Run Down

A few very exciting updates for Baby Bump Fitness. This past week I was featured in a fitness article in Mcleans magazine. Although the reporter told me the article was about interval training, and it is more about general fitness it is still great to be involved. Here is the link- All the Right Moves

I have picked up the soccer unifoms for my daughters soccer team, she is very excited and so am I.

It seems over the past week many of my clients are stressed out. They are tired, frustrated, getting run down and generally overwhelmed. I would normally never mention this but about 90% of them have been feeling like this, an uncanny trend. I cannot explain why and everyone has a different situation, but if you find your self going through this it may be time to take a mini break. Simple things fro mom to do- book a hair appointment, date or spa time. Get your husband to make you dinner, go for coffee with a friend. Bascially just try and break the mundain routine. If you do not do this finding motivation to workout will be extremely difficult. Breaking the routine and/or silence may be just the little boost needed to excel at your fitness goals. Take a week off of fitness or certain chores then return the following week with new vigour.

I do not beleive everyone needs a trainer and having a trainer does not fit into everyones lifestyle- especially a busy moms. You may be ties to the house, work shifts, budgeting. This is actually waht I wish was quoted in teh Mcleans article. Home interval training is the most efficient way for a busy mom to exercise and loose pregnancy pounds.

Like I mentioned last post I have started to ride my bike 1-2x / week again and just enjoy the outside. My husband and I are setting aside time each week for me to talk or bitch so I don't feel underappreciated or bored with the daily grind or serving others.

Post Partum Abdominal Exercise-what to do and what not to do

Post Partum Abdominal Exercises

This week I was talking to my massage therapist and she said she had a post natal client with diastasis recti. She said she was doing crunches and her abdominal split was getting worse- she was 6 months post partum if I recall correctly.



First What is Rectus Diastasis? Wikipedia Definition It is the separation between the right and left half of the rectus abdominus muscles. Mothers are prone to this from their growing uterus.

How to Test If you Have Diastasis Recti- here is a link with an easy description and photos.



There are exercises that make Diastasis Recti worse.

If you do have more than a 2 finger separation than abdominal crunches are a definite no, no. Flexing your rectus abdominus with this separation will pull from the origin of the muscle and can make your separation worse. Oblique crunches are a definite gut buster, literally- again flexing lateral abdominal muscles can again pull your separation wider from your mid-line (linea alba). Last but not least and on a more minor scale- abdominal bracing- this is used when lifting weights and you are just flexing everything in your midsection to stabilize your body. Your obliques will flex with this method. If you do not suffer Diastasis Recti, this is the preferred method of stabilizing when lifting weights. If you do have a greater than 2 finger separation then focus on drawing in your abdominals and flexing your transverse abdominus muscle- it will feel like a band around your belly. The draw in method helps with neuromuscular retraining after your belly has been stretched, can help bind the rectus abdominus together as it works transverse to them and does not flex your oblique muscles as much or at all.

So what exercises can you do.

Planks and plank variations for stabilization, leg lowering moves for hip flexors. Exercises to avoid- lumbar flexion- or crunches- any variation- if your spine is moving you are not stabilizing it. Hence the term CORE STABILITY. Get more safe abdominal exercises in the Busy Mom Fitness program.

What if You Don't Suffer Diastasis Recti?

Avoid crunches, avoid any lumbar rotation moves. Yes, the lumbar spine was not designed to flex or rotate- that is why the segments are so big- it is designed to stabilize. Dr. Stu McGill is a world renowned low back specialist from the University of Waterloo- yes right in our backyard. Please look at his bio and home page as well as his published books. Dr. McGill has his BIG 3 Exercises- they are side planks and plank variation, bird dog bilateral back extension exercises and a curl up lifting your head and shoulders off the ground but keeping your lumbar spine stabilized. The true function of your abdominal muscles are to work as ANTI ROTATORS- that is right to avoid rotation thru your spine. Rotation is reducing core stability and excessive flexion is putting undue stress on the segments of your lumbar spine.

But I have to Bend? You are right bending is a functional movement, so try an alternative and try bending from your hips like the waiters bow move featured in the video and one of the staple exercises in the baby Bump Busy Mom Fitness Program




Last but not least I just completed a body weight workout. My daughter would not nap today and I did not want her getting into the weights and bands. Todays workout- 2 rounds of this superset- rear foot elevated split squat (10 each side, second set with a jump) with pushups 10x, Second Superset 2 rounds of these 3 exercises 1 legged squat (10x/leg) Elevated foot knee drive (10x per side), Foam roller hamstring curls 10x- rest and repeat. Rest and then a burpie blaster- 10 burpies, rest, 8 burpies, rest, 6 burpies, rest, 4 burpies, rest, 2 burpies- stretch gluts and hips flexors, chest. This was done with NO EQUIPMENT, in my slippers in my basement.

