Once the new year hits, gym subscriptions soar as everyone starts a new health kick. I personally find January - February the hardest months to keep up my fitness regime, so I grant myself some grace.
Once Spring arrives, with its longer and brighter days, I get a renewed urge to get back to moving my body more. I imagine I’m not alone.
While you may be tempted to go full throttle and sign up for a spin class every day, I’m a fan of easing into things and building up to sustainable and healthy habits. I’m no fitness expert, but this is what I’ve found works for me.
Stretch
This is something I manage to keep up with no matter the time of year. Once I hit my mid-thirties, if I didn’t stretch, I felt awful. Now I’m at 40’s door, it’s more important than ever. Yoga is brilliant for this, but if you don’t have 1-1.5 hours to spare, there are lots of quick yoga routines you can find on YouTube. If you only have 5-10 minutes to spare in the morning, I swear by the following:
First loosen up your neck with 10-15 counts of this on each side
Then loosen up your back with cat and cow stretch: alternating between sticking out your tailbone and curling your back up with your tail bone tucked under. 
Then it’s time to focus on your legs. Stretch out your hamstrings, glutes, calf and quads. Holding about 10-15 seconds of each stretch.
Finally, open up your shoulders. I like to hold my arms up at my side in a right degree angle with each arm resting on one side of a door frame and let me body weight pull me gently and slightly past my arms through the door frame and hold it for about 15 seconds.
The whole routine takes about 5-7 minutes, but it helps me start the day feeling so much more limber.
Cardio
It’s hard to go from very little exercise to running 5k three times a week, so I suggest the following to get your legs moving. Go for a lunch time walk. It can be 15 minutes, but just get moving. If you’re not one for pounding the pavement, stick to walking and work up to an hour walk every week day. For those who like to get their heart beat up a bit more, I love the couch to 5k app for gradually building up to a 5k run. For those whose knees can’t handle the impact. I love the elliptical, again, start with 5-10 minutes and work your way up to longer stretches.
Core
Pilates (traditional or reformer) is brilliant for the core. I’ve never been more fit than when I was doing reformer Pilates 2-3 times a week. There are lots of gym based or online classes for Pilates, but if you don’t have the time or the inclination to spend an hour on it. I suggest these few simple exercises that will take about 10 minutes. Simple crunches with your core engaged and your back pulled towards floor. You don’t have to lift your chest up too far, just engage your core and keep your chin lifted. Start on all fours and alternate lifting an opposite leg and arm at the same time. Lastly, don’t forget the pelvic floor. Especially for women, this is so important. Throw in some seated pelvic tilts for good measure:
As we get older, strength training is so important for maintaining bone density and maintaining fitness. If you’re not comfortable with the weights section of the gym, there are so many online workouts that can help using minimal equipment or just body weight. If you’re at home and just want to build up strength you can’t go wrong with the tried and true basics. Do three sets of these exercises 10-15 times each, and you’ll start to get stronger with consistency - Push Ups, Squats, Tricep dips, lunges and plank (hold for 30 seconds each time), All you need is your body weight and a chair. After a while, you may even decide to tackle the weights after all!
The important thing is to get moving. They say “black don’t crack”, but bones do, so let’s keep them strong and limber.
*These work for me, but please do consult with your doctor or a professional trainer for professional advice on physical activity.