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BCRPA Weight Trainer * BCRPA Group Fitness Leader * BCRPA Personal Trainer * Cory Holly Institute Principles of Sports Nutrition Education Program * Body Training System Group Power Instructor *Body Training System Group Centergy Instructor * CORE Conditioning Instructor * TKO Fitness Instructor * Boot Camp Leader

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

MoMmy Monday: Outdoor workouts with baby in toll!

The weather is getting warmer outside, isn’t it nice to know you don’t have to stay indoors all the time now? And with summer getting closer, its time to get the exercise program in check so that your worries are only of your baby getting from crawling to walking and less of your postpartum figure stepping out into the sunshine in shorts and a tank!

Getting outside with baby in stroller is actually a great alternative for a workout. I would recommend that you look for a jogging stroller (usually one with 3 wheels, 1 in the front with 2 in the back) as they are built to work with you when you are going at higher speeds than a casual walk.

If you are breaking out of the house for the first time, start off slow. Start off with a regular to slightly quick pace walk with the stroller. Pay attention to your posture: shoulders back and down, chest up, belly in tight, looking straight ahead. There may be a tendency to want to jut your buttocks back (posterior tilt) while moving with the stroller, be extremely careful that you keep a neutral pelvis and hip.

After doing this a few times a week for a couple weeks, you may want to start adding intervals. Walk for a few minutes, then jog/run for a minute. And keep repeating that. You can pick and choose how long our intervals should last. But you want to try to have your walks/jogs/runs last for a total time of anywhere between 15 (when you first start out) to 30 mins+ (after about 4-6 weeks). Eventually, you may be running the entire 30 minutes! Wouldn’t that make you feel great? And baby Jr. would be enjoying the bumpy ride…

Take the outings to a new level and make it a circuit. A great place to add some resistance to your cardio would be a park where there are many trails for runners/walkers with grass spots by the trail.

Here is just an example of a circuit session with your baby:
What you will need: jogging stoller, your baby, a blanket

Warm up starting with a steady walk, gradually building to a quick walk to a steady jog for at least 10 minutes.

Pick up speed to a 2 minute run. Stop and do some squats off the handle of the stroller for a minute.

Then pick it up again with another 2 minute run. Stop and lunge for 1 minute using the handle for balance again. (do 30 secs for each leg lunge or run for 2 mins before switching to the other side)

Run again for 2 minutes, then take baby out (this mimics a deadlift exercise, really pay attention to core tightness and form!), get to a stand up position, then bend over to place baby back into the stroller-for a full minute.

Run for 2 minutes. Stop and place blanket on the grass. Lay baby supine (face up) while you set up a push up position with your baby between your hands, just below your head. As you lower down in the push up, you will get closer to your baby (here you can use your imagination. Make funny faces at them to make them laugh, or get close enough that you can give them a kiss on the forehead..etc.), finish by pushing up. Continue this for 1 minute.

Again, run for 2 minutes. Stop and take baby out, lift them up to your chest by flexing the elbows (that would be a bicep curl) and then lift them up over your head (mimics the overhead press). Take them back down to chest height, and finish the curl by extending the elbows with baby in hands. Keep this up for 1 minute.

Run for another 2 minutes. Now take blanket out again, then take baby out, let them rest on your belly while you lay supine on the blanket and do crunches for 1 minute.

To cool down, walk for about 2 to 3 minutes and follow that with a stretch. Making sure you are stretching all muscle groups that you worked.

You can do this circuit once through to start. And gradually increase it to 2 times and finally 3 times through. The exercises provided are just a few examples of what you can do. As you get stronger, get creative and mix up other exercises that you can incorporate the stroller or your baby. As a new mommy, your imagination and creativity should be through the roof!!

And you know what?? This isn’t restricted to only MOMMYs…Daddy’s look super cool doing this too! ;)


Until next time Mommys, its time to dust off your runners and get moving outside—and this time you can’t use “but I don’t have a babysitter” as an excuse!

Health respect & happiness,
Beki

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