The Best Exercises for Moms (Part I)

You’re a busy gal on the clock 24/7 with very little time to waste and when you do find the time to get in your daily dose of exercise it’s got to be good, right The solution? Here are the first 2 of the best Exercises for Moms they can do at home to get in a great workout without a whole bunch of equipment and still stimulate a large amount of muscle mass, burn fat, and build those sexy arms and legs that all moms want.

This much I know…. there are a lot of fluffy exercises out there that don’t really do you much good in the long run and there’s a whole bunch of really awesome exercises that you may not be comfortable doing or may not have access to the proper equipment and tools to get the ideal workout you want.

Pin

2 Best Exercises for Moms (Part I)

How to Choose the Best Exercises

Now, choosing the right exercises was no easy task as there are a million permutations of the same exercise, but slightly different forms involved in every exercise. However, all exercises must function with how the body moves as an integrated system and the best exercises from that list all are comprised in what can be referred to as the fundamental movements.

Now I’m going to steal (pun, get it?) this from another strength coach whom I most admire and respect, Dan John, who states that you have to do these 5 movements to enjoy the benefits of an optimal workout and I totally agree.

All moms should be able to push, pull, hip hinge, squat, carry-push-hold something heavy and move with it. Pretty reasonable, right?

So that’s the basic template of our 5 Best Exercises for Moms. Today, which we’ll cover the push and pull.

1. The Push

The easiest and most steadfast exercise of all time that receives a lot of praise from coaches and trainers, but not enough praise by the everyday exerciser is THE PUSHUP. This seemingly simple exercise is vital to develop strong shoulders, triceps and chest muscles, along with a crazy amount of core strength and shoulder-scapular stabilizers.

Pin

Now, we’re not talking about the kneeling variety of push ups, we’re aiming for full body from the toes to the hands push ups.  These babies will build up some serious strength and have you sweating from head to toe in no time.

Start by placing your knees underneath your hips, hands directly underneath the shoulders, extend your feet out straight behind you and stabilize your core by tightening your abs and butt. Now start the downward phase by bending the elbows and come down as low as you can to the floor.

Tough, huh?  Not to worry.  Start with what you can do, even if it’s one and work up to 10 quality reps.

Once you can do 10 by yourself start experimenting and adding sets.

2. The Pull

Now finding something to pull nowadays is a bit tricky, as we’re more of a push away based society with everything except the plate of mashed potatoes and gravy at dinner. Probably need to spend more time doing the push away on this one, but alas, for pulling you just need a heavy luggage bag or an object with a handle.

If you have a kettlebell that would be an awesome tool to use. Just saying…check out one rowing version with KETTLEBELLS HERE. Note you can do this with one kettlebell, the body position is the same.

Now position yourself in a L-Shape position, by sticking out your butt, chest almost parallel with the floor. Yes, sticking your butt out, while keeping your back nice and flat. Then row that suitcase right to your chest and back down.  For added effect pack like you’re going to Florida for a month to escape this never ending winter we’re in.

The pull is easy, as long as you remember not to pull with your arms. Pull with your elbows and drive them back like you’re elbowing someone in the gut. “Get off me creep!” or “honey, not now!” whichever scenario best works for you.

In an ideal world you would want to pull slightly more than you push, because we use a lot of those pushing muscles every day. But our pulling muscles get neglect and overly stretched, which causes us a lot of headaches. Literally in some cases.  