Best Exercises For New Mommies

Working out as a new mommy can be challenging.

But it doesn’t have to be!

If you can let go of your old expectations of what working out needs to be and adapt to creatively using your new mommy environment as a workout space, you’ll see that there are limitless opportunities for what you can accomplish.

I’ve been a Mom for over 8 months now and during this time I’ve been busy training at home and coming up with all sorts of excellent exercises I can do as a new mommy.

These moves are best for mom’s and babies who are past the 6-week postpartum mark and have been cleared by their doctor to exercise.

Here are 5 of my personal favorites moves and a circuit workout of these 5 exercises that you can do today!

To do the workout, complete the given number of reps for each exercise and repeat for 3 total rounds.

Baby Bicycle Abs

All new mommies want to tighten and tone their midsection after it’s been stretched so large during pregnancy.

As long as you are clear from diastasis recti (abdominal muscle separation) you can do ab exercises like this one that help strengthen your core and abdominal wall.

If you do have diastasis recti, you would want to avoid the leg movements here and just do isometric holds instead.

For example, take this position and hold for 20 seconds on the right then switch and hold for 20 seconds on the left, instead of doing reps.

To start, lay flat on your back on the ground and place your baby on your chest. Do a crunch and lift your head, neck, and shoulders off the ground reaching your arms straight towards your hips.

Point your toes and lift your legs up to a 45 degree angle from your hips.

Bend and pull your right knee in towards your chest while keeping your left leg extended long.

Switch and pull your left knee in while extending your right leg.

Keep your upper body lifted throughout the exercise. Your breathing should be a steady flow, inhaling and exhaling deeply as you alternate sides with your legs.

DO: 20 reps, counting each side as 1 rep, keeping your head neck and shoulders lifted throughout the set.

 

Baby Cuddle Kneeling Hip Thrust

A new mamas hips can get very tight and her bum can get very flat from all the hours sitting to feed and snuggle baby. This move will help you both tighten your tush and stretch out tight hip flexors.

Start by sitting on your heels on the ground and holding baby in your arms.

Make sure your knees are about shoulder width apart and your toes in a relaxed position.

Lift up to a kneeling position and thrust your hips forward.

Keep your core tight and make sure not to over-arch your lower back. The movement should be all in the hips.

Flex your butt and hip muscles and feel that stretch in the front of your thighs.

Lower back down carefully and repeat.

Breath in each time you sit and exhale each time you lift and thrust your hips forward.

DO: 10 controlled reps with a tight booty flex at the top of each rep.

Cat/Cow Peek-a-Boo

Baby’s LOVE peek-a-boo! And This way will help mama get some great spinal flexion out of it too! You’ll be training your abs to be tighter and your waist smaller at the same time as getting lower back pain relief. A win-win situation all around!

Start in an all fours position.

Make sure that your knees are just under your hips and your hands are just under your shoulders.

Seat your baby just in front of you, about 1 foot away from your hands.

Get into a cat position by lifting your spine up, dropping your head, and rounding your back as much as possible. This should feel like a really good stretch across your back.

Next, flex your spine in the opposite direction to get into the cow position (swooped spine) and look at your baby while saying “peek-a-boo!”.

Aim to exhale during the cat position and inhale during the cow.

Repeat and have fun with baby!

DO: 10 reps counting each position as 1 rep. Do more if your baby is loving it! If your baby is a bit too young for peek-a-boo games then do it anyway and just practice for the future.

Seated Baby Forward Bend and Twist

This rotation exercise feels so good on a tired mamas back and the stretch in the chest is exactly what we need after so many hours of holding a baby.

This exercise will help straighten out your posture and give your hamstrings a good stretch at the same time.

Start by sitting on the ground with your baby laying down on your lap.

Reach for your toes with both hands, folding over baby but being careful not to press on her.

Reach your right arm behind you as you keep a hold on your toes with your left hand. Stretch as far as you can and rotate your spine as if you’re trying to follow your right hand with your eyes and look behind you.

Come back to center and give your baby a little tickle or a smooch.

Switch and stretch the other side.

Breath steadily throughout the movement and focus on the rotation and opening of the chest muscles.

Make sure to lean forward far enough that you also feel it in your legs.

Do: 10 reps, counting each side as 1. Focus on the stretch.

Baby Rotational Lift in Low Lunge

This move is a multitasker! Not only will you get some great shoulder toning, you’ll also be working your core, slimming your waist, and entertaining baby a whole lot!

Start in a low lunge position, with your right knee in a 90 degree angle and your left knee rested on the floor.

Hold your baby under her arms, facing away from you, with a firm grip around her rib cage.

Her starting position should be to the outside of your right hip. You will feel that your core is rotated, aim to turn your chest towards the side as well.

Keeping your leg position steady and stable, lift your baby up into the air and rotate so that she is directly in front of you rather than to your side.

Lower her back down towards your right hip and repeat.

Smooth motions are best when you are lifting your baby, but if you lift a little faster and lower slowly while making sound effects she might have a little more fun with it.

 

DO: 6 reps on the right side, then switch and do 6 reps on the left. Focus on core rotation and flexing your shoulders.

This workout is just one example of all the creative ways you can workout as a new mommy.

I hope you will take you and your baby’s safety seriously and not do anything that you are nervous about. If you don’t feel confident doing it, don’t do it.

As long as you know what’s safe for you and baby there is a whole world of possibility and lots of fun to be had!