Postnatal Upper Body & Core Workout

Hey, everybody. I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy. And this is your postnatal upper body and core workout. So this workout is great for anybody who has been through a pregnancy. As long as you have been cleared by your doctor for exercise in the postpartum period, make sure you get that clearance from your provider before you do this or any other workout. We're going to be working with weights today, so dumbbells and kettlebells, if you only have one, just work with what you've got. If you don't have any, just do the motions, body weight, you're still going to get the benefit. I'm going to give you lots of options to work to your fitness level. So make sure that you listen to your body and you choose what is best for you. Are you ready? Let's do it. So let's take a minute before we start to check in with our bodies. So after our bodies go through pregnancy, our posture, our alignment, everything gets off. So I do like to often start these workouts with a little check in. So I want you to think about stacking your ears right over your shoulders, shoulders right over that rib, ribcage, rib cage over the pelvis. And this is probably the most important part because a lot of us get off during pregnancy. Either we get that rib flare here, we get that anterior posterior pelvic tilt. So really trying to lift up on that pelvic floor, wrap that core in and stack that rib cage right over the pelvis, over the hip bones. So hip bones over the knees, over the ankles, roll those shoulders up, back and down. But again, making sure those ribs aren't flaring out. We want to tack those ribs in and we're going to do some TA breathing. So transverse abdominis breath that I do in all my postnatal workouts. Hands on the center, think about inhaling to expand, exhale, hold that deep core in and pelvic floor up. So we're thinking of zipping up that core, wrapping everything in. In pregnancy, a lot of us get what we call backwards breathing. Inhale up, exhale down. Because you got a lot going on here. So in the postpartum period, we really want to work to correct those breathing patterns and to restore that good posture and alignment. So things to think about throughout your day. I do have other videos specific for this. Now that we've got that, let's start moving our bodies. I'll be reminding you of all of those things as we go through this workout. Let's go ahead and roll our shoulders a Lot of times in the postpartum period, it is just about getting moving, getting the energy up, feeling good. You should be really proud of yourself just for getting here today. Something I always say is if you showed up today, you are successful. But that is especially true once you've been through pregnancy. If you have babies and Todd at home or older kids, doesn't matter. It is hard to do, but especially with a new baby at home. So I'm going to give you different options depending on where you are in your postnatal journey. Let's go ahead and do some little knee lifts right through here. And if it feels good for you, roll it out. So if you are what I would call newly postpartum, or if you're someone who you know you have a diastasis recti ab separation, let's step it out right here to a little side lunge or you know, you have some pelvic floor dysfunction first. I highly recommend that you see a pelvic floor physical therapist. I have a lot of videos that can help. But you definitely want to get that official diagnosis and that exam to know what is right for you in person. But if you know that, I want you to take the modifications on some of these moves. Because even if you were super active in your pregnancy, if you're in those first few weeks, once you've been cleared for exercise, or really those first few months after having a baby. Let's tap it back right here. A little reach. You're going to want to be careful because your core especially is still recovering. It's taken a lot of work during that pregnancy, during that delivery. So you want to be careful not to put too much pressure on that core and pelvic floor as it is recovering. So I'm going to give you those options. Trust me, I know some of them might feel boring or slow, especially if you hoping. Let's take it back right here. A little stretch right here on the wall for a little balance. Stretch it over back to center. I know you might be anxious to get back to it, but if you're still in that healing phase, definitely take your time. Otherwise, I want you to listen to your body and go by what your doctor has said is right for you. If you're feeling good and you can take it up to these higher options, go for it. I'm going to be working between my five and ten dumbbells today. Obviously, if you're getting back into it, start a little slower right through here and let's reach across to get those sides, little Stretch through there and reach across through here. But if you can go a little heavier, go a little heavier. But again, try not to push it because what happens is, as we're getting back into it, if we're not managing that pressure because our core is still healing our pelvic floor, then all of that air is going to go somewhere. It's going to put pressure out on our abdominal wall, down on our pelvic floo and it could slow the healing process or just make things a little harder to connect in your exercise. Let's take a little cross right here. Small. Today we're going to get upper body and core. So we're going to be focused on upper body and core, but we will get everything moving through your lower body as well. Check out my other postnatal lower and core when you get some time. All right, so