34-Minute Post Pregnancy Upper Body & Core with Weights

Hey, everybody. I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy. And this is your post pregnancy upper body and core workout. So this workout is great for anyone who has been through a pregnancy, but in this workout we are only focused on you. We won't be discussing anything about babies or new mom life. We'll be talking about your body, your recovery, and I'll give you lots of different options depending on where you are in your journey. We'll be working with weights today. Dumbbells or kettlebells or both. Or just keep it body weight if that's where you are today. Are you ready? Let's do it. Okay, so let's start just by moving our bodies. Let's just get a little gentle march and shoulder roll. Let's get the energy up, get the blood flowing. Just starting with some gentle movement. So our bodies go through a lot of and there are so many things that make us tight, intense throughout the day. Everything we do at our computers, our phones, our cars, picking things up, doing things at home, all of those things put a lot of stress on our body. So we really want to loosen that up today. Let's take it nice and wide. Just your arms one side, open it up and then to the front. So we're going to be working your entire upper body and core today. Now, everything that we do, I'm going to give you lots, lots of different options depending on where you are in your journey. Starting with a base level, especially if you've just been through a pregnancy, we really want to be careful, especially with the core or if you're just getting back into this after a pregnancy or after some time from working out. We want to give you lots of different options. So we'll be focusing on that deep core, that pelvic floor. And then we're going to get a little arms, back and shoulders as well. So speaking of, let's take it up with a big I then down, Then take your arms out to Y, then out to a T. So really open up and stretch. So I and then Y and then T. Let's take it with a little bit of a hinge right through here. Really try to bring those arms right by your ears. Right. Feel that I. Why we all need this mobility. Maybe stand up on the T. Let's get one more I. Oh, tight. Why? I know I always feel that right through here. Hands on top of the legs. We're gonna roll through Cat, cow, just like this, opening up through the spine. Really trying to mobilize those muscles along our spine. And then if you can. Let's walk it back down to our knees. So if that's not right for you, you can have your hands on a chair. Stay upright. Let's go child's pose. Little stretch through here, and then come up to all fours and connect with that core. Then let's take a child's pose again, big stretch. Come up, connect with that core. So lifting through here, we're going to go two more like that and breathe. Come up and connect. And one more right through here. Come up and connect. Now, while we're in this all fours position, I like to start all of my post pregnancy or postnatal workouts like this. We're going to do that TA breathing. So since we're here, let's start from this quadruped position or all fours. Hands beneath the elbows, beneath the shoulders, knees beneath the hips. We're going to do a big inhale to expand. As we exhale, we're going to zip up that core. We're going to lift on the pelvic floor. We're going to bring everything in and up. So inhale to expand. Let the belly drop. Breathe through the sides, breathe through your back. Exhale and lift. Let's get two more from here, and then we'll take it up standing. Inhale, relax on the inhale. Really open up that pelvic floor. We want to be able to relax and contract. Exhale, lift, and one more inhale through the belly, through the sides, through the back. Exhale, lift navel to spine. Go ahead and walk your feet back slowly. Roll it up through here. And let's take that TA breathing here. Now, a lot of this, what I call ta breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, maybe you've heard it called belly breathing. So good for everyone, even if you haven't been through any pregnancies, to connect with that deep core. So hands on your sides, inhale to expand. And what I mean is breathing through your sides, breathing through your back. That's why I put the hands on the side so we don't just push that belly out. Exhale. Everything comes in and up, right? So you're zipping up the core. Think about zipping up a pair of pants. Not sucking in, not lifting here, but zipping up. Imagine that your hip bones have magnets pulling them together. Not here, but just visualizing that we're tacking that rib cage down without pulling those shoulders forward. And then we're zipping up in the belly button. One more right through here. Inhale to expand. Let the pelvic floor drop Exhale, pull everything in and up. All right, so let's go back to a little step touch, get that heart rate back up. So I'm going to be talking about that deep core connection a lot throughout this workout, as I do in all of my