Category: Exercises

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Exercises

Stroller Lunges

Difficulty: Beginner

Description:

Place hands on the handlebar of the stroller.

Stand in a relaxed position then take one step forward and dip your entire body down with your back leg bending until your shin is parallel to the ground and your front leg is at a 90 degree angle to the ground. As your press forward extend your arms in front of your face pushing the stroller forward.

Carefully, press back into a standing position by pressing up and back with your front leg and pull the stroller back to the original positon. Switch legs and repeat.

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Exercises

Straight Leg Lift

Difficulty: Beginner

Description: Lay down on your back and place feet on a sturdy chair or couch about a foot or so from the ground. Press your heels into the elevated surface and press your hips upwards squeezing your glutes. You can help balance yourself by pressing your elbows into the ground next to you.

You can add a weight or your baby for more difficulty.

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Exercises

Standing Calf Raises

Difficulty: Beginner

Stand up on your tip toes! Push through the ground with your toes to lift the heals off the ground. Use a wall or chair back for support.

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Exercises

Seated March with Weight Overhead

Seated March with Unilateral Weight Overhead (Exercise Classification: Beginner)

Equipment: Kettlebell

*If you do not have a kettlebell, don’t worry! You can use a standard weight, a milk jug full of water, or anything that weighs ~5-10 pounds that can be safely held in your hands. You can also modify by doing the exercise without any weight. 

  • Get a weight that you can lift overhead with mild to moderate difficulty and sit down in a chair. Your feet should completely rest on the floor. 
  • Push the weight towards the ceiling as you alternate legs and march in place.
  • Remember to breath as you do this
  • Perform for 1 minute with the weight in 1 arm. Rest for 1 minute. Perform another 1 with the weight in the other arm. 
  • If this pinches in the front of your hip, move to a slightly higher chair or try moving your feet and hips apart from each other. 

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Exercises

Thrusters with Baby

Difficulty: Intermediate

Description: Hold any sized weight, or if you are comfortable hold your baby under their arms; directly in front of you, they can be facing away or facing you, whichever is more convenient.

Position legs hip length apart and while holding your baby or weight go down into a regular squat. As you press back up through your legs press your baby or weight towards the sky directly in front of you and upwards until your arms are almost completely extended. Bring them back down in front of your chest and repeat the move set.

Try to keep the movement as fluid as possible, remember if at any point your weight OR baby feels too heavy to continue: lessen the weight or opt out of involving your baby during this exercise.

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Exercises

Abdominal Decompression

Abdominal Decompression (Exercise Classification: beginner)

Equipment: wall

  • Place the outside of your pinky fingers just above your hip creases with your hands laying flat with no inward pressure against your belly.
  • Use your hands to gently scoop under and lift your belly up and hold. This helps to decompress your belly and take pressure off of the structures in and around your hip crease.
  • Hold the upward lift for 10-15 seconds then relax. If this feels good, you can hold for a longer period of time as it is not dangerous.
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Exercises

Shoulder Wall Slides Facing the Wall

Shoulder Wall Slides Facing Wall (Exercise Classification: Beginner)

Equipment: wall

  • Face a wall and start by standing ~ 6 inches from the wall
  • Rest the pinky finger side of your hands and forearms on the wall shoulder distance apart with your elbows at chest height.
  • Your feet should be hip distance, or a little wider, apart and your knees soft with a small bend.
  • Slide your arms up with wall in a straight line.
  • At the very top, take a deep breath in through your nose as you reach towards the ceiling and lean into the wall a little.
  • If it feels good, you can also shrug your shoulders towards your ears as you do this.
  • Then exhale gently through your mouth as you let your forearms slide back down the wall to their starting position, leading with your elbows.
  • Forearms should touch the wall the entire time.
  • Repeat for 5-10 repetitions. 
Categories
Exercises

Back to Wall Shoulder Flexion

Back to wall shoulder Flexion (Exercise Classification: beginner)

Equipment: wall

  • Start standing with your back resting against a wall
  • Walk your feet out so that the wall is supporting your low back and your thighs do not feel like they are working to hold your up
  • Place your feet roughly hip distance apart.
  • Breathing normally through your nose, start with your arms down at your side and your thumbs facing the ceiling in a “thumbs up” position
  • Keeping your elbows straight and your low back on the wall, raise your arms in front of you moving them overhead. The movement should come from your shoulders.
  • Once they are above you, take a deep breath in through your nose as you reach up like you were trying to make yourself tall and touch then ceiling.
  • Then gently and slowly exhale through pursed lips as if blowing through a straw as you bring your arms back down to your sides.
  • Repeat 5-10 repetitions.
Categories
Aerobics

How to Lift a Carrier Correctly

Life and Carry Carrier (Exercise Classification: Beginner)

Equipment: baby carrier

  • Stand to one side of the carrier and face the baby carrier and baby so the baby is facing towards your back
  • Squat down and put your arm through the handle so that the handle is in line with your elbow
  • Grab the plastic side piece of the handle  and get a firm grip.
  • Stand up by pushing with your legs.
Categories
Aerobics

Abdominal Massage

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Abdominal Massage

Equipment: none

  • Begin laying on your back with your legs resting on 2-3 pillows under the knees.
  • If you are >20 weeks pregnant, put pillows or a wedge under you upper back, shoulders, and head so that you are propped up and not completely flat (~30 degrees).
  • You can perform this technique over clothing or directly on skin.
  • This is sometimes called the “I Love You” massage because you will be tracing the letters “I” “L” and “U” on your belly.
  • “I”- put your left hand flat on the left side of your belly, up near your bottom ribs. Use the palm and heel of your hand to rub from the back to the front and down towards your feet with whatever amount of pressure feels good. You do not need a lot of pressure for this to work.
  • It should take 3-5 strokes to work your way down your left side.
  • Repeat the “I” 5-10 times.
  • “L”- Now move to the upper right side of your belly by your lower ribs. You will use the same technique to massage across the front of your belly just under your ribs and then repeat the “I”.
  • Repeat 5-10 times
  • CAUTION: Do not do this within 30 minutes of eating. The area under your ribs can be very sensitive and uncomfortable as food digests.
  • “U”- Now you will move down to the right lower side of your belly by your right hip bone. You will use a flat hand, palm, and heel of your hand to massage from back to front and up towards your head. When you get the bottom of your rib cage on the right (starting position for the “L”) repeat the “L” and then the “I”
  • Repeat 5-10 times
  • This can be done at anytime during the day but works best at night before going to bed or in the morning just after waking up.