Post Partum Exercise

In my pre-Parker days, I would say that fitness was my hobby.  It was part of my daily routine and I took pride in how committed I was to it.  Then Parker came along.  I said that I wouldn't let a baby change my workout ways and that I would always have that committment to myself.  Well let's just say the first few months post baby were tough.  Parker required a lot of attention and I was exhausted and working out wasn't a priority.  I was also lucky to have lost all of my baby weight by 8 weeks post partum so I wasn't super motivated, although I knew that I had lost a lot of muscle along with that weight.  

Ready to workout!

 Recently though things have gotten easier.  Parker is napping and he entertains himself.  I can find time to work out at home while he's napping or while he's playing on his mat or in his exersaucer.  

But the workouts have changed.  I don't generally even try for an hour long workout because I probably wouldn't get it done before Parker needed something.  So my goal is to have short workouts as many times in the week as possible.  For some people this maybe wouldn't be enough, but for me, anything is better than nothing.  

Just for fun, the same outfit when I was 28 weeks pregnant

Some of the workouts that I do are:

• 30 day shred
• 30-40 minutes on the spin bike
• yoga - either at home or a local class
• Tabata workouts - I like this because it's done in 4 minute increments, so if I suddenly need to tend to Parker and I've only done 6 Tabatas, I still feel like I've gotten a complete workout done
• Mutu System - Mutu is a program that I purchased before I had Parker.  It is a system to combat diastasis recti, which is when your abs separate during pregnancy.  I was told at 18 weeks pregnant that I had 3 finger widths separation already, which then stressed me out for the rest of my pregnancy.  Apparently regular crunches with diastasis recti do more harm than good and so the system gives you a food and exercise program to follow to help bring your abs back together.  So then I had Parker and checked and my separation is one finger, which is basically nothing.... So all this to say, I use the exercises because they are good short workouts, but I'm not super committed to the entire system.  

My workouts are still my me time.  I spend most of my day putting Parker first and it's important that I do something for myself that makes myself feel good even if it's just for half an hour at a time!  Sometimes I feel guilty that I choose to workout rather than clean or do laundry, but I know that fitness is something that is important to me and I don't want to lose that.  Plus I want more babies and I know that being physically fit helped me feel good during pregnancy and labour and helped me bounce back quickly.  So I figure before the next baby I should still try to be in the best shape possible!

Speaking of which, Parker is napping so it's workout time!