Fitness in Under 30 Minutes

Remember how much fun working out was as a kid? Probably not, because you just thought of it as playing! And according to The Monkey Bar Gym, we could all learn a thing or two from our kids about making fitness fun.

These short workouts focus on using the natural motions that kids use to play, such as pushing, pulling, jumping and running. The best part is they offer a free, daily workout on their website with a list of exercise videos to show you how to do each move. (Site membership required, but it's free.)

Unleash your inner beast! Research has shown that going harder but for a shorter amount of time (even as short as four minutes!) torches fat. The wildly popular program CrossFit is the perfect way to find out what all the buzz is about and challenge yourself.

You'll sweat buckets doing these intense workouts, with elements pulled from Olympic weight lifting, martial arts, gymnastics and military training. If you've got some experience, you can jump right in with their free WOD (workout of the day).

When it comes to fitness equipment, it doesn't get any simpler (or cheaper!) than a jump rope. Jumping rope is a great way to skyrocket your heart rate, but add in a little punk rock and some new moves and you have a workout that's as fun as it is sweaty. Find a Punk Rope class near you, or purchase a video to take your playground favorite to a whole new, adult level.

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Why settle for strength training or cardio when you can knock both out at once in one short plyometric workout? A plyometric exercise is anything where both of your feet leave the ground momentarily—think jumping jacks, tire runs, skater lunges and box jumps.

The power of these moves comes from the explosive strength required to propel yourself up, forward, backward or side-to-side, helping you build muscle and increase your strength at the same time. To get started, try this 15-minute plyo workout.

Moms know how important it is to use what you've got! So break out the soup cans, quarts of milk, bags of cat food or whatever you have handy for this innovative strength workout.

Creator of the "playout" instead of "workout," Carla Birnberg specializes in videos that show short whole-body workouts that you can fit in while you're waiting for dinner to finish. (Beats eating handfuls of chocolate chips, right?) Combine her upper-body kitchen workout with her lower-body moves to get a total body workout.

Think you already need to be fit to start working out? Teresa Tapp, creator of the T-Tapp program, is busting that myth. This video-based workout is perfect for people recovering from childbirth or an injury, or are severely overweight and need a no-impact, very gentle workout. The body-weight calisthenic moves may look a little strange at first but are a surprisingly good burn and are appropriate for all fitness levels.

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If heart health is your main priority (and with heart disease being the leading killer of women, it's a good thing to focus on), then you need to focus your exercise on stressing your heart muscle enough so that it's strengthened but not so much that you hurt yourself. (Yes, it is possible to overwork your heart!) Fitspiration for Moms finds that healthy balance with a 20-minute workout designed solely to strengthen your most important muscle.

A half hour isn't a ton of time, so if you're looking to focus on strengthening a certain part of your body, muscle-isolation workouts are perfect. You can really tax your arms, back, core, legs or shoulders in 30 minutes. If you work a different body part every day, you'll have worked your entire body by the end of the week. And it may even be better for you than working your whole body every day, as muscles need 24 to 38 hours of rest to grow! Check out this detailed list of videos from Livestrong for ideas and sample workouts.

Tamara Grand, a professional trainer (who also happens to be a mom!), kicks off her weekends in style with Fat Blaster Fridays. Each Friday she posts a new high-quality, live video of a 30-minute-or-less fat-blasting workout while taking you through it.

The workouts are easy to follow and require little, if any, equipment. She offers lots of variety too, switching between things like cardio stair circuits (yes, the dog will think you're nuts) and burning out your shoulders. Just do one for a quick workout, or string several videos together to get a more complete workout.

Yoga mats aren't just for yoga anymore! Personal trainer Alfonso Moretti shows you how to use this simple tool—a mat—to get a portable workout you can do anywhere, from the beach to your living room to your hotel. It's only 30 minutes, and you never leave the floor. But with compound moves like a push-sit-up and side plank crunches, it's a solid total-body workout that will get your heart pumping, too. Plus, with no impact, it's easy on your joints.

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