cardio machine of choice. But that is expected, and you can always vary your workout by using a different machine until a treadmill opens up.

Why you haven't lost weight at the gym

I went to the gym today and as I was exercising, I noticed some things that could be problematic for gym-goers.

First, a lot of people were doing cardio exercise at a slow or moderate pace. They did not appear to be working very hard. The point of cardio is to strengthen your heart, so it needs to be done at a moderate-fast pace. If you are not breaking a sweat or breathing hard, then you may not be working out fast/hard enough.   To find out, take 220 minus your age. That is your maximum heart rate. Try to get your heart rate (heartbeats per minute) to 60-80% of your max heart rate during cardio workouts. If you are new to exercise, start at 60%. But as you continue exercising over the next weeks-months, increase to 70-80%. Please consult your physician before starting an exercise program to find out if you should have different parameters.

Second, I was watching Ellen on one of the channels, and she had Mrs. Obama as a guest today. They were talking about the importance of exercise, so they both got down on the floor and started doing push-ups. They made it to around 20. However, one of them did her push-ups only going halfway down. To get the most benefit out of push-ups, do them in a full range of motion. This is true of most strengthening exercises (machine/free weights especially).

Similarly, I saw a man in the gym doing push-ups, but his back was not straight. It was arching up and down. This could cause back pain/injury, so be sure to check your techniques and postures throughout each exercise.

Third, let's talk variety! Do you go to the gym and do the same workout every day? Treadmill at 4.0 miles per hour for 35 minutes? To get the most out of your gym workouts, add various forms of cardio and/or various speeds.

Fourth, how long should you exercise? The minimum recommended amount is 30 minutes/day, most days per week (at least 4-5x/week). However, if you really want to lose weight, you need to work up to more than that. If you have the time, one hour or more would be ideal. The more you exercise, the more you will lose weight!

Cardio EXERCISE and WEIGHT LOSS

I highly recommend cardio exercise as one piece of a weight management program. Here are some tips:

Be sure your cardio workouts are challenging! You should be sweating and breathing moderately hard throughout (unless you have medical conditions--please consult your physician). Your heart rate should be 50-70% of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age).

Try alternating cardio with strengthening. Maybe do a total of 30 minutes of cardio and 15-20 minutes of weight training, which will boost your metabolism. You can even do cardio intervals of 5-10 minutes with weight intervals for 5-10 minutes. Good, challenging weight training will increase your muscle mass and therefore you will burn more calories throughout the day (not just when exercising).

If you really prefer cardio and not weights, then try changing around the type of cardio you do (spinning, walking, running, aerobics, swimming, hiking, sports, etc). And be sure to increase the intensity or resistance of the cardio as you progress. If it feels too hard, then bump it up and down to your tolerance.