The stress of a busy mom’s schedule combined with those few extra pounds, can lead to serious health risks. On the days that going to gym is more stressful than beneficial, you can actually get a good workout at home, and you don’t even need to comb your hair.
The time is now! For many years, she’s put her own health at the bottom of her priority list. Don't let stress and fatigue interfere with getting fit! Here are three resistance exercises and a complete routine that will work out multiple body parts with practically no equipment and require very little space.
Squats
A recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research revealed that squats are one of the best exercises to strengthen the abdominal muscles. The great thing about squats is that they also strengthen the quadriceps and glutes, two huge muscle groups.
But what about your bad knees, you say? When done properly, squats will actually alleviate pressure from the knees by strengthening the surrounding muscles without any unnecessary impact on the joint. Here’s how to perform a proper squat:
Place your feet hip-width apart.
Bring your arms forward, hinge at the waist and sit back as if reaching for a chair that someone is pulling away. Be sure that your knees do not move forward but stay behind your toes while you go as deep as possible until the top of your legs are parallel to the floor.
Return to the standing position by pushing on your heels and lifting your chest.
Push-ups
Push-ups are another multipurpose exercise that strengthen
your arms, chest, back, abs and glutes all at once. Try and go for a regular
push-up. Here’s how:
Start on your hands and knees.
Place your hands wider than your shoulders and your knees
should be behind your hips.
Curl in your toes and lift your knees off the floor,
straightening your body. This is your starting position.
Next, bend your elbows and lower your chest and hips
simultaneously until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle.
Finally, push on your hands to lift your chest and hips back
into the starting position.
To modify this exercise, simply leave the knees on the floor
for your starting position, but remember they should be behind the hips. Make
sure to keep the chest and hips aligned as you lower in order to strengthen the
entire core.
I recommend starting with as many regular push-ups as you
can do in good form and finishing your set with modified push-ups. Each week,
try to increase the number of regular push-ups you do and decrease the number
of modified ones until you can complete the entire set of “real” push-ups.
Tricep Dips
As the name implies, this exercise focuses on the triceps, an area of concern for many women. The triceps are a small muscle of the upper arm, opposite the biceps. Tricep Dips also engage the core and can affect the lower body with simple variations. To perform tricep dips:
First, sit on the floor and place your hands on the floor behind your hips and directly below your shoulders.
Bend your knees, place your feet under the knees and lift your hips off the floor; this is your starting position.
Bend your elbows and lower your upper body, just before the hips touch the floor.
Extend your arms and push on your heels to return to the starting position.
To add emphasis to the core, grab a chair (preferably armless), place your hands at the front edge of the chair and repeat the same process, this time engaging the core by pulling your belly button in and up and squeezing your glutes.
For a more advanced option, raise one leg in the air and lower your body as described previously.
Complete Workout: Warm-up, Squats, Push-Ups, Triceps
You can work these three exercises into a simple 30- to 45-minute routine. First, warm up your muscles with approximately 10 to 15 minutes of light jogging in place followed by leg swings and arm circles.
Perform three sets of varying reps and durations:
Set 1:
First, do 10 slow, deep squats
Jog in place for 2 minutes
Do 10 push-ups
Jog in place for 2 minutes
Do 10 tricep dips
Rest for 1 minute
Set 2:
Do 15 squats
Jog in place for 90 seconds
Do 15 push-ups
Jog in place for 90 seconds
Do 15 tricep dips
Rest for 1 minute
Set 3:
Do 20 squats
Jog in place for 1 minute
Do 20 push-ups
Jog in place for 1 minute
Do 20 tricep dips.
Finish by performing long, static stretches for at least 3
to 5 minutes. Great workout and your outfit didn’t even have to match!
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