Happy Friday! I can’t believe it is Friday already. Being home on maternity leave I didn’t expect my days to go by so quickly. On a happier note, in two more weeks I can start getting back to the gym and into a workout routine again! I am starting to really crave working out. I am going on as many walks as the weather is allowing, I have started integrating a little bit of upper body movements here and there and continue to work on strengthening my linea alba which was damaged during pregnancy. And oh man, is all of this humbling! My first week or two of walks I felt so completely out of shape. A couple body weight upper body moves like assisted push-ups and tricep dips I felt and still feel incredibly weak and the damage in my connective tissue in my core is a bit disheartening. Honestly, this all intimidates me a bit to get back into the gym. I am eager to get back to a workout routine, but also a little hesitant because I want to make sure I don’t over do it and do the correct exercises and progression my body can handle right now. There will definitely be things that I can’t do right away that I could do before or even when I was pregnant. What these are yet, I am not entirely sure and it will be a brand new experiment.
Over the past couple weeks I realized that I need to put the majority of my focus on regaining the strength that I have lost, which is a ton. Building strength takes time, but I am willing to put in the work! Along with building strength I need to work on my body composition. I don’t have much more weight to lose, but my body doesn’t have the form it did pre pregnancy. When I get back into the gym in just a couple weeks my workouts will consist of heavy lifting to regain strength and metabolic conditioning to lean out and overall perform better. Think of metabolic conditioning like interval training or similar to HIIT. It’s a method of training where your work output is as high as it can be for a short duration of time with rest in between. This way of training is designed to burn more calories in a short amount of time and also maximises calories burned post workout. Metabolic conditioning workouts will increase your energy stores and give you more energy for other activities.
I like to end my lifting workouts with a short 6-12 minute metcon. Depending on my focus of lifts for the day will determine the type of metcon I do. If I am focusing on lower body push movements, I will do a metcon with lower body push exercises. I love to integrate kettlebells into metcons and this Kettlebell Metcon will definitely be added to my workout routine once I am back in the gym! This metcon would be great to add to a push day workout (squats, pressing movements, pushing movements, etc).
Kettlebell Metcon
Complete each exercise for 30 seconds with no rest in between. Rest 30 seconds after each round.
3-5 Rounds
– Kettlebell swings
– Kettlebell cleans
– Kettlebell ground to overhead
– Kettlebell push-press, each arm
– Rest 30 seconds