Reconnect With Yourself: Easy Ways To Get Back Into Fitness

If you were like most busy Moms, between taking care of the kids, cooking, cleaning, caring for pets, and maybe even working The 9-5, you hardly had any time left for exercise.

Now with an empty nest, you have more time and you’re looking for some easy ways to reconnect with fitness.

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What Are Some Easy Ways To Get Back Into Fitness?

When you’re ready to get back into fitness, the first step is to decide if you want to do the work at home or at a gym.

Home Gym vs. Membership

With all the empty bedrooms, you have the extra space to set up a home gym. But, why would you do that when there are a multitude of clubs you can join?

If you’re looking to get out of the house for more social interaction, a gym membership may be right for you. Planet Fitness, Anytime Fitnes, LA Fitness, or the YMCA are a few of the most popular gyms you could join. My son has been trying to get me to join a club; however, my plan is to utilize my home gym equipment instead, and try to be more consistent.

If you’re more of a homebody, a home gym has the following advantages over a gym membership:

no membership fee
no guilty feelings for paying, but not going
more convenient
you don’t have to get ready to go
no fighting traffic or crowds, for parking or use of equipment
you can work out with people your own age (aka, your spouse or with a friend)

As is human nature, making your way to the gym sometimes falls by the wayside, giving way to more important things (speaking for myself…excuses!). One of the biggest benefits of having a home gym is that, if you fall off the workout bandwagon and want to jump back on, your home gym is right there in the next room, ready and waiting for you.

The following miscellaneous equipment is useful for either gym space:

Dumbbells
Exercise Ball
Exercise Mat
Fan
Headbands
Jump Rope
Resistance Bands
Towel
Water Bottle

Strength Training

Studies have shown that we start to lose muscle mass beginning at the ripe ol’ age of 30! Crazy, right?!

I don’t know about you, but when I was 30, I thought the fitness stuff could wait until much later! Well, later’s here, and I could just kick my young little self. Ugh!

It’s time for Empty Nester Moms to get serious about reconnecting with fitness, along with many other health and wellness aspects of our lives.

BowFlex Home Gym

We’ve had a BowFlex Home Gym for many years. In fact, we’re on our second model as we upgraded at some point.

The BowFlex Home Gym is a great system, which enables you to work your entire body to gain strength, flexibility, and mobility in the comfort of your own home.

The resistance-based training mimics free weights, while making the most of your space. It provides the ability to tailor a routine of different exercies, making it perfect for beginner to advanced users.

Strength Training Workout

Some days, I’ll work on my arms and legs. If I’m running short on time or energy, I’ll alternate my workouts—arms one day, and legs the next.

My current strength training workout is:

Arms

Bench Press
Chest Fly
Tricep Kickbacks
Bicep Curls
Lat Pulldowns

Legs

Leg Curls
Leg Extensions
Hip Abductors
Hip Adductors

We’ve had our Home Gym for a long time. If we upgrade again, we’ll buy this one as it has similar features.

Cardio

My doctor recently told me that I should be walking 30 minutes/day, 5 times/week. As opposed to walking on just flat terrain, she suggested I walk on an incline which promotes many health benefits.

Since it rains a lot where we live, we’ve gone through a few different treadmills over the years. Fortunately, our current one has the incline feature my doctor suggested.

BowFlex TreadClimber

The BowFlex TreadClimber is like a stair stepper and treadmill combo, with an incline feature.

Incline walking is low-impact exercise for those with joint injuries, osteoarthritis, or low bone density. Unlike a flat treadmill, walking on an incline will work your muscle groups, great for toning and strength training, and can provide a much quicker cardio workout. Bonus!

I’ve had both types of treadmills, and I’d never buy a flat one again!

I recently learned that BowFlex has discontinued the TreadClimber model. As an alternative treadmill with the incline feature, I recommend the BowFlex BXT8J Treadmill.

Cardio Workout

During the summer, I often walk outside while listening to podcasts. When the days get rainy and cold, I turn to my BowFlex TreadClimber for my cardio workout.

If I haven’t been on my TreadClimber for awhile, I’ll start with walking for 15 minutes, then work my way up to 30 minutes, as my doctor suggested. If I go at least 30 minutes, I work up a good sweat and know it’s good for my heart.

When I was in high school, I used to run in both track and cross country. My cross country coach worked us so hard! There was a farm, near our school, with a huge hill in the cow pasture. Our coach got permission from the farmer to use the hill for our practice course. This hill was so steep that we aptly named it, “Misery Hill,” and let me tell you, it lived up to its name! I really don’t know how I survived those days…

Now that I’m much older and wiser, I’ve found that walking is definitely easier on the joints than running. To improve my heart health, I’ll slowly infuse a HIIT workout into my BowFlex TreadClimber routine, where I’ll walk for a specified time, run for a short time, and repeat.

Oh, and these days, I stay far away from cow pastures!

Dancing

Another great way to boost your cardio workout is through dancing, so make sure your home gym has plenty of floor space, and a sound system for music. Music will get you moving!

A very popular Latin-inspired aerobic dance exercise that I really enjoy is Zumba!

I love the loud music, the party-like atmosphere, and positive energy of the instructors—it makes for a really fun workout!

There are Zumba classes available online, or you can check your local area for in-person classes. Along with regular classes, some areas have Zumba Gold, which is a slower-paced workout for older peeps, like us.

Exercise Bike

My daughter has been telling me that I should buy a Peloton bike, so I’m currently exploring this!

Workout Shoes

If you’re looking for some new workout shoes, I recommend the brand, Hoka, which are super comfortable and supportive, available in a variety of styles and colors.

Visit hoka.com for great shoes, clothing, and accessories.

Water Fitness

If you don’t have a pool, and don’t want to pay high monthly fees to swim at a private club or YMCA, check to see if either of them offer day passes.

A day pass eliminates the guilt of buying a membership, but not going. Instead, you’d have the flexibility of going when you feel like it, and paying as you go.

Our local YMCA has a day pass, which I might use for their group classes a couple times per week, to supplement my home gym exercise routine.

How have you reconnected with fitness?

Please leave a comment!

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