How To Fit In A Quickie

Sometimes, your busy day just gets the best of you.  

Errands take longer than expected, someone is teething and cranky, or the dog ate a quarter and needs to go to the vet. When all is said and done, you just don't have time to pack the kiddo(s) up and go to the gym.  

Trust me---I get it.  Things happen!

So, what do you do when this happens, but you know you reeeeeeally need to workout and relieve some of that stress?  You MAKE time!  Whether if it's during nap time, play time, or bedtime, you can bust out a quickie and feel amazing and accomplished! You don't even have to do all of your workout at the same time, either.  Five minutes here and there can add up to a great workout! 

Here are some of my fave exercises for those hectic days:

-Pushups: whether it's on the floor, modified (on your knees), or on an incline (such as the fireplace), these puppies will work your chest, shoulders, back, and core like no other exercise!

-Squats: pick up something heavy and squat!  It can be a gallon of milk, a bag of potatoes, or hand weights (if you have them).  Heck, I've even used my munchkin as a "weight" before, and she thought it was hilarious!  Tighten your core, sit back on your heels, and really squeeze that booty!

-Skater Lunges: set two paper plates (or something else that slides easily) on the floor, assume a lunge position, and alternate legs, really squeezing your glutes and quads to help you slide the plates across the floor.  Just be careful--ain't nobody got time to go to no hospital! 

-Plank Sliders: using those same paper plates under your feet, assume a plank position.  Slide one leg out to the side, and then back in.  Alternate legs, keeping your core tight and your back flat.  

-Mountain Climbers: when you're done with the above planks, start sliding your feet (one at a time) in towards your chest.  Quickly alternate your legs, almost like you're climbing a mountain.  I bet you'll feel these in those lower abs!

-Bicep Curl to Shoulder Press:  grab two cans, jugs of water, or something moderately heavy and do a bicep curl with them.  Once you bring the weight up to your collar bone, rotate your wrists and then press the weights up over your head.  Slowly lower them back down to your collar bone, rotate your wrists again, and straighten your arms all the way back out by your sides (keeping your elbows in).  

*Try to perform 3 sets of 15-20 repetitions of each exercise, taking very little rest in between each set (less than 30 seconds).  

There you have it, guys.  A super quick workout that will get that heart rate up, muscles burning, and endorphins flowing! 

Free Workout Wednesday!

Want a great, fat-blasting, cardio workout that you can do in just 30 minutes AND at home??  Well then, here you go!

This is one of my HIIT workouts that I have designed for you busy Hot Mamas on the go! What is HIIT, you ask?  It stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and it basically consists of circuits of exercises that will jack your heart rate up quickly, with short rest periods in between.  This has been shown to be more effective at torching fat than longer periods of steady-state cardio (such as the treadmill or elliptical).  That's because you create an "oxygen debt", which allows your body to burn more calories.  Here's a little explanation about what an oxygen debt is:

“When you exercise, your body uses oxygen to create energy. But when you reach a high intensity during exercise, your body’s need for oxygen exceeds your ability to breathe in that much oxygen and deliver it to the muscles. When this happens, your body goes into an ‘oxygen debt’. Once you go into oxygen debt, not only do your muscles begin to burn and you begin to breathe hard, but you also put your body into a state where it needs to ‘repay’ that oxygen debt after exercise...when you breathe more and breathe deeper, your body burns more calories. Depending on how hard you’ve worked, this oxygen repaying can help you burn anywhere from a few dozen to over a hundred extra calories each hour after you exercises, for up to 24 hours after you’re finished!”

— Ben Greenfield, www.quickanddirtytips.com

Did you get all that?  Basically, the harder you work for that shorter period of time, the more calories you'll burn in the long run! If you're like me, anything that can get a workout done in a shorter period of time (AND burn more calories) is for me!

Now, are you ready to bust it?? Take out that stopwatch (or use the one on your phone), find a small open space, and let's get to work!

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30 Minute HIIT 

Designed By: Jayme Williams

Jump rope (you don't even have to own a jump rope!)* - 2 min

Rest - 30 seconds

Burpees with Pushup** - 2 min

Rest - 30 seconds

High Knees*** - 2 min

Rest - 30 seconds

Jump Squats**** - 2 min

Rest - 30 seconds

(Repeat entire circuit x 3 for a total of 30 minutes)

Explantation of Exercises:

*You can either use a jump rope (jumping at a moderate-fast pace), mimic the use of a jump rope with your hands while jumping (at a moderate-fast pace), OR run up and down stairs if you have those available and would rather do that.