We had a fun filled weekend with the girls. They enjoyed a friends birthday party with animals. They had the chance to hold a bunny, chinchilla, snake, turtle, gecko, chicken, and red eye tree frog. The next day we took them to Funnelz indoor play ground and Sunday morning 8am, we were the only family at the park playing soccer with a princess ball.

Fat Loss- Holiday Recovery Plan

I have had a great Christmas holiday. I have taken 1.5 weeks off work and 2 weeks off from working out, mainly due to the fact that my holiday started with a bout of the flue that put me under. After recovering it was Christmas morning and into some well deserved family time.

I am definitely feeling a bit fat right now, I will lose it, I am not going to stress about this, I know what to do- Baby Bump Busy Mom Fitness.

Do you know what to do to lose your holiday flab and get back on track? Some Suggestions.

Holiday Fat Loss Made Easy

1. Throw out all junk food in your house- now.

2. Get social support from family, friends, colleagues- let people know what you are trying to achieve so you stay accountable.

3. Make up a workout schedule- I know things change as a mom, but even a loose schedule or one that you stick to 50% is better than nothing.

Training Specific Fat Loss Rules

1. Use more resistance- if you don't have weight chose the hardest optionyou are capable of such as a 1 legged squat, off set push-ups or feet elevated planks.

2. Continuous work- yes move swiftly from exercise to exercise. Use super-sets of 2 or 3 strength exercises before taking a short rest. Use different types of metabolics workouts such as Tabata's (20 sec/10 sec work to rest ratio), 6-8 exercise circuits, strength super-sets.

3. Progressive work- always try to improve on your previous results. Try to perform one more squat or berpie within the time limit, try to lift 1-2 more pounds with upper body and 5-10 pounds with lower body within a 2-4 week period.

4. Work to Your Maximum potential- ever lift, every workout go to your maximum exhaustion. I see way to many women not pushing to their threshold and claiming that they are doing resistance training. It does not have to be for long, but you have to get to exhaustion to lose fat.

Keep Your Workouts Fun and Challenging

This will prevent plateaus, boredom and will accelerate your results. Try something you have never tried before like a pull-up. Figure out where you are and set a goal to achieve at least one, then progress from here- this is a huge accomplishment. Use kettle bells, they are portable, all moves are total body and they take up little space- great bang for your buck. Make up little games with yourself, easy stuff like chasing a ball, one legged hopscotch for more dynamic work.

I am looking forward to being featured in an article in the Globe and Mail (life section) regarding Tabata training and Fat Loss. I will post the link when it arrives and send it out. One of my brave clients agreed to do the interview as well and was photographed performing some of the exercises.

Kasia has graduated to one blade skates this year and I have been taking her out. Of course her foot grew last week, I swear in one night and we had to exchange the skates I got for her. She now has adjustable skates with Lightening McQueen, great invention. We have not gotten out downhill skiing yet due to unpredictable weather and the fact that she needs new ski boots as well. Ava has tried sledding and of course loves it, I am hoping to get her out ice skating this winter on a set of Bob skates.

Think Like An Athlete- changing views on fat

So my girls are counting the dogs boobies and reviewing what colour they are. Great, they are both very curious and have realized SAMMY the dog is a girl and daddy is a boy. I have just been informed the dog is licking herself as well. I indicated this is OK, this is how she cleans herself, just don't you do it. I have been through this before when Kasia peed out in the yard because Sammy did.

BUSY MOM FITNESS- Body Image and Changing Views on Fat

So we reviewed important reasons to exercise over the past two posts. Reason 1- fix pregnancy posture, 2 gain strength and speed recovery to care for your children, others relieve stress, deal with/prevent depression. When you start an exercise session set a mini goal for yourself that session, like today I am going to try and add 5 seconds to my plank. This is important in two ways a) it automatically makes your fitness program progressive and we need constant progression to yield results and b) It shifts the focus of your workout from negative to positive. You are not focused on losing weight that session (that we all know is impossible to achieve in one day although we all hope it's possible) and a positive challenge to add something to your routine.

Fitness is an achievement earned over time, not in one or two sessions. Look at the long term effects and benefits. If you have just had a baby you will not be ready to jump on the horse and run a 10km race, right?. Your body needs to heal and become progressively stronger to get a lasting result. In actual fact you probably could or may be capable of running a 10km in early post partum, but is this wise. NO WAY, you will never get a lasting result to get to your true strength potential. You will run a 10km and most likely your fitness will plateau and then deteriorate due to overtraining and imbalances. You will never get the lasting fitness result you desire. I see the result of improper programming in my industry on a daily basis.

