FirstPath's resident fitness experts, Douglas Brooks (cdbrooks@firstpath.com) and Candice Copeland-Brooks and (cdbrooks@firstpath.com), are available to personally answer any questions from starting an exercise program and choosing what type of fitness equipment is right for you to setting realistic fitness goals and motivating you to continue your program when the "going gets tough." Douglas and Candice co-author weekly fitness and exercise feature articles for FirstPath.com. Visit Candice's Move of the Week for weekly exercises to add to your current fitness regimen.

Each week FirstPath's experts receive email from readers for help and advice. As a general rule, you'll receive an answer to your question within 48 hours. Remember, your email questions and expert responses may be published on FirstPath as an inspiration to yourself and others.

and I am a 22 year old mother of two. A 18-month old and a 2-month old. I want to get back into good shape, but I also want to build a lot of muscle. Is this a possibility and how do I build muscle in this way?

Sincerely,

Dawn Bodine

Congratulations on motherhood and an expanding family! You certainly have your hands full but you can get back into shape and build muscle with a reasonable time investment! Be sure to take a look at the "cat-stretch" in Candice's move of the week. This is a great low-back stress buster.

You indicated you are 8-weeks post partem (congrats on the 2-month old child!). Before you start exercising, and even if you have already begun walking for example, it's a good idea to check with your doctor.

Since we assume you are busy with children and family life, we suggest you integrate your cardiovascular "workouts" as a part of walking and playing with your children. This will save you lots of time. Pushing the stroller and actively playing (not watching) with your children on a regular basis will start to build your heart-fitness, burn calories and help you lose any excess fat-weight. Even though this type of activity isn't considered "formal" exercise like you do at a gym, it will work wonders for your body and mind.

Strength training--you say that you want to build significant muscle mass--will require at a minimum, 2 workout sessions per week that last about 20 to 25 minutes. Since you haven't been training regularly, this small time commitment will reward you with substantial strength development. Your genetics will ultimately determine whether you "build a lot of muscle," but top scientists suggest training twice per week, doing one set of strength training exercise to failure (It's tough to do another repetition without breaking form.), choosing 8-10 exercises that target all of the major muscles, and completing 8-15 repetitions will provide 75-80% of the result you would realize if training more often.

Finally, if you can't train in a gym because you don't have a membership or can't arrange child-care, you've got to have a home gym. The convenience and time savings are of critical importance. There are a variety of ways to create a strength training home-gym:

1. Purchase a set of dumbbells and an adjustable bench
2. Purchase a Total Gym
3. Purchase a multi-station strength gym
4. Add a stability ball to your gym set-up to train your abs and back, and to stretch

Check out www.firstpath.com for more information on these equipment options.

Your goals are reasonable if your commitment to a regular program is kept. Move forward and be encouraged!

Yours in health and fitness,

Douglas Brooks, M.S., Exercise Physiologist and Candice Copeland Brooks