I think we are ready. Let's go ahead and grab a set of dumbbells. We're going to start. This is sort of a continuation of our warm up, but we're going to start with a little march. So I want you to hold the dumbbells here. If it starts to feel like too much, you can drop to just one. We're actually going to do that in a minute. Or you can just take a body weight. So core wrapped and engaged, shoulders back. Not holding your breath, but engaging the core. We're going to march now. Things to think about. Looks like it should be so simple, right? But I really want you to think about not shifting your weight. Your goal is to resist that. It's a great standing core exercise and really push into that foot on the floor while you pull the knee up. Now, if you're like me after my C section, my first pregnancy, I had a lot of pain right through here and sometimes it was hard to bring my knees up. So you can just tap it as well. But if you can take it here. All right, so let's add on to that. If you want one dumbbell here, one dumbbell here, you're going to lift. If that doesn't feel right, you're going to feel the difference, right? Then you can keep it low. And then let's add on to that. What is this? This is maybe carrying the diaper bag, carrying the car seat, carrying the toddler, carrying the car seat, all of it, right? Add on to that. Let's bring that other weight up. Starts to feel like too much. You can drop to one weight or again take them back down. Breathe. And then let's take that other arm down. This Is your other side. I know most of us will tend to do things on the same side. Carry the car seat on the same side, the diaper bag, the baby, the toddler. We do want to try to strengthen both, especially in our workouts, so we can counteract some of that pressure that that puts on our body. Then let's take them back down to here. Breathe. So a little marching warm up. That is something that you could do throughout your day, even just holding the baby to help your core learn to stabilize. I know it feels kind of simple, but you did it. Let's roll those shoulders back. We're going to do a little hinge position here. Let's bring those elbows up and drop them down. So we're here. So we're not going to worry about intervals in this workout. We're just going to keep it moving. I'm going to give you breaks. So on this, if you start to feel pressure in your lower back, I want you to stagger it here. If it starts to feel like too much, I want you to take it to one dumbbell. But if you can squeeze, bring those elbows in. We're really thinking about pulling the shoulder blades in. If you've done this row before, but even if you haven't, I want you to think of those posture muscles. Everything pulls us forward. Holding the baby, feeding the baby, all of it. Even in right everyday life, driving, looking at our phones, computers. So we really want to strengthen those back muscles. Let's get 4, 3, 2 and 1 and relax. So let's set those weights down and we're going to take it to a little tap out right through here just to get the heart rate up and to shake up those arms. So I want you to take the arms here, cross them in front. If you're really feeling it, you want to get more cardio, take it here. Otherwise just shake it out right here. We are going to do both of those exercises again, but if you have a kettlebell, we're going to switch to one kettlebell. If you don't have a kettlebell, you just take one dumbbell. Because we're only going one this time it's going to look a little different. So I'm going to grab my kettlebell. You can take lighter, heavy, whatever is good for you. And we're going to go back to that march. Now we're only on one side, so we have to resist. This is called anti flexion. Resist the urge to lean into it. Use that core to be here. Arm out. Here we go. And just a Reminder that we are all different. So if you need more of a break, then I want take it. Hit pause, whatever you need to do. We're going to get water in just a second. Remember to flex those feet. Drive into the foot on those floor. I like to have this arm out because it helps my posture. Right, let's go. 4, 3, 2, 1. Now, if you can take that weight into what we call a racked position, again, this could be holding the diaper bag, holding the baby. Again, core has to stabilize. If you feel like it's putting pressure on your back or your core, take it back down low. That's called a suitcase march. But otherwise we're gonna rack it here, Right? So a lot of standing core, which can be super beneficial as we are working ourselves back up to that traditional core work that maybe we did before pregnancy. Bringing it up, feeling that arm, too. Keep everything tight. If that's not right for you, just keep it low. Three, two, one. All right, one more option. If this feels good for you, we're gonna take it high. It's really challenging for your core, so if you're newly postpartum or healing a doctor or have some pelvic floor dysfunction, I want you to keep it low. But if you can, take it here. And we're marching for eight. Here we go. Eight, seven, six, five. Straight up. We're working shoulder mobility. Two, three, two, one. And relax. Let's get all of that on the other side. We're going to start here with just that march. So again, suitcase march, mimicking carrying a car seat, diaper bag, whatever it is. Here we go. Lift it up. Knee to the chest. You're trying to resist that weight pulling you to one side. And again. I know it feels super simple, but I promise you this is an exercise that many people do in their routine, not just postpartum, because what we call anti core, resisting the motion is really beneficial for your core. If you can bring it up right here. Here we go. Yes. It really takes a lot of work. If you're really taking your time with it. Again, flex that foot. Knee to the chest. If you just need to do a tap, that works too. Or a small March, totally fine. 4, 3, 2, and 1. Let's take it up right here. If again, that feels like too much, I want you to keep it here or here. Especially if you're in that newer phase or you're still healing. Let's take it up. Here we go. We've only got eight. 