**Starting in a standing position, quickly move into a pushup stance.  Perform a pushup (whether on your toes or knees), and then hop back up to a standing position.  From here, raise your arms and jump up into the air.  That is one "burpee".  

***Starting in a standing position, raise one bent knee as high as you can out in front of you, and then quickly switch to the other knee. Repeat this.  It should look like you're running with an exaggerated elevation of your knees. It also helps to lean back just a little, tighten your core, and pump your arms with the movement.

****Starting in a standard squat position, squat down and touch the ground with your finger tips (or get as close as you can). Then tighten your butt and catapult yourself up out of the squat, raising your arms above your head to increase your height.  Try to land on the balls of your feet to lessen the impact on your knees.  This is one "jump squat".  

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Well, how was it??  Hopefully by now you're sweating bullets and feel fantastic!  And look: your workout is DONE for the day!  Score!

If you have any questions about today's free workout, please comment below or contact me!  I'd love to hear from you!

Why All Women Should Lift Weights

I hate to admit it...but my husband was right.  

Yep, I just said that.  

(Gasp!)

He told me years ago that I should start lifting weights to build muscle and improve bone strength, but I didn't listen to him.  I was dead set on running my three-plus miles several times a week (which I actually did enjoy).  But no matter how much I ran, I just couldn't get the "toned" look I was going for.  

Fast forward to when I was about six months postpartum.  My weight was even lower than my pre pregnancy weight, but my body just looked...well, sad!  Haha!  I finally decided to give weight lifting a try, and man, am I glad I did!  I still love a short run every now and then, but I have definitely been converted to a weights gal! 

I know that lots of women are under the misconception that lifting weights will make you "bulky" or "manly".  That's just not true.  As women, we just don't have enough testosterone in our bodies to build that kind of muscle mass.  The women that you see that are all beefed up are more than likely a) professional bodybuilders that lift weights all day, err day, and/or b) take "supplements" to gain extra muscle.  

So, just try to push that thought out of your head.  Deal?  Instead, let's focus on the benefits of adding weights to your workout routine...

Womanly Curves

You can thank those weights for that flat tummy, curvy bottom, and toned arms and legs. Lifting weights builds muscle, which helps to trim the waist line, lift and shape the bootay, and literally "fill in" the loose skin to give you that toned, healthy look.  Strength training can completely  change your body shape! 

Healthier Heart 

Studies have shown that those who lift weights reduce their risk of a stroke by 40% and heart attack by 15% (on average).  Happy heart, happy body! 

Burn More Calories

Yes, you may technically burn more calories during a cardio session than a weight training session.  However, muscle continues to burn calories all day long--and most of these from fat!  This is because your metabolism increases as your muscles try to recruit new fibers to repair them after a strength workout.

Stronger Bones

As women, we are at a high risk of developing osteoporosis, or a decrease in bone density that makes us more likely to bust a hip (or another bone) later on in life.  Just sixteen weeks of weight training has been shown to increase bone density in the hip by as much as 19%!

Bye, Bye Brain Farts

Believe it or not, resistance training has also been linked to better cognitive function!  It helps your short AND long-term memory, increases attention span, and improves verbal reasoning.  Okay, maybe it can't totally make those well-known "Mommy moments" disappear, but at this point, I'll take what I can get! 

Catch my drift yet?  

Weight lifting is AMAZING for your body, and something all women should incorporate into their workout regimen.  Trust me, I was a skeptic at first.  My body really started to transform after about eight weeks, and those "problem areas" I had always complained about started to literally whittle away.  After seeing how my body was responding to lifting heavy stuff,  I was sold!  

Need more proof?  Here are a few photos that show the continuous change my midsection went through after I started strength training.  The top left picture is from mid-January, when I first joined a gym and was six months postpartum.  The top right is only a couple of weeks later, and you can see that my waist was already toning up.  The bottom left is after about three solid months of weight lifting, and then bottom right was taken the beginning of June, which was five months into my journey.  (And yes, I was boo-white in that last photo.  I had lost all of my tan...sniffle.)

See what I mean?  My stomach doesn't even look like it belongs to the same person, does it? The combination of resistance training and a clean diet really CAN transform your body!  And I guarantee your body will thank you for it!

If you have any questions, or maybe need help getting started in the weight-lifting department, please feel free to contact me!