Quick Workouts

Quick workouts for Mums with Cat-nappers!

After I had my first baby, I remember thinking ‘oh this will be great I’ll be able to exercise while she naps’ because I was under the assumption that all newborns sleep for hours at a time. How wrong I was!

My first baby was fantastic at the art of cat-napping. After some time I knew I had to make some changes as to what I could fit in whilst she was sleeping as I had just 20-40 minutes most days. Honestly, I really enjoyed the challenge and as a sleep deprived mum, the short and quick workouts were a welcome silver lining.

Below are 3 examples of how to get the most out of your nap time workout. We highly recommend you work with your local MumSafe Trainer so that you can adapt each of these exercises and workouts to suit your individual needs. At MumSafe we know that building body literacy through awareness and adaptations with exercise is the GOLD STANDARD way to help women build strong, resilient postpartum bodies.

For each workout you always want to begin with breath connection to bring your focus into the moment and then follow with your Pelvic floor and TvA switch ons e.g ground down through the feet, imagine hip bones drawing together. Check-out our article on Postpartum Core exercises to read more on this. For cool down finish with some whole body stretches.

Quick Workouts – Strength

A whole body program focusing on both the front and back of the body so you’ll get more bang for buck with limited time. All you need is a set of dumbbells or a resistance band for modifications.

• A1 Glute bridge
• A2 Squat
• A3 Chest Press with DB or resistance band
• A4 Row with DB or resistance band
• A5 Banded side to side

Strength focus with 8-12 reps on each exercise done for 2-3 rounds 

Quick Workouts – Cardio

Cardio – make it short and sweet!

• A1 Modified skaters
• A2 Squat with heel raise
• A3 Alt lunge
• A4 High knees or knee taps for modification

Tabata style 20 secs on 10 secs off x 8 rounds and repeat twice if you’ve got enough time

Bonus Workout

This option is a floor based workout for those days when energy might be a little low but you still feel like moving the body.

• A1 Heel slides
• A2 Donkey kicks
• A3 Side lying leg lift
• A4 Glute bridge

4 rounds and set the timer for 40 on /20 off (rest)

And remember some days are going to feel easier than others so be kind to yourself and know that even a 10-15 minute workout is still going to be beneficial not just for physical health but for mental wellbeing too.

Enjoy!