Fit Mommy Friday

One of my New Years goals was to be more active. More specifically, to find ways to work exercise and activity into my routine on a daily basis.

So, to help me along that path, I thought I would start Fit Mommy Fridays, where once a week I give a fitness tip or let you know about an activity we use at our house.

(Of course, that means I have to come up with something different every week... get the picture?)

I crave variety when I exercise, but I also don't have a lot of time. So, this week I figured out a way to turn a household chore into a mini-workout. In my view, if it gets my heart rate up for 15 minutes or more, it's a good thing.

We'll call it The Laundry Basket Workout.

Some people do laundry every day. Me, I wait until the hamper we have in every bedroom is overflowing full. That means once or twice a week, it's laundry day.

We also have a two-story house with a full basement. Where do you think our laundry is? The Basement, of course.

So, the workout is this.

1. Distribute the clothes evenly among several laundry baskets or hampers, making sure none of them are too full to carry. Make sure you have sneakers on and that the steps are totally clear -- no toys or books or shoes!
2. Carry each hamper all the way to the basement (down 2 flights of stairs) and run all the way back to the top floor -- full speed. Without pausing, get the next hamper and repeat until everything is downstairs. (Make sure not to go so fast that you loose your balance. Safety first.)
3. Once all the clothes are in the basement, walk slowly up the stairs again with walking lunges. (Step forward on one leg, lift the other behind you, squeezing your glutes. Then step with the rear leg to the next step.) If you want the lunges to do more work, try holding a 3-5 lb. weight in each hand.
4. Keep the laundry baskets in the basement until everything is clean and/or folded. Repeat the process up the stairs, starting with bringing each basket carefully up the steps and jogging down again and finishing with a set of walking lunges.

Altogether, it took me about 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the laundry was clean to complete the exercise. It felt good and it was completely free of charge (no gym membership required.) Too bad laundry day only comes a couple of times a week.

(OMG, did I just say that?)

- Midwest Mom