So what is proper programming for a new mom that will take you to your ultimate fitness and fat loss quest. Start with the furious 5 and work through the 3 progressive stages. Start the free beginner fitness/fat loss program and progress to the 4 week program. All of this is at your finger tips by signing up for my newsletter at the side of the blog. This program is incremental, progressive, and focuses on functional strength which is needed for lasting fitness results and fat loss.

Athletes rehab starts very slow and is progressive, they have professionals advising them of long term results. "Yes today your can run 50 metres in 15 seconds and will be able to get to 8 seconds by continuing what you are doing, this is an ok result. If you take a step back and perform 2-4 weeks of post rehab or muscle balancing exercise your potential will be to run a 50 metre in 6 seconds. " This is the same as fat loss, you can drop 10 pounds by jogging with your stroller, but if you fix your pregnancy posture, balance your muscles and embark on a high intensity resistance training program you have potential to drop a lasting 20 lb.

I will tell you from experience as an athlete, this is how an athlete tackles learning and mastering a new skill and how they approach their fitness routine. Start slow, methodical and when the basics are mastered results are exponential. Lets do a comparison-

Athletes have bad posture from playing sports
Athletes have traumatic stress injuries from falls, hits ect.
Athletes have overuse injuries from repetitive moves

Moms have traumatic stress injuries from delivery
Moms have overuse injuries from repetitive moves
Moms have bad posture from pregnancy

Wow mom, you are an athlete and motherhood is your sport. Understanding that being able to plank for 20 seconds longer will allow you to hold your baby for 1 hour longer before your low back gets tired is incentive enough. Think of the result of each exercise in your program- will this allow me to do something better in my daily mom life. Exercise should enhance your life, not burden it.

If you tell an athlete that by performing 20 seconds more on their front plank will allow them to return to their sport quicker or jump higher without back pain they will do it- because that is their incentive, their mindset and their reason for performing exercises.

You have more incentive to perform better in your daily life than just jumping higher or running faster. Your job is important, life shaping and multi dimensional. You need endless endurance, strength and positive energy. Don't focus on negative like feeling fat, it will impact your life and your children's lives. Focus on the positives like being strong, trying a new exercise, and managing stress. There is no harder and more important job or sport in the world than being a mother. You yield life.

The end

sincerely ,

Jacqueline (mother and athlete)

Push Up Variations

It is time to teach Ava how to brush her 4 teeth, she loves it. I gave Ava her tooth brush in the tub, so of course her big sister then asks if she can brush her teeth as well. It was great Kasia was teaching her younger sister something useful. I actually relaxed for about 30 seconds until I heard Kasia wind up and spit in the bath, Ava then grabbed the spit and licked it- GROSS. A big pink gob of princess toothpaste. Then Ava started to spit in the bath as well, they were laughing there heads off and kept spitting in the tub. Lesson learned, unless you want a tub full of spit.

I am off on holiday tomorrow with the girls. I will be taking them to a cottage. I hope to do a little video with Kasia and maybe my nephews as they have requested to be in one. I will leave you with this fun video to help put some variety into your BUSY MOM FITNESS push up routine. As a busy mom this is a great intense exercise that you can do anywhere, anytime and you can get a lot done in 1 minute.

BLOG MOVED

This blog has moved to wordpress. BABYBUMPFITNESS

MOM, FIX LOW BACK PAIN WITH FITNESS 5 Essential Exercises

Most moms suffer low back pain, wrist pain, neck/shoulder and upper back pain. Today I have a few suggestions to help busy moms manage low back pain using fitness. Please refer to last days post for wrist and forearm exercises.

MOM, Fix Low Back Pain with Fitness
Mom Fitness-Low Back Pain can be managed with a few key moves such as:


1. Front Plank
This is a great exercise for mom to help regain some tone in stretched out abdominal muscles. The front plank is a safe abdominal exercise for mothers who suffer rectis diastases. Start with 30 seconds and gradually work up to 2 minutes.




2. Side Plank


This exercise is great for your entire body, including shoulder stability. Hold for no more than 30 seconds on each side and stabilize your shoulder before you lift. Keep you body straight and lift your hip to the ceiling. Perform 2-3, 30 second side planks per side


3. Cook Hip Bridge


Gluts and hip flexors are addressed with this exercise. Pull your knee to your chest and perform a one legged glut bridge. 10/side




4. Bilateral Back Extension


Start on all 4's, tense your abdominals lift away your arm and opposite leg using your glut form you body without letting your pelvis shift. Work up to 10/side






5. Lateral Stability- this is often overlooked and specific for mom back back. Most moms push a hip out to one side and prop their baby on it- bad idea. Also your hips and pelvis are changing or have changed so you need to regain strength here. Try to old you child against your abdomen.

