My 1st Post Ruby Workout

Rubys-1st-Workout-Heidi

So many people are asking me if I am working out yet, post-baby. The answer is yes with some fine print ?. While I have done a couple structured bouts of movement that could be considered ?working out?, I am not yet allowing myself to push at the intensity that I am wishing I could, just to be safe.

Most doctors and reputable sources recommend waiting 4-6 weeks post-delivery before Mom gets back into her regular workouts. However, the same reputable sources and doctors also say the most important thing is to listen to your body (we are all different!). They say if you worked out before pregnancy, and continued to workout through your pregnancy, there is a good chance your body may be ready for exercise much quicker than if you didn?t workout before and/or during pregnancy.

My own personal rules of thumb are these:

1. Get my doctor?s okay to begin.
2. If I am experiencing vaginal bleeding still, I am not ready to workout. If at anytime after I start working out, bleeding resumes, I will stop until it subsides and doc says it?s okay to begin again.
3. If I experience any physical pain (unrelated to regular muscular soreness that follows any good workout), I will stop working out or modify the movement to eliminate the pain. I believe that our bodies talk to us this way, and we should listen!
4. If my breast milk production slows down at any point after resuming exercise, I will slow down my workouts, or stop altogether, until milk production ramps back up. Side note: this may also be a sign my calorie consumption and water intake need to increase.

There you have it. As long as these 4 things are in check, I will begin my workouts.

With every baby, this time period has been different. With Matix and Marley, I waited nearly a full 6 weeks because I didn?t do much (if any) exercise during pregnancy. After Cash, I waited about 2-3 weeks, and after Ruby I gave my body 2 weeks before I started ?working out?.

I use quotes because, once again, the workouts were so light compared to my usual, but I know just how important it is to start light. More than anything, this was my structured way to move functionally like all new moms (and humans, for that matter) do each and every day. Think:

  • squats ? like sitting and standing from couch or toilet,
  • presses ? like we do to help our bodies off of the floor or how we push the stroller, and
  • pulling ? like we do to lift our babies and hold them to our chest

Nice and basic. Easy and functional.

Time to share the workout! It was one of my favorites and can be done at ANY level of fitness, from beginner to advanced. By choosing a workout that is scaleable, I knew I would be able to throttle it up or down at anytime, ensuring I didn?t overwork my body the first time back.

Disclaimer: If you plan to attempt this workout, please make sure you have your doctor’s approval, as every body is different post baby. Some are ready sooner than others. Your doctor can help you decide if YOU are ready to begin workouts again.

And?a side note: Even if you are NOT pregnant or postpartum, this workout could be great for you ? don?t be scared to rev up the intensity! Give it a try.

My 1st Post-Ruby Workout: 12 Minutes of Tabata

What is Tabata? Four minute rounds of exercise. You perform a move for 20 seconds, followed by 10 second rest, repeating 8 times, totaling 4 minutes. Go at your own pace. If you are only able to get ONE repetition of move in during the allotted 20 second time period, then only do one repetition.

Moves I Tabata?d (4 minutes each move. 3 moves, totaling 12 minutes):

Air Squats ? My first round I got 20 in, but by round 5 I was slowing down to about 10 squats in 20 seconds.
*These can be modified to be done from a couch or chair. You basically sit down and stand up from the couch or chair to complete one rep.

Push ups ? Oh?I struggled with these. Round 1, I did 12. By round 7 and 8, I was happy to get in 1 or 2 push ups. I slowed down once I realized my core needed some attention.
*Feel free to modify this to push ups from your knees or even push ups from your waist.

Bent Over Rows ? I used a 45 lbs weight for both arms (not for each arm ?). These felt good, but worked muscles I seem to have been neglecting for the last little while.
*These were great to end with. I felt like I got the harder moves out of the way first, and got to end with something a tad lighter.

Moral of the story ? listen to your body and your doctor. Move when you are ready, and don?t be discouraged to see your fitness levels aren?t where they were pre-pregnancy. Day by day, with some patience, hard work, and perseverance, we can all become even stronger than we were pre-baby!

18 Responses

  1. Hello, Thank you so much for your post about you 1st pregnancy workout.
    I was wondering if you sell a program for the weeks/months after pregnancy? I am aware we are all different, but it would be great to know what you did as a workout.

    Thank you very much,

    1. Hi June: Unfortunately, Heidi doesn’t have a post-pregnancy program available. It’s best to discuss any post-pregnancy exercises with your healthcare team first, and then follow their directions. We wish you the best!

  2. I have diastasis recti from having a big baby and not working my abs prior to pregnancy. I am doing the 9 minute work outs in the morning. Can you make suggestions for what to do in stead of things that make this worse? I have read that push ups and crunches make it worse. What are your thought please?

    1. With diastasis recti, it’s best to discuss any exercises with your healthcare team first, and then follow their recommendations. They are the best ones to help you figure this out since they know the extent of your issue and can work with you on a one-on-one basis so the issue doesn’t get worse, like you said. We wish you the best!

  3. Heidi, I looked you up after watching you go through your pregnancy on the show. I was hoping you had a pregnancy workout video, my niece is an avid exerciser and could use a safe workout while pregnant. Was disappointed but maybe you could recommend some guidelines or other videos. Better yet make one, you can’t have another baby for that, but you could make one with pegnant mom’s.

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