Book review: The Clean Momma Workout

If your excuse for inactivity is "I don't have the time to work out", Carolyn Barnes empathises. After having a second child and gaining 27 kilograms, she found it hard to juggle gym time, housework and looking after the kids.

The turning point came one day about six years ago when her then two-month-old son Jack puked all over her in the kitchen. She threw a dish towel on the floor and used her foot to wipe up the mess while holding Jack in her arms.

The swiping leg movements left her feeling a burn in her inner thighs - the same kind of burn she had felt in her legs training as a professional dancer for more than 20 years. She craved more, so she threw a couple of damp rags on the kitchen floor with some water and soap, and began to use her feet as mops. Her heart raced, sweat flowed, and inspiration struck: she would call this marriage of exercise and housework Taskercise.

And now, this book: The cLEAN Momma Workout. Barnes, now a certified Pilates instructor and life coach, takes the "workout" to a deeper dimension in the 197-page paperback. She includes not only her exercise routine, but also advice for getting in order your home, diet and your overall life.