Use a resistance band under your feet and walk sideways keeping your feet straight ahead. 10-20 steps in each direction.



Some other moves that you will want to be doing to prevent, manage and alleviate low back pain are stretching your hip flexor muscles, using a foam roller to roll your spine and gluts and stretching your mid back thoracic spine.


I hope everyone had a great Canada Day. We had a great day around our house, all go with our backyard makeover. You see we are a home renovating kind of family. We have taken down our main wall on our main floor, ripped out and renovated our entire basement, tore our roof off and built a second storey on our house, built a deck and our latest project making a natural stone raised garden bed. This was by far the heaviest job we have done. We had 8 tonnes of stone delivered to our driveway this week. My husband and I just starred at it yesterday morning, hoping someone would arrive to help. We started lifting and moving, by the end of the first hour I could not carry any more of the wall blocks, they weight between 75-100lbs. Thanks god 2 strong friends turned up and the wall is complete. I was exhausted yesterday, but not sore today. My training had paid off, my numerous deadlifts and squats, pulls and pushes. It's not just about looks, it's about function.

How and what are you using your muscles for? As a mom you are definitely using them. You may be at the stage early after delivery and rebuilding your abdominals, you may be carrying the infant car seat or lifting a toddler. Really think about how you use your body everyday as a mom. Let me know what you find most physically challenging about dealing with your children, I would love to hear and will address some exercises to help you get through your day with a strong and healthy body.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY

Happy fathers day to all the dads out there. Moms hopefully you and your children are making this a special day for dad. I am sure there is a lot of bad cooking going on right now and spilled breakfast in bed. My baby is napping right now and Kasia has taken Mike to his favourite store "Canadian Tire" to get some dad things like a pressure washer.

It has been a long week, taking a weeks holiday to visit relatives puts a wrench in the family schedule. The girls are just adjusting back to the time change. Kasia graduated pre school on Friday and her school had a party in the park afterwards. For moms with toddlers it is about to get a whole lot busier.

The children are out for summer holiday, the days are longer and schedules are changing. For you MOM, this means your schedule will be disrupted as well. Try and plan when you will perform your own workouts. I know nothing is guaranteed with children and your routine is always the one that waits for all others, but just try. Don't let others throw you off your personal goals, with a bit of planning you can maintain your exercise routine. If you are taking your children to the park, exercise there. Ya people stare, so what. One if the simplest workouts that you can perform is doing 5-10x a 50 metre sprint. That's it. Your toddler can do this with you and your baby can watch you from the stroller. This is one easy busy mom fat loss workout that can fit into any ones schedule.

MOM WORKOUT- Immediate Stress Relief

So I keep getting Happy Mothers Day greetings days after the event. Obviously my daughter had been groomed to say this continually until the day fit.

Exciting things are happening in our house, well for the kids. We have a birds nest on our windowsill. The momma had layed 3 eggs that hatched today. We have three baby birds, a mother and a father that is always around bringing food to the nest as well. Kasia is over the moon, she checks on the birdies every 5 minutes, and I must admit I love it too. We are sharing time learning about the birds and just "watching" them.

Busy Mom Fitness
I completed a 2 circuit Tabata workout today again without a single crunch. My workout was very short, maybe a bit too short but I was feeling congestion in my chest and having no husband help this week I decided this was enough for me. I still felt the need to workout as a form of stress relief and craved that sense of accomplishment for myself. I bet if I didn't workout most days I would skim through life never completing anything for myself in the day. You can still pick up your free mothers day program at the bottom of the Tabata post

I made a great homemade pasta sauce yesterday during my prep day as organic cherry tomatoes were on sale this week. The girls love pasta, it's an easy meal for all of us.

Tabata- Busy Mom Fat Loss

The Quickest Way to Busy Mom Fat Loss.

Moms have it hard enough without having to worry about losing that pregnancy body. Research indicates short burst high intensity resistance training is ideal for fat loss and proven to improve cardio vascular fitness. That’s right no need for cardio. I know ,I know you have heard it all before, there is a magical home fitness program for mom, but what exactly is it? Let me show you. The scientific name is metabolic acceleration training and it comes in many forms such as strength supersets, total body circuits and Tabata’s. What??

Metabolic Training- this type of training is short and nasty. You are most likely aware and/or using some form of metabolic training for fitness as it is conducive for our busy mom life style. The Tabata protocol is by far the superior form of metabolic training for maximum fat burning. Dr. Izumi Tabata is a Japanese researcher who published a study in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports& Exercise in 1996. The conclusion of his study indicated 4 minutes of Tabata interval training could do more to boost aerobic and anaerobic capacity than an hour of endurance exercise.

