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So you want to start exercising because you know you need to work on your health! Where should you start? Do you need a gym membership or can you do it at home? What equipment do you need and how much is it going to cost? What exercises should you start with?

So many questions for such a simple problem, right?

As a busy working mom, I often struggled with finding time to add exercise into my daily routine. It got to the point that after a long day at the healthcare office, I would only have a few hours with my kids and I refused to compromise this limited time for myself. I think most mom’s can agree with this mentality. What I didn’t know was that I didn’t need an expensive gym membership (oh, how I wish I could have that wasted money back) and all the while, I was not teaching my children the importance of keeping my body healthy and fit like I should have been.

The good news is… Now, I am getting myself healthy and I hope to encourage you to do the same by giving you an understanding of the 4 most important types of exercises that you can do from your home with little to no equipment. And, best of all…. your kids can do it with you!

Not only will you be getting yourself to your optimal health, but you will be leading your children or even your friends and family by example!

So what are these different exercises, you say?

This is the most common type of exercise and the one you are probably most familiar with. Endurance or Aerobic exercise includes things like running, biking, swimming and dancing.

The goal of endurance exercise is to work the heart and lungs by increasing their rate over periods of time. This improves the heart and lung muscles ability to work effectively and transport blood and oxygen more readily.

You will know you are doing it right when your heart rate and breathing increase. Underlying benefits over time and with persistence include a burning off more calories and in turn burning off body fat and weight loss, decrease in blood pressure and blood sugar, improvement of cholesterol by increasing the HDL (good cholesterol) and improvement in mood and decrease in stress.

Endurance exercise works best when your heart rate and breathing increase to a certain intensity. Each person is different and there are specific calculations to see what your goals should be. Learn how to calculate your healthy numbers with this starter bundle

A popular new exercise regimen has grown in recent years and fits in to both the endurance and strength categories. This is the HIIT type of exercise. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training where you maximize your heart rate and respirations by doing short bursts of very high intensity activity followed by short periods of rest and repeat. This type of exercise has been studied in runners for decades and shown to improve endurance, heart and lung health significantly. However, it has recently been modified to also include strength training exercises as well. Although this modification has not been studied nearly as much, it is showing to have good results with strength though opponents argue that it increases the risk for injuries in the muscles and joints due to the intensity .

Strength training is commonly referred to as weight lifting. The goal behind this type of exercise is to build strength and muscle mass. Less commonly known benefits include improvement in posture, decrease in stress, increase calorie burn both during exercise and when not active, decrease blood sugar and stimulate bone growth!

During strength training, you should “feel the burn” as commonly stated, but pain indicates excessive use. Overuse can increase your risk of injury.

You may be thinking you need to purchase a weight machine or heavy equipment to do strength training. This is not the case. Exercises as simple as using your body weight for resistance (push-ups, squats, leg lifts, etc) can get the same effects. If you need more of a challenge, use items you have around your home such as a full milk gallon jug or even your child to give you added weight. I used to get such a kick out of sitting on Julian’s back while he did push-ups with me on him. (This was during our much younger and lighter years of course!) You can also purchase some inexpensive resistance bands to help you with strength training.

I must admit, I did not know that balance was a type of exercise in and of itself. I always though of balance as a positive effect of being fit and having good hand-eye coordination (something that does not run in my family). However, there is a category of exercise geared specifically toward improving one’s balance. These include yoga, tai-chi!

The goal of balance training is to prevent falls, improve vision, improve that hand-eye coordination (I guess I need to focus more on this type of exercise) as well as joint health and improvement in leg muscle stability.

Examples of balance exercises you can do at home include standing on 1 foot for a period of time, walking heel to toe and practicing yoga with one of the plethora of yoga tutorials online. Just be sure to research and find an instructor who is certified to ensure proper technique is followed.

Flexibility training or stretching may also not have been known to be an exercise group of it’s own, however the benefits of flexibility are numerous.

You may be doing your stretching before a workout or even after (strongly recommended but often overlooked), but doing flexibility training as an exercise day in and of itself is very beneficial. Mixing in a day of stretching gives your muscles a break from intense and long workout sessions. Having flexible muscles and joints lessens your risk of cramping, decreases the risk of injury such as strains/sprains or tears.

It is recommended that you do flexibility training 3-4 times per week. This does not include the short stretching you do before your run or power lift session. Stretching should include a short warm-up such as walking in place or arm circles. You should follow with static stretches. With a static stretch, you hold stretch until you feel a pull of the muscle (should not be painful) and hold it for 10-60 seconds. During the hold time, as the muscle relaxes, you may be able to extend the stretch further. Again, do NOT pull to the point of feeling pain. This indicates damage may be occurring

Pulling it all together

In order to maximize your optimal health potential, all 4 exercise techniques should be incorporated. This means switching it up. For example: Day 1: endurance, Day 2: Balance, Day 3: Strength, Day 4: Stretching, Repeat. Of course you can always have rest days in there but the balance and stretch can also be used as rest days because they are not as strenuous on the body as endurance and strength.

What is your workout routine or goal for your workouts?

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