Five Tips to Keep Fit as a Busy Working Mom by Amanda Alexander

Whoever you are or however manic your working week is, maintaining your physical fitness as a working mum is essential to your overall wellbeing.

Exercise is quite simply essential to our overall wellbeing, and you need to take time to plan your schedule.

If you have been putting it off, start right now! By regularly moving your body you will reduce your stress levels, increase your energy levels and motivation. Last but by no means least, you will get more done in less time (always a bonus for working mums!). You could be so much more productive and truth be told you don't have to devote a great deal of time to doing this, either.

Get up earlier in the morning. Most fitness experts and those who like to tell us how to lead our lives agree that eight hours is an optimum amount of time for sleep. How many hours are you devoting? The chances are that you can cut back a little bit on your sleep and set the alarm clock to go 15 to 30 minutes earlier. Morning is definitely the best time to devote to exercise, as there is less to distract you and unless your time management skills are polished, evening time can quickly whittle way.

Trade in your lunch hour. Most people enjoy an hour for their lunch. Trade in the traditional use of this time for time spent exercising. If you don't live near a gym or fitness centre, simply put one foot in front of the other and walk yourself to fitness. If you can force yourself outside whatever the weather, you will feel the benefits in your mind as well as your body. A blast of fresh air will reinvigorate you and improve your efficiency for the afternoon ahead. This is quite simply the easiest way to get your heart pumping. Stride at a pace that gets you slightly out of breath,swing your arms and squeeze your tummy muscles in.

Optimise TV time. Clear some space in front of the tv and set yourself a goal of 100 crunches each day whilst watching your favourite tv show! If you have a stable coffee table, use it for tricep dips. Grab a couple of cans of baked beans and do some bicep curls or shoulder press-ups. The possibilities for exercising as you watch tv are endless.

You should concentrate on what you are doing of course - you can multi-task, can't you? Try three sets like this. See how accomplished you feel?

Take advantage of those chores. As much as we don't like to do household chores, we still have to do them. Picture a workout at the same time? Clean the old-fashioned way! Get down on your hands and knees and scrub away - use that elbow grease! A physical approach to cleaning and work in the garden will all work for you health.

Plan some family activities. You can have great fun working out with your kids? Maybe it's time for you to invest in a bike for each member and to start exploring those local bike trails that you hear all about. This can be a great family bonding activity and you can schedule something like this instead of a visit to the cinema, for example.

These days, professional coaching experts reveal, via the web, a number of other areas for you to consider as part of online life coaching.

Explore specific coaching for women to help you make the most of the time available and to ensure that you maintain tiptop health.