Health and Fitness

When I started this blog, I was motivated because I wanted to lose the weight I gained during my pregnancy. I’ve done that (although I’d love to lose a bit more weight that I’d gained before getting pregnant) and I decided I needed a new goal.

So - now I’m working on upper body strength, which has the added benefits of making me look thinner and more toned, and because it involves weight-bearing moves, it should help keep my bones strong.

My strength training routine is simple.

I do 15 “easy” push ups (with knees down) then rest for a minute and do 15 more with my hands in a wider position, and rest for another minute. Then I try to do full push ups with perfect form, which gets my muscles fatigued really quickly. When I can’t do another full push up, I do a few more of the “easy” kind. I do this every other day, and I can already do more than when I started less than two weeks ago. Total time for this is less than five minutes a day - can’t beat that.

On the days I don’t do push ups, I do yoga sun salutations. These are great for building stregth and flexibility, not just in the arms but the whole body. Once I’ve done enough repetitions for my muscles to be tired, I’m also completely warmed up, and I do some more stretching. This usually takes about 15 minutes, so I can do it during my son’s nap or before he gets up if I wake up early, and I feel amazing afterward. I’m convinced this helps prevent muscle soreness and gives me more energy, but I can’t prove that. I do know it’s a workout I enjoy, and like my push up workout, it doesn’t require a lot of time, so it isn’t too hard to fit into my schedule.

That’s it - five minutes one day, fifteen the next - but it’s working really well for me so far.