Metabolic training pushes the limits of your anaerobic system to get maximum fat burning results using the oxygen debt factor. The Tabata 4 minute interval is the superior form of metabolic training for fat burning, so this type of interval is the best of the best. The Tabata Interval requires 4 minutes maximal effort exercise done in a 20 seconds work/ 10 second rest interval. Nothing fancy is needed you can do an all squat Tabata meaning 20 seconds of squats rest 10 seconds and repeat 8x. Each 20 second work interval can yield approximately 15-18 squats if working to your maximum intensity.

How does this affect you as a busy mom? It just so happens that ideal fat burning exercise is short, 4-12 minutes short. Great news for you, because that is probably all the time you have to commit to a workout. You can manage short workouts while sleep deprived and under stress and still get results. Body weight exercises are more than sufficient, so workout anywhere, anytime. Intensity is the key factor for fitness, work to the best of your ability whether you are a beginner or advanced.
I hope this article has educated busy moms about Metabolic Acceleration Training and has inspired mom’s to exercise, even for 4 minutes.

I have designed a special Mothers Day Gift for all Busy Mom's which includes 4 different forms of metabolic training including the Tabata interval. This program has variety including strength supersets, total body circuits, Tabata’s and stability circuits to better your success.

To get a free 4 week BUSY MOM FITNESS program delivered to your inbox visit sign up below.


I would love to hear any comments about the program.

Jacqueline Gradish, BSc, CPT, Medical Exercise Specialist, Pre/Post Natal Specialist

Fat Loss Workout for the Sleep Deprived Mom

Ladies/Moms,
I did forget to mentioned the most important mom feature of all (after a sleepless night myself) Working out while Sleep Deprived. Short workouts such as the ones provided as the FREE MOTHERS DAY GIFT for all Baby Bump Busy Moms are manageable to complete while sleep deprived without disrupting results. Please note if you can always perform 1 less circuit in the program and still achieve significant results if that is all you can manage due to lack of sleep. Workouts longer than 20 minutes while sleep deprived are counter productive and may lead to early onset of overuse injuries.

Once again enjoy, I have reformatted the program so it will arrive in one piece to your inbox immediately.





My Busy Mom Fat Loss workout today after a sleepless night was Day 1 of the free mothers day workout you can receive by signing up above.

Jacqueline

Quick BUSY MOM FAT LOSS Workout

OK, so I just completed this workout. It will be featured in my upcoming program as day 2, phase 2. If you are post partum and feel ready for a new challenge and capable of regular exercise this program is great for you. It can be performed anywhere. All you need is an 8x8 space and a resistance band.

BUSY MOM FAT LOSS WORKOUT

Warm Up 2x through
-Front Plank 30 seconds
-Wall Shoulder Rotations with Press Ups 10x
-Side Planks 10x each side with 3 second hold
-1 Legged Glut Bridge 10x/leg
-Stationary Lunge 10x per leg
-Squat with Arm Circle 10x
- Lateral Band Walks 10 Steps each direction

Exercises Day 2 Phase 2-CIRCUTS
Reps 10 of everything, Sets 2x through, Rest 1 minute between circuts

1 a)Burpie with Reach
1 b)Steps Ups
1 c)Plank with opposite Elbow Touch
1 d)Quick Body Weight Squats
1 e)Modified Pullup/resistance band row
1 f)Side Plank with Reach Under

Perform all 6 exercises consecutively with no break, rest suggested time and repeat the entire circut. Try to improve each circut-intensity matters
Time taken to complete each circut approx 4min


This should give all you MOMs a Monday boost. It is raining here in Toronto and you may need a little motivation to get up and go today.

WHEN BUSY MOMS START EXERCISING AFTER HAVING A BABY

Well feeling better after food poisoning last week. I attempted my first workout back today. It was a no brainer busy mom fat loss workout that was interrupted by a screaming, teething baby. My busy mom fat loss workout- First Circut continuous modified pullups 10x followed by heavy front chops 10x, I repeated this 4x. INTERRUPTED BY CRYING so I brought the baby down and she watched me finish my workout from her jolly jumper. Circut #2 -full weighted front squat 10x and pushups 10x, I performed these 2 exercises continuous again 4x thru ( so 8 sets in total in the circuts).

We had a little family party for my daughter's first birthday on the weekend, she was happy and went to bed early. I did not attempt to give her any cake, as I tried to give her a bit of cup cake last week and it ended up all over me about an hour later. WOW, what a year, the first year is a mile stone for me and her, although she will never remember it. I am so fortunate to have my little daughters, my health and my husband, all of which are very hard work.