postnatal, post pregnancy workouts and really in all of my core work, because again, it is important for everybody. Let's get little hamstring curls. So open up those hips, bring those arms out a little bit more. So I'll be reminding you of that connection. What happens as our bodies go through these changes, especially if we've been through a pregnancy, we get what we call backwards breathing. Inhale up, exhale down. Or we just get different movement patterns, different breathing patterns, depending on our job. Maybe again, because we're sitting at a desk, maybe you do something physical where you're in a, a similar position all day, things like that. So we have to really learn to connect with that deep core and that pelvic floor. So I'll be talking about that a lot as we go. The way it's gonna work today is that we are going to get it done with using weights. Again, you can use dumbbells or kettlebells or both. I'll be alternating. I'll probably mostly use my dumbbells. And we'll start with an upper, then we'll add a core. I'll give you options on both, then we'll put them together. We're going to be working in five minute blocks. So I think you're going to like it. You don't have to worry about intervals in between. You're just going to. Let's go back to that step touch. Be working in the five minute blocks. All right, so I want you to keep this little step touch. Really be thinking about posture, thinking about that core. Remember, our posture gets off by a lot of things in life as well. So remembering that, that is a really important part of the process. All right, so go ahead and grab a set of weights. I'm actually going to start a little lighter because we're going to start with a little shoulder press. Side by fives. Use what's best for you. We're going to start with a shoulder press. We're going to take those arms out. We're going to press up and down. I want you to bring that core in and maybe stagger your feet. So, so go ahead and grab those weights. We're gonna do a one big ta breath, exhale in, bring your weights through here. And we're going to start with a Little press right here. So up and in, down and out. Now, again, you can stagger your feet just like this just to help us not be here again. A lot of us have this anterior posterior pelvic tilt. We all have a natural tendency of our spine, natural posture, but we're really working on you. Keep going. Making sure those hips are stacked right under the rib cage, right. That we're not here or here. That everything is in alignment. Let's keep it going through here. And breathe. Keep it moving. Core is engaged. Posture is good, and we're pressing strong, Right. We need this overhead press for so many things in life. Really good idea to train in our workout sport. Let's bring them down right here. So hands by your side. Check in with that posture again. Shoulders over your rib cage, rib cooch over your hips, hips over your knees and ankles. Let's just do a little march. So super simple, but what I want you to think about is bringing that core in. As you can imagine, we're gonna start here and then make it more challenging. So it's not just this. Right. I want you to think about bringing the knee to your chest and using your core to engage. Stationary leg is pushing into the ground. Right? Right through here. Yes. Now, if that feels good, let's rack those weights at the top. So this is one of those standing core exercises we use a lot, right? And if that feels good, we're gonna do that march with. With our hands over our head. If you feel too off balance, bring them here or bring them down. But we're taking it up through here. Knees in, all the way through. We got five, four, three, two, and one. Relax. All right, so now we are going to put those two together, as you probably have guessed. So I want you to start with that press. And if you want, we're going to turn them in and then bring them down. If you want, we're going to add the knees. It'll get that heart rate up a little bit. It will engage our core. So we're getting arms, shoulders, and core and cardio. Let's take it right here. Here we go. Up. We can turn them in right through here. So start with this and then knee if you want. Again, feeling the arms and shoulders working. But really think, what is that core doing? Are you starting to feel yourself arch? Pull everything back in right through here. You can also alternate if you want to do one at a time. Opposite knee, opposite arm. Yes, you can. There's that heart rate. Right. Breathe. Yes. We got 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Give your hands a little bit of a break from that. We're gonna step touch here. All right, so we're stretching out through the shoulders, giving our hands a little bit of a break. We've got one more version of that. Again, you can keep it just a regular press. You can take it with the knees, or you can put them together. So we're giving our hands a break from holding it. We're keeping everything moving. We're keeping that heart rate up. If you need