Workouts for Busy Moms: A Week Built From the Minutes You Have
You don't need a free hour. Lift on 2 or 3 days, in pieces as short as 10 minutes, and let brisk walks add up to 150 minutes a week. Since 2018, the US guidelines count activity of any length. Pick the week that matches how your day breaks up: ten minutes at a time, one nap a day, or three fixed half hours.
Short pieces count, and lifting is the part not to skip
The US Physical Activity Guidelines used to count activity only when you did it for 10 minutes or more at a time. The 2018 edition dropped that rule: activity of any length counts, and the guidelines say even climbing a few flights of stairs does.
The week they ask for has two parts: at least 150 minutes of moderate activity, like brisk walking, and strength work for all your major muscles on 2 or more days, on top of those minutes. For new moms, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) suggests three 10-minute walks a day as one way to reach the 150.
The strength days are the part most women miss. In CDC survey data for 2022 and 2024, 25.1% of women aged 18 to 44 met both guidelines in their free time. Another 21.7% met only the aerobic one, and just 6.1% only the strength one. The American College of Sports Medicine says going from no lifting to some is where you gain the most, and asks for at least two sets of each move, twice a week. So if a day only leaves room for one piece, make it a lifting one.
Three weeks for three kinds of busy
None of these weeks asks for more than 30 minutes in one go. In the table, a “pair” is two lifting moves done back to back; the next section shows which ones. If you had a baby this year, check with your doctor before you start, and read what to know after a baby first.
| Week | Fits | Lifting | Brisk walking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ten minutes at a time | A new baby, or days you can't plan | 2 days, say Monday and Thursday. Three 10-minute pieces spread through the day, one pair each. | Three 10-minute walks on 5 days |
| One nap a day | One quiet window of about 20 minutes | 3 days, say Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 20 minutes, two pairs each time: 1 and 2, then 2 and 3, then 3 and 1. | 30 minutes on 5 days |
| Three fixed half hours | Slots you can book: before work, a lunch break, after bedtime | 3 days, say Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All three pairs. | 25 minutes on 6 days |
A new baby, or days you can't plan
- Lifting
- Brisk walking
One quiet window of about 20 minutes
- Lifting
- Brisk walking
Slots you can book: before work, a lunch break, after bedtime
- Lifting
- Brisk walking
The walks have to be brisk to count: a pace where you can talk, but not sing. Pushing the stroller to the park or walking to school counts at that pace. Missed a walk? Add the minutes to another day. Any split that reaches 150 works.
What goes in each piece
Each piece is one pair from our 30-minute workout at home: two moves done back to back, a rest, then another round. Pair 1 is a squat and a row, pair 2 a lunge and a push, pair 3 a glute bridge and a core move. A pair takes 6 to 8 minutes, so a minute or two of marching and arm circles first makes it a piece of about 10 minutes.
Use dumbbells or a backpack of books. That guide has both versions, with the reps and rests for each move. Nothing in it jumps, so you won't wake anyone.
When every rep starts to feel easy, add weight. Our dumbbell guide helps you choose a lighter and a heavier pair. Once lifting is a habit, more sets build more muscle: in one review, more weekly sets meant more growth.
How moms on Solin fit it in
In reviews of Bye Bye Baby Weight, a 6-week challenge on Sia Clyde's Solin page, moms talk about the clock more than the moves:
- “I put all my babies to sleep and can manage to complete a days workout in 30 mins.” Desiree S.
- “Also love that it’s flexible and designed in a way that as a new mom, I can fit it in whenever.” Ashley H.
- “The timing fit perfect in my crazy schedule!” Nadia H.
Jordan Sarakinis builds her postpartum challenge around those windows: “Squeeze it in during a nap, a feeding, or the quiet ten minutes before the house wakes up.”
Three things make it stick:
- Give each piece a slot. Pick the days and the moments, like nap time or right after school drop-off, and leave the dumbbells where you'll see them.
- Don't start over after a missed day. In a study of how habits form, one missed day had little effect. It took people 66 days on average to make a new habit automatic, and some took far longer, so give it a few months.
- Do it with other moms. Every Solin challenge has its own community feed. Of 93 winners we interviewed, 90% credited the challenge community for motivation and support. Community beats willpower.
If you had a baby this year
Check with your doctor before you start or change workouts after a birth. ACOG says that after a healthy pregnancy and a vaginal delivery, it's usually safe to start a few days after the birth, or as soon as you feel ready. After a C-section or complications, ask your ob-gyn when. Build up gradually, and stop if anything hurts.
Work your pelvic floor too. A 2025 review of studies on exercise after birth found that pelvic floor training cut the odds of leaking urine by 37%. See a pelvic health physical therapist before you run or do hard core work if you leak, feel heaviness or dragging, have pelvic or lower back pain, or see a gap down the middle of your belly.
Our postpartum workout plan goes stage by stage. If you'd like a coach, Jordan's challenge is 20 minutes a day for 6 weeks.
Questions moms ask
Do 10 minute workouts actually work?
Yes. A review of 19 studies found that several short sessions improved fitness and blood pressure as much as one longer session of the same total. For strength, add the pieces up over the week: all three pairs on two days works every major muscle twice.
Does mommy pooch go away with exercise?
Exercise can't take fat off one spot. A review of 13 studies found that training a muscle didn't reduce the fat over it, so lifting and walking work on your whole body instead. If the bulge is a gap between your stomach muscles after pregnancy, called diastasis recti, see your doctor or a pelvic health physical therapist.
What is the best workout program for moms?
The one you'll keep doing. Look for strength work 2 or 3 days a week in sessions that fit the time you have, a way to add weight as you get stronger, and other moms doing it with you. On Solin, everyone in a challenge starts on the same day, and every challenge has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Build your week from the minutes you have
Pick the days you can train and how long you've got, from 10 minutes up. Solin's free planner lays out your lifting days and walks and checks the week against the US guidelines.
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