Fitness in Under 30 Minutes

0

Guys, life is ridiculous right now. And I don’t even have a kid in school! (You people are saints. Truly!) Between COVID-19 craziness, election year mayhem, and just living on the surface of the freaking sun in Arizona, I have seriously lost all will to do anything anymore. The “Quarantine-15” is a real shady lady and I’ve gotten to the point that I finally have to get back on track and prioritize my fitness again.

Pre-kid I worked out 5+ times a week. I loved to lift weights and run. And I was one of those annoying chicks who woke up at 5am to do it. There was even a season in my life where I was getting up as early as 4am to go running! Man, those were the days. As much as I hate to admit it, life is just different now. After I had my son, I tried to get back in the workout pocket. In the past 2 years I have failed miserably except for a few months last fall when I trained with a friend for a 10-mile run she was doing. But other than that, I have not been able to find my groove again. Early mornings are just a no-go in this season of life. I am physically exhausted from chasing a busy toddler around all day, and I’m mentally drained from the daily mom decision fatigue and from the normal rigors of my accounting job.

My main complaint is I would rather work out in the mornings to just get it done and over with. But the likelihood of that honestly happening are slim to none for the reasons stated above. So, I had to do 2 things. First, suck it up that I can’t have my perfect scenario and work with what I have. And second, I had to find something relatively easy that I could do with a child running around me or relatively quick because I only want to spare a max of 30 minutes during my coveted 2 hours of alone time during my son’s nap. #ifyouknowyouknow

I know there are millions of workout programs that tout being 30 minutes or less. I’ve tried a lot of them, but they either require a lot of equipment or a lot of coordination. I also don’t want to completely exhaust myself in the middle of the day because I still have to chase a toddler up and down my hallway. Again, I just can’t go as hard as I used to before, and I need to be ok with that (#workingonthat). So drumroll please…this is what works for me right now:

Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred

You can purchase this on Amazon Prime. There are 3 videos, each a different level 1-3. You can buy each video for $1.99 or the entire trio for the sweet bargain of $5.97. To me, the best 6 bucks I’ve ever spent. Each video contains 3 circuit rounds which each consist of:

  • 3 minutes of weight/strength exercises (a 30 second single move, then a 60 second compound move each repeated twice)
  • 2 minutes of cardio (two 30-second cardio moves each repeated twice)
  • 1 minute of abs (two 30-second ab exercises)

So, three 6-minute circuits totals 18 minutes of exercise, plus a few minutes of warm up and cool down nets you about a 20 minute workout. Each video/level gets progressively difficult, but you can move through them at your own pace or even go back a video if you need to take it easy for a bit. I find this to be just enough variety to keep it interesting, easy enough to move back and forth through the levels as needed, but also rigorous enough that I do feel like I’ve moved my body well. Best of all, it only requires a small set of hand weights. I use a 5 lb, 8 lb, 10 lb, and 12 lb set. Super easy.

LumoWell 10 minute Workouts

This is a free YouTube playlist that legitimately has 10 minute workouts for specific body parts–arms, abs, butt, legs, etc. It sounds too good to be true, but when I’m running low on either time or motivation, these do the trick. Now, is this program getting me in shape for the Miss Olympia competition? No, but I like these in a pinch for when I just feel like I need to do something for the day. I also like that I can pick what area I want to target, and I can do 2 or 3 of them if I have the time/desire.

Again, this is just what’s working for me right now. This season in my fitness life doesn’t look as intense or disciplined as before. But I’m doing the best I can and I hope this can help give you some ideas to get on a better track, as well. Happy Moving, Mamas! 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here