What weights

I hit the gym today. I have a lovely friend who I meet every Tuesday morning, she takes my beautiful boy for a walk and a coffee while I hit the weights, then we all go for a tea or lunch and catch up. Its these kinds of situations we as mum's need to take advantage of. Now i'm not saying we all have hundreds of friends and family lining up to whisk our little ones away, but most of us will find someone who is more than happy to spend a little time hanging out with and who our little one is content to hang out with while you get some much needed time out. When you get some time out make the most of it. Catch up on sleep if you need to, I am not saying run yourself into the ground but getting out and going for a run or heading up to the gym could do a world of good. Energy creates energy and you need to do something for yourself - if mum is happy bub is happy - sounds good to me!

So when I get to the gym what do I do?

I always spend 5 to 10 minutes on a cardio machine warming up, I tend to go for a treadmill or cross trainer - machines that are weight bearing, I believe that if your body is carrying itself during your cardio work it will want to become lighter to make it easier so unless there is a reason that you should avoid weight bearing cardio then steer clear of the recumbent bike. We are operating on a time frame here, gone are the days that we can mosie on along to the gym and pick and choose our exercises whilst chatting left right and center to everyone we meet. Now its i pod on, head down, on a mission to get the best, most efficient workout into a short amount of time.

I then head to the weights area choosing compound exercises, using more than one muscle group. For example a Shoulder Press is a compound exercise as both your triceps and deltoids are in play whereas a bicep curl is an isolated exercise as only your bicep is working. If you want to burn more energy and gain a more efficient workout compound exercises are the way to go. Think squats, lunges, push ups, chest press, rows, lat pull down....... you get the idea. Leave a bicep curl or triceps push down to the end of your workout and slot it in if you have time.

One of my favorite workouts is one where I combine exercises - I will do a squat with a shoulder press, a sumo squat with a bicep curl, a lunge with a lateral raise - not only do get an awesome workout buts its fun and interesting too.

Another great tip to keep your heart rate up, stay moving and burn more calories is to begin with 10 minutes of cardio then do your first two or three exercises then hop back onto your cardio machine for another 10 minutes, do your next few exercises then its back for your 10 minutes cardio - you will walk out sweating and you will have spent your valuable time well - nice work.