These are the only five exercise tips you’ll ever need for post-partum weight loss and regaining your figure.
As a post-partum woman who has lost over 20 pounds, I know what works, and what didn’t work. As a former membership advisor at a local gym, I also spent a lot of time talking to post-partum women and other moms trying to lose weight.
I have come up with five must-dos, based on my own expereince and the experiences and weight loss successes of other new moms.
Forget the fads, forget the latest as-seen-on-TV abdomen shrinker or diet pills.
Just follow these simple and inexpensive exercise tips and you too will soon say “good-bye” to your post-partum body and hello to the new, old you.
The Only 5 Exercise Tips You’ll Ever Need for Post-Partum Weight Loss
1. Strength Train Post-Partum
Ladies, this one is for you. Guys don’t really need a nudge in this area.
Here’s why post-partum women can no longer ignore strength training and resistance training.
When I was a membership advisor at a local gym, my favorite part of the process was explaining to potential members who were also strength-training shy, was how trulybeneficial strength training and resistance training are.
Obviously, the strength training and resistance training are going to tone up your post-partum muscles, and make you look tighter and more lean and fit.
More muscle on your body means more fuel is burned.
The best part, and the part that would get sort of an unsure look when I shared this lifetime fitness gem is that when you add strength training and resistancetraining to your exercise routine, you will also burn more calories when your body is at rest. That’s right. If you had strength trained recently, you’d be burning more calories sitting down and reading this than you would if you had not strength trained.
2. Engage in an Exercise You Love, or at Least Like as a New Mom
Okay, when you first start out you may not actually love to exercise. Eventually you will, when you experiences the endorphin rush of exercise. You may not love exercise, but at least find exercise you like.
Your post-partum weight loss program could be dancing, hiking, aerobics, walking, rollerblading, biking, tennis, or any other activity that gets your body moving and your heart pumping.
It’s up to you to find the right exercise for you. Go ahead and try some different forms of exercise. You won’t break.
3. Know When To Say When as a Post-Partum Woman
You may not break when trying a new exercise, but you may discover pain. Pain is not good. Learn to distinguish between muscles that are sore due to not being used enough, and true pain caused by exercise.
Sore calf muscles or tired arms and legs are no excuse to not exercise, even for the new mom. Sharp or shooting pains or other harsh pains are the body’s way of saying when.
Exercise can be challenging for the post-partum woman, but it doesn’t have to hurt.
4. Every Day is New Opportunity for Post-Parum Weight Loss
You didn’t work out yesterday. Or maybe even last week, last month, or last year. Move on. There is still time today to get up out of that chair and move your body.
Don’t worry about how much exercise you haven’t done. Instead, focus on what you can do right now. You can turn housework into exercise. You can march in place. You can take a walk.
See exercise opportunities wherever you go. Take the stairs, walk more.
Exercising for five minutes now is better for losing those pregnancy pounds than worrying about how you didn’t exercise yesterday.
5. Post-Partum Women Need to Mix It Up
Post-partum women may get bored with your favorite exercise and so will your body. Change it up. Add different activities, change the order of your exercise (except for the warm up and cool down).
Good luck with post-partum weight loss.
