The 20 Minute Workout For Moms

Hi Friends!

It’s Friday. Time for some Fitness. More specifically, a 20 Minute Workout designed for moms! I’ve got my friend Kasey from Veva filling in for me today to share it with you! She’s a huge fitness inspiration, a personal trainer and a new mom herself.  Check out her blog for lots of great workouts, recipes and more! Today she’s sharing a great workout for moms…or anyone really! Give it a try!

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I am SO excited to be writing on the Lean Green Bean! I’ve been a Bean fan for quite a few years, and Lindsay has been a huge blogging inspiration for me. Now, onto the post!

Whatever motherhood stage you might be in, you need to stay on top of your fitness game. Not only for yourself, but for all your mom duties! I am a personal trainer, but have never had a job more physically demanding than being a mom. So obviously after giving birth, I was not ready to jump into Body Pump right away, but I found that I really needed to be able to do things like lifting the baby in and out of the crib, walking around and bouncing her (maybe for hours) until she calmed down, lifting that cumbersome but oh so handy car seat in and out of the middle of the car, and then there’s the hefting your fragile body in and out of the bed several times a night.

In addition to having pretty severe ab separation postpartum, I also had very weak pelvic floor muscles from the weight of the baby the past 9 months and from the stresses of labor. I learned that during pregnancy, my body was preparing to push the baby down and out, but the whole postpartum period relies on your body pulling everything up and in.

So for the new mom who needs to get stronger to carry a baby around, for the mom who needs more energy to chase after the squealing toddler, and for any mom who wants to feel strong and confident in her own skin, she needs a workout that is quick, efficient, and that she can do anywhere. She needs to focus on her squats to strengthen her pelvic floor and legs for picking up toys, work on her core for holding babies and constantly lugging stuff everywhere, her chest for supporting her back, and her triceps and biceps for waving “bye bye baby” without her arms flapping in the wind. She needs cardio to outrun her 6 year old when he runs away in Wal-Mart, but she doesn’t have time or the emotional energy to train for a marathon.

She needs the 20 Minute Workout for Moms.

If you’re a mom, or if you aren’t, these are full body workouts that I would recommend doing 3-5x/week. If your little one wakes up halfway through, have them do it with you or do the rest later in the day! Since they are broken into 5 minute segments, you have several good stopping points. But remember, give yourself grace! You carried and gave birth to a baby (or maybe several!), and it takes time to get back in shape, lose weight, feel more confident and get stronger! And you have a great community of women who want you to succeed too. Tag your workouts with #WOHmoves or #momercise to post your progress and encourage others!

The Workout

How To:

Warm-up by doing a few squats, wall push-ups, marching, etc. Do the following exercises for 50 seconds, then use 10 seconds to transition to the next one. Repeat 4x for a total of 20 minutes, and then stretch and shake it out! Go at your own pace, but it’s way more fun to go to the beat of your favorite workout playlist. Focus on good form, pull your belly button to your spine and squeeze your pelvic floor up, listen to your body, and challenge yourself!

Equipment:

You will need your body weight for the beginner workout and a set of medium-heavy weights for the intermediate and advanced workouts.

BEGINNER

This workout is great once you have been cleared by your physician to exercise. It’s low impact, you can just use your body weight, and you go at your own pace. Good for helping to strengthen the pelvic floor and healing diastasis recti.

1. Sit down, stand up: Sit down on a surface with your knees at 90 degrees, and stand straight up without moving your feet.
2. Step side-to-side: Step side to side as fast as you can while squeezing your pelvic floor.
3. Wall push-ups: You can do these on a wall or other inclined surface like a chair. Squeeze your belly button to your spine and lower your body with your arms, keeping your body straight as a board.
4. Knee-ups: Keeping your hands at your waist, bring a knee up to your hand and switch, going as fast as you can. Keep this low-impact.
5. Reach up, squeeze back: Reach up at an angle so you can see your hands in front of you, then squeeze your elbows to your sides, pretending like you are squeezing a pencil between your shoulder blades.

INTERMEDIATE

If you’re ready to add some weights and more of a challenge, try the intermediate workout! Always start with bodyweight or light weights, then move up in weights as you feel comfortable. The cardio portions (high knees and butt kickers) are meant to be high impact, but you can always go slower if you need to.

1. Weighted squats: Use optional weights of choice and squat down as far as you can then back up. The target is to get your butt to knee level. Don’t let your knees extend over your toes!
2. High knees: Keeping hands at waist level, bring a knee to your hand and switch feet. Then run run run as fast as you can!
3. Bent over rows: Using medium weights, tilt at the hips, keep your back flat, and drag the weights from your knees up to your hips, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
4. Butt kickers: Kick your booty as fast as you can!
5. Chest Press + Leg Lower: With arms out at 90 degrees and weights at chest level, drop your legs as low as you can without touching the floor or letting your lower back come off the floor. Then as you press the weights overhead, bring your legs back up.

ADVANCED

Move aside, extra baby weight, this advanced workout is here to kick you to the curb! Add weights to the strength portions and do your best for the cardio plyometric exercises. If you need to take a break from jumping, modify the exercise and keep your body moving! In order to get the full benefits of this workout, you need to move for the full 20 minutes.

1. Weighted Walking Lunges: With heavy weights in hand, lunge forward, step together, then lunge forward with the other leg.
2. Jumping Sumo Squats: Start with feet wider than hips and toes pointed out at 45 degree angle to target inner thighs. Jump up, point toes, and land with soft joints, using your muscles to cushion your landing and going straight back into starting position.
3. Renegade Row + Push-up: With medium weights in hand and in wide plank position, pull your elbow up to your ribs. Push-up while holding weights, and row on the other side. If this hurts your wrists, put them down during the push-up.
4. Quick feet: Get low, move your feet as fast as you can, and stay low!
5. Weighted roman twists: Sit back, lift your legs, and with a medium-heavy weight in hand twist from hip to hip.

Disclaimer

Exercise at your own risk! Please consult with a qualified medical professional before beginning any exercise program. Always start at a beginner level and then move up to something that challenges you, but don’t push yourself beyond your own limits.

What are your favorite quick workouts?

 

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–