12-Week Postpartum Training Program

Pregnancy can take a toll on the body, even if you did maintain workouts and healthy eating throughout the ten months. My 12-week postpartum training program will help you get back into shape after you’ve allowed yourself time to recover. I would recommend starting this program as soon as you feel strong enough, whether that is two, four, six or twelve weeks after you’ve given birth. And ladies who didn’t just have a baby, but want to regain their post-baby body years after having children can start this workout immediately.

The program is split up into three phases.

Phase one focuses on your core and overall fitness through a series of circuit workouts. I am a big fan of circuit training because you can burn energy and accomplish more in less time, which we all know is a must with a newborn in the house. 

Phase two eases you into strength training with upper, lower, and total body workouts combined with cardio.

Phase three is heavily focused on lifting to help you build muscle.

You will notice that in all phases, I did not include steady-state cardio such as running. I want you to focus on walk and rebuilding your core. Eventually, you will add in one day of sprints, but that's it. I have found that my clients burn more fat and avoid overtraining by doing sprints once a week in combination with strength training and walking. You may actually find that you don't need to engage in RUNNING every other day to be strong. In fact, I found that when I reduced my running to walking and added once-per-week sprints, I got leaner. 
 
NOTE: For all of you newly-born mothers, be sure that you have evaluated your abdominal muscles for diastasis recti. Your main focus should be on regaining that core strength. You can begin walking and working on your core days after giving birth if you feel good. Don’t let anybody tell you that it is unsafe. It isn’t. Just keep in touch with your body. If you feel tired or you begin to bleed more than normal, slow down, sit down, and wait until tomorrow. I would also recommend that you do “Phase One, Week One” for an entire month before you begin the scheduled program. It will help you regain core strength without overexerting yourself.
 
I have outlined the program in an easy-to-print, downloadable format. Each phase lists the workouts that you’ll be performing followed by the weekly schedules. At the end of this document, I have created a workout log sheet that you can use for each workout Simply print it out, place it one of those nifty plastic sheet covers and use a dry-erase marker to track your workout. Saves paper and helps the environment.

---