7, 4, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax it down all right, now we're gonna go to that row just like we did, except we're going to alternate. So this time I want you to have the weight right in the center, and we're going to try to get a little hinge out of it. So this hinge pattern, again, we want to get comfortable with this, this deadlift, but we want to do it in a way that is easy. On our backs that are already overworked, doing all the things. Crib, changing table, all of that, right. Picking up the toys, whatever it is. So weight in the center. Watch me here. I'm going to do a pull those shoulders back hinge. I'm gonna pull up in the row right side and then left side. And then I'm gonna come up body weight and use my core as I come up. If you just have the dumbbell and that feels like too low for you. You can squat it a little bit more, or you can just hand it off between your hands, but let's get it done. Hinge, right row, left row, and then all the way up. Shoulders back, core engaged. Down, up, up, up. Out of the hinge. So a hinge is a slight bend in the knees. Back stays flat. Use your strong back muscles, but also your core, hamstrings, and glutes. Not arching here, but here. It's as if you're trying to shut the car door with your booty as you hinge into that motion. Right, right here. Hinge up. So we're strengthening that low back while we get the upper back with that row right here. Up, up. And really focus. Pull that weight towards your rib cage. Squeeze in the shoulder blades. Let's get one more with our dumbbells or kettlebell. Up and up and relax. So again, tap them out in front. Get that weight out of the way right through here. Feeling my heart rate a little bit on that. I hope you are too. We're gonna do a couple more things up top, then we are taking it to the mat. Let's grab a sip of water. Great work, everybody. So back to those dumbbells. We're going to take it to a bicep curl. Now, we don't need a ton of biceps because again, holding the baby, holding the things all day long, we get that motion. But what we want to think about is the lengthening phase. So we get that stretch out. We do a lot of this where they're in that contraction phrase. We want that rest. I'm gonna switch it to my fives. You do what is best for you. So core Engagement, gonna keep it standing so we get that core engagement. And we're gonna roll those shoulders back. So we're gonna come up and in and down and out. Join me when you're ready. Shoulders back and things to think about again. Every time we're contracting a muscle, we're also keeping that core in tight so you're not holding your breath, but you're also not just letting everything be here. Shoulders back, core engage. If you start to feel like it's too much, you can always alternate. If you start to feel like you're arching your back, put one foot back and breathe. Right, let's go four more. Four, three, two, one. So let's just get a little side step right through here. Now we're going to add a shoulder press to it. So super basic move. We're gonna get it in because we do a lot of things over the head, right? We're putting things into the cupboards, we're putting things over our head. We're lifting babies in the air, right? So watch me right here, curl, press. If you can. Wrap them in, take them out. Right here. Curl press. Up, up, up. Yes, you can think strong, fluid movements. You start to feel like you're arching your back. Again. Put one foot back and refocus on that core. Everything's pulled in. Up. Two more. Last one. And down. Go ahead and set those weights to the side. Now I want you to tap behind and little reach just like this. If you want more cardio, you certainly can pick up your pace if you want to just get that cardio mobility. Open up the chest and shoulders. Take it right through here. So now we're taking it to a wood chop. So that chop is so good because again, it mimics a lot of our every day movement. I would love for you to go a little bit lighter just to see how it feels. Especially again if you are early postpartum or you're still healing. I want you to take it light or body weight. But here's our motion. Try it with me first. We're going to hold that weight. We're going to turn our knees and our hips hip to shoulder to start. It's almost as if you're throwing the weight over your shoulder, but you're using your core and your arms to stabilize. If you want to take it a little bigger across your body, you're taking it here. We are actually going to make it mobile through our hips and our knees. Sometimes we do the chop without, but since we're still healing our core, we're going to keep it mobile for now, so grab a light to medium weight. We're gonna do each side right here for eight. So zip up that core, wrap everything in, Start hip to shoulder. Turn on the knees and the hips, and you can pick up your feet too, if you need to. If you don't slide well on whatever your flooring is, and then we'll take it out. So right here we go. Hip to shoulder. Start with this if that feels okay for you. Core is engaged. Take it across your body and breathe. Just four more. Four, three and up. Two and