Balancing a schedule that includes a regular fitness routine can be a challenge. We know it’s hard work, but we also know that the work pays off in many areas of our lives. Learn how this fit Mom makes the time in her schedule to exercise.
Find a Fitness Routine You Love
…and set the appointments for it in stone!
After the birth of my son, my fitness routine really suffered. Everything else in my life came first and I was suffering as a rsult. The way that I got it back was by finding classes I loved with teachers who inspired me. I have my spot in those classes reserved through the end of the year, they are in my calendar and I book my schedule around them. It has to be some very extraordinary for me to miss class and then I do my best to fill in a different class during that week.
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About the Author: Randy Rabney is a board certified holistic health coach, trained chef, food lover and working parent. She is the founder of TheConsciousPlate.com a company dedicated to helping people find the freedom to eat real food without getting fat. She is also the author of “Delicious For Life: Your Everyday Guide to Making Quick & Healthy Meals.” She is a graduate of The Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts as well as The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, both in NYC and has cooked at the Golden Door Spa in California and has taught classes in a variety of places, including Whole Foods Markets. read more →
How do we instill healthy habits in our children if we are not living a healthy lifestyle? Moms everywhere have started setting a good example for their children by taking control of their health and fitness levels. Learn how this work-at-home Mom of 5 has made exercise a family affair!
We asked our guest blogging super Moms how they fit it all into their schedules. Learn how you too can be a fit Mom who successfully balances her health, family and career.
You Snooze You Loose!
In the last year, I have developed an absolute passion for fitness! I just love it! I’ve always had a desire to have a regular workout routine, but never felt I had time to add “one more thing” to my busy schedule.
I’m a wife, step-mother and grandmother with a full-time IT career and my own consulting business. I’ve found that the only way to get my workouts in is to get up before the sun!
Most mornings I’m up at 4:00 am preparing for the day and heading out to the gym. Since I’m not a morning person, this requires a lot of preparation the night before. My gym clothes are laid out, my breakfast, my lunch and my work clothes are all pre-packed the night before.
For me consistency is the key! Early to bed and early to rise makes me healthy, wealthy & wise!
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About the Author: Amy is passionate and diligent about counseling and encouraging others towards success in their weight loss and wellness goals as well as building their own businesses so that they are enabled to create their own financial success and live debt-free. Her goal is to help you discover and live Life by Design! read more →
These exercises will take you less than 10 minutes. Have the kids try too!
Exercise Ball Spins
Take your stability ball outside. Place your arms down on the ball with your legs extended behind you. Rotate the arms clockwise then counterclockwise 10 times and end moving the ball forward and back 10 times. Always remember to keep your chest off of the ball. This is a great exercise for core / upper body strength and it’s not easy, but it’s fun.
Figure 8s
Place two objects such as cones, tennis balls cans, foam rollers or even toy trucks about 3 feet apart and run between and around the cones in the direction of a Figure 8. This is a great exercise for footwork. Do this for about 2 minutes.
Monster Walk
Place a stretch band around your ankles and walk sideways across a tennis court, field, playground or your yard. Remember to have your feet facing forward and your hands on your waist. This is a great exercise for your glutes.
Plank w/ Hip Abduction
Get in a plank position and move one leg away from your body and to the side while balancing on your arms and stationery leg. This is a great exercise for core / leg strength. Do 1-3 sets of 10-15 reps on each leg. Kids will laugh as they try to keep their balance!
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Exercises from Ryan Krane , a certified corrective exercise specialist and fitness consultant (and Dad.) Sign up for his newsletter at www.ryankrane.com
About the Author: Ryan Krane is a fitness consultant and certified Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES.) With corrective exercise training, Ryan helps clients return their bodies to perfect postural form. Ryan developed and utilizes The Krane Training Method™ to help chronic pain sufferers address and eliminate recurring body aches through expert-designed flexibility, posture and strength training. After years of working with clients tormented by various pains, Ryan has found that this method successfully helps patients Move Better, Feel Better and Live Better. read more →
This week we are learning from fit Moms who have it all! You know who I’m talking about…. the Moms that balance children, work, home, spouse, fitness and still have the energy left to smile about it all! Take a look at these Moms who have mastered the art of making “me time” and learned that it truly is time well spent.
Prioritize, Manage Your Time, and Refuse Excuses
Being a mom is about learning to prioritize. Moms are often torn choosing between putting their family first or putting themselves first. As hard as it is, I try my best to balance between the two. And giving yourself some “me time” makes you a better mom, because you have more patience, energy and enthusiasm for everything you do for your family.
I am a mother of two (Alexander 7.5 and Zosia 5 years old), and for the last 7 years I devote my mornings 100% to my family. I used to wear sneakers and run with my stroller. Now that they are older, once I drop them off to school, I rush to workout. Every day I could find thousands of excuses not to workout, but they are the worst excuses. I learned to refuse to make them.
I make calls and emails when I am shopping and walking on the street, I choose markets that can deliver to my house so that groceries get delivered and I can stay out and finish my errands. Time and task management is critical. I plan everything in my head before I leave the house. I noticed that being content with myself and my body there is one less thing to worry about and I can focus on other things.
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About the Author: Sylwia Wiesenberg, a mom of two, is the founder of Tonique Fitness. Tonique is an intense workout that uses multidirectional movements that target every part of your body, working every muscle at every angle. Sylwia developed Tonique with her own goals in mind – to stay fit, firm and remain youthful forever. After years of perfecting her moves and developing new routines, she realized that she shared dreams with many women around her. She began training them and they achieved amazing results with her Tonique method. Most of her clients are moms. read more →
“I don’t have enough time…”
School time is going to be rolling around in a matter of 2 weeks for most states. This means the leisurely summer-time lifestyle will screech to a halt and the mundane activities of “life” will resume. Exercising on a “schedule” will also be one of those requirements however, it will be easier than you think to reintroduce it to your lifestyle!
