Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy 5 Ways to Sneak in Exercise on the Cheap

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5 Ways to Sneak in Exercise on the Cheap

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 06:38 PM PST

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Welcome back to Women’s Wellness, a series all about wellness issues that particularly concern women (if you couldn’t figure that out by the title!). Today we’re talking about exercise.

Yes, the dreaded E-word. It’s not a 4-letter word, but it might as well be for some of us! If you are a busy mom (can I get a witness?) who isn’t real keen on exercise to begin with (another witness?) it can be a seemingly insurmountable task to carve out time in your day to get the job done.

But it is possible! I have 5 easy ways for you to squeeze moments of exercise into your day, without costing you an arm and a leg. Because if you can barely afford the time to exercise, you certainly aren’t going to dump your hard-earned money into a gym membership.

Do a 10 or 15 minute routine.

If you’re serious about it, you can squeeze 15 minutes into your day, at least a few times a week. Here are a few suggestions for fitting it into your schedule (I’ve done all of these at one time or another):

Get up early before the kids wake up.
Exercise during naptime.
Exercise before you go to bed (after the kids are already in bed).

Did you notice all those options involved sleeping children? Hmmm. Well, even if your children never sleep, surely you can squeeze in a few moments while they play quietly (or loudly) with one another, or perhaps while they are watching TV (Of course, my children never watch TV. Never! Ahem.).

Now, the question is, what kind of exercise can you do in 10 or 15 minutes? Well, I’ve got you covered! All kinds of quick routine DVDs are available and typically come with 3-5 different routines so you don’t get bored. Some of my favorites are:

Search your local library’s catalog to see if they carry these or similar titles. My library allows me to borrow non-fiction DVDs for 3 weeks at a time, and they have enough DVDs to keep me in a supply of routines without getting bored.

Here are some other ways to get access to these DVDs without paying $15-20 a pop:

I found most of those on Netflix (the availability fluctuates; they may or may not be available all the time). If you already have Netflix, then these resources are already available to you. If not, you can get unlimited streaming from Netflix for $7.99 a month.
Amazon.com has a similar program; if you’re already a Prime member, you can upgrade your membership to unlimited streaming for only $39, which is a little over $3 a month and gives you access to all kinds of streaming exercise DVDs. Or you can pay for each individual title you purchase (same with iTunes) and download (still cheaper than buying the actual DVD).
If you already have cable or satellite TV, chances are, they have an on-demand channel full of exercise routines, including mini-routines like these.

If all else fails, check out Workoutz.com, a website that’s chock full of all kinds of exercises, as well as an exercise routine generator. Be warned that it’s kind of the YouTube of the exercise world, so the videos there are not necessarily offered by professionals. Just so you know.

Take a Walk with Your Kids

Walking has often been touted as the perfect exercise, and happily, it’s also the easiest. Take your kids for a walk outside; they will run in circles around you, and you will all get plenty of exercise! And if baby’s in a stroller, so much the better. Push that baby up the hill, girlfriend!

Use a Pedometer

This Multi-Function Pedometer by Heart Rate Monitors will count all your steps as you take them through the day, as well as calculate the distance you’ve walked, and the calories you’ve burned. And it’s only $6.75! Make it your goal to take 10,000 steps in a day, and this (or any) pedometer will keep track and let you know when you’ve reached that goal. And you don’t have to be going anywhere in particular for the steps to count: figure out ways to add extra steps into your daily routine.

Walk in place as you load the dishwasher or the washing machine.
Take the scenic route wherever you go, even if it’s just to the bedroom in the back of the house.
Stand up, stretch, and walk around during TV commercials.

Play with Your Kids

Kids love a good workout, only they call it “playtime”. Play with your kids – they’ll have a blast, you’ll have a blast, and once again – every one will get exercise! Here are some ideas for kids of all age ranges:

Piggy-back rides
Horsey rides
Catch
Jumping Jacks
Leap frog
Kickball
Soccer/Football/Basketball
Jump Rope
Hopscotch
Races/Relay Races
“Wrestling” or Rough-Housing
Ring Around the Rosie
Duck Duck Goose

Turn Chores into Exercise Opportunities

Most of our “chores” these days have the benefit of a machine to help us, so we don’t get as much exercise in accomplishing household tasks as previous generations did. Build some beneficial movement back into your chores:

Stretch or do basic Pilates/Yoga moves while the mixer is mixing or the blender is blending.
Squat with each handful when loading clothes from the washer into the dryer.
Do lunges while vacuuming.
Do in-place step/aerobic exercises any time you’re standing in one place (at the sink, over the stove, looking in the mirror).
Use a walking mower instead of a riding mower.
Practice ballet positions and plies while blow drying or curling your hair.
When doing any household chore that involves rhythmic or energetic movement already (like scrubbing, reaching up high, dusting, etc.), focus on even movements, strengthening from the core, and breathing with your movements. (It helps to have some experience with Pilates or yoga in order to be effective with this.)

Before you know it, you’ll be fit as a fiddle!

How do you sneak in exercise as a busy woman?