Last night I read a Facebook posting from a new mom about her negative encounter with a personal trainer. When she sat down with the personal trainer he immediately insinuated she “wanted her pre-baby” body back, which completely insulted her. She stated that she was happy with her body and that she wanted to “regain core strength” and felt as though this trainer was telling her she needed to conform to society’s ideas of what a woman’s body should look like. While I hope this was not indeed what the trainer meant this situation can bring up an important point that even trainers sometime forget. Working out is not only about how you look when you’re naked, but how you feel and how truly healthy your body is. Losing those few extra pounds after baby isn’t about getting that “prebaby body back”, but staying healthy for your kids. It is harder to lose the baby weight for several reasons, number one being your time is no longer your own and getting your workouts in becomes harder, second pregnancy have caused your body to change through hormones, weight gain, etc. However, the sooner you get back into your routine of working out and keeping moving the better your body will recover. This doesn’t mean if your little one is ten and it’s time to lose that baby weight, you can’t do it. It just means it may be harder. Many people are intimidated by trainers thinking they are just trying to make everyone “modelesk”, but really we are looking at things that can ultimately impact your health. Some of the measurements you see us take have much more meaning than how “out of shape” you are.   Take for instance body fat percentage, you see us looking at how much of your body is made up of fat, but we are also considering how that number can directly impact your risk for conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease. To you the hip to waist ratio may be how well your pants fit or what size you are, but to us it can be indicator of glucose issues, imbalanced hormones and increased stress levels. All of these can make it harder for you to lose weight and  keep from feeling frustrated. Then finally looking at your cardio conditioning can indicate how efficient you are a burning your different fuel sources (carbs vs. fat) and can be a direct indicator of your metabolism. Yes, there are those trainers out there that want everyone to eat only chicken, workout the way they do and never enjoy an ounce of life, but remember working out is about making life better for you! Getting back or staying in shape can mean more time to play with your kids, dancing with your spouse, or even looking good (in your opinion only) naked. What shape do you want to be in?

 

And on to the next workout….

Equipment: 2 – 10lb dumbbells

Renegade Row/Push-Up/Twist – 10
Sumo Squats with Dumbbells – 10
Tricep Kickbacks – 10 (slow and fully extended)
Overhead Press – 10
Side Plank – 20 seconds each side
Ice Skaters – 10 each side
Repeat 3 times

Planks 1 minute x 2