Elisa's Exercise Secret: The Internet

Elisa's goal was to do strength training twice last week, and the good news is she's batting .500. She was able to get up early on Friday and walk her hilly neighborhood loop, but somewhere between her son's 1st birthday party this weekend and her trunk shows, she wasn't able to sneak in a second session.

This week, Elisa was eager to figure out a new approach. She needed something more than "just go downstairs and work out with weights"; Elisa wants to maximize her time, and going down to the basement with 20 minutes of time and a faint memory of some old, stale exercises wasn't going to work. Enter, the Internet! It's not just for bargain shopping; it's also a place where you can find customized workouts, whether you prefer videos, or printouts (like Elisa). Elisa had been receiving lots of "lose weight, get fit" emails (aren't we all, 'tis the season!), but this time, she finally clicked on the links. Soon she found herself with core workouts, strength workouts...really, more workouts than she could use in a lifetime. She printed out her favorites and plans to use them this week.

Do you have web-workouts that you can share? We'd love to hear about them!

Elisa has a 5-minute workout on the exercise ball, a condensed core workout (15 minutes) and a few more modules. She plans to let her workout grow to the time she has. No workout is set in stone, and nothing scary like a 90-minute commitment.

After Elisa shared her workout plans, I asked her if there was anything else I could do to help her clear the deck and ensure that she works out twice this week. She said no, unfortunately, but she did think of something her husband could do. Elisa knows herself well enough to know that if she waits until the kids go to bed to work out, she's going to find her way to a cozy chair, not the workout room. So she's going to ask her husband if one day a week, he can manage the after-work, pre-dinner hour so that she can sneak in a work out in their weight room.

With his help (and perhaps even a gentle nudge), Elisa knows that she can get it done. And as we all know, when momma is (fit and) happy, everyone is happy.

Good luck Elisa!

*Check out our Ultimate Move Finder to find a routine that works for you.