Wellness Wednesdays: At-Home Exercises with (or without) Baby Routine #1

Happy Wellness Wednesday Everyone!  Can you believe it’s already mid-January?!

Lemme ask you, have you had time to hit the gym so far this year?  No?  No problem!

Here is an awesome at-home exercise routine you can do with or without baby, and actually, this workout will work for just about anyone!  You can always use books or filled water bottles in place of baby for resistance and use your own bodyweight for most of the other exercises.  These exercises can also be done in a hotel room if you are traveling because it is a perfect full-body routine that’s quick, easy and best of all, you don’t need any special equipment to do any of these!

Enjoy!

What you Need:

• Mat
• Open Space
• Baby, Books or some type of resistance
• Water (As Needed)
• Blanket
• Towel (As Needed)

WARM UP:  High Knees in Place for 2 min.

• Stand up straight & hold baby close to you as you alternate knees up high.  Continue for a full 2 mins. to get your heart rate up and muscles warm.
• No baby?  Keep your hands high into the air as you do the high knees.
• Modification?  Keep your hands on your hips as you do the high knees.

 

**Complete 3 sets of 10, 15 or 20 repetitions of all of the following exercises for ~30 min. workout**

Exercise #1:  Push ups (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders)

• Place baby underneath you as you get into a sturdy high plank position with hands about shoulder width apart & shoulders should be right over the wrists.  Bend elbows behind you to engage the triceps and stop just above baby and come back up to the starting position.
• No baby?  Simply go all the way down to the ground or as close as you can.
• Modification?  Drop down to the knees and keep the hips flat & do push up.

Exercise #2:  Chair Squats (Legs)

• Grab a sturdy chair and hold baby in front.  Squat down bending legs and sit back into chair and stand back up top extending the hips.
• No baby?  Hold onto some books across the chest for additional resistance.
• Modification?  Place a couple of books on top of chair to raise the height of your squat.

Exercise #3:  Plank (Core)

• Place baby down gently onto floor atop a blanket.  Place elbows down on the ground about shoulder width apart.  Keep the arms separated, get up onto the toes and keep glutes tight and core strong.  HOLD FOR 30 counts & count aloud to baby.
• No baby?  Do the same as above 🙂
• Modification?  Simply get onto the knees and keep the hips flat & feet into the air.

Exercise #4:  Dips (Triceps)

• In a seated position atop your mat, place baby onto bent legs.  Start with arms fully extended at the top, bend elbows back behind you breaking 90 degrees and come back to starting position.
• No baby?  Do the same as above but lift hips into the air.
• Modification?  Get hands into fists (if wrists hurt) instead of flat hands or bend to about 45 degrees instead of 90.

Exercise #5:  Lunges (Legs)

• Hold baby close to you as you take a step forward with one leg & drop back knee to the ground or close to the ground.  Bring leg back to standing position and repeat on the opposite side.  (Right & Left leg count as ONE repetition)
• No Baby?  Hold books across chest and do the same as above.
• Modification?  Don’t bring knee down to the ground; bring knee as low as you can without discomfort or pain.

Exercise #6:  Crunches (Abs)

• Lay back down onto mat and get legs up to 90 degrees.  Place baby on top of your lower legs as you hold baby’s upper body.  Drive your chin to chest & bring up your head and shoulders off the ground for the crunch and place head back down to the floor.  Repeat.
• No Baby?  Keep legs at 90 degrees and add books on top of lower leg as you crunch up & down.
• Modification?  Place feet onto the floor and crunch up & back down.

Exercise #7:  Overhead Press (Shoulders)

• Hold baby close to start underneath the armpits.  Raise baby up into the air and back down to starting position.
• No Baby?  Simply do the same exact thing with books.
• Modification? Hold ONE book in right hand and raise up & down, then switch to left side.

Exercise #8:  Bridges (Hamstrings/Glutes/Core)

• Lay back down onto mat & place baby in a seated position onto hips.  Keeping feet flat on the floor, drive the hips up to the ceiling as high as you can & come back down lightly tapping the floor.
• No Baby?  Complete same motion as above, but keep hands into the air.
• Modification?  Place hands down to the floor to help you stabilize as you lift up & down.

Exercise #9:  Leg Extensions (Quads)

• Sitting in your chair, place baby at the end of your lower leg with foot flexed.  Hold onto baby as you raise & lower the lower leg.  Don’t forget to switch sides!
• No Baby?  Use a heavy book at the end of your lower leg to balance, hang on to it and raise up & down.
• Modification?  Don’t use anything for resistance & every time you lift the leg, squeeze the thigh to work your quad independently.

You can also enjoy this workout again by doing a CIRCUIT with the exercises to change it up.

CIRCUIT INSTRUCTIONS:

WARM UP:  2 mins. of high knees

Do Exercises #1, #2 & #3 back-to-back THREE times for 10, 15, or 20 repetitions.

Then,

Do Exercises #4, #5, & #6 back-to-back THREE times for 10, 15, or 20 repetitions.

Then,

Do Exercises #7, #8, & #9 back-to-back THREE times for 10, 15, or 20 repetitions.

 

Let me know how you did & if you have anymore workout suggestions, please let me know 🙂