Are you a married woman with kids and a career and not always enough time to manage your fitness routine?

Do you ever struggle to maintain your current fitness level or want to get back to the shape you were in several years ago?

I hear you!  

We’re in the same boat.

Keeping your family’s life in order can leave a girl exhausted.  When your brain is running on fumes it’s easy to let your exercise routine fall off track.

I’m going to give you 5 things you need to keep in mind when you’re thinking about crafting your fitness plan for the day/week/month.

Then I’m going to tell you the 6 things you need to buy so that your 5 needs are met.

Then. BOOM!  Watch it all come together.  Pretty soon your exercise routine will be the easiest part of your day.

This post may contain Amazon (or other) affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. You can get more information about that here.

Let’s get started…

The 5 things your exercise routine needs to encompass:

STRENGTH TRAINING

FLEXIBILITY

VARIETY

ACCOUNTABILITY

HAPPINESS

Now let me explain why these things are so important…

STRENGTH TRAINING

Every woman must include strength-training in her exercise program.

Lifting weights helps maintain your muscles (after the age of 30 women can start to lose muscle mass), burns calories, keeps you lean and contributes to bone health.

So, whether you’re lifting light weights for a lot of reps or you’re diving in with heavy weights and less reps, it doesn’t matter.  

Strength training is an important ingredient that must be a part of your exercise routine.

These are the dumbbells I recommend you buy:

*Always purchase them in pairs

**Pick at least 2 different sizes (based on your fitness level)

5 lbs.

8 lbs.

10 lbs.

12 lbs.

15 lbs.

20 lbs.

The Need>>STRENGTH
The Solution>>DUMBBELLS

FLEXIBILITY

Lengthening and stretching the muscles helps prevent injuries and improves your balance.

Exercises to improve and maintain your flexibility need to be a part of every workout (especially as you get older).

This is the mat I recommend you buy:

Exercise mat

The Need>>FLEXIBILITY
The Solution>>A NICE MAT

VARIETY

Boredom will be the death of your exercise routine.

You have to keep exercise fun, effective and interesting to ensure that you keep showing up.

The best way to do that is to sign up for an exercise on demand service.

Exercise on demand memberships give you access to hundreds of different workouts and styles so that you can always find something that fits your mood for the day.

I recommend that you try one of these for a month.  If you don’t like it then cancel and try another until you find something that you love.

These are the exercise on demand services that I love:

Beachbody on Demand

Cathe on Demand + Live

Daily Burn

You’ll find more information about each of these options in these articles:

Beachbody on Demand–5 Reasons to Give it a Try

Everything You Need to Know About Cathe on Demand and Cathe Live

What is Daily Burn?

The Need>>VARIETY
The Solution>>EXERCISE ON DEMAND

ACCOUNTABILITY

Guess what?

When you write things down it’s more likely that you’ll execute them.

That means you need to be writing down your fitness goals and workouts.

You need a fitness journal to do that.

You also need a way to track your progress WITHIN each workout.

A heart rate monitor is a great way to do that.  Seeing how many calories you burn when you exercise gives you a feeling of accomplishment after every routine.

A heart rate monitor with a chest strap gives you the most accurate reading.

These are the fitness journal and heart rate monitor I recommend:

Fitness journal

Heart rate monitor with chest strap

The Need>>ACCOUNTABILITY
The Solution>>A FITNESS JOURNAL & HEART RATE MONITOR

HAPPINESS

There are some exercises and pieces of equipment that will make you want to punch yourself in the face.  You don’t need to spend money on those.

We’re all different.  What I like might not be what you like.  This is all about you.

Pick at least one more piece of equipment to add to your home gym that makes you smile and get all excited when you think about using it.

Here are a few recommendations:

An aerobic step (this is my product and I love it)

Exercise loops

A Stability Ball

Gliding Discs

The Need>>HAPPINESS
The Solution>>AN EXERCISE TOOL THAT YOU LOVE

Thank you for reading!

Have an incredible workout.

And in case nobody told you today, you’re awesome!!