Lets touch on the guidelines of when to start exercising after you have a baby. This is a personal choice as long as you feel rested enough to maintain a regular program and are well hydrated. After speaking with your doctor you may restore or begin an exercise program 2+ weeks post partum for a normal vaginal delivery, and 4-6 weeks for a cesarean or traumatic vaginal birth.
If you start to bleed heavily after exercise, feel pain or suffer from a breast infection DISCONTINUE EXERCISE immediately. Other factors that may cause you to stop exercising are pain around your birth wounds, breast discomfort, and heavy persistent urine leakage.

Exercises such as the Furious 5 are designed for any mother to help cope with carrying your new baby and there are are few exercises (such as the neck retraction/protraction, reverse fly and shoulder rotations) that can be completed by any mother if they need them or wish to start them almost immediately. They are not designed as a regular exercise program, rather an integration to activity that can help correct posture. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6yacpMQgkw

HOW & WHEN BUSY MOMS EXERCISE

I will not be performing my max strength experiment this week as I had of food poisoning, thank god it was me and not one of the kids. We have implemented a schedule to accommodate date night/family outing/entertaining in our household. Well this week during our family outing we took the kids to a restaurant and I got sick that night, it's been 2 days and I just ate my first bowl of soup.

It finally happened- they broke through. My baby daughter has the signs of her first teeth. Two little white "chicklets" on the top of her mouth. I know they usually get the bottom ones first. Well, we'll take it. She will be turning 1 year old on Thursday as well, this is a big week for her.

As a busy mom how and when do you fit exercise into your day?

1. Being extremely desperate on Friday I exercised in the shower. It's great because I will not be interrupted by screaming kids because I cannot hear them. I performed the BUSY MOM FITNESS mini circuit of 10 squats, 10 deadlifts (waiter bow), 10x 1 legged squats each leg, 10x 1 legged deadlifts each side. I repeated this circuit and got a bit of much needed circulation through my body. DO NOT do this if you are still nursing or on a slippery shower surface.

2. On Sunday I utilized nap time again. I performed 20 kettlebell chops, 10x weighted full squats, 10 pushups off the stability ball. I repeated this circuit 3x. I then performed 1 more circuit again 3x, Bulgarian split squat 10x each leg and 20x reverse flies with resistance band. DONE this took me about 12 minutes. This is a busy mom fat loss circuit.

3. When I do not exercise- when I feel sick or I am fighting something. I am the backbone of this household and cannot afford to go down sick if I can avoid it.

4. When I do exercise- when I am feeling emotionally drained I pull my butt off the couch and do a mini circuit, I always feel better. When I am only slightly tired, I usually feel better afterwards and adjust my intensity accordingly. I try to exercise before noon on days that I work because this is when I have more energy and I find I have better focus when I pick up the kids. I exercise during nap time (1pm) when I have the kids with me, I do not leave this until the end of the day because it will just be another thing that gets pushed until tomorrow.

5. If the kids won't nap- take them to the park and exercise- yeah people stare- so what. Get the kids to exercise with you, this for me is a last resort because I would rather use my exercise time as personal time. Everyone is different and many of you may find comfort and motivation in exercising along side your kids. They are able to do more than you think, and they want to exercise with you.
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So I hope this helped you as a busy mom;
How to exercise-answer very short circuit style training with minimal equipment needed.
When to exercise- whenever you get a chance (nap time, shower, park) and are not feeling sick or like you are fighting a virus

NEW RECIPE AND CRAWLING FOR FITNESS?

A new recipe has been donated by Gayle for Potato and Leek soup at http://babybumpfitness.ning.com in the Recipe group. Note do not use green parts of leek.

So I have a great video of my baby's first crawl. I was very excited to share this with you because it indicates proper neuromuscular development for her. So what does this have to do with you and your busy mom fitness. Well, have you ever suffered from back pain or a back injury?- most likely yes. If so, I want you to try to crawl. This is a primal movement and indicates good spinal health at the L4/L5 level that innervates the lower body. There are certain movement patterns that we are supposed to be able to perform and the pattern of crawling is one of them. So I challenge you- give it a try and see how fluid you are at crawling. Are you moving opposite arm and leg at the same time? Is your pelvis steady while crawling and not dipping excessively to either side. Again look at the video of my baby's first crawl- you'll notice her coordination is not perfect, but good enough to get around. I expect to see this develop rapidly over the next week as she progresses to a fluid, coordinated crawl.

Throughout our life to motherhood injuries and overuse happens to our bodies ( a lot from being pregnant and caring for a baby). This has an impact on our movement patterns. Working on a fluid, coordinated crawl is not just for babies, you can benefit too. Return to your roots and perfect this pattern, this is the start of a great exercise program. Let me know how you perform on this challenge and I may have some more insight for you.

