So what on earth happened to me? In short, the only version of exercise I’ve been getting lately is rocking my fussy eight month old and painting and cleaning my parent’s new house in preparation for moving day. (Which as last weekend, yay!) But I am slowly working my way back. I’m finally making some progress in my weight loss, but my abdominal separation is still stuck at around 2 and a half. So I still have a ways to go, since I’d like to be able to start running again, perhaps train for a fall 10K in 2017. But I want to do the proper work now to make sure I’ve laid the foundation of healing that my body needs.
This is one of my favorite upper body routines. First of all, because you still get a little bit of leg work. Second, because I don’t sweat much while doing it. Yes, I am one of those mommies who doesn’t get a shower every day, so it’s nice to fit something like this into my schedule at any time. I haven’t done much upper body work (other than holding and rocking the baby) since sometime at the beginning of my third trimester late last summer. That’s a long time. But this was a great start to getting back to it.
It feels always embarrassing how hard this workout still is. But at the same time, it feels better than doing nothing. It’s short, it hits most of the major areas and it isn’t super cardio if you aren’t up for that. (I don’t usually sweat too much while doing this, so it’s a good choice if you’ll be rushing out of the house and won’t have time for a shower).
This workout was a new one for me and a big surprise. Yes, it is a walk in place kind of workout, but it also has a great arm component that I found decently challenging even without weights. Adding light weight would really super charge this workout when I’m feeling stronger.
I haven’t done this workout since toward the end of my pregnancy, and I love it as much now as I did then. It’s short, but really packed. You can control the difficulty depending on how tough a band you use. I started with a medium band. (I have some laying around from a Pilates VHS, yes that’s right VHS, that I bought years ago).
This works upper and lower body but because it uses bands rather than weights, it’s safer if you have small kids running around while you exercise (mine seem to always gets ahold of my dumbbells) and good if you can’t handle the pressure of weights yet.
This one will definitely become part of my regular rotation and I look forward to more band workouts in the future.
While this still isn’t my favorite workout, it is essential when retraining your pelvic floor after pregnancy, childbirth, surgery or injury. After you’ve done it a few times, definitely take Beth’s advice and write down the movements. It has a great educational component, but after doing it a few times, you won’t need that part as much.
This was a lot of fun and my little boy cooperated quite well, managing not to spit up on me while I did it. These workouts are great choices if you can’t workout when the baby is asleep or someone else is available to play with him or her. It’s also sweet though, as my little boy stared up at me most of the workout and ultimately it almost rocked him to sleep. It might actually help if you have a fussy baby who needs to be in motion.
I also added some Squat Prep just for a little extra help this week. This is more educational than it is exercise, but like Align it Flat, it is a good reminder.
(I also used Basic Aerobics II for my bonus cardio. But since I just reviewed it last time, I won’t bore you with it again.)
So finally Week 2 is done and I can concentrate on developing consistency in my workouts. Hopefully Week 3 will go a bit smoother.
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