The Fit Busy Mum: Seven Habits for Success

The Fit Busy Mum: Seven Habits for Success

Author, speaker and fitness expert Rosemary Marchese, knows how to turn being busy into a positive, fully engaged, healthy and active lifestyle.

Rosemary is launching The Fit Busy Mum: Seven Habits for Success, a book that shares her knowledge and passion for health and fitness with a group of people she knows often struggle to keep fit and put themselves first - mums.

The book focuses on the seven core habits of fit, busy, successful and ultimately happy mums, as well as lots of tips, workouts and stretches.

'I am definitely an advocate for mums keeping fit and healthy, and giving their goals a real go," says Rosemary. 'Many mums don't make their fitness a priority – and it should be, they deserve it.

'While I'm inspired by everyday people trying to keep fit against the odds, I get frustrated by those who make excuses about not having time. I do like to exercise which helps, however I do also have a career and a family, and I am always working on getting the right work-life blend.

'The Fit Busy Mum is designed to inspire and ignite mums to live the life they want – and I believe fitness is a critical part of the journey."

With more than 20 years' experience in the fitness industry as a physiotherapist, author and consultant to the Australian Institute of Fitness, Rosemary has identified seven common habits among fit and active women.

'There is also a great team of health and wellness practitioners working with me to keep my website content fresh and relevant," said Rosemary. 'And I share stories of women who have used The Fit Busy Mum philosophies to reach their life and fitness goals."

Rosemary Marchese is a physiotherapist with over 20 years' experience in the fitness industry. She has 'trained the trainers' having written many fitness courses and the new fitness standards for Australia in 2015.

Rosemary is a successful author, with her first book The Essential Guide to Fitness now in third edition. She is a highly sought after fitness professional and presenter, both nationally and internationally, and is a subject matter expert for the Australian Institute of Fitness.

Rosemary has now released her first book for busy mums, The Fit Busy Mum: Seven Habits for Success, to inspire and empower busy mums to acknowledge that taking care of themselves is important.

Living her life by example to her three fit kids and husband, Rose knows how to keep it real and realistic and her book is designed with that in mind. In her book Rose acknowledges the role of today's -superwoman' mum and how easy it is for mums to fall into what she calls -The Fat Trap of Motherhood'. Through her seven habits for success Rose shares her insights into how she makes it all work so that she can be as fit as she can be within the realms of the life she chooses to lead.

The Fit Busy Mum: Seven Habits for Success
Author: Rosemary Marchese
Available from all good book stores and online at www.thefitbusymum.com.au  

RRP: $29.95

 

Interview with Rosemary Marchese

Question: What inspired The Fit Busy Mum?

Rosemary Marchese: The Fit Busy Mum was inspired by the hundreds of questions I get asked by mums who are struggling with finding the time and inclination to get over the 'I can't be stuffed' mentality when it comes to exercise. Mums are busy, but I could see there are some mums that appeared to be able to commit to exercise despite a busy life, while others are not. The mums that are struggling with fitness and weight are often battling what I call 'The Fat Trap of Motherhood'. And by that, I don't mean that they are just stuck at a weight that they are not happy with, although often they are, but I'm more referring to the obsession with the scales that has led to them forgetting what's important - fitness. Busy mums need effective workouts, sure, but they also need to implement habits that put them on the path to success in all areas of their lives, no matter their goals. When I questioned a range of mums I found that there were seven common habits practiced by fit mums and mums who are taking positive steps every day towards all of their life goals.


Question: What is your number one piece of exercise advice for a new mum?

Rosemary Marchese: If you've had an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery, and your doctor says it's okay, then commencing pelvic floor exercises and light exercise, such as walking, can really help your recovery, lift your mood and improve your sleep (when you get the time!). Even a few minutes of walking each day is better than nothing and is a great step in the right direction.


Question: What's a typical week of exercise like, for you?

Rosemary Marchese: I'm a busy mum, just like you, so for me my training schedule tends to differ from week-to-week but I always make sure I train first thing in the morning. There's no more motivation for me than first thing in the morning. At the moment I will do 2-3 HIIT (high intensity interval training) sessions per week (30-45 minutes each session), 2 x 30 minute runs on alternate days and perhaps a longer run on a Saturday morning. On Sundays I either like to rest but do something active with the kids. We love going for a long family bike ride on Sundays if we get the opportunity.


Question: Can you share a workout featured, in your book, with us?

Rosemary Marchese: The workouts in my book are all 30 minutes...and that includes a 5 minute warm-up and 5 minutes at the end to cool down and stretch. These are my 'go-to' workouts when I am away on holidays or I am really busy and struggling to find the time and energy to exercise. The way I look at it is that if I know the workout is only 30 minutes then I will give 100% effort. It's a quick workout and I don't have time to muck around. I can manipulate the training schedule so that I do 3 x full body workouts with a day in between or I can do a workout every day with a focus on legs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and upper body and abs on Tuesday and Thursday.

Question: What would we find in your gym bag?

Rosemary Marchese: My iPhone with earphones and my arm brace so that I can listen to music.
Hat
Water bottle
Sweat towel
iSport Wrist tracker
A copy of 'The Fit Busy Mum: Seven habits for success', for inspiration and ideas when I travel.


Question: One of my full body workouts follows:

Rosemary Marchese:
30 Minute full body workout
These workouts are great to do two to three times per week with a rest day in between.

They are great for beginners who may not want to do, or are struggling to do, five really intense sessions per week. Generally, three times per week (with a day's rest in between) is ideal for fat burning and improving muscle tone. Don't worry, you won't -bulk up'. On the other days, you need to try to keep the body moving with some lower intensity workouts, like 30-60 minute walks, sport with the kids or perhaps even a swim. The trick is to keep moving while letting the body recover from the previous day's more intense session. This is -active recovery'. So, you're not sitting around -undoing' all the great work you did the day before but simply letting your body rest so that you are in for a lifetime of fitness and health.

The book includes four full body workouts. You could go from workout one to four over a four-week period or do Workout 1 for four weeks, and then move on to Workout 2, and so on so that you have four months' worth of workouts. The reason this is possible is because you are competing against no one but yourself. It's not a race.
Do 20 repetitions of each exercise carefully and with great technique. You should be huffing and puffing but nowhere near vomiting or feeling sick. If you're truly struggling, then you could drop the repetitions, reduce the weight and in some cases leave off the extra weight all together, such as in squats. Reduce the high impact moves to low impact moves, e.g. instead of using a skipping rope, you could do some simple side taps with your legs.

5 min warm-up: jog/fast walk
5 min cool down and stretch

The Fit Busy Mum: Seven Habits for Success
Author: Rosemary Marchese
Available from all good book stores and online at www.thefitbusymum.com.au
RRP: $29.95

 

Photographer credit: Andrew Fawcett
Interview by Brooke Hunter