I am a SAHM of three and a homeschooler. My little one is not yet one. I am working on getting back in shape for the summer as many of you are as well. I have many reasons; we have our 10 year anniversary trip and trips to see family and friends, I'm done having babies and I turn 39 this summer. I just want to be looking and feeling my best.
I am working out at home for now. Its the best I can do. Perhaps a gym membership after the school year lets up. In any case, I am trying to do my 40 min. work out DVD (Tracy Anderson) 4 times a week. I toss in a 30 min jog on the weekend if schedule allows.
But with the interruption of kids (particularly baby), I find I often can only get through half the DVD and have to finish the other half later in the day before dinner or after kids in bed. It just feels like I'm not getting the full effect even though its the same time investment. I do make sure to work a whole muscle group in one sitting, so its pretty much Abbs/core in one sitting, legs, hips, arms in the other.
Light years better than not doing it at all right? 😜
It's often advised to walk 30 minutes per day, even if it's three 10 minutes walks....so keep it up!
Do your workouts whenever and however you can! Your priority is your children, and interrupting is one of the things children do best. If you have to exercise in pieces, it may not be quite as effective from a training point of view, but it's way ahead of waiting until they're all in college!
Lol, I was thinking that you were considering becoming bulimic. Glad to see that it was just a typo.
Yes...less effective, but still effective. Find ways to get the most out of those bits of time. If you're walking, walk faster and twist/move your hips harder (to work your waist). Hold in your stomach; squeeze your muscles. Tighten your arms and swing them. Stretch before and after you work out, while you're doing other stuff. Find other ways to get a work-out in, like squeeze your muscles while holding your baby. Keep your posture right. There are everyday ways to train your body to do what you want it to do. Just be as conscious as possible of every part of your body as you move throughout your day. That will help to maximize your dedicated work-out time and help you to make body consciousness a way of life. Sometimes it is as simple as standing up straight, not that you aren't doing that, but that's an example. Besides, my baby had to be held ALL THE TIME, so I had to figure out how not to slump and slouch with him. It helped to have a sling for him. I was able to take walks outside and on the treadmill, with him right where he wanted to be.
Good luck to you!! (I am SO glad that you aren't considering bulimia.)
It's fine to break it up. It's calories in and calories burned that really counts. The only thing I can think that you might compromise is endurance and heart (aerobic) benefits, but if you're just trying to tone up and control weight, it's fine.
wow, the mental visual i got from THAT title!
:D
well, yes, it's *somewhat* less effective simply because your heartrate won't stay up in the zone for as long. that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. 2 20 minute workouts are WAAAAAYYYY better than none, and 4 times a week plus a jog means you're really doing well. maybe get your older kids to work out with you?
but don't sweat breaking it up. it's not costing you much in the overall scheme of things. i think this is a terrific model for homeschooled kids to see- mom taking care of herself and her health.
ETA omg, please don't listen to that nonsense about having to limit exercise lest you get too muscular. women have to be in the hardcore no-prisoners ultra body-building circuit to build enough muscle to get 'bulky.' and if you're in that crowd, you're not afraid of it. however much muscle weighs, it's 100% better than fat.
:) khairete
S.
I've worked out at home for years. For me, it's FAR more effective than if I go to a gym. It's just how I am. (I am a Cathe Friedrich fan).
In terms of keeping your heart rate elevated for extended periods...you would lose that portion. But overall, you're still getting a pretty decent calorie burn. Something is better than nothing! And great job to you for skipping the excuse of "I don't have time". :)
Keep it up!
I think that is fine to break it up...your fitness DVD is making your muscles stronger even if you do half now and half later. I went to a fitness retreat once and one woman's talk was on fitness nutrition. This is someone who runs 100 mile races and other uber crazy sporty things. She said really the way to lose the most weight is you have to cut your calories. Targeting your big muscle groups with weight lifting will help a lot also with weight loss. But the #1 thing was basically your portion size and what you eat. She showed us the math...calories burnt for different types of exercise and different distances...I can't remember the numbers now but her talk made an impression! Keep up with the DVD though! That will help for sure and make your muscles look great.
Hurrah for you! Break it up as much as you need to. Moms don't have a lot of time in one sitting. As others have mentioned food is the key part of it all. Make sure you eat lots of fruit and veggies and good quality protein. You'll be looking fab in no time at all.
Yes, absolutely, that's great! Some programs even recommend it rather than doing all your exercise for the day in one hour and then nothing for a couple more days. Sometimes I can get to the gym for a good full hour workout and heavy sweat, sometimes I can only squeeze in a 20 minute DVD and then a walk later in the day, as long as you are regularly doing an hour per day, broken or not broken, your body benefits greatly.
Even if you manage to get the whole DVD done in an hour, it's even more beneficial to do some other cardio thing like a walk that evening or the next day if you were going to take a day off...if you feel like your two half DVDs never "burned you" enough, add in one more thing like 3 sets of 10 burpees or something at another time of day. They take minutes but are a full body workout. Get down and plank at random times during day and hold for one minute. It all adds up and keeps muscles engaged. The more the better, most people have naturally fallen into a modern lifestyle where we do not get NEARLY enough exercise, so there is no fear of overdoing it.
And of course for dramatically better results diet is everything. When I'm eating healthy and clean, I stay lean and toned with moderate exercise and lose weight easily. When I'm being lazy about my eating, I can work out like a Spartan and still be flubby with a muffin top. So pamper yourself with lots of fresh veggies and very little junk and keep up the workouts, good work!
Well for me honestly it's cutting the calories that works the best for weight loss . When I keep it at 1400 calories and run for just 10 min a day i can get down 5 lb /week . So i would think splitting it up would be just fine ….
Google "breaking up exercise throughout the day," and you'll be encouraged. Recent research suggests it may actually be MORE effective than a single concentrated session. Go for it!
One thing you want to watch is that exercise builds muscle. Muscle actually weighs more and is bulkier than fat, especially if fat is trapped underneath all of it.
It truly sounds like you're doing way too much. I'd say cut back and do more short spurts of exercise instead of trying to do so much so many times per week.
