I have officially been cleared to resume all physical activity by my doctor! I am anxious to get back into the gym, but also know that it is going to be a slow long journey back to where I was pre pregnancy. I have been doing diaphragmatic breathing to work on strengthening my inner core muscle (no peeing when I run or jump please) and rebuild the strength I lost in my abdomen from pregnancy. Recently, I have started doing some body weight exercises here and there and lets just say, it is very humbling to say the least.
My initial plan when getting back into the gym was to not have a plan at all. I am soon realizing that may not be the smartest move to get back to things because I know myself and I know I would over do it. So, I am working on creating a progressive program broken up into phases and cycles. I will first start with a couple weeks of mobility and stability and slowing work on strengthening major lifts. I have lost a ton of strength and it can take up to a year for a women’s body to fully heal from pregnancy and labor. Building my strength back up will be a major focus of mine and something I do with caution and take slowly. Then, I will move into a hypertrophy phase focusing a lot on time under tension and building my muscles. Eventually, once I feel I have gained quite a bit of strength and muscle back I will work on power and conditioning to enhance my endurance. I’ve got Spartan races to run next summer so endurance will be important come spring time!
I will be starting from the ground level and working myself back up to where I was very slowly. I am going to take this time to really hone in and listen to my body, do things the right way and relearn how to move and strengthen my body. Being someone who is always go go go this is going to be hard. It will be hard to not see results right away and it will be hard to move at a slower rate than I want. I will work on controlling the things I can control and letting go of the things that I can’t. Consistency is the key to success and I know there will be weeks where consistent workouts just aren’t going to happen. The only thing I can do during this time is take it a day at a time, be as consistent as I can when I can and enjoy this journey as I have the chance to rebuild myself inside and out.
Here is a body weight exercise that can be done anywhere anytime! I can’t wait to do this workout in its entirety. I am going to take this one slow and build up to the full workout. If you are ready to take on this workout, then get it done!
Death by Squats
– 100 squats
– 5 push-ups
– 75 squats
– 10 push-ups
– 50 squats
– 15 push-ups
– 25 squats
– 20 push-ups