a real breather, just take a real breather. Because we only have about a minute and a half to go. So this time we're going to keep those palms in, and we are going to alternate. So what that's going to do, it's going to put you a little off balance. You're going to have to really stabilize. So grab those weights one more time. If that's feeling light, you can go a little heavier. It's too heavy. Take it a little lighter. Let's finish strong. Right through here. Core engage. Start with alternating those presses. Breathe. Right through here. Here we go. Now we got knee. So again, what I want you to think about the most is that core. Opposite arm, opposite leg. We got a lot working in the arms. Chest, shoulders, arms. And then we got that core working. Making sure we're not here or here. Chest is open. Bring it up in it. That's why you're gonna like this workout, because we're gonna keep the core working the entire time, but in these less conventional ways. Right. I'm starting to feel it. You can take it too, if you want to, but I like the alternating, because as you can tell, again, a little bit off balance. Core has to work hard, so zip up that core so close to being done. I know this is a long one, but you can do it. You need to take it body weight. You can. We've got 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Oo. Set those weight weights down. Catch your breath. Let everybody grab a sip of water. All right, so that's what it looks like. They're not all going to be that high of a heart rate, but taking an upper body, taking a core, and then putting them together in ways that we get everything working. Now, in general, I often will over train, especially after a pregnancy, because everything pulls us forward. I will overtrain those back and shoulder muscles, but we'll get those push muscles as well. All right, so next round, I want you to just do some little heel taps here. Watch me here. We're gonna grab heavy to medium weights. If you have a kettlebell you can go one. Otherwise we're here. We're going to start with a bent over row. You can stagger, you can put one foot back. I'm going to give you an option to come up at the halfway point. Then we're going to take it down to a plank on our knees. I'll give you options for that as well. So grab those weights. You may even be able to go a little bit heavier. I'm actually going to start with my 15s. Shoulders, back, core engage. Hinge it here. Nice flat back. Here we go. Bring them up and down. So elbows are coming up. So if you feel like it's bothering your back, put one foot forward. You can also drop to your knees. We're gonna go down there in a minute anyway. Squeeze. Bring it up. Now on this row, pull those shoulder blades in. Pull the elbows up, but also in towards each other. Watch me. We're gonna come up out of it. So do the row. Then I want you to stand up straight. Hinge it forward row. So yes, we are sneaking in a little bit. Little bit of a deadlift. That is lower body. But what I want you to think about on this is connecting with that core at the top, right. You're not only giving your back a little bit of a break from being in that hinge position, which again, you might have things that you're doing, picking things off of the floor, lifting things, whatever it is. We're in that hinge position a lot. So often we want to get a bit little, a little break from it. Let's go two more. Connect with the core at the top hinge. Back and shoulders, core. And one more and up. I want you to set those weights down out of the way and join me down on all fours. Now, this is not right for you. You can be have a hand on a bench, two hands on a bench or a chair, sturdy chair. Let's get a little stretch right through here. Watch me here. We're gonna go back to that quadruped T8 breathing. So hands underneath, elbows and shoulders, knees underneath the hips. So we're not too far back here or here. I want you to breathe, inhale, exhale. On that exhale, I want you to try just a little knee hover. Lift those, nip those knees and then down. If that's too much, you can just lift one knee at a time. Time. Inhale to expand. Let the belly drop, sides go out, back goes up. Exhale. Once you're connected, little lift. Inhale. You can go as slow as you need. To exhale, zip everything up. Think about little tuck of the pelvis, hips coming together, ribs coming together. And think about your core being what is lifting you. So I'm not pushing through my hands or my knees. I'm actually lifting with my core. Inhale. If you feel yourself starting to slip back right here. Sometimes we slip back into those hips. Bring your hips forward. Let's get two more. Inhale and last one. Inhale, exhale and relax. So core working hard on that. Stretch it back. Now I want you to grab one of those. Those dumbbells. We're going to put it right in the center. Center. Here's what we got. We're going to put them together. We're going to do a row on each side. From here, inhale, exhale, lift. Row on each side, and then lift. If you are feeling