Where I'm Returning From (Pre to Post Natal)

Well, as mentioned before, it's been a while.  Since I last posted, I've had one kid, recovered my fitness, got back on track, then had a second kid.  Many lessons were learned in the process.  I'm not going to bother recounting that first journey, since I'll cover some of the stuff I learned when I tell you my current Back In Shape plan.

So here I am, 4 months postpartum... How to get back on track? How to get back into shape, start running again, tighten up that baby pooch?

First thing I did learn from last time was to start slowly.  Things don't work quite the same as they used to and if you don't strengthen the parts that need strengthening, when you then start running again, things get hurt.

During pregnancy:
Both times, I ran all the way through the beginning of my 8th month of pregnancy, and then swam laps for the last two.   I did this 2-3 days a week.

In addition, I did yoga and strengthening.  The three workouts I did most were:

• Jane Austin Prenatal Yoga:  This was great and even on days when I was exhausted or felt awful (which sadly was the case for a lot of both pregnancies) I could even just do the first 30 minutes of this and it would help a lot!  I also love that it works the arms hard but then really stretches and relaxes.
• The Perfect Pregnancy- Vol. 1-Sculpting:  I do love this - it feels like a real workout, working on strength and has three levels you can do within the workout.  As someone who was pretty fit coming into the pregnancy, this workout was satisfying.  And the Keep Up arm workout at the end burns!!!
• Prenatal Fitness Fix with Erin O'Brien:  This workout was shorter but also satisfying in that it wasn't too easy and felt like an actual workout.  I didn't do this the first pregnancy but after doing Erin O'Brien's Postnatal Rescue, I found these and added them to the mix this time.

That was my schedule during pregnancy and I honestly do think it helped me make it through both pregnancies, both mentally and physically.

The AfterMath:

Both times, I was careful about waiting six weeks till I was cleared by my OB to workout. I did however start doing Erin O'Brien's Postnatal Rescue stretching before the 6 week mark.  

After 6 weeks, I began the following:

• Postnatal Rescue workouts, 2 weeks on each level of workout
• The Runner's World Guide to Running and Pregnancy plan for starting running again.

But this was not enough either time.  Both last time and this time, I have had severe lower back pain that made it difficult to stand up, bend over, pick up my baby... So I needed to step up my back and core rehabilitation.  That's where I'll be starting from... Next post :)