Note: I have partnered with Voome. Yes this is very exciting news.
Here is the first of many articles to come. Also with the content partnership my articles will be appearing on the Voome Blog. I am a firm believer in wellness and being healthy and I love sharing great articles and inspiration to be the best you can be. I hope you enjoy these articles from my content partner Voome.
What is Voome?
Voome is a website that designs recipes just for you and workouts as well. Get inspired for meals, have shopping lists easily created and read some motivational articles as well.
And now for the Voome Article….
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Finding the time to exercise can be hard at the best of times. Throw winter into the mix – rainy days, freezing temperatures, layers upon layers of clothing just to leave the house – and this can really bring motivation levels down.
If you’ve ever felt that frustration, heck even guilt, for not getting out and exercising more – stop right there. Know you’re not alone and it is actually a lot harder than you give yourself credit for.
The Australian Physical Activity Guidelines recommend 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate intensity physical exercise per week. Over the course of 7 days, that’s around 20 to 40 minutes per day.
Cue the sound of Mum’s all around the world snorting with indignation at the suggestion of a free half hour each and every day of the week.
However, according to a recent survey by the ABS, 60% of adults do less than 30 minutes a day (you’re not alone!).
So how to fit more in? There are two pretty simple ways to get your body moving, sweat a little and burn a few calories: incidental exercise and express home workouts.
Incidental Exercise
Incidental exercise refers to everyday movement that builds up over the day. Think: taking the stairs, running after the kids, doing all those loads of washing (who knew there could be so much!?).
By upping the ante on this, you can easily lift your heart rate, burn more energy and include this as part of your daily physical activity count.
How to get more incidental exercise
● Lunge your way to the bathroom from wherever you are – even from the back garden. It might look funny, but this will x10 your calorie burn than normal walking. Do this several times a day and you’ve strengthened and toned your butt and thighs, all while increasing your metabolism.
● Set an hourly alarm to do a lap of stairs in your house: Up and down 3x times.
● Plank in ad breaks or while warming something up in the microwave. Particularly during the morning shows as this will support your spine for the rest of your day.
● If you’re working from home at a desk, try a standing desk and march on the spot or squatting every paragraph or page.
Express Home Workouts
No, you don’t need a home-gym, or even dumbbells, to get a beneficial workout in. All you need is you.
Find a series of bodyweight routines that don’t require equipment or a lot of space and carve out a block of time (or several mini ones), each day to workout from your living room. Here are a few tips to get started.
● Find express workouts you can do anywhere, even at home in the bedroom. The less barriers (physical and time) there are, the easier it is to get started.
● Break a 20 minute workout into 4x 5 minute exercise circuits or 2 x 10 minutes. Check out these 5 minute mini routines!
● Ease into it. You may not be able to do workout every day, and that’s okay. Even if you don’t exercise for 10 days in a row, that’s okay too. Just don’t give up all together.
● Short on time? Push yourself that little bit harder and get a more intense workout in a smaller timeframe. This could be adding weights to your routine, progressing to the “next level” of a move (think: push ups on knees to push ups on toes) or aiming to fit in more repetitions in. However, ensure you always exercise safely and with proper technique. It’s better to perform a move perfectly than to rush through it to fit more in.
● Try the Low Impact Home Workout below!
The Workout: Voome’s Low Impact Home Workout for Busy Mums
Warmup
● 45 seconds of high knees
– TIP: March on the spot then transition from running to sprinting! Get that heart pumping.
Circuit #1 x 3 repetitions
● 20 x squats (take your bum as low as you can go)
– TIP: Start with your own bodyweight but progressively add weights (think: water bottles, laundry, canned food) as you get better
● 45 seconds of jumping jacks
● 20 x tricep dips
– TIP: Start with legs bent, if this is too easy straighten out your legs
Circuit #2 x 3 repetitions
● 10 x burpees
– As you progress add a push up to each burpee
● 20 x dynamic lunges (10 on each side)
● 45 seconds of mountain climbers
Final Blast
● 1 minute of planking
– Start on knees then progress to toes
Looking for more express workouts? Visit Voome and sign up for a one week free trial to experience 150+ workouts that can be done in less than 30 minutes!
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