up for it and you feel like you've already built up some of that core strength, I want you to also row at the top. So I'll start with you going down in between, and then we'll add some options. So we're here. Inhale, exhale. I want you to row left and right. Pull that elbow up. Then I want you to connect with the core. Lift and lower. So you've got row. Think about strong in the back. Lift and lower. Here's another option you can do with the row at the bottom. Lift it up. Row at the top. That's hard. So if you don't think feel connected with your core in that, just keep the rows all the way at the bottom. Squeeze, lift and lower. Right here. Lift and down. Yes, you can breathe. Breathe. Just a few more. We're gonna get it done. Take your time on that lift. If you're feeling good about it, you can do the row from the top or you can hold a few seconds longer. But that little hover and then that relaxing down gives us just enough of a breather to really get the core activated. Right. Bring it up. Almost done, I promise. Then we got a nice good stretch. We're getting one more all the way through. You can either hold at the top or you can do that Row at the top, core engage. And then I want to let take these last 10 seconds and stretch it back so right through here. Oh, no, we have a little bit longer than 10. Right, so get that stretch. Feel it here. As we finish out the second five minutes, I want you to really reach forward, let your head and neck relax, and slowly bring it up. Yes, team. So a lot on those back muscles, those shoulders, and then, of course, that core. So bring one knee up, weights out of the way. Let's grab a sip of water. Why not? All right, team, so we're keeping it moving. We're going back up on our feet. We're going to start with a bicep curl, right? Shoulders back, core engaged. We're going to add a little knee pretty quickly instead of doing them separately. And then we're going to have some other options with those biceps. So core engage. Maybe a set of medium dumbbells. If you have one kettlebell between the two, you can use it. Shoulders back again. Check in with that posture. Shoulders over the rib cage. Rib cage over the pelvis. That's the most important part. Hips over the knees and the ankles. Let's do it right here. So we're gonna do bicep curl. Take it down five minutes, up and down, all the way through. So if it starts to feel too heavy, you can always alternate one at a time. Right through here. Yes, you can. And up or take it here. Let's go three more. Two and one. So what I want you to do with dumbbells down, let's start with just that march. We're gonna build it up, right. We're still going to do it separately, but then we are going to get to the putting it together a little quicker. If that feels good for you, rack those weights. It's possible that you have something heavier than what you did before. Breathe. Yes. If that feels good, take them over top. Really utilize the core. If you feel like you're arching or it's pulling on the center of the core, I want you to bring them back to here or back to here. But if you're feeling good about it, you want to try it here? We got four, three, three, two and one. Relax it down. Shake it out right here. All right, team, so now let's take it to hammer, curl, palms in. And we're going to add those knees. So start it right here. Inhale, exhale. What are your hips doing? Do you feel them going back or here? Connect with that core. Here we go. Up and down. Right here and down. Add those knees if you want. Right through here. Yes, you can. Yes. Bring it up again. Core working hard. You've got 4 and 3 and 2 and 1. I want you to set them down, give your hands a little bit of a break. Again, step behind and reach. All right, so we're going to put a few things together here. All right, so we are going to take it to a one sided curl and press with the knee so we did those presses before? Curl press with the opposite knee. And then we're gonna have that knee come up and hold. All right, so let's really get those arms working. This is the last thing we're doing from a standing position, so really think about that. Core engaging. From here. Bend your knees. Get both of those weights. Watch me here. One time. Left curl, right knee. Try to keep that knee up. If that's not right for you, put it down. That works too. Join me in 3, 2, 1. 