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)

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.

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.

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