one. Good. Tap it out right here. And then we do same thing. Other side. Hip to shoulder. So we take it right here. So we go down and up again. Use that core and use your arms. If you want to go across your body, you can. And breathe up. 3, 2, 1. More. Yes. Upper and core combined. Set those weights down and let's do something similar using our kettlebell. If you need a little breather, grab it. Otherwise, grab that kettlebell. If you only have dumbbells, grab one heavier dumbbell. We're going to start with that bicep curl. So this time we're going to hold by the horns. So again, I feel like that very similarly mimics what we do in everyday life, picking up babies, picking up toddlers, things like that. So holding it here, and we're coming here. If you've got just a dumbbell, I want you to hold on either side. We'll start with the curl, then we'll add the press. So this time we're keeping it tight. Think about your core working as well. Start with that weight at your chest. Take it down, bring it up. As you curl up, I want you to think about that core and pelvic floor contracting. Inhale, exhale. Everything pulled in. So you notice I'm reminding you of these things. We don't have to do a full TA breath or make it really big or dramatic, but we do want to think on that exhale that we're contracting the core as we contract something else. Biceps, shoulders. We're contracting in the core. Now we're going to add a press. We're going up, up, down and down. Join me to the chest again. If you feel like you're arching, take it here. Up. Yes, you can. Four, three, two, last one. And up. And relax. Catch your breath. We can do some taps again. Again. If you want to get that heart rate up before we go down to the mat again. Can pick up your pace or add a little impact, if that's right. For where you are. We're going down to the mat to get it done with some isolated upper and core on the mat, and then we'll stretch it out. So tapping it out for here. 4, 3, 2, and 1. Let's grab a sip. Let's take it down. Meet me on the mat. Remember, we want to take our time getting down there. Same for getting in and out of bed, especially if you are early postpartum. But where we don't just drop it down and lay back, we want to come on our side, roll down and take it back. Same thing when you get out of bed in the morning or when you're getting up, roll to the side. That just takes that pressure off the core. If we're still healing or we're still getting stronger, which most of us are, for a while, we're not using our core like that. All right, So I want you to come down on your back, join me here. And the first thing I want you to do again is check in with that posture. Even though we're on our back, are the hips right beneath the rib cage. What are you feeling? Are you feeling a big arch in the back? Are you feeling like you're having to pull in? Fine. That neutral spine, little tilt of the pelvis, and then a few TA breaths from here, Inhale to expand, exhale, pull everything in and up. So a little lift. So we're going to do that. We're going to add a little bridge to it. I know we do this a lot. It's not a lower body workout, but to help you with that little tilt of the pelvis, inhale to expand, exhale, pull in, tilt the pelvis and bring it up in that bridge just to connect with the core. Before we get some isolated core work as well as some upper. We're almost done here. And breathe one more right through here. So now that we've got that good core connection, I want you to start with just a gentle march. You can totally stay here if that's where you need to be. If you're feeling good about it, you're gonna go up, up, down, down. Start with this little warm up for your core from here. If you're feeling any pain, any pressure, if you feel like you're coning or doming, you're seeing a little point there. Then I want you to readjust with that breath and take it down a notch. So maybe that's just to the march. If you're feeling good about that. Up, up, down, down. Then I want you just to do little heel taps. From here to a 90 degree angle right through here. But again, if you feel like you're pushing, I know it can sometimes be hard to tell, but I want you to take it. Drop it down a notch. Three levels, just a march up, up, down, down, or heel tap. Right through here. We've got 4, 3, 2 and 1. Reach over and grab those weights. We're gonna get a little chest press from here. So again, we probably think we don't need a lot of this because Jess is working overtime, especially if you're breastfeeding but leaning forward. But we're going to take those elbows. Remember, we don't want to be straight out or straight in. We want to split the difference between 45. We're going to press them up and in and down. What we're going to do is we're going to add a bridge to that halfway through. So we engage the core. If that makes you feel too unstable, then I want you to just keep the press. But let's take it here. Core engage. Tilt the pelvis. Press up and in, down and out. Up and in, down and out. Slow and controlled, but strong. If you want, we're going to add that bridge. Yes, we're sneaking in a little glute work. But more than that, I want you to be focused on closing the core. As those dumbbells come in. Think core and pelvic floor. Right. Lift and lower. And down. Right here. Last one. And relax. Set those weights to the side. Bring your knees up. Get a little hip stretch. Now we're going to take it to our favorite little dead bug. I want you to have Those feet up, 90 degree angle here. And we're just going to do a little tap. You can always come back to just a march. If you're feeling that too much or you're feeling