Local Mum Bernadine Walters is blogging for us about life with her new baby twins Aria and Austin
My return to exercise
The story of my return to exercise comes with a bit of a twist. I was feeling much better and ready for some light workouts, I had delivered our babies four weeks ago. Of course, what I do next is to accept the invite to the Christmas Party of the company I was working for. Feeling like I could fit into a nice dress, with some spanks to smooth the lines some, I got ready and ordered the Uber. At the party I committed to myself to a two-drink maximum, 3 at most...
On the dance floor I made sure not to go too nuts but as the night wore on and I was looking at the clock thinking I should really go now. Then a song came on and I decided to not join but start a conga line! Great idea, about halfway in it felt like my hip gave way and I hobbled to the side and sat at a different company’s table. What could I do but call my director to rescue me, as I knew he would pick up. Very embarrassing! Two of the company Directors carried me to where the first aid staff were. After checking my range of motion, they said it is not broken and sent my home with a colleague as I couldn’t walk.
Getting home my husband that stayed with the babies came down to help me get up the stairs. ‘I’m injured not drunk’ Much to his amusement and kept teasing me that I had too good a time. Hereby setting myself back another 4 weeks plus of no exercise, walking was the main goal at that point.
When I did return to exercise, I had to take it easy and build my strength. My much loved HIIT sessions would have to wait. I did this by working with a personal trainer, she guided me through various routines and increased my pace and reps. Learning the right way to do the different exercises and also how many of each and how many repetitions was so useful and something I will always use in my fitness regime.
The idea is that you do a kinetic or dynamic warm up to raise the heart rate and then do two or three groups of three to four exercises. You could take a minute rest between circuits or see how fast you can do all of them at a minutes per exercise and repeat 3-4 times. The best way I found to get workout programs was to search it on YouTube and Pinterest.
I do short workouts in the lounge, 15 –25minutes, so the kids can be involved or do some self-play on the play mat. Then one good gym workout a week and long walks with the pram.
This is a very rough guide of what I did and what worked for me, know your own body and limits. Please consult with your doctor before starting any new exercise following having your baby.
About Bernadine
It has been on my mind for a while to start this blog; the time is now. I became a mom of two amazing babies, Aria and Austin, and that really made me realize I wanted to share my experience of this crazy thing we call life. As the title suggests I’m doing what comes naturally and it may not always be perfect to everyone but it is perfect for me and my family.
My interests have always been varied and the blog will testify to this, everything from food, exercise and now parenting. The latter being the least predictable experience to date. I hope to share things that work and others that don’t, good days and bad days and how I make this work for me and my family. Because on the days that don’t go to plan and you feel alone, woman (and men) should know you are not, we are all part of the same big world.
Catch up with Bernadine’s blog Perfeclty Imperfect