Some great news for BabyBumpFitness:

Hi Jacqueline,

We just posted an article, “Top 100 Healthy Mom Blogs” (http://www.rncentral.com/nursing-library/careplans/top_100_healthy_mom_blogs). I thought I'd bring it to your attention in case you think your readers would find it interesting. I am happy to let you know that your site has been included in this list.

Either way, thanks for your time!

Kelly Sonora

HOUSE FULL OF GIRLS

I have had a bit of feedback regarding the slow cooker recipes, a couple of people are trying them out. Let me know how it goes.

Our family is ticking along and my husband has just started the FitandBusyDad fitness program written by my friend Chris Lopez. I would highly recommend this for any busy father.

People ask, why don't you just train your husband, well if anyone has tried to directly teach or learn something from your "equal" relationship partner it just causes frustration and a power struggle. It doesn't work and immediately a hierarchy is created around that subject in the household (ours being fitness). Another maybe even more important reason in our house is my husband is surrounded by women, even our dog is a girl and is often dressed in a tiara and bracelet. I realize he needs a like minded male counterpart, and I think he will achieve this by following the FitandBusyDad program.


I had a slower day at the gym yesterday, and a great fit mom workout. I was suffering a lot of muscular tightness last week and could not get any relief. I cut back on sugar in my diet, went for massage therapy 2x, drank more water as well as foam roller every night and stretched. But in all honesty I think the muscular tightness came from emotional stress of dealing with my 3 year old daughter-she was in one of those toddler moods last week and was negative, confrontational and needy about everything. She has woken up on the right side of the bed this week and the house is back to well-status quo- for a busy family.(our new normal)

My busy fit mom workout yesterday- dynamic warmup follow by 2 sets of burpie pullups- I could achieve 5 on my first set and 4 on my second set. I felt a great sense of accomplishment- this is one intense fat burning exercise. Start from a pushup, then spring up to standing, jump up to the pullup bar and perform a chinup, drop back to your feet and get yourself back to a pushup. After this I worked with the cables 2 sets reverse wood chops, cable bentover row, cable chest press while holding my lunge position, cable T pulls to face level for upper back, shoulder rotations. I moved to the floor and did 1 set elevated plank pulling knee to chest, glut/ham raise, Y squat, 2 sets explosive pushups off the BOSU, 1 set warmup cleans, 1 set cleans to my max -(3 lifts at this weight) and static stretch.
After this intense mom workout, I will be taking the day off today and do some foam roller soft tissue recovery.

My baby is 11 months old now and she is eating food and taking a bottle regularly. She and I are sleeping through the night and we have a family routine. Everything is falling into place and when it does I feel my fitness level soars. I know I will have a relapse as soon as one of the kids gets sick (probably next week), but when I can I will take advantage of a "normal" routine and focus on improving my fitness level and complete a workout like the one posted above.

If you are a new, recovering and/or sleep deprived mother a great place to start is with the Furious 5 exercises- they are posted on you tube in the side bar of this blog. This is the perfect start for a busy new mom trying to integrate fitness and exercise into her life. You can sign up to get the workout in written text and also a free starter fat loss workout as well at the top of the blog. Questions? Just ask I am waiting to hear from you.

I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT MY SLOW COOKER- Busy Mom Recipes

Ok, how do you take care of your children, run your house hold, make money, and eat a healthy- hot family meal every night. Two words--CROCK POT. That's right, I rely on my Slow Cooker to provide a healthy- hot meal for my family. I use the slow cooker about 4 nights a week and we always have left overs for great lunches the next day.

Benefits of a slow cooker

1. Quality on a Budget. You can use a cheaper cut of meat because it will be stewing all day. This means you can take those extra pennies and spend it on a better quality of meat. Eg.- instead of buying a generic prime rib, you can buy a hormone free or organic beef pot roast. That's right- quality on a budget.

2. One Pot Meal- all of the veggies are cooked right into the meal. This is great if you have toddlers, you are basically disguising the vegetables and can avoid a the great vegetable debate at the dinner table.

3. Low Prep Time- I have not spent more than 15 minutes ever preparing a slow cooker meal and typically I spend 5 minutes on the prep. Sad but true, I wake at 5am, feed the baby, make lunches, eat breakfast, prepare a dinner meal in the crock pot for that night and go to work by 6am.

4. Homemade Baby Food- Although my baby is 11 months old, she has NO TEETH. She is active and ready for a hearty meal. Using some little bits of meat, mashed veggies and juices allows her all the nutrients she requires and we are setting her up for great eating habits.

5. No Burning- that's right you cannot burn something in a crock pot, and small inevitable interruptions do not ruin your efforts, just serve out the meal when ever you are ready, or have food at hand for your forever hungry toddler.

There is no TV allowed at meal time and we all sit at the table, this is the only 15 minutes we all spend together each day. We connect as a family over a hot, healthy meal.

I would love to hear your favourite busy mom meals, write in and let me know. Here are 2 of my favourite meals.

J Fit Mom Meal #1
Spicy Pulled Pork

Place a frozen or fresh pork shoulder into your crock pot and spill about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over it.
Add 1/8 cup of water to the pot and sprinkle these dry spices over the pork
1tbsp paprika
2tbsp of ground cummin
1tsp chopped thyme
1 clove garlic or 2tsp dry garlic powder
1 tbsp fresh oregano or 1tsp dried
1tsp cayenne pepper

Cover the crock pot and cook all day. The pork will pull apart when ready. I just pull no spiced pieces from the middle for the kids.
I like to serve this over rice and snow peas. I use my rice cooker and in the last 5minutes of the rice cooking I throw the snow peas on top to steam them.
Other ideas- you can put the pulled pork into a tortilla shell with avocado and veg.

J Fit Mom Meal # 2
Crock Pot Osso Bucco

This is dinner party grade. Add the Veal shank osso bucco and a 2tbsp olive oil to the crock pot. 4 servings

4 veal shanks
2 tbsp butter
1.5 cup red wine
1 beef bullion cube
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 onion
2-4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1tbsp fresh parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme
sprig of oregano if you like it- not mandatory
course salt and pepper to taste a few sprinkles
carrots-chopped and celery chopped

Please write in and share your best Busy Mom meals, we want to hear from you.

BUSY MOM FITNESS- Probiotics and Watch that Toddler

I am finally over my flu after a relapse on Friday. The entire house was healthy for about 3 hours and then my husband and Kasia got a cold, now the baby has a cold and I have been up the past two nights with her. The cycle continues. At times like this when exercise is not an option, nutrition is extra important. We are making sure our daughters are getting all or their fruits and vegetables, eating protein and taking their "drinking yogurt", or probiotic culture. The flu can change the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract, so part or recovery is taking your probiotics. I have been following this rule with my girls and forgot to follow this for myself, until my naturopath reminded to take my probiotics. Worked like a charm.

So I have been wondering why we are passing all of our germs around, we are diligent with hand washing, using tissues, washing toys and keeping the girls separated. Well now I know why, I caught my 3 year old licking the couch, wiping her nose on the dining table and spitting on her toothbrush and "washing" the bathroom counter and sink. Yah, we talk about germs all the time, and she seems to know this is wrong and germ spreading behaviour, but she is 3 and she is going to push the envelope. We have all been run down and she has not been getting much attention, so she thinks, so I guess in her mind she would rather be yelled at than ignored.

My workout- knee to chest, dead bug, glut bridges, cook hip lifts, front plank, ball hamstring curls, heel lifts off stability ball, adductor bridges ball squeeze, full body weight squat, modified pullups, pushups, reverse flies. This is a great workout to help re balance your body after feeling under the weather. It is difficult but not too strenuous to cause a relapse. Lifting weights causes micro tears in your muscle and lowers your immunity.

FREE BEGINNER FAT LOSS WORKOUT

I tried to take my eldest daughter downhill skiing on the weekend, well it was minus 25 degrees with the windchill. We tried our best to get out, but after 2 runs she was shivering and I was not going to fight it. I had to get out, the weather is killing us and we all have cabin fever. At least we tried and got to spend time together with one of her friends that joined us.

I had a great fat loss workout today and incorporated some much needed psoas (hip flexor) strengthening. My warm up; shoulder wall press, arm and leg swings, modified inchworm, psoas stretching, glut bridges, front plank up to 2 minutes, side plank leg lift, rotational plank. My fat loss workout 20 second work intervals 10 second rest intervals- my 8 exercises- front chop with kettle bell, squat high pull each side, kettle bell cleans each side, squat alternating press, cross body swing from lunge position both sides. I performed a few more post rehab exercises and an abdominal workout- stability ball toe taps, stability ball pull ins, 1 leg extended sit ups, single leg raise and lower.

Today I have prepared a free starter fat loss workout for new mothers. It will be included as a bonus when you sign up for my newsletter above. If you already receive the newsletter and wish to receive this FREE FAT LOSS Workout please contact me through the comments section and I will get it too you.

MOM FAT LOSS TRAINING-quiz

So if you read last days post you are probably wondering what can I use at home for a busy mom fat loss workout if I am not going to use a big bulky machine. It's simple- I'll give you 3 guesses- write in and let me know. I'll give you a hint, if your a mom you all have one.

Come on busy moms, post your answers. Be creative for the season- oh the season of fat loss.