pain and pressure. If you're having any leaking, any coning or doming. So start with that tap as you're ready. Extend it out if you want. Yes. Right. Keeping a neutral spine. We're not lifting our shoulders. We're not getting spinal flexion or extension, but we're working that deep core. Think about closing the core. Bring. Think about also bringing those inner thighs to a contraction. That's going to help you connect. Last two. And one. Relax. Hug those knees in. Now we're gonna take it. I want you to reach over, grab that kettlebell if you got it. We're gonna go a close grip press because that's going to work more of our triceps, back of the arms, so you're here again. We'll start it regular. We'll add a little bridge if you want. Elbows in, take it up, take it down. Right through here. Elbows in, add that bridge. Tilt that pelvis. Think about the core working. Little squeeze of the elbows, especially as you come in at the bottom to feel those triceps. Right, You've got eight core engaged. Yeah. Four, three, two and one. Relax it down. Little stretch right here. Open up your head and shoulders. Right through here. All right, so bring those knees in again. A little stretch of that upper body. But we're going to take that hand on one side. Watch me. Here's your option. You can do a little half dead bug here or extend it out or again, take it back to that march. But you're going to push your hand into your leg. Push your leg back into your hand. Here we go. We've got four big deep breath. Feel that pressure and what it's doing to increasing that deep core connection. And then let's switch it. Push it here, bring it up. Push the leg into the hand, hand into the leg. You've got four. You can also just do a tap. Three. Feel that deep core. Yes. Two. One more and relax. Roll over to your side. I want you to have one lighter dumbbell close by. We're gonna lift up into a side plank on our knee. Now, if you are, you've been doing this for a while. You want to get up to there. You can. I. I just want you to be very aware of the pressure. I'm going to stay on my knee. I want you to lift up and hold. So zip up through here again, pulling everything in. Lift up on that pelvic floor. And then if you want, we can add a little upper to it. You're going to bring that elbow in, drop it down, elbow back. You can also just keep it body weight just like this. Be especially careful if you're here because you might feel that pressure in the center. Drop a knee or keep it body weight. Four, squeeze Three. Little more of an advanced move. And one. Relax it down. Swing those legs to that other side. Almost done here. Let's take it here. Find that balance. That deep core lifted up and hold. And if that's good for you, bring it up and down again if you need to take it body weight and just squeeze in your back. If you're all the way up here, just be careful of that extra pressure. Three, you know your body best right now. Two, one. And relax. All right, let's take it into a child's pose. Get a Little stretch right through here. We're gonna take it on all fours. We're gonna do a little bear hover. So if you are newer, newly postpartum, I want you just to lift one leg. But if you're able, we're gonna lift both legs through the core, through the upper. Big inhale, exhale, Lift those knees. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale again. If you're newer to this, inhale just one leg. Yes, you can. 3, 2, 1. Stretch it back right here. Yes. Breathe. Breathe in to that. Yes, team. So a lot of core, a lot of upper. I want you to stretch back right here. Take it side to side. And then if you can, come up to all fours and roll through that cat, cow. Remember, you're newly postpartum. Just not too much of that curve. Keep it moving here. Breathe. So remember, in this postpartum phase, it is about consistency. It's about showing up. I don't want you to worry about all the aesthetics or all the fitness goals right now. I want you to think about your body, recovering your body, restoring that strength, that function, and your body feeling good for both your physical and your mental health. Health. Roll it back again. Like I said, I know how hard it is. Pedal those feet, hand on the wall if you need to, and slowly roll it up. Watch your weight behind you. I know how hard it is to get this time. And maybe you did it with a baby on the floor or in the crib. Maybe you got it at nap time and you really got some alone time. Maybe you got interrupted several times. That is okay. I know what that is like. So please be so proud of yourself for just showing up here to move your body with me today. I hope you're leaving feeling energized, feeling a little bit stronger. As we're getting stronger in the postpartum phase, we do want to be increasing our weights. Think about what's happening with babies. They come in at 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 pounds, maybe 9 or 10. And then they continue to grow, and our bodies adapt, our bodies get stronger. That's what we want to be doing in our workout as well. So making sure that we're strengthening, that we're restoring that function, and that we're staying focused on the important things, which is just showing up for you, showing up for your family, and knowing that you are enough mama. You don't need to lose the baby weight or do all those things that I think we put pressures, pressure on ourselves to do. You just want to show up and be your best self and get stronger and heal. Good. Thank you so much for being here today. Let's get one big, deep breath in and out. You did it. That was your postnatal upper and core workout. Great job, everybody.