How to Fit Enough Exercise into our Busy Week

In the not-so-distance past, we were repeatedly told that unless we exercise for at least 11 minutes in one stretch, there can be no gain. This mindset does NOT work for the millennium mom. Planning a fitness program seems like that elusive dream that you’ll get to “one day” when you’ll be able to fit a free 30-minute time slot into your life, every now and then.

But, wait a minute! It seems this mantra has slackened off.

A change of heart

Now we are told that the amount of time you spend working out always counts, whether it is five minutes or 55 minutes. Did you spend seven minutes walking to the supermarket instead of taking the car? Great! You’ve exercised. You walked right past the elevator and instead negotiated six flights of stairs to reach your office? Every step counted towards your fitness workout plan. You’d be amazed at the number of short activities that can contribute to your workout by just being a Mom! Think dancing around the kitchen table with your five-year-old, or hanging up the laundry.

The catch

It’s great knowing that your short workouts are beneficial. However, you still need to reach 150 minutes of activity each week to maximize the benefits of your exercising. It’s easy to reach a goal of 150 minutes in a week, but how do you know that you’ve achieved this?

Keeping track of your quick work-out sessions

There is no shortage of apps and devices that will help you track your fitness activities.

 Sports watch: A sports watch, or indeed, any wristwatch, is a hands-free tracker! Serious athletes use them, so why not busy Moms? If you take a walk on your lunch break, it’s the easiest way to find out when you need to be back at your desk. I put the Calibre 16 Tag Heuer Formula 1 on my dream wish list as I discovered Tag Heuer at
CHRONEXT.
 Fitness app: There are just too many fitness apps for both Android and iOS to list them all here. There are “personal” trainers, calorie-burning trackers, activity planners, workout trackers, and more.
 Smartwatch: A wearable smartwatch has the same convenient hands-free advantage of a wristwatch but does not offer the benefit of instant time-tracking. However, it may be attractive to you because of its many other capabilities.
 YouTube fitness videos: The last few years have seen the growth of YouTube workouts that offer a wide array of choices. They are easy to filter, they indicate the length of the workout, and best of all, if your little one needs attention, simply press the Pause button.
 Pen and paper: This one, together with a wristwatch, really works for me. I write the date, add the minutes taken by each activity, whether it's an introduction to burpees or a run in the park with the little ones, and total up the minutes each day. I then pride myself on the grand total at the end of the week.

We are constantly bombarded by updates on the latest and greatest diet fads, new exercises, and child-rearing methods. Really, the experts in these fields should interview us, the millennium moms. Our coping mechanisms and our experiences are all that’s needed to tell the world how to synchronize the love of our children with wholesome living.