The thought that you have to exercise for 30-45 consecutive minutes or your results will fail is a myth. I have seen little truth to it being a mandatory exercise “clause”. In fact, I find more intense exercise “spurts” work amazingly well for most of my “mommy” clients! The reasoning is that you are able to put more effort into your workout as you have more energy especially when the sessions are 1.5-3 hours apart!
With that being said, having an extra weight plate is very beneficial. Something that proves to be more beneficial is toting around a set of resistance bands with you! They can be used in a car or at soccer practice, talk about setting an example!
James “Mr. Health” Paul CPT, CSS, FTS, Chief Operating Officer, RRD Unlimited, LLC.
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About the Author: James Paul is an avid personal trainer who believes weight training falls under resistance training, and not vice versa. He advocates the implementation and determination of fitness goals into his client’s lifestyles. James has extensive experience training numerous classes of clients from beginner to the advanced athlete as well as special populations. The special population group does receive a bit more favor from James as they are normally turned away due to a variety of conditions that make most trainers nervous! read more →
Everything seems better in my life when I take the time to do some exercise – especially my business! But, I will admit, that sometimes I get too caught up with work, the kids and my home to prioritize exercise. The things that often get in the way are my kids! I plan to work out while they are at school, at camp or off on a play date, but then the phone rings or an email arrives and boom, that plan vanishes!
So this fall I am trying a new method of ‘organization’ to be sure I fit some exercise into almost every day! It’s pretty simple, but what I am doing is taking some time on Sunday evening to ‘schedule’ a work out in for each day of the week. Sometimes I put it on my calendar for early in the morning before the kids wake up, other times I schedule it during a lunch during my workday. If I know I am flying solo with the kids on a certain day, I make sure to schedule a workout I can do in my house! If there is a special class I’d like to take when the kids are out of the house, I schedule my workday around when it’s offered.
I am finding that I keep my ‘workout dates’ when they are on the calendar, and I am more excited about working out since I am making time to do the kind of exercise I enjoy most, instead of fitting in a dreaded run at the end of the day, because that’s all I have time for!
It’s simple, but effective. Give it a try!
Noelle Abarelli, Author & Founder of The Smart Mompreneur, The Smartmompreneur
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About the Author: Noelle Abarelli, author of The Smart Mompreneur, is a serial entrepreneur raising two kids in Boulder, CO. A former international marketing executive for a start up tech company, Noelle really understands how to launch a successful business with limited time and limited resources. Contact Noelle at noelle@smartmompreneur.com. read more →
When things start to get crazier around Labor Day, it can be difficult to find the time for fitness. It is already hard to stick to a fitness program. Exploding and often erratic schedules don’t help.
Luckily you can actually split your thirty minute workout into three ten minute sections and get the same benefit as a full on half hour. It is easier to find ten minutes versus thirty.
For these short sessions keep up speed and intensity with proper form and control.
Block One: squats, lunges, and jumping jacks
Block Two: pushups, tricep dips, side planks
Block Three: kettlebell swings
The time will fly by and you will be much fitter by the end of it all.
About the Author: Lynda Lippin is an award-winning NYC-based Certified Pilates Teacher with 25 years experience, an ACE Certified Personal Trainer who specializes in TRX® and Kettlebell training, and a Usui Reiki Master. Lynda’s teaching style, which is described as “nurturing yet demanding,” allows her clients, such as journalist Natalie Livingstone and designer Donna Karan, to overcome basic issues of poor posture, poor alignment, stiffness, injury, and back or neck pain. Lynda Lippin’s clients end up stronger, taller, more flexible, and thinner with many fewer aches and pains. read more →
Three quick tips to help you find time to exercise and get you to the gym:
1. Identify your regular gym day – Most people know which work days are longest for them at the office. Therefore, it’s important to identify when you can plan ahead and psyche yourself up to exercise before or after work. Moreover, it’s especially critical to stay consistently loyal to this day—think of it as your “You Day”! This way, you can feel even more inspired to remain dedicated to exercising no matter what temptations attempt to distract you.
2. Keep moving – Keep active after work and proceed to the gym without going home if possible.
Your house or apartment is comforting and tempting, with its plush couch and big screen television. Moreover, you can always find distractions at home to prevent you from going to the gym. So, it’s absolutely crucial to avoid sitting down and getting comfortable, particularly after a long day at work.
3. Say “no” to happy hour – This might seem obvious to some, but alcohol will only prevent you from heading to your gym. Drinking alcohol before a workout is particularly unsafe and will also dehydrate you. Therefore, say “no” to happy hour and choose going to the gym to blow off the unnecessary stress from work or school. Besides, you can still be social at the gym while getting healthy at the same time!
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About the Author: Master Trainer Shaun Zetlin has successfully run his own personal training business in the New York Metro area. To find out more about Shaun and his new book, “Push-up Progression Workout for a Stronger Core: A Twelve Push-up Journey,” check out his website: www.zetlinfitness.com read more →
The new school year is almost upon us and along with back to school shopping for needed supplies we are also shuffling around our schedules to make sure we fit everything in. Don’t let your exercise routine get pushed to the side. Try creating your own fitness mantra to help motivate you!
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