1. Opposite. Yes. You can curl and press. I know you're thinking we did a ton of presses, Amy. Why? I know. Ha. Up and breathe. Yes, you can take it up. Four more. Four. And three. Three, yes. Two. Last one. And relax. I want you to set those down. We did biceps. Let's get a little triceps. We don't have much time, but let's get it done. Grab those weights. I want you to hinge it here. Elbows up. Squeeze. So you may need to go a little lighter. We're gonna push back and up. Push back and up. So watch me here. My elbows stay up, and then I'm pushing to the ceiling. Right. Back is working. Biceps are resisting. And we're here if you need to. If that's too heavy, go one at a time and breathe. Right here, we got four, three, two, one. Relax your back. Right here. We're just gonna tap it back, right? Tap it back. Start with that. Give everything a little break. Our last 30 seconds, we're gonna add a little tap back to get the core engaged. And all down through the back. So bring those elbows here. Let's bring them up right here. Tap back and here up for triceps. Elbows in. You got this, team. And breathe, right? Yes, you can. If you want. Little lift, little extra core, but really think about back of the arms. I know they're feeling it. Guess what? We got a lot more core coming on the mat. We got five more minutes to go. Three, two, one. And relax. I got all my weights down here. Stretch it out right through here. Lots of arms on that one, right? So we got shoulders. We got back. We got fives and tries. How about we take it down, we finish out with some core. We'll also work in a little bit of chest and tries from here. Meet me down on the mat. Go ahead and stretch it back right through here. Here in the child's pose. And then very carefully, I want you to roll from your side. Let me go with these. Down to your back. So I'm gonna have my medium weights close By. Oh, there we go. All right, team, down on your side. Roll to your back. We're gonna start with a little gentle march to get that deep core. So a few TA breaths before we start. We're going to start with a march, and then we will will take it up and progress as we go. So inhale, exhale. Hips and ribs together. Tack that rib cage down. We're going to start with the march. So just here. And if this is where you are in your journey, you're just getting back into it. This. You feel this enough in your core, keep it here. Otherwise you can go up, up, down, down. We're starting with this again. I'm going to give you several options. Up, up, down, down. If that doesn't feel right, just keep the march and keep everything engaged right through here. One more option. You can take them both up and tap those heels. Now, how do you know what's right for you? If you feel too much pulling in your back? If you feel like you can't maintain good form, if you're experiencing any leaking, and that could be urine or gas, if you're seeing any bulging, everything's kind of pushing out of the top, then it's probably too much. And you want to take it down a notch. No, it's hard to know, but just pay attention to how you feel, especially from the inside. 3, 2, 1. Hug those knees in. Relax in your back right through here. And let's go ahead and grab those weights. So we're gonna go basic chest press now if you want. You want a little lower body and glutes, we're going to add a little bridge to it, but we're also going to eventually add those little heel taps. So start from here. Remember your chest press. We're going to go here to here. Elbows come down. So we get chest, shoulders, and triceps. Here we go. Press up and in, down and out. So as we come down, you're not coming down. Right to the side, right? We want to angle just a bit. And especially at the top, I want you to think about plants pulling that deep core in. If you want to connect a little bridge to it. Totally up to you. Breathe. Yes, you can. Up and in. Right through here. Yes. Take it up. Keep moving. We are almost done with this workout. Four more. We got four. And breathe. Three, two, and one. I want you to relax it down. Get a little stretch through the back of the legs right through here. Stretch through those arms. And I want everybody to roll two to your side. We're gonna get a Little side plank before we put those things together. So I'm gonna stay on the knees, but you also have the option to take it all the way up again. Whatever feels like you can stay connected. We're gonna lift it up and hold. Add a little movement at the halfway point, but we're gonna keep it short. Zip it up, lift it up. Everything pulled in in three, in two, in one. So you can be up on the knees here. Here you can have a little extra support here, you can have extra support here, or you can be all the way up. Whatever gives you the best chance to have the best form. You feel like you can connect with the core. Now I want you to tap it down, get a little reach. And up. We're not twisting too much. If twisting is okay for you, you can reach under, but I mostly just want you to get the shoulder mobility right through here. We've got four. And lift. Three, two, last one. And relax. Go ahead and flip to the other side or swing those legs to the other side. We're going to do the same thing from here. Zip it up from here, lift it up, Find where you need to be. Two knees, one knee, arm down. If that arm is down, we're just not leaning into it. So open it up through here and you can touch it down. Lower the hip, open up for upper body mobility. If twisting is okay for you, and if you're just getting back into this, we want to not have too much twisting. You can reach under, but it's totally up to you. And breathe. Yes, you can. Boom. All right, very slowly