Your Exercise Regimen: Adding Intensity

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Is it time to kick your exercise routine up a notch?

Move Daily

How about making exercising a daily event like eating dinner or checking your email? We're not saying to do 60 minutes of heart-pumping, shirt-dripping exercise every day. Keep full tilt workouts to four or five days per week, and just set aside 30 minutes to break a gentle sweat on the others. You could …

• Walk the dog.
• Push the baby in the stroller.
• Ride a bike around your neighborhood.
• Take your tennis shoes to work and walk the stairs for 30 minutes at lunch or before you go home.
• Do an exercise video.
• Walk quickly on a treadmill at the gym and watch a TV show.
• Take a yoga or Pilates class.
• Call a friend and go for a rambling hike. (And if you can't delegate childcare, wear your baby in a front- or backpack for added workout benefit!)

Do the Double-Duty Workout

If you've been doing strength training exercises on a regular basis (we hope you have been!), why not add in some new moves for a double-duty, extra-strength workout. Added intensity will increase your lean muscle mass, turning you into a strong, sleek, fat-burning machine! Do this series of exercises once or twice a week and continue doing at least three days of cardio. If you can move every day, even for just 30 minutes, you'll be a rock star!

Perform two sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.

1. Bridge plus crunch
2. Triceps dips plus biceps
3. Double knee tucks plus flip over and hold plank for 30 seconds
4. Leg circles and books with band attached, plus band donkey kicks
5. Move from incline push-ups to push-ups on your knees or toes

Please consult with your physician or healthcare provider before embarking on a new diet or exercise program. Nothing contained on this site should be considered as, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.