How to Make the Most of your Walks with Baby

Walking is one of the easiest and most convenient ways for a new mama to make physical activity a part of her daily routine. At Fitmama Strong Online, we know first hand the positive and transformative impact regular exercise has on our mood, sleeping patterns and self-esteem, since we hear it from our members all of the time! If you’re already engaging in regular walks, but want to find out how to get the most out of them, then read on!

You may be surprised to learn that brisk or power walking can be as challenging as running! Well, it is! But, it comes with the added benefit of being easier on your joints. This is especially important for new mamas as the hormone Relaxin is still present in the first 6 months postpartum (although this hormone drops significantly after birth, it remains present in lower levels for as long as 12 months postpartum, especially in people who are breast/chest feeding). Reduce the chance of injury in the early postpartum period by paying attention to proper form while training and by limiting high-impact exercises. This is one of the reasons we prioritize strength training in all postpartum people, because strong muscles help to support joints and ligaments, especially when they’re still loose after baby arrives!

Those who are new to fitness or slowly resuming exercise after having a baby are encouraged to start slow. It’s always best to increase TIME over INTENSITY to build up a strong foundation, so that you’re able to move on to higher impact activities later on.

As your strength and endurance improve you can also play with intervals. This means that you are walking at a faster speed (for instance a power walk) for a period of time, and then returning to your moderate pace (more like a brisk walk) in between bursts. Intervals are a great way to add variety to your workout, increase the challenge and effort and get some low-impact cardio bursts. Here are some examples of how you can play with TEMPO (or the pace) of your workouts. Adding short bursts of effort as you get stronger is a great way to challenge your body while also reducing IMPACT.

THE PACE (MEASURING INTENSITY/EFFORT):

1. Warm up pace: Think window shopping pace. 4 on a scale of 10. Warm up for 3-5 minutes.

2. Build up to a Brisk Walk. The effort is about 5 or 6 out of 10. If you’re walking with a friend you can easily hold a conversation, but you may need to catch your breath every few sentences.

3. Power Walk: Torch it up! You should be moving at a clip. Use your arms to propel you forward. The faster you move your arms, the faster your pace will be. The effort is 7 or 8 out of 10 in intensity. Talking is possible, but only in spurts.

BEST PRACTICES:

• Think Tall. Keep you chin up and try not to look down at your feet. Keep your stride long and your head in line with your spine.

• When you’re pushing your stroller, remembers to keep your body upright and shoulders down and back.

• Engage your core.

• Keep your wrists neutral and keep your stroller closer to your body (arms bent to 90 degrees).

ADD VARIETY TO KEEP IT INTERESTING:

• Try hills. Even a small incline can increase your energy effort by 20%

• Take different routes each time you set out and check out some new hidden paths in your community or neighbourhood

• Take longer strides

DON'T FORGET TO STRETCH!

Finally, don’t forget to stretch when you’re finished! Pay special attention to your quads, shins, hamstrings, ankles and calves. We also encourage you to invest in a good pair of shoes (your feet will often change during pregnancy, so be sure to begin with a fresh pair of running shoes after baby is born), wear a supportive bra and remember to hydrate!

Sample Interval Training Plan

Warm up: This is low effort, something like 4/10. Allow the body 5 minutes to warm up and get comfortable.

Intervals: Adding bursts of effort is a great way to challenge the body. Try a power walk at 8/10 for intensity combined with a brisk walk of 5-6/10 for intensity. Timing can start with 2 minutes power walk, 1 minute brisk walk. Repeat 10 to 15 times depending on time.

Warm Down: Aim for approximately 5 minutes. Revisit the easy pace of your warm up. Recover and stretch.

Expecting a baby? Join our live, online Prenatal Fitness or Yoga classes! Our prenatal classes are offered as a series of classes or on a drop in basis. Join here.

If you’re new to Fitmama Strong Online, try out our 3 class pass for our postnatal classes! Spoiler alert… It doesn’t matter if you’ve just had a baby or your baby was born 10 years ago, we have something for all postnatal people. Already been to a class and love it? Grab one of our unlimited passes or memberships to keep you moving.

If our live, online schedule doesn’t work, consider our On-Demand Workouts, where you can choose a workout video and complete it at a time that’s best for you.

We can’t wait for you to #startwithus and #growwithus!