No More Excuses
Motion is Lotion
As I get older, exercise has become an increasingly important part of my daily routine. Now more than ever, I appreciate the role exercise plays in my life as a vibrant, mobile woman in her late 50s.
And even though I only have half of the Ironman-level endurance I once had, I keep on keeping on. I believe in the importance of staying active and couldn’t imagine my life without movement.
First off, daily exercise should be a requirement for anybody who loves to eat as much as I do. I’d be triple my size if I opted for the couch instead of a workout.
Secondly, if I sit for too long, I get achy. Rising from the couch, sounding like a Rice Krispies treat; snap, crackle, pop after lying around for too long.
Years of running, strength training, and sports in general have left me stiff with tight hip flexors, cranky ankles, and bad feet.
I didn’t fully grasp the importance of mobility exercises until my late forties. I was forced to dedicate more time to moving my joints through their full range of motion. I was sidelined by injuries caused by restricted mobility.
That’s an important story for another day.
Lastly, fitness is my therapy. A simple 2-mile walk in the park, amongst the trees and fresh air, can clear my head and elevate my mood. When I feel lazy and want to sit on the couch, I lace up my shoes and go for a walk.
Sometimes the hardest part is getting started, and once I do, I’m good to go.
Knowing what I know about fitness and how it makes me feel leads me to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to convince my friends and family to move more. It doesn’t always work, but that won’t stop me from trying.
Here’s how you can get started!
Body Weight Exercises
Perform these six exercises in the comfort of your living room. One round of this workout takes approximately 6 minutes. Bring your motivation! Click on each exercise for instructional videos.
More bang for your buck! Muscles worked include: Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, Adductors, Calves, and your core.
The bird dog works your abdominal muscles, spine, hamstrings, glutes, shoulders, traps, and lats. Like the squat, it works many muscle groups at the same time. The trick is to keep from overextending your back when in the extended position.
The next two exercises, to be most effective, will require weights or resistance. Options include a heavy canned item, a gallon jug of water, or something similar you might have on hand. You can purchase a set of resistance bands (10, 15, 20, 25 lbs) here or a small set of 5 lb weights here.
📍Bicep Curl: The bicep curl is a functional exercise. It works your bicep (the front of the arm). You need strong biceps to carry groceries, pick up your child, move boxes, etc.
📍Shoulder Press: Think back to that time you had to store your luggage in the overhead bin on a plane. Or, when you were reaching for something on a high shelf or cabinet. Strengthening your shoulder muscles helps with those movements, as well as good posture. This is also a functional exercise.
- Perform each exercise for 30 seconds (or 10–12 repetitions)
- Do not rest between exercises! Pause during an exercise if necessary.
- Do not rush! Your movements should be controlled.
- You control the intensity! Hype it up!
- One round will take approximately 6 minutes.
- Perform a minimum of 3 sets/rounds, which will take approximately 20 minutes.
When you try this workout, let me know how it went.
Have fun with it!
When your bodyweight workouts start to become stale, you can shake things up with the Bodyweight Stack 52 cards.
These cards were created by military fitness expert Sergeant Volkin, who was awarded a medal from the U.S. Army for designing elite training programs for troops. These cards aren’t just another fitness gimmick—they’re proven to deliver results.
They’re simple. No equipment, no gym membership, and no complicated planning. Just grab a deck and start moving. The workouts are designed to be short but intense—just 5 to 15 minutes—making it easy to fit them into your day, even on your busiest schedule.
The difficulty level builds as you go, so whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to push yourself to elite strength, you’ll keep progressing without hitting a plateau.