It isn’t always easy to find time to exercise. From the moment I wake up I am on “mummy” duty. During breakfast I think about lunch. During lunch I plan dinner. I make sure Freya sleeps enough, eats enough, drinks enough, reads enough, has time to do puzzles, go outside at least twice a day, shopping, washing, cleaning… the list goes on. I work a few hours a week trying to have something under control. It isn’t easy at all. And I have nothing under control…

Freya doesn’t only keep me busy, she also keeps me active.

We walk, hike and run together. I love it. It is so much fun. After each busy but also fun day I am done. Isn’t it enough?

Yes and no. Taking care of a baby or a toddler (or both) is a great workout. From just a fitness point of view, we don’t need to do more. We don’t need to go for a run, if we don’t want to (sometimes it is just a good opportunity to have some “me” time and catch a breath).

But that isn’t enough to restore your abdominal strength and keep you pain free.

Running after having a baby, without preparation, will add to your back problems.

In those first weeks postpartum the focus should be on breathing and gentle deep abdominal contractions (before you start you need to get the green light from your doctor or midwife. My midwife told me to start only 10 days after my c-section as there were no other birth injuries or complications. But that is individual so double check if you’re “good to go” before you start).

Afterwards for the first few months you have to introduce more deep abdominal exercises to restore your core strength and function. At this point you may also need to do some gentle stretches and self-massage (professional massage will work even better if you can do it) to stay pain free. I remember dealing with neck pain while I was nursing. I managed to control the pain through exercises, but by the time Freya was 14 months old I desperately needed to see my therapist to release tension from my feet and forearms (and the whole body of course). I wouldn’t be able to deal with that without her help. Just one two-hour session made me feel like a new person (unfortunately my therapist lives in London while I live in Austria. I haven’t found anyone, as good as she is here. I see her, whenever I’m there).

When all that is behind you, you can start doing regular fitness exercises.

Saying that, don’t forget that as a mum, you cannot avoid lifting your child, carrying him/her on your hips or shoulders or sleeping on one side, next to your baby when she’s/he’s sick. That, topped up by fitness exercises, will challenge your body. It may activate different trigger points in your body, leading to discomfort or pain and make it impossible for you to do all exercises. If that happens you can try to massage it yourself or go and see your therapist for faster results. Take a break from performing exercises that worsen the symptoms.

Exercising after having a baby strengthen your body so you can take care of your child without being scared of back pain or sciatica.

It helps you find your body’s weak points faster so you can address them immediately. It also can motivate you to give yourself a short break, just for you, to take care of you. Finally, you’re showing your kids that exercising is fun. That is so important now, when technology has just taken over our lives. Kids now play football video games, eating crisps, rather than kicking a ball with their friends outside. You’re the role model – no pressure 😊

If you are eager to start exercising but you are tired and have almost no time for yourself, I would like to invite you to join our 30-DAY CHALLENGE FOR TIRED MUMS.

Our challenge is simple.

We exercise 5-min a day, every day for days 30 consecutive days.

Each workout consists of two parts:

1. MAIN: 5 body weight exercises done for 30 sec with 10 sec breaks. It can be performed almost every day of your cycle, except from the last days of your luteal phase if you have many cramps or really low energy and the first day/s of your menstrual cycle. Those days you will only do stretches.

2. FINISHER: a 1 min high intensity interval training that can only be performed those days when our energy is high: in the second part of your follicular phase, ovulatory phase and the first part of your luteal phase. If during that time your energy is low as you got less sleep or have a stressful time, skip it. During the second part of your luteal phase, your menstrual phase and the first part of your follicular phase skip the finisher and replace it with stretches (bonus video).

3. Take breaks. The workout may only be 5 minutes long but I encourage you to take a breather whenever you need one. Doing so will help you perform each exercise with good form, get better results, avoid injuries and get fitter faster. Breaks help us keep the intensity at the higher level when we get back to exercise. It is particularly important while doing 1min HIIT. You’re not expected to do the whole minute without a few short stops. These stops are needed and will help you finish the workout and make it more fun.

4. Don’t do high intensity interval training after 4pm. If you don’t manage to do your workout before 4pm, skip the finisher, even if you’re in your “high energy” time of your menstrual cycle (second part of your follicular phase, ovulatory phase and the first part of your luteal phase). Exercising too late will keep your cortisol levels high. When cortisol is high you will struggle to fall asleep and/or get a good quality sleep as your rest and recovery hormones won’t be secreted on time. That is even more important now as our days get shorter. Our goal is to balance our hormones. If you never have time to exercise before 4pm, you may just want to stretch more often which is really beneficial, especially if you’re often stressed and tense.

5. “Just one more” approach. The challenge is 30 days long but I want you not to think about the whole 30 days. Focus on getting JUST ONE MORE WORKOUT IN. Think only about today otherwise you may get overwhelmed and quit. It is way easier to find a way to do one workout (today) than try to figure out now when and how you will do 30 workouts.

6. If you skip one day, don’t overthink it. Just “shake it off” and work out the next day. If you missed it because you totally forgot, consider setting up a reminder (it happened to me before on some manic days).

7. Don’t forget to celebrate and give yourself a high five each morning (because you’re awesome and you got this) and after each workout. This will boost your mood and increase the chances of finding way to do it tomorrow as well. It will make you crave it… How awesome is that?

WHO IS IT FOR?

This challenge is for tired mums who want to get back to exercising but cannot imagine doing long, exhausting workouts. The purpose of this challenge is to help you start improving your fitness and mobility as well as build a long-lasting habit.

WHO THIS ISN’T FOR?

• Any new mum who hasn’t done postnatal abdominal fix yet. You must start with your deep abdominal exercises first to restore strength and function in your midsection.

• Anyone who is focused purely on weight loss. You may lose some weight but that is not our main goal. These workouts are designed to help you move better, feel stronger and fitter.

Here are some BENEFITS of our 30-DAY CHALLENGE:

• Strengthening your body to avoid back or neck pain, common for new mums

• Improving your cardiovascular fitness without making you feel exhausted afterwards

• Improving your energy. You shouldn’t feel exhausted after any of these workouts. You should be gently buzzing and feel good. If you’re exhausted, you MUST switch to stretches until you recover.

• Supporting your hormonal balance as we train in sync with our menstrual cycle. For years we were told that we have to train like men. Pushing ourselves even when we don’t feel like it. But female hormones and biochemistry are different from male one. If we follow our menstrual cycle we tap into our female power. Plus, we can stop feeling guilty if we just stretch instead of spinning or HIITing 😊 There is a perfect time each month for each type of training and you will feel it.

• Shifting our focus from weight loss to becoming stronger and fitter

• Feeling successful by doing something for YOU, not just focusing on everyone else all the time

• Make you feel physically and mentally stronger. It helps me feel “sane” again when I struggle to stay calm and keep on smiling.

• Will improve your sleep quality. What a tired mum really needs is a good night sleep. But do you sometimes lay in your bed exhausted struggling to fall asleep and getting stressed as you’re losing those precious minutes… Yeah, I get that.

• Build a long lasting habit. That way when you finally start sleeping more and have more time for yourself, you will find it easy to increase the time or intensity of your workouts.

During the challenge, you always must listen to your body.

Chances are, that if you haven’t exercised after having a baby, you already have some minor imbalances or trigger points. When you start exercising you will be able to quickly identify these. If you’re already struggling with back or neck pain, or feel any surprising pain while you’re exercising, let me know and I will show you how to release it. You MUST release the tension before you start/continue.

For example. Last week I could feel neck discomfort on my left side while doing side plank. It wasn’t pain, I just could feel I “have muscles” there (It sounds silly but normally we don’t feel our neck muscles while doing side plank). I didn’t have the same sensation on the right side. It was a clear sign that if I don’t work on my neck muscles I may end up with frozen neck, something I struggle with since my office job days. Next great example is my yoga experience. I pushed my body slightly too much while doing the Warrior pose and ended up with tendon inflammation. I could feel it was too much but I still pushed it.

It is important that we always listen to our body while exercising. That is the best way to know when we can push a little bit and when we have to take a step back. Any gentle injuries as the ones I brought up above, will make your life a bit more challenging and will stop you from exercising for about a week or more. If you feel anything different just stop, assess, and help your body get better. When you feel pain, that means that your body has been dealing with a problem for quite a while but now it became just “too much to handle”. Since I became a mum, I get those signals almost every day. They give me cues to use the roller, massage ball, a little rock and stretches.

This challenge is fun. If you don’t feel as excited about it as I am just yet, I hope you change your mind by the end of our 30 days together.

If this sounds like a challenge for you, click below to join us. I would be happy to have you in our team.

With love,

Karo