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.

Best Busy New Mom and Baby Bump Exercise

The bilateral back extension exercise is one of the BEST Busy Mom exercises for pregnancy and a new mom. Yes it's origin is rehabilitative in nature, but why is it so important for you. From a 4 point kneel you are cued to lift up one of your back legs straight out by contracting your glut muscle- you are not to let your pelvis drop or shift during this leg lift and your abdominals need to be tight for your pelvis to be held steady. This is step one and testing if you are able to hold your 3 point stance working on your pillar and anti-rotation muscles in your core to hold your pelvis steady. Next (or is you are advance you can lift arm and glut simultaneously) lift your opposite arm straight out in front of you, trying to get your arm in line with your ear, but again not letting your pelvis drop or rotate. You are now in a 2 point stance. This is beneficial because your anti-rotator muscles are firing (increasing lumbar stability), your glut medius of the pillar leg is working, your glut max muscle of the suspended leg is firing, your shoulder stability muscles are firing of your support arm and your core and back muscles are firing of the extended arm. This is a lot of bang for your buck- highly efficient exercise, perfect for busy moms. Many athletes use this 1-2 x per week in their dynamic warmup program so everything is firing for performance. For a new mom and for a a pregnancy exercise this should be part of your regular routine as you are overcoming changes in your body. During pregnancy your hips are widening making your glut medius less effective, you lumbar spine is mobilizing in the joints due to relaxin and your belly is expanding putting your pelvis into anterior tilt. The pregnancy waddle or gait associated with late pregnancy is inevitable. Performing the bilateral back extension will help prevent discomfort from joint instability and pregnancy posture. You can learn how to manage your new changing body by firing your muscles to help prevent loss of balance and aid in recovery.

During Pregnancy Fitness Routine the Key Reasons For performing the Bilateral Back Extension are;

1. Manage lumbar instability that can lead to discomfort

2. Fire your abdominals at their new changing lengths for aid in daily activities and recovery after baby is born

3. Shoulder stability

For a NEW MOM regaining lumbar stability is mandatory. You are now carrying around a baby, your body is constantly changing shape and you are under physical stress from sleep deprivation and delivery recovery. The main goals of performing the bilateral back extension for a new mom is to

1. Retrain deep abdominal muscle firing and anti rotational muscles ( the true function of the abdominals)

2. Strengthening your glut muscles for pelvic stability to avoid lifting with your back instead of legs

3. Stabilizing the shoulders by horizontal pressing and vertical lifting

Like mentioned earlier once you go through your pregnancy fitness and recovery new mom fitness this exercise is a great warm up for any routine. It is commonly performed incorrectly as people allow there belly to sag, pelvis to rotate and lift their back leg with their back not by firing their glut. Be aware of these when you perform this exercise.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

I'M BACK

Glad to be back and trying to establish some sort of routine during this busy holiday season. As a mother the holiday season is 10 fold hectic-over tiered kids, kids at parties and on sugar, moms on alcohol to deal with overtired kids, lots of holiday treat temptation and too busy to exercise. WHAT TOO BUSY TO EXERCISE!! If this is your life take control. View exercise as an outlet, something to take you away from the stress and temptation of the holiday season. You get some alone time, you won't be spending money, drinking or eating during your few moments of fitness solitude. For the most part no one will bother a busy new mom as she tries to establish her exercise routine. Ask for it and you will receive--yes family support as you start or maintain your post partum exercise routine. Let someone else take the reins for 15 minutes.

My workout today- warm up-leg and arm swings, shoulder clock, wall shoulder press/rotation, side planks, stationary lunge, 10 crunches with 1 leg extended, warm up set full squat. My fat loss circuit 3 exercises, 3 sets, 10 reps of full squat with dumbbell shoulder press, modified pull ups, kettle bell swings.

New Social Network For Pregnancy/Motherhood

Please check out the new social network for you at http://babybumpfitness.ning.com . This is set up for you to ask questions, meet people or just rant. We have some great professionals as members. Welcome Dr. Michael K Jones (physiotherapist), owner/instructor of American Association of Fitness and Rehab Professionals and owner of many sports physiotherapy clinics dealing with professional athletes across the United States. Dr. Jen Castles is a member of http://babybumpfitness.ning.com, she is an accomplished naturopathic doctor. Meet these professionals and other women like you. Enjoy!!!

Post Rehabilitation Workout

My Workout- Wall shoulder rotations with shoulder press 2 sets, isometric lunge with lat row 2 sets/leg, isometric lunge with chest press 2 sets/leg, side plank leg lift, up/up/down/down front plank, abdominal leg lower 1 leg at a time, crunch with one leg extended, band external shoulder rotation, lower trap palm to ceiling off stability ball, 3 sets of 20 kettle bell swings, push ups off stability ball.

The above workout is an example of a post rehab workout. During pregnancy your posture changes and some muscles become short and tight, others long and weak. The above exercises help stretch pectorals, strengthen rotator cuff and upper back muscles, strengthen abdominals (including transverse abdominus) and fix rectus diastases, strengthen hip flexors (out ot length) and gluteals, multifidi muscles in your back and lower trapezius to counteract hunching your shoulders. I stuck in the kettle bell swings because I can, I get a boost from them.

My husband is away for business again this week, so that means calling on the grandparents for help. I rely on their help in order to get the children to daycare in the morning with an early schedule. So far I haven't found a daycare that opens at 5:30am around my place yet, but I know every new mother is up. What a weird time of day, I may set a new first phone call edicate between new mom's, yes it is ok to call each other at 5:30am.

Old Friends

Workout this morning- 3 Rounds of 20 seconds work/10 second rest. Exercises for first 2 rounds pull ups as my interval with burpie press, ball pull ins, heavy kettle bell swing, jumping jacks, for my last round used push ups as my interval. To explain this I do a set of berpies then pull ups, a set of ball pull ins then pull ups, a set of kettle bell swings then pull ups, a set of jumping jacks then pull ups.

I had a chance to catch up with my roommate for university on Friday. It was great to see her again and meet her kids, she has the same family combo as me a 3 year old and an infant. This seems to be common spacing for families. We were mentioning how all we feel like we do is yell and say no, it's enough to drive you crazy. One kid in the terrible or testing 2's and an infant. As a mom you know how thin you can be spread, even to find time to blog is a chore. Like right now my toddler is screaming for one of us and is about to wake the baby. .......... I'm back she has to go poo. My husband asked how are visit was and I indicated we probably only got 5 minutes to catch up otherwise we were on call for the kids, but that 5 minutes is worth it to keep your sanity. My husband also made reference to the fact that it must be nice to sit around and gossip all day with the kids- he is down in the basement now.

As I have mentioned before I use fitness as a way to steal some time for myself and give me a boost. Regardless of your platform or style of fitness or where you start it can be the most important 15 minutes of your day. The mother sets the tone for the family and how the house is run. In our house we are now reviewing "happy wife, happy life" 101.

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.