Fun and Functional Fitness for New Moms: creative ways to exercise with your baby

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Are you a new mom looking for creative ways to exercise with your baby? Look no further! This blog post has everything you need to get started on an effective, fun, and consistent exercise routine postpartum (I know it’s hard!!!)

New moms - let’s be real. No matter how strong your motivation and will power before having a baby, it can be tough to figure out a postpartum exercise routine that honors your body’s recovery, helps strengthen your core and pelvic floor, AND allows you to stay consistent in the midst of all the mom-life challenges, time constraints, and sleep deprivation. Maybe you’ve made it through the throws of the fourth trimester and your body feels ready, but finding time to exercise feels more difficult than ever. How is that possible?

If you’re a new mom wanting to start exercising again, maybe this sounds familiar:

• You’re 6 months postpartum, and you’ve started to feel like yourself again, and ready to ramp up your exercise routine

• You were super active in your pregnancy, prepared your body well for postpartum return to exercise, and gave yourself plenty of time to recover, but now your constraints feel less physical and more…logistical?

• You feel like you should be farther along in your postpartum fitness journey, but time, energy, and sleep regressions keep getting in the way of any consistency with a workout routine as a new mom!

• You were able to put your baby down on the floor and work in a yoga routine in the early months, but now your baby is getting mobile and there’s no way you can get a home workout in with him awake.

• You froze your gym membership because there’s never quite enough time to sneak away, unless you want to get up at 5am (and you’re still catching up on sleep!)

• It’s great exercise to take long walks with your baby in the stroller, but you’re wanting to work in some core and pelvic floor strengthening and have no idea how with your baby crawling all over!

If any of this sounds close to home, I’ve got you, mama!

Postpartum exercise can feel complicated for many reasons - healing from birth, sleep deprivation, not knowing what to do or when is the right time to start something new - but even when you feel good again in your postpartum body, finding a consistent routine with working out as a new mom is one of the biggest challenges.

Trust me, I have BEEN THERE, and I’m still on the journey with you, figuring out what works for me to exercise consistently and improve my strength and stamina as a new mom!

True facts: the first few times I went to the gym to exercise in early postpartum, I couldn’t focus on my workout because I was anxious about needing to be back to feed the baby (I see you breastfeeding moms!). Needless to say, I froze my membership for a while because my baby’s nap and feeding schedule was unpredictable, life was crazy, and honestly, I just didn’t have the resources to be able to prioritize the gym - and I had to do a lot of mindset work to be ok with that!

And for my new moms on maternity leave, stay-at-home moms, working-from-home moms, and moms with limited childcare options, I know it’s probably tough to get away for a gym visit. These days, there are so many great home workout options for new moms, but nevertheless, if you’ve got a baby at home with you, it can really be difficult to finish even a 30 minute exercise session.

I see you, mama! I know you’re ready to:

• Build strength for everyday motherhood as your baby - and ALL her stuff - get heavier

• FINALLY feel at home in your body again after giving birth

• Get back into running shape without hindering your healing process

But time, energy, and childcare are such limited resources- and NOW your baby is crawling! How are you supposed to find any kind of consistency with exercising as a new mom?

I’ve got you! It is totally possible to build an effective, sustainable postpartum workout program that honors your pelvic floor and core recovery process AND fuels you toward your goals- whether that’s running, eventually getting back into crossfit, living without aches and pains, and even haul your baby’s heavy carseat through an airport on vacation. We just need to get creative!

Here are my top 3 creative ways to exercise with a baby:

1. Wear your baby for an effective and functional strength workout

   I LOVE babywearing - even with my currently-24-lb, 11-month old. There are SO many benefits to babywearing, like improved bonding and nervous system regulation for both mama and baby, AND putting your baby in a carrier is the perfect way to strength train in a way that mimics your everyday life- helloooo functional postpartum exercise!

Working out with my baby in a carrier has honestly been the most amazing training for real mom-life like:

• traveling with my baby alone with LOTS of stuff through large airports

• being able to take baby to festivals and parades (We’re BIG on those here in New Orleans- can you say Mardi Gras) without having to push a stroller through big crowds (not to mention, my baby is not a fan of prolonged stroller sitting)

• Going on hikes with friends

• Those times I’m trying to cook dinner but the baby is fussy, hungry, and tired. Hands-free holding for me, and my baby LOVES to “help” me cook

As your baby gets bigger, all of the above may become tougher and tougher to do with your baby in a carrier, all the more reason to strengthen your body postpartum!.

The benefits of working out while wearing your baby include:

• intrinsic core activation (I love exercise I don’t have to think about!)

• You can workout while your baby contact naps and not worry about if you have 20 or 45 minutes until he wakes up

• Exercising in a way that mimics your everyday life - because well, it IS your everyday life as a new mom.

• As your baby gets bigger, YOU get stronger - no need to spend money on the next size up in dumbbells (how are those things so expensive anyway?)

Need some ideas for workouts you can do while babywearing?

Here are some examples of lower body exercises you can do while wearing your baby in a carrier like an ErgoBaby, Solly Wrap (if you’re baby’s still a newborn), or ArtiPoppe (this one is on my personal wish list!). Leg day just got a lot more interesting!

1. Lunges (walking or back-stepping)

2. Squats

3. Good mornings / Deadlifts

4. Skater lunges

5. Step-ups

6. Side steps with a mini-band

For a challenging and creative workout you can do with your baby, try this:

Choose 2-3 of the above exercises, and do 10-15 of each in a circuit. You’ll be amazed the cardio benefit! Is baby still happy? Take 1 minute rest, and then do another set. Repeat until you’ve completed 3-5 sets.

OR, you can check out the video below for a 5-minute workout you can do while wearing your baby that works your pelvic floor, core, and gluts (My baby is 23 lb, and I got a great burn!). The beauty of this workout is you can repeat the entire circuit up to 5 times, depending on your energy level, strength, and time.

Try this 5-minute babywearing, glut-burning workout that works your core, pelvic floor, back, and hips. Check out more like these on Instagram. Want a customized exercise routine to heal your core, pelvic floor, and whole body postpartum? Sign up for a complementary call with me and we’ll get you moving toward your goals!

2. Work in a few functional core and pelvic floor exercises along your normal walking course with your baby in the stroller

If your baby doesn’t get upset when you stop the stroller, you can try integrating strength exercises along your usual walking route! This is particularly great if you walk in or near a park.

Option 1: every 5 minutes along your walk, stop and do this set:

• 10 back-stepping lunges

• 10-15 body weight squats

• 10 single-leg Good mornings

Option 2: If you walk by any park benches, or even a wall, stop and do this set:

• 5-15 elevated pushups (quality over quantity here- I would much rather you focus on 5 good reps than 15 with poor form)

• 10-15 split squats (place one foot on the bench, and squat down with your standing leg. Hold on to the stroller for balance!)

If your baby is sleeping, you could even do TWO-THREE sets.

Make it a fun game for baby by doing the exercises in front of her and making animated faces. My 11-month old LOVES when I squat down and come back up, don’t underestimate the entertainment value of simple things!

3. Does your baby love the swings? Get a core and glut burn with your baby in a swing - it’s play for the baby, exercise for you, and a great way to get fresh air — soooo juicy for the nervous system which is super important to work into your postpartum exercise routine!

1. C- Curve Pilates sit-ups - pushing the baby in the swing at the top. If you have diastasis recti, you may want to modify this even further and just hinge back slightly before coming back up. The farther down you go, the more challenging to your core.

2. Marches - Great for your deep core and lower abs. Push the baby swing gently at the top as you lower your leg down.

3. Glut Bridge with march - This is a more difficult exercise so if you are at the beginning of your postpartum fitness journey, work up to this by getting super steady in your bridge FIRST. This is a great functional pelvic floor exercise and much more effective for pelvic floor strengthening than kegels!

4. Back stepping lunges - these are a GREAT way to challenge your balance while strengthening your pelvic floor functionally. Think of all those times you have to lower yourself to the floor to play with your baby!

5. Lunge-to-hop - Perfect to start adding in impact work if you want to slowly get back to running without any pelvic floor symptoms like pelvic pressure, pain, or leaking.

6. Static Lunge with rotation - Challenge your core in the rotational plane because we live our lives in multiple planes of movement!

Take a look at the video below if you are a visual learner! Note that the video is speeded up, and taking these exercises SLOW will be much more effective.

Check out this postpartum workout that you can do with your baby at the park, working your core muscles, your gluts, and your pelvic floor. Find me @drjuicyjackie on Instagram for more like this!

How to know when you need extra support creating a postpartum exercise program:

Still having trouble working in exercise with your baby around the demands of mom life, whether that’s due to childcare, work demands, or persistent low energy and motivation? Or maybe you feel like your body is just still out of wack after birth and you need someone to guide you through the basics of postpartum recovery before getting into anything more intense.

You may also need extra help fine-tuning a pelvic floor-focused exercise plan if:

• you’re struggling with pelvic floor symptoms like leaking, painful sex, pelvic pain, a sensitive C-section scar, or pressure in the vagina

• You have a severe diastasis (abdominal separation) that hasn’t gotten better with time

• You have a prolapse

• You have any confusion over what the right/wrong exercises are for you that will help you reach your goals without making any of your pelvic floor issues worse

If that’s you, I’ve got you! I help new moms like you learn to nurture your SELF as you nurture your baby and take care of those around you. That means discovering not only WHAT exercises will facilitate postpartum healing (whether you’re 2 months postpartum or 2 years) but HOW to make a lasting, sustainable habit of taking care of yourself (because I KNOW you have so much going on).

No rigid programming here - we listen to your intuition, learn to pay attention to your body’s signals on a deep level, and we don’t skirt around how ALL the emotions and demands of this season impact how your body feels and responds. If that sounds like the type of holistic postpartum support you are craving, I’m here for you!

You deserve to feel good, and you absolutely deserve support during this very taxing and trying season. If you’re looking for more support, sign up for a complementary call with me so we can determine an individualized plan for you.

PS - I share all kinds of tips like this on my Juicy News email list - where we talk about understanding and trusting our bodies - with a large serving of fun, silliness, and millennial nostalgia - as women on the continuum of preconception to postpartum. Scroll down and sign up below!