Work Off The Baby Weight With The Baby Weight

As promised, below is my lower body workout I did while pregnant. I told you all I would send it to you unless the baby came, and as you all know SHE CAME. So I have given you the original workout and I have also added a section called BabyTime that focuses on substituting baby Iyla in for the weights. What a seamless and natural substitute for weights when coming back from having your baby because as your strength grows, so does the baby. Much like you would increase your weights as you gain proficiency.

I want to take the time to acknowledge my trainer, Brandon Crowe for creating the workout for me while in the last bit of my pregnancy. I can't wait to see what he creates for me next to get me ready for my first race back: 'Road2Hope Marathon' in November. If you haven't already checked out his facebook page, you can do so by clicking on his name above.

WORKOUT: Glutes/Calves/Hamstring Focus

Exercise 1:

Toes Elevated (on plate or rolled towel) Sumo Squat with Dumbbells in front of knees *watch for temp

Sets: 4
Reps: 12
Tempo: 6-0-2-0 (Perform exercise down for 6 seconds, immediately bring exercise up in 2 seconds, and repeat)
Rest: 40s
Comments: (These are comments from my trainer) Toes elevated, wide leg and dumbbells in front all hit your glutes more than quads.
Baby Time: I adjusted using weights for Iyla and since it was my first weight workout back I took out the elevation of toes for this round.

Exercise 2: Alternating Side Step Lunges (step 45 degrees to the side and then back) with dumbbells

Sets: 4
Reps: 10 one each side
Tempo: 3-0-1-0
Rest: 40s
Baby Time: Again I substituted Iyla in for the weights and I made sure to switch my hold with her to the opposite side after each set so that her weight was being evenly distributed during the workout.

Exercise 3: Stair Calve Raises - lightly hold the railing for guidance

Sets: 4

Reps: 40

Tempo: 2-0-2-0

Rest: 40s

Comments: This will be brutal. If you need mini breaks between your sets of 40 reps, rest as minimally as possible until you hit 40.

Baby Time: The first picture below shows just doing calve raises with two hands to hold baby Iyla. The pictures below show the option of having the support of the stair railing. What I like about the stair option is that when going down with the calve raises you can go below the starting point, giving the shins a nice stretch. 

The last 3 exercises I did without baby Iyla because I didn't feel comfortable holding her in the positions tackled below. 

Exercise 4: Hip Extensions with the upper back on couch/bench and feet on floor with dumbbells held above hips/thighs

Sets: 4

Reps: 10

Tempo: 4-0-1-4

Rest: 40s

Comments: 4 seconds on the way down, 1 second on the way up, 4 second contraction at the top squeezing your glutes maximally

Exercise 5: Hip Extensions with feet/heels on couch/bench. No weight

Sets: 4

Reps: 15

Tempo: 4-0-1-4

Rest: 40s

Exercise 6: Abs: Front Plank 30s on and 30s off for 5 minutes

Enjoy!