It’s happening again. Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving, “the Holidays,” Uncle Ed’s birthday, the in-law’s anniversary, New Year’s Eve, then New Year’s Day! Are you short on time too? This is a very busy time of year for everyone, and you have to keep up, or you’ll find yourself even more overwhelmed. Though it is hard to find time for yourself during the busy holiday season, making time for fitness doesn’t have to equate to an hour-long workout at the gym. My motto: Do what you can, when you can, because ALL activity adds up!

Here are 10 fun ways you can burn 10 calories, FAST!

1. Run up and down the stairs for 45-60 seconds.
2. Vacuum two large rooms (okay, maybe not fun – let’s call this “multi-tasking”).
3. Put on some great music and dance like no one is watching.
4. Play tag with your kids.
5. Go get the mail, and take three fast laps around your house while you’re out there.
6. Park in the furthest space from the door at the grocery store. Pushing a full cart of groceries clear across the parking lot burns calories and provides resistance for a two-for-one mini-workout.
7. Better yet, park at the end of the driveway and unload the groceries. The extra walking with heaving bags in your hands will be great exercise. You get bonus points if you have a steep or very long driveway.
8. When you’re unloading the groceries, before you put that gallon of milk in the fridge, use it to do 6-10 bicep curls per arm, then hold it in front of you while you do a set of 8-12 squats or lunges.
9. Set the timer on the microwave and see how many jumping jacks you can complete in one minute.
10. Rake leaves! This is a great upper body workout.

these are "soft" weighted fitness balls

Some recent research shows that crunches, the old standby for ab exercises, only targets 3 of the abdominal muscles. Yet there are muscles that surround the entire core, acting as a girdle to support your spine, increase power and speed, improve stability, and oh yes, give you that six-pack look.

Six-pack abs aside, you need a strong core…

A strong core is your center of power. Powerhouse. Like a rocket ready to take off on a moments notice. Okay, you get the idea. When your core is weak, or shall we say, not as strong as it could be, then your back is not supported as well. Think of all the daily activities you do that require reaching, bending, twisting, turning, and so on. Every time you do that ‘stuff’ you’re asking a lot of your back, and while it is designed to do all of those things, without a strong core acting as a girdle around it, one day that little twist to reach for something could send you right to the couch for two days. Or worse.

But wait, there is more. If you are an athlete or participate in regular physical activity, a strong core is your secret weapon. It helps propel you forward (really fast, if you want, and with POWER), can help you change directions on a dime (without losing your balance), and can take minutes off your personal best if you are a runner. Golfers…a strong core will improve your swing, and help reduce the risk of repetitive stress injuries. Sports requiring jumping, like basketball and volleyball, require explosive power. Yeah, the legs deliver a good bit, but the core – a strong one will make it SO much easier. Have I convinced of the merits of having a strong core? I could go on…but I won’t. I’ll save it for another post, but take away this much: include core work in your exercise routine a minimum of three times per week. And one exercise alone won’t do it – you need to work the front, back and sides, ideally from different planes, to get the best bang for your buck. More on this multi-directional stuff later. ;0)

Here are 2 moves to try, neither of which requires a single crunch!

1-LEGGED REVERSE CHOP

Ideally, use a medicine ball (4-6lbs should do) or a Duraball (a soft, smaller weighted ball). If you have neither, a dumbbell will do.

Begin by standing on one leg. Make sure hips are level. You can check this by raising and lowering the hip of the raised leg until both knees are level and hip points are facing forward.

Next, hold the weighted ball, or dumbbell, in both hands at about hip height. At a speed that is appropriate for your level of fitness and experience with this exercise, raise the ball diagonally from the hip, upward across the body, ending above the ear of the SAME side as the leg you are standing on.

The abdominals should be drawn in (this is what I call, “zipping it up,”) toward the spine, and pelvic floor contracted throughout the move.

Return to starting position without lowering the raised leg and repeat 10-12 times before switching sides, or direction of the ball.

For added challenge, you could take the ball in the opposite direction of the raised leg, increase the speed of the ball, add a bit of rotation, or stand on a BOSU or balance cushion. You can get creative as your balance and core strength improves.

To progress this exercise, you can use a heavier ball, add more repetitions, add an additional set or two, or again, begin using an unstable surface as I mentioned above.

MEDICINE BALL PLANK

This is a fun one too. I use the word “fun” when I really mean, “challenging.” ;0)

Using any hard medicine ball (weight of ball isn’t important for this exercise, and a softer med ball probably won’t large enough), place the ball near your feet.

Then, assume the standard elbow plank position: up on the toes, elbows stacked under shoulders, forearms on the floor, neck neutral (this is important!), and abdominals pulled in tight.

Next, hoist your toes up onto the medicine ball. The nature of the ball is, of course, to move, so it is your job to KEEP IT STILL. This is the “fun” part.

For starters, hold for 10-15 seconds, gradually building up to 30, 45, and 60 seconds. Eventually, you may be able to pass the ball back and forth between your feet, add Pilates push-ups, and more “fun” stuff.

This is actually one of the better questions I’ve received recently. Instinctively, my first thought is NO. More on this in a minute.

If, however, you are new to fitness and just starting to exercise regularly, then by all means do whatever type of exercise you like, even if it means doing the same thing every day. You will eventually reach a point when the results taper off, you lose motivation, get bored, or all of the above. That is when you’ll want to mix it up.

Even if you are a fitness guru, there will come a time when your “normal” workout routine isn’t working, or you suffer from burnout (this is common). To keep your muscles challenged and continue to see results, you need include the following components in your routine:

1. Variety

2. Cardiovascular exercise

3. Muscle strengthening exercise

4. Progression (which is just a fancy word for, “gradually making it harder” so that muscles and/or cardiovascular fitness continue to improve)

5. Stretching

Variety is the spice of life, and also the key to a successful workout routine. By continually surprising your muscles with new challenges, they will in turn adapt and become stronger, more efficient.

To mix up your routine, you  might try martial arts, swimming, weight training, yoga or Pilates, Zumba, BodyPump…you get the picture. This is also called “cross training.”

Cardiovascular exercise is the calorie-burning equivalent of driving your car on the highway. Aim for 30-60 mins on most days of the week.

Strength training is beneficial in many ways. It builds lean muscle, which increases resting metabolic rate. It also helps prevent injury by strengthening the muscles around the joints.

Progression will get you from A to B. You can progress both your cardiovascular and strength training routines, and there are many ways to do it. Read more about how to progress your routine.

Stretching We sit all day, move forward  most of the time, and, as the title of this post would indicate, tend to do the same workouts over and over. As a result, muscles get T-I-G-H-T. Stretching at least a few times a week for 15-20 minutes (2-3 minutes for each major muscle if you do 8 stretches and hold each one 15-30 seconds, and repeat), will go a long way toward improving elasticity, and help prevent injury. I’m a fan of yoga, as well as Pilates, but really, any stretching is good in my book.

You might also like: Is your workout working?and, Strength Training 101

Do you have a favorite “mix it up” routine? What do you do to add spice to your workouts?

Do you go through a weekly workout routine without giving it much thought?  Hey – not judging…I’ve been guilty of this as well. What type of exercises we do, whether cardio or strength training, are many times chosen based on our schedules and how much time we have available for a workout. Personally, I tend to lean toward cardio workouts, and find I have to work strength training into my weekly schedule, else it would get pushed aside.  Regardless of what you choose to do on a regular basis, the real question is:  How do you know if what you’re doing is helping you reach your fitness goals?

5  Simple Ways to Gauge Progress…

1.  First, if you are just starting out with a regular schedule, give yourself 6-8 weeks, (preferably, 12), before assessing your progress. Changing too much too soon can hinder progress. (Still waiting for results? Keep at it, and have patience)

2.  If your goal is weight loss, don’t weigh in everyday, but don’t avoid the scale either. I recommend weighing in about once per week, and on the same day each week. Any more, and you may become frustrated by daily fluctuations. If you are not losing weight despite regular workouts and healthier eating, then perhaps you need to add longer cardio sessions, add strength training twice per week (if you aren’t strength training at all) , or jump into interval training.

3.  If your goal is to increase strength, a simple check to see if your routine is working is to ask yourself this question: Is your last repetition easier than it was a week or two ago? If so , you are getting stronger. Or, if  you can easily perform more repetitions, then your routine is working and it is time to increase your load. (Strength training progression)

4.  Are your clothes fitting differently? Sometimes body shape changes before there are changes on the scale.

5.  Are you able to workout longer during your cardio workouts, and without as much huffing and puffing? If yes, then it is time to increase distance, speed, or incline so that changes continue to take place. (How to build endurance)

Most importantly, be consistent. What you do every day matters more than what you do once in awhile, so give your body time to adapt to the changes you’re striving for. (Get past road blocks to find your path to fitness)

Side, reverse, walking, curtsy, diagnal…there are almost as many lunges as there are days in the week, which is great if you like variety. The wonderful thing about any lunge is that you don’t need any equipment at all to load the muscles being worked – you just might have to do more repetitions to achieve fatigue. But when you do add load, wowhooza – what a workout! My new favorite “loaded” lunge is the front lunge. Note the picture demonstrates a body weight load, where the load is the upper body leaning over the quad, loading the hamstring and glute.

To increase the degree of difficulty, hold a dumbbell at chest level, then take a step forward, as shown, then slowly hinge forward at the waist and place the dumbbell (or weighted ball) in front of your front foot – preferably touching the floor. Pause, then return to the starting position by first bringing the weight back up to the chest, pushing off the front heel, and engaging the gluteal muscles of the trailing leg until your feet are positioned side-by-side again. Repeat 8-10 times on the same leg, then switch legs.

(photos from AceFitness.org

Experiment with an 8-10 lb range to see how it feels – you can always add more or less weight if you need t0.

Muscles worked: Primarily, the gluteas maximus, medius, and minimus, quadriceps, and hamstrings. You also use the transverse abdominus and obliques to help stabilize the core. Notice that if your core isn’t engaged, or is weak, you may experience a balance challenge as you lunge forward.