Why is this important for you as a new mom- 2 Reasons

1.  You are a female- therefore the Q angle (the angle from you hip to knee) is greater than a males, therefore putting more stress on your lateral quads relative to medial. (see below links for details of over pronation and patellar femoral syndrome).  So why overwork an overworked muscle- don’t just stick to posterior chain (back of body) exercises to avoid this stress.

2.  As a mother your Q angle would have increased when your hips start to open for you to give birth.  Your Q angle may have never returned to what it was before you gave birth and as a NEW MOTHER your hips may still be wider and there is a good possibility you still have relaxin putting your patellar tendon at more risk.

Q Angle -what is it?               Q Angle in Female Athletes

So keeping this in mind I designed today’s workout to balance the work done between the front and back of my body muscles from yesterdays bike ride.

Foam Roll, Static Stretch tight muscles, Dynamic warmup

Exercises- 1 legged glut bridge over bench- I lay with my upper back and neck supported on a weight bench and perform a 1 legged bridge while crossing my opposite leg over my knee.

Reverse Step Up (or step down)- with a light counterweight I focus on lowering 1 leg to the floor – stepping backward off a bench- each step down should take 5 seconds for a great eccentric glut contraction (contracting while your muscle is actually lengthening).  This is very difficult to do correctly, but is the most effective way to gain strength.

Side Planks ( 2 variations), hamstring ball curls, 1 legged waiters bow with a light reverse fly, pushup with a knee drive combination and a full spiral side chop.

Enjoy todays busy mom fitness tips.

I am back after a relaxing 2 weeks off in cottage country, the kids loved swimming and being pulled up very steep hills in their wagon.

2 Circuits- Circuit 1- horizontal pullups, kettlebell swings and side planks

                       Circuit 2- (body weight as the girls were getting closer and I did not want to be swinging weights around)

                                          Squat roll, leg swoop, runners lunge into one legged forward reach (like bottom of reach and touch)- this is a yoga move turned into reps.

Today I will be keeping to posterior chain exercises and hip mobility moves. 

I use an extended warmupwith lots of foam rolling, static stretches ( hip flexors, gluts, calves and pecs), mobility (circle moves around joint) dynamics moves such as lunges and activation such as bridges.   Why is so much warmup needed for moms.  Well because of relaxin- your joints have been destabilized and to compensate opposing muscles have been tightened.  Relaxin can be present anywhere from 3 to 24 month post partum.  This means improper warmup and improper exercise choice can lead to aches and injuries and eventual exercise failure.  This is a visious cycle that can be avoided.

Top 3 Mistakes of a New Mom Exerciser

The number one mistake I see in exercising new moms is returning to running too soon.  Hey I get it, you are isolated and need to get out, your stroller is your life line to the outside world, so why not jog with it and burn a few calories- THIS IS WHY NOT-a) you risk tightening your hip flexors further which can eventually cause back pain  b) fixing your upper body on the stroller handles will cause over rotation of your low back- further destabilizing a weak core   c) pushing a stroller can further tighten your pectoral muscles d)pushing forward from your shoulder joint without retracting your shoulder blades will leave your rotator cuff tendon overstretches and unstable- causing shoulder and neck issues.

The  number two mistake I see is NO WARM-UP or IMPROPER WARM-UP.  As mentioned above are the fundamentals of a good warmup- this is easily the longest portion of a new moms workout and the fat loss circuits are the shortest. 

The number three mistake I see is Starting Intense Exercise to early, before your are physically ready.  Don’t be paranoid about those 10-15 lbs just be confident it will go when you are ready mentally and physically to do so.  Go through a structured, progressive early post partum routine to retrain your abdominal muscles and help stabilize loose joints.  There is an early post partum routine in the Baby Bump Busy Mom Fitness Program.  This will prepare your body for regular exercise and mentally allow you to gage if you are ready for regular fitness.

1.  LOW BACK- stretch each hip flexor for 30 seconds and perform a 30-60 front plank along with a 15-30 second side plank per side.  Yes this is it,every other day, to keep back pain at bay.  Remember this is not to progress, this is to maintain your current strength and prevent aches and pains.

2.  SHOULDER ACHES- pectorial stretch, arm circles until you get a burn in your shoulder joint, wall slides. 

These 2 small routines that take about 2 minutes every other day allow me to feel comfortable while mothering during periods of rest and relaxation.

I will be back full force next week with my workouts.  My eldest daughter is not napping anymore and I’ll be changing my workout schedule, I’ll let you know when I figure it out.  During the summer I will be at home with my daughters Fridays to Mondays and working  Tues, Wed, Thur.  Monday nights are a write off as I coach my daughters soccer team, I may be integrating a mother /daughter workout once a week.

I finally feel like summer has arrived with my mini 3 day time off this week.  I am looking forward to spending lots of time at our new cottage and am planning on one busy mom exercise new routine while there- hill sprints- that’s it.  We are the Haliburton Highland and have a huge hill at the bottom of our driveway to sprint up.  10 of these per session should keep me fit for the summer.

GYM PROGRAM- start with a dynamics warm up – lunge series, rotational squats and rotational planks, foam roll ect. 

Set #1 Start with a 4 exercise circuit done 2x- Bulgarian split jumps, dbell snatch, horizontal pullups, pushup-knee drive combo.  For this set the only thing I had to change was the use of a kettlebell instead of a dumbell at home- 8 reps continuous-rest 1 minute and repeat

Set #2 in the GYM- barbell power cleans for conditioning-as many as I can b/t 10-15 reps- at HOME I do not have a barbell but substituted this move with the full squat dumbell  push press to exhaustion.  Both moves are explosive.

Set #3- ABS- in the GYM I perform the barbell landmine and plank row.  At HOME I use the around the world kettlebell move with a plank row- 2 sets 10 reps each side.

Set #4 FAT BLASTER- in the GYM I perform a burpie pullup countdown from 5-1 ( 5 then 4 then 3 ect diminishing my rest with each set)  At HOME I performed a burpie with a jump squat at the end again in the 5 to 1 sequence.

This is still a high intensity workout and if you are short on time you can leave out one of the sets and still get a great workout, otherwise you can split the workout into 2 different days with a warmup.

If you want to modify great gym workouts for home versions, look at the function of each exercise and try to mimic this with what you have.  If the program uses an explosive move at the gym try to mimic an explosive move at home, – like a clean and press at the gym can be modified to a front chop or an explosive dbell squat press.  If the Gym program calls for a single leg ball hamstring curl-sub it for a 1 leg bridge if you do not have a ball.  Look at type of move – explosive or slow.  Look at if the move is bilateral or unilateral, also look at the part of the body is it anterior or posterior chain.  This will help you understand what moves you are doing and how you can substitute.

As we are early into our summer season many mom are looking for a quick fitness regim. 

Simple Rules to a Great Workout

1. Dynamic Warmup- including soft tissue work such as foam rolling, stretch only tight muscles-not neural tense muscles, joint mobility, muscle activation and sport or lift specific warmup.

2. Strengthen posterior chain muscles to counteract our forward motion of caring for babies, using a computer, walking- well our whole life.  Examples of posterior chain exercises- ball hamstring curls, glut bridges, reverse flies and back or pulling exercise.

3. Stabilize your core-  strengthen your core using plank variations, never twist your low back- this is just mobilizing your back and counteracting your core stability exercise.  Don’t do sit ups- read this research if in doubt link.  Remember Mobility is the opposite of Stability.

4.  Use unilateral training- such as 1 legged squat or glut bridge.  This will allow you to identify and overcome asymmetries in muscle strength and prevent/overcome discomfort.