BUSY MOM BURNS THE FAT THIS WEEK

Today I was back on track with my busy mom fat loss program. I am focusing on metabolic training this week. I woke with a sore back this morning as the baby has just gained some weight, she needed 2 baths yesterday and I slept in a weird position. At the gym I had a client cancel which gave me some much needed time to use the FOAM ROLLER and roll out the knots in my gluts and back. I then stretched my hip flexors (like in your free mothers day program, my abs and then performed some plank variations to get my core firing. I had time to work on my shoulder rehab exercises as well(included pushups with protraction/retraction at the top). I spent about 20 minutes on this maintenance and I felt like a million bucks afterwards. As a mom I continually have to keep up with my stabilization exercises, foam rolling,and general body maintenance work. You can add a few of these into your day by following the furious five or even easier when cooking squeeze your shoulder blades down and back 10x today.

I trained my next client and then performed my busy mom metabolic training workout. I started with dynamics- lunges, body weight squats, leg swings, arm swings. My busy mom fat loss workout today was 3 sets of 10 jump squats, 30 full weighted barbell deadlifts, 10 jump squats. I rested 1 minute between sets and did 3 sets of this high volume circuit. Each circuit consisted of 50 lifts. My deadlifts were weighted but only about 1/3 of the weight of my 10 rep max. I struggled my way through the final 7 deadlifts on the third set, my legs were on fire. This entire intense portion probably took me about 8 minutes including the 1 minute rest periods. A full deadlift is like a full squat with the barbell held at your knees to begin with, it is slightly different from the Waiters Bow or Romanian deadlift in the free mothers day program.

Yesterday I was st home with the baby and used my HOME GYM to perform a Tabata workout. I chose 4 exercises and repeated them 2x in each interval. I did 3 sets of this program in the 20 second/ work 10 second rest ratio. Busy mom fat loss workout Burpie press up (15 lb dumb bells), abdominal wheel rollouts, modified pullups, kettle bell swings, burpie pressup, ab wheel, modified pullup, kettle bell swings. I did this 3x.

BANANAS!!!

That's right bananas, spit up all over me around 12am the other night, I guess she(AVA) doesn't like them. I was frantically wiping myself clean with a little help from the dog so I could be somewhat presentable at the gym the next morning.

My toddler(KASIA) has a hard time understanding that I WORK. I am not her oncall 24/7 personal servant and she is just starting to realize this. When I mention work, she clings on, when I work on the computer she constantly interrupts me with attention seeking behaviour. I know part of this is her age (3years), arrival of the new baby and the fact that I appear to be one of the only working mom's at the school I drop her at and the reality that she needs me. She definitely drives me bananas, but I am her mommy and I love her. I will be taking a week off the computer to spend some quality time with my girls and my husband. Talk to you next week.

My workout-warm up, 3 sets full front barbell squat with pelvic floor squeeze at the bottom, lunge press, single leg lower for abdominals, windmill, plank rotation, front plank with arm reaches, brooks hip stabilization series (wall pushes from front and side) small fat loss circuit jump squats to kettle bell twists to mountain climbers to burpie high pull with kettle bell to slow bulgarian split squats.

Week by Week Early Post Partum Exercise Progression

Sorry to be away but the girls are both sick. I'm training today because my dad is helping with the kids. My workout today- 2 x thru this circuit-ball pull ins, ball toe taps, 1 legged ball pull in. Explosive band kettle bell front chops/modified pull ups, barbell front squat/kettle bell cleans, Power band barbell front squats, power band barbell full dead lift with band resistance from on front and from behind 5 sets, finish with 10x jump squat/10x jumping jacks/5x burpies 2x thru.

I obviously modified my workouts as I slept about 10hours in 4 nights last week, one day I just did body weight squats/lunges/push ups 2x thru, another day I worked on slower rehab exercises.

I am now 7 months post partum and my pelvis is pretty much back to it normal position. What I did up to this point-

Weeks 1-6 post partum- I worked on kegals and huff breathing like what they send you away from the hospital with. I added the Furious 5 exercises about 6 weeks post partum. My relaxin levels were still high.

Weeks 6-12- I performed rehab exercises with some anaerobics at the end of my workout for a few minutes. This was it and it was slow. I kept doing the Furious 5- progressed stage 2

Weeks 12-24- I started to perform some dumbbell training on 2 feet as my pelvis was not stable enough yet for single leg strengthening. I removed lunges that I had started because my SI joint was feeling irritated, I reintroduced them week 20. I started into serious fat loss training now with intense mini circuits. I am doing full squats and lunges- my pelvis can take it now.

Weeks 24-30- My mini circuits have become more intense and shorter, working in 20 second intervals. I will be transitioning to single leg weighted exercises soon and "test the bones". I still do my rehab exercises before my intense training.

I will explain my exercise progression in future blogs as to selection during certain weeks post partum.

Pay It Forward

I am on my own this week, my husband is on a business trip. I woke up this morning, got my eldest ready for her school picture day, and searched the house for something beginning with the letter "I" for show and tell- no dice. As I was packing up the girls the green bin recycle truck arrived early and had emptied our bin- I left the girls in the front hall and went chasing the truck down the street with a stinky bag of diapers in hand. It is crucial to get your stuff in the green bin in Toronto because the city is crawling with raccoons that will scavenge everything-yes even diapers full of poop. I strapped the girls into their car seats and it was off to the daycare, when I arrived I realized I didn't have my wallet-I felt naked. Where was it?, I wasn't quite sure and did not have time to return to the house and look for it. This is where I call on FAVOUR #1- I phoned my sister and asked her if I could borrow some money for the day, I knew I would see her because she is the owner of the school my daughter attends. So I traded in the toddler and took the money at the school. ($ and kid drop -good deeds #1 and #2 cashed in) I proceed downtown to train clients, it went well. I check my email and the twittermoms have left me some very encouraging support meassages about my blog. (encouragment-good deed #3)
One of my clients performed a new exercise today. She was shocked and explained, "this one is pulling in my Kegel." Wow I'm better than I thought- I told this professional writer client-I have to write about it, Gail this one's for you.
On my way to pick up my daughter a friend and colleague phoned to let me know I had left my diaper bag with my wallet in it at another gym that I am affiliated with. (phone call-good deed #4) I knew I didn't have time to go get my bag across town, so I called on The Fit and Busy Dad, Chris Lopez, because he doesn't have enough to do. He checked his schedule and said he's training in the area tomorrow so he will use his only 1/2 hour break to go pick up my diaper bag and wallet, and bring it back to our hood, we are neighbours.(wallet retrieval-good deed #5). Chris, the Fit and Busy Dad is a stand up guy, I am friends with him and his wife Rozanne. Reviewing my week I can appreciate how much I ask of them. Saturday morning I call his place asking to borrow some DVDs for work, I turn up with 1 kid in hand and he offers me his entire DVD educational library which is worth it's weight, if he doesn't have it, it ain't worth having. I sit at his kitchen table while he cooks breakfast for his 4 daughters and wife, and he still has time to offer me an espresso. (DVDs and espresso- good deeds #6 & #7). Amazing to watch this family in action, they have got it together. You can check out Chris and his family at http://fitandbusydad.blogspot.com/.
The day is coming to an end and I turn up at the daycare to see the baby is in a different outfit- this means only 1 thing- a poo explosion. The daycare provider offers to wash the poo filled clothes and she will keep them on hand for the next time. (good deed #8-washing my babies poo clothes)
Sometimes you just need a couple of good gestures as a mom and I definitely needed and appreciated every single one of them today.
Todays workout-I am tired and will be taking the day off.

Screaming Kids and Wining Dog- Still Got My Workout In

OUR FAMILY WORKOUT

On the weekend my husband mentioned he is only get 1/2 of his workout done in the morning the dog clicks her paws and whines and wakes up the kids. I asked, how long do you workout for-20minutes. I asked him to work out with me, we can cut that in half. So that evening I made our 3 year old daughter her dinner and set the baby in the exersaucer (aka- ring of neglect) where they could see us. In typical fashion for our house, the toddler had a meltdown because I do not let her in our mini gym, my rule when I am lifting weights, she has to stay at the door and watch or exercise herself. The baby picked up on the vibe and freaked out and our hyperactive springer spaniel was wining up a storm in and out of the gym. I told him "this is as good as it gets, let's start". We burned through a circuit-our workout- 4 exercises and 4 burpie dumbbell press intervals- 8 things to complete 1 minute rest and repeat. The 4 exercises- heavy kettle bell swing, squat high pull, kettle bell push press right side, kettle bell push press left side. My husband was drenched in sweat, I said "see only 10 minutes warm-up to finish". He replied, "it felt longer". Not because of the exercise, but because of all the commotion during our workout. It didn't phase me, I workout in those conditions all the time, this is one of the reasons I only workout for 10 minutes I couldn't listen to screaming any longer than that. I have made my workout to fit my life, I get good results and there is science to backup my regime. I am not unique all mothers have a schedule like me, this is why I have made it my mission to create fitness programs for busy moms.