Suggestions for work-out for my OH please page

[Tribal Rob]

Ok, so here's the deal, New baby, breastfed on demand and worn in sling, add a 3 year old and a Home edded 10 year old, back not in the greatest of condition, pelvis still not 100% from far too much relaxee ligaments hormone during pregnacy.

We have decided that slow movement is going to have to take care of itself with general life stuff and walking places for now, strenght training is probably less important, lifting baby helps with that , and will be harder due to back and pelvis issues.
So something that has the benifits of sprinting without having to leave the house as we just don't have the time* right now, and needs to be quick to do, with no special equipment and easy to learn.



*please don't say you make the time, we are already short on sleep, hardly ever sit down, on a good day we manage to get an hour to wind down after all kids have been put to sleep or beaten into a coma before we fall alseep where we stand, I just about manage sprint a week as I can do it on the way to pick up 10yo from the station when he comes back from his dads, nomally manage 1 LHT, often with a 3yo providing extra weights on the squats and playing horsey for press ups and planks, though at least I get a breather by hanging her off my pull up bar for a minute, luckly for me the littlest one like to be taken for a walk in the evening so I get my move slowly then, so if anyone says make the time I will hunt you down and spend an entire week being as demanding as 3 kids at you then you will be sorry

[fuzzylogic]

Ok, so here's the deal, New baby, breastfed on demand and worn in sling, add a 3 year old and a Home edded 10 year old, back not in the greatest of condition, pelvis still not 100% from far too much relaxee ligaments hormone during pregnacy.


so if anyone says make the time I will hunt you down and spend an entire week being as demanding as 3 kids at you then you will be sorry

I raised three and mine were well-behaved, so I can say this: put baby in stroller and go for jog. Take three year old along or put three year old in wagon and let 10 year old pull hir. Put baby down periodically, it is good for them and the three or 10 year old can amuse them for a bit.

Teach three year old to sleep in their own bed. Teach infant to sleep in crib---past a few weeks they don't need to eat constantly anyway, and teaching them to go to sleep on their own before they are mobile will be useful. Then you won't be so sleep deprived. As you start moving, those ligaments will tighten up.

There is no need for motherhood to equal martyrdom unless you get off on that.

[Tribal Rob]

I'm sorry I wasn't asking for input on our parenting choices, those have been made with careful consideration of all the options and reading much reseach as well as following our instincts of what feels right for us.

[Fernaldo]

Honestly, if you can get 20 minutes in, you can get a pretty good lifting workout (I know because I have finished prior to Baby Einstein finishing). If you invest in just a barbell and some plates, you could hit the compounds with efficiency. 1 or 2 exercises every few days, 2-3 sets. M - Squat/Rows, W - Bench/Press, F - Dead lift. Throw in some bodyweight pushups, chinups and dips and you got a solid routine with minimal time.

Just start off with the bar if you are iffy in certain areas which you mentioned.

[Owly]

I know you said no special equipment, but I wonder if an exercise bike might be useful. You can often pick one up secondhand quite cheaply (I actually had a friend just give me his old one when I needed it for knee rehab). She could use it to do some tabata-type intervals, which would have similar benefits to sprints. You could also do intervals on other exercises such as bodyweight movements. The benefit is that you only need four minutes for a tabata set (20 seconds on, 10 off, 8 rounds), so it can be fit into a small time space in the day fairly easily.

Good luck--I know it's tough dealing with that first while with a newborn. I don't have children, but I've seen so many women friends struggling through that time, and with older ones to look after too, that's a lot of work. I'm glad she has a partner who's trying to support her and look for ways to help her fit her health in along with all the rest.

[teach2183]

How old is the baby? If young enough, the mother really shouldn't be doing much so as to allow the body to heal from pregnancy and delivery as well as provide as much milk as possible. Although I did play soccer @6wks pp with my first.

Go on walks as a family when you can, it's great bonding time. 3 of 4 moves in Mark's fitness plan (push-ups, squats, planks) can be done with no weights, and you could find a pull-up bar at a park. Progressing slowly with these will allow the body time to heal. Could you buy a small trampoline? Great fun for the kids and can be good for putting less stress on the joints.

I totally get the no time thing, but we try to incorporate the kids as much as possible. We take our kids to play at park and take turns sprinting. We invested in a home weight bench to eliminate travel time to the gym and have discovered the kids enjoy watching us lift. They are too cute (nearly 2 and 4) trying to imitate using their toys as "weights" (ie frisbee for plate overhead lunges).

Good luck!

[Tribal Rob]

Thanks for the ideas everyone, we do have an excersise bike in the garage, but there is no room for it in the house otherwise that would have been a cracking idea, maybe a mini rebounder might be an idea if we could come up with some short fast routine to try.

I might also try suggesting something with easier bodyweight intervals - wall presses, knee planks, maybe 2 leg pull ups (I have a pull up bar that I use for my LHT). As long as it's not too taxing and fun she should stick to it, OH is not a person who enjoys excersise, getting sweating and pushing yourself has hard as you can isn't fun for her, not something I can relate to as I think is's awsome to push yourself to your limits then lie on your back panting like an fish out of water afterwards. So it's purely done for improved health for her.

Healing wise, LO is just over 6 months so there has been a fair while for healing, though I understand many people feel 9 months in 9 months out is about right.

We do go to the park and out for walks with the kids, and OH walks various places in the week with LO in a sling and toddler in tow, but the pace is pretty reaxed when going at 3yo speed, except when we are going to see horses, then she can't half shift I think that takes care of the move frequently at a slow pace bit, certainly for now, in the future swiming will be included when transport, children getting older and $$$ are sorted.

[Jiigigaw]

Maybe something like this?

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread7663.html

[Tribal Rob]

Maybe something like this?

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread7663.html

I think that would be a bit much the the Mrs right now, but the results are awsome.

[Tribal Rob]

So, thanks for everyone's input. I've come up with the following idea. Using tabata style intervals, 4 sets of 2 leg assisted pull-ups, to give squat and arm excersise, and 4 sets of wall push ups, making a full 8 intervals. Do that 2 times a week to start with, probably Tuesday and Friday. OH thinks that sounds do-able so the mental barrier is overcome. Once she is used to this might start adding planks at the end. thanks again