6 weeks postpartum ·
alysha white ·
at home workouts ·
axis labs ·
body after baby ·
bodybuilding ·
crossfit ·
fit mom ·
justafitchick ·
leg workouts ·
postpartum ·
postpartum training ·
postpartum workouts ·
pregnancy ·
team axis ·
Training ·
womenshealth ·
workout ·
Getting Back After Pregnancy: Week 3-6
Well you’ve made it through the first couple weeks and while your sleep schedule may not be back to normal, your body is getting there! Week 1-2 was all about establishing muscle memory, strengthening the core, and getting back pelvic floor strength, Week 3-6 is about preparing your body for a full training program and getting that body back! Getting through week 1 and 2 was hard, but you made it! Week 3-6 with a newborn is all about schedules; for your little one and you! So I’m going to walk you through the key points to your postpartum training after week 2.
(Right) 1 week overdue
(Middle) 1 week postpartum
(Right) 6 weeks postpartum[/caption] Establish the habit. While it may seem easy to have a set workout time, it’s even harder when establishing your baby’s sleep habits and that can wreak havoc on your workouts! My advice? While working on a schedule with your baby’s sleeping habits, try to determine a good place and time for a quick workout; a lot can be done during a 30 minute nap! My son always sleeps well during the morning, so I would give myself a 3 hour gap to place him in a portable carrier (carseat, bouncer, play pen) and take him with me to get my workout in (outside or inside). Remember, until your baby is on a schedule, 2 hour workouts are hard! So set small goals of 30 minutes a day and stick to it! I pre-planned by writing down my workouts for the week, helping me to have a plan that I could execute quickly. Also, remember daily walks with the stroller count too! Eat. Sleep. Pray I’ll admit; this was a huge mistake as a new mom! As soon as I had a free minute, it was get a workout in and tackle my to-do list. I eventually became so worn down by little sleep and slacking on my nutrition, that even getting to workouts, I was too tired to train. Here’s my advice: judge your workouts to what hours your putting in a bed time and listen to your body! 6-8 hours can be a huge feat with a newborn so until you reach those sleeping hours, keep workouts to 30 minutes with lots of rest days. Do the numbers add up? Whether you’re breast feeding or not; getting the correct calories into your diet is crucial in the early weeks! As I mentioned in my previous post, breast feeding women should be consuming 300-500 extra calories aside from their normal diet. Matching those calories to workouts is important as well. I suggest to start tracking your macronutrients and calories through myfitnesspal or other calorie counting apps. This way your nutrition won’t be lacking in one area and getting too much in another. On the days I have a higher intensity workout, I adjust my calories by the duration I trained. The same goes for your rest days. Crank up the intensity; sort of. Week 3-6 is all about listening to your body and with that in mind, it can be difficult to know when to push and when it’s time to take a rest. A great way to be safe in your workouts and establish better strength is to up repetition and intensify your tempo of exercises. Here is an example of a workout day with lower body emphasis: Fire hydrants: Week 1-2/ 50 reps Week 3-6/ 100 reps x 2 Glute Presses: Week 1-2/ 50 reps Week 3-6/ 100 reps, or add a 10 pound weight Walking Lunges:Week 1-2 / 30 reps Week 3-6/ 60 reps with dumbbells The same rules apply to your cardiovascular routine. I would advise against jogging or running until after week 6 using the HIIT method or interval training during walking, swimming, and a recumbent bike is a great way to add intensity. Keep tuning in to my blog, because next week I’ll be going over everything you need to know for postpartum week 6 and on! And remember fit moms, one day/diaper/exercise at a time!
Article Contributed By: Alysha White, Axis Labs Sponsored Athlete and Master Trainer @justafitchick
Postpartum Training: Week 3-6
[caption id="attachment_1442" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
(Right) 1 week overdue(Middle) 1 week postpartum
(Right) 6 weeks postpartum[/caption] Establish the habit. While it may seem easy to have a set workout time, it’s even harder when establishing your baby’s sleep habits and that can wreak havoc on your workouts! My advice? While working on a schedule with your baby’s sleeping habits, try to determine a good place and time for a quick workout; a lot can be done during a 30 minute nap! My son always sleeps well during the morning, so I would give myself a 3 hour gap to place him in a portable carrier (carseat, bouncer, play pen) and take him with me to get my workout in (outside or inside). Remember, until your baby is on a schedule, 2 hour workouts are hard! So set small goals of 30 minutes a day and stick to it! I pre-planned by writing down my workouts for the week, helping me to have a plan that I could execute quickly. Also, remember daily walks with the stroller count too! Eat. Sleep. Pray I’ll admit; this was a huge mistake as a new mom! As soon as I had a free minute, it was get a workout in and tackle my to-do list. I eventually became so worn down by little sleep and slacking on my nutrition, that even getting to workouts, I was too tired to train. Here’s my advice: judge your workouts to what hours your putting in a bed time and listen to your body! 6-8 hours can be a huge feat with a newborn so until you reach those sleeping hours, keep workouts to 30 minutes with lots of rest days. Do the numbers add up? Whether you’re breast feeding or not; getting the correct calories into your diet is crucial in the early weeks! As I mentioned in my previous post, breast feeding women should be consuming 300-500 extra calories aside from their normal diet. Matching those calories to workouts is important as well. I suggest to start tracking your macronutrients and calories through myfitnesspal or other calorie counting apps. This way your nutrition won’t be lacking in one area and getting too much in another. On the days I have a higher intensity workout, I adjust my calories by the duration I trained. The same goes for your rest days. Crank up the intensity; sort of. Week 3-6 is all about listening to your body and with that in mind, it can be difficult to know when to push and when it’s time to take a rest. A great way to be safe in your workouts and establish better strength is to up repetition and intensify your tempo of exercises. Here is an example of a workout day with lower body emphasis: Fire hydrants: Week 1-2/ 50 reps Week 3-6/ 100 reps x 2 Glute Presses: Week 1-2/ 50 reps Week 3-6/ 100 reps, or add a 10 pound weight Walking Lunges:Week 1-2 / 30 reps Week 3-6/ 60 reps with dumbbells The same rules apply to your cardiovascular routine. I would advise against jogging or running until after week 6 using the HIIT method or interval training during walking, swimming, and a recumbent bike is a great way to add intensity. Keep tuning in to my blog, because next week I’ll be going over everything you need to know for postpartum week 6 and on! And remember fit moms, one day/diaper/exercise at a time!
Use the code below for an extra discount!
Article Contributed By: Alysha White, Axis Labs Sponsored Athlete and Master Trainer @justafitchick