make your way back on down onto your back. We're gonna go a little bit over our 5 minute limit, and that is okay. But I want you to bring it here. You're gonna start with those little heel taps and then we're gonna add a press. If that is too much for you, I want you to just pick. You can just do the press, you can just do the taps. If you want to turn those palms up in at the top, we'll get a little extra tries. Let's do it. Here we go. So little heel taps. Whatever is best for you. March heel taps. Or up, up, down, down press and up press. If you need a little extra core, move those knees away from you just a bit. We have a tendency to be here, right. I want you to keep it in tabletop, right? So 90 degrees. You not have to go the same speed as me. I know that's our time, but let's give it a little extra time. Why not? We'll just call it a bonus. You do you be where you are today. You know, that's what I always say. It's your workout. So what do you need in this moment? You want some extra triceps? Bring those elbows in close. You want some extra core. Keep the core breathe. How about we get four? Yes. Three, two and one. Relax everything down. Hug those knees into your chest. Little gentle side to side if you can. I want you to drop the knees to the side, open those arms up. Not too much twisting, but just to get a stretch through your back. You can look towards the opposite hand, the opposite way of the knees are going to, and then very gently roll the knees to the other side. So what we got a lot of here today, obviously high reps with those five minute rounds. We got some upper isolations, we got some core isolations, and then we got things together where we really had to pull on the internal stability. It was less about getting spinal flexion or extension like we do in a lot of other core work. Hug one knee in right through here to relax through to your back. And it was much more about stability right from that little hover plank from the knee, heel tap from the knee, raise, Right? So great way to get core work. If you're at that point where maybe you're not ready for more advanced core work or you want more of that stability. So, so functional for everyday life. I want you to turn into your mat, sit back into that child's pose. Sit back, sit deep, really reach those hands forward. I do have several other dumbbell core workouts. We're standing core. If you see anything with core in the title, we're gonna have a lot of this stability movement where you're going to work your abs. But one, for certain times, postpartum is one of them. It's a safer way, but also a way to really connect. Let's bring it up. Roll through. Cat Cow. With that deep core, that pelvic floor. I also have a ton of deep core pelvic floor workouts. Postnatal core, post pregnancy core. Remember, if it has post pregnancy in the title, it means that we're just talking about you. So if there are words or things that are triggering for you, we're trying to keep it just about you and your body, your recovery. Let's take one arm and reach another to get a little stretch. So you're going to really sit back into that. And that's what I want you to take away from this workout, that you are doing it no matter what. This looked like for you, you showed up for yourself today. You showed up for those who love you and those that you love just by being here. Right? That is a big deal. It's really hard to fit exercise into our everyday lives and it's really hard if you're going through something tough. Maybe it's been a really challenging time. Maybe you're going through loss, maybe you're grieving, maybe you have a stressful time at work. Whatever it is, you are here and that is all that matters. That is everything. And I'm so proud of you for that. Come back onto your feet, let your upper body hang and just slowly roll that up. Make sure those weights are out of the way. You're not gonna trip on them. I hope that you're feeling proud of yourself for being here today. I hope that you're going to take that energy and take it with you throughout the rest of your day. Exercises. So good for lifting our spirits, boosting our mood, and just letting us be here and be present in our body. You showed up for yourself, but your body showed up for you today. So remember that your body is here for you. If you can reach behind and take it here. Your body is a good body. I know often, especially as women, we're at war with our bodies. Remember, your body can do amazing things and it is here for you. Slowly roll it up. And you are amazing and so strong and so capable and I'm so happy that you joined me here today. Make sure you leave me a comment. Make sure that you check out all of the other post pregnancy videos or postnatal videos, depending on where you are. And of course, don't forget to to subscribe to the YouTube channel BodyFit by Amy and also Body Fit Moms and come back again. Let's get one big deep breath in and out. You did it. That was your post pregnancy upper body and core workout. Great job, everybody.