Fitness for New Moms

You’re a new mom – congratulations! Firstly, I hope you’re doing well mama and keeping your head up because you did an incredible thing…grew and birthed a human. There are many learning curves to overcome as a new parent. One that can be hard to navigate is how to figure out fitness for new moms. Many of our True40 family (staff and clients) are mothers, and have continued True40 classes before, during, and after their pregnancies. We feel confident in helping women figure out their new routine and what fitness can look like as a new mom! Here are some tips from some moms in our community.

Hacks for Fitness for New Moms

Fitness for moms can be hard to come by. Especially when your children are babies! Here are our favorite tips.

Schedule Your Fitness In

To carve out some time for your own health and fitness goals, take a look at your schedule. Review each task you have laid out and remove the non-essential items. It’s OK to say no to at least a few things each day. I know it can be hard to do, but if you really want to make your health a priority, “no” should be your greatest asset. You may feel guilty at first, but you will feel so much better after your sweat session is over. If you find it hard to get away from the kids, workout with them. You have your very own 10-20lb weight! It can really be fun and you’ll be setting a  great example for them. Or you can look for a gym/studio with childcare services. We offer this at True40! Time for you while knowing your little one(s) is taken care of. Fitness for new moms is possible!

Make it Digestible

Typically, 30 minutes of exercise a day is plenty to improve your fitness. If the thought of 30 minutes straight makes you twitch with anxiety, do what you can. Just five minutes is better than nothing! You will mentally feel so much better if you can incorporate some movement into your day. Think you can’t get much done in 10 or 15 minutes? Think again, mama! High-intensity interval training (or HIIT) allows you to finish short burst workouts in no time at all. And the best part is they improve your strength, strengthen your cardiovascular system and burn more calories in 15 minutes than an hour of jogging. Besides, if you do it right you might not even have to do 2-3 rounds of HIIT training, you could get away with one solid round of 15 minutes and still feel comfortable in your body without having to commit too much time to it.

Bonus! Sometimes, taking an hour fitness class like True40 is a great option too. Having that uninterrupted time as a new mom is essential for not only your physical health, but your mental health too.

Loosely Track Progress

We aren’t huge fans of tracking meals or exercise (we love a more intuitive approach based on how we feel!), but paying attention to some gentle metrics for your progress can be encouraging. When we think about fitness for new moms, looking at the following items can help you stay motivated and feeling accomplished!

• Were you able to get some movement in four days this week instead of three? Amazing!
• Were you able to breathe a little easier during today’s movement? That means your endurance is building?
• Could you get a little lower in a squat or hold your plank a few seconds longer? You’re getting stronger!

Fitting Fitness for New Moms In

Most moms know that sometimes you are just too flat out busy to even consider fitting in a workout that day. It happens to the best of us. Luckily, there are ways to work around that!

Habit Stacking

Think about how many times you walk around your house, up and down the stairs, to your car in the parking lot, to the mailbox or to the corner store. That’s a lot of steps! Now, imagine you were to do all of that with some ankle weights on. A little added boost to your daily activities! Habit stacking is so valuable as a new mom. The number of calories, not to mention muscle toning, you would be shredding would be awesome. If ankle weights don’t really go with your cute shoes, consider arm weights or wrist weights. The bala bangles are my favorite and not to mention, SO PRETTY!

Get Outside

Don’t want to invest in these bangles? Don’t sweat it, baby-wearing is a great way to add some resistance to your everyday errands. Alternatively, if wearing weights doesn’t really appeal to you consider investing in a running stroller, a sturdy baby backpack to use on hikes or even a quality baby seat that fits on the back of a bicycle. You get to improve your physical fitness while spending time with your kids this way. It’s a win-win really!

No matter how busy of a mom you are, there are options to tweak your day-to-day life and make you feel better about yourself and strengthen your overall health within your schedule. I hope these help mama! You’re doing amazing!