Fit Mama

Oh, hello again blogosphere!  I apologize for my absence, but see, something has been taking all of my attention lately: a cute baby!  It's a bit difficult to focus when Ebba is doing amazing things like smiling, kicking over her little ring tower, and even almost rolling over these days!!

I do have that AMP Duo diaper review on its way, as well as a few other posts in the works, but I thought I should just fire off a short one in the meantime.  Maybe I can actually *complete* something other than changing a diaper for once. :)  I think that's what motherhood is: starting a million things and finishing one.

So, I thought I'd post a quick bit on returning to exercise after having a baby.  Babycenter has these guidelines for knowing when you're ready to get back into it.  But, basically, I think the most important things are:

• Wait 4 weeks to do more than just walking (6 weeks if you had a C-Section
• Make sure your Lochia has finished
• Check to see if you have abdominal separation
• Trust your body

I started back into exercise much later than I had anticipated, waiting until 9 weeks.  Mostly, this was because of our feeding issues.  I would have been back at 4 if I could have!  But, I wanted to stay connected to Ebba as much as possible to see what could be done for my milk supply.

The first activity I returned to after walking was yoga, because I knew I could pace myself there, and I found a fantastic class where I could bring baby!  In the class, we can either hold baby in some poses, or have her playing down on the mats at our feet.  Ebba likes to do both. :)  I enjoy the fact that we can stop to feed baby whenever we need to, or can adjust what we're doing as needed at any time.

After a week of yoga, I felt confident about returning to the Real Gym!  I was actually a little nervous about heading back, but once I got into it, I felt great!  I'm just doing some short full-body workouts these days, since I don't have nearly enough time to do a split (only certain muscle groups on certain days.)  Doing a light full body workout is also a great way to make sure your body is ready for more strenuous activities -- it's a nice way to ease back into things.  Here's a sample of what I've been doing, with 2 sets (3 for legs) 1-12 reps each:

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor OR a trainer.  I have been working out steadily for about 5 years now, but that in no way makes me an expert.  This is not a recommendation.  If you want to start working out after birth, I'd ask your doctor or midwife.

• Legs: alternating dumb bell squat with dumb bell lunge
• Back and chest: alternating 1 arm dumb bell row with incline chest press
• Back and chest: alternating assisted pull up with assisted chest dip
• Shoulders: alternating front raise with shoulder press
• Biceps and Triceps: alternating skull-crusher with bicep curl
• Abs: For this I was much more careful.  I did a short round of crunches, along with a plank (1 min) and some pilates exercises that I have no idea how to describe. :)

It felt SO good to get back into working out!  I think it's a great step back into the normalcy of life after the craziness of childbirth and newborn days. :)

Any other mummies out there who want to share their return to workouts?