Moms, Rock Your World in 10 Minutes!
10 minutes and a jump rope
by: Lara Harrington, ISSA, ACSM
Fitting in exercise so you can fit into your pants... It’s really not as elusive as it may seem. My life motto: “10 minutes will rock your world”. Whether its 10 minutes taken to focus on your breath, 10 minutes to sit and enjoy your morning coffee, or 10 minutes to exercise - you can reap huge rewards from taking just 10 minutes to focus on you; your mind and your body.
I first discovered the wonderful world of ‘short’ workouts after my daughter was born. I was on maternity leave and the pressure was on to return to work (as a personal trainer) in outstanding shape. I wanted more than anything to demonstrate that it is possible to look and feel great after childbirth - right after childbirth, not 3 years later;)
My saving grace? A $5 jumprope I bought at Target. Every second I got, I hit the rope. If Margot (my daughter) fell asleep...jump rope. Waiting for food to heat up in the microwave...jump rope. Taking the baby for a walk I would stop periodically and jump rope. Before getting in the shower... jump rope.
Here’s what I learned:
- I was awful at jumping rope, but only in the beginning. There’s only one way to get better at something and I was determined to become a lean, mean, jumping machine.
- Turns out that jumping rope for 10 minutes has the same energy requirements as jogging for 30 minutes. It’s a great way to build endurance, and an added bonus is that it helps with your hand-eye coordination too. All you moms know how frustrating mommy brain can be... Honing your hand eye coordination helps to keep your brain sharp. We like that!
- If you’re new to jumping rope or if you haven’t tried it since you were a kid, you can start by counting your jumps. Try not to get too tied up with form, just get over the rope and count your consecutive jumps so that you have a bench mark and a goal. It may be 10, it may 100... guaranteed it will take your breath away.
- Once you get the hang of jumping you will notice your efficiency improving. You’re not jumping as high, you’re landing softer, you’re quicker with the rope, and you’re reaching higher numbers before tripping or quitting. Now you can adjust your benchmark and goal.
- One minute of jump rope is typically about 120-140 jumps. Therefore, if you want to jump rope for 10 minutes, you’re looking at about 1200 jumps, or you can just set a timer. Split it up however you like, but when you reach that 1200th jump - I promise you’ll feel like a million bucks!
- Make every second count. It’s important to add strength training into the mix, although you can do that in 10-20 minutes too - That’s how we do it at Boutique Fitness.
By the time I returned to work I was below my pre-pregnancy weight. I went from working out 1-1.5 hours/day to working out for 10-20 minutes/day and I was in the best shape of my life.
The key is to exercise with intention.
10 minutes will rock your world, and you owe yourself AT LEAST that much.
Boutique Fitness is Lara Harrington & Angela Corrieri-Johnson. We offer private and small group personal training in 20 - 30 minute sessions. It is our goal to inspire you to live optimally.
Boutique Fitness
502 Pleasant St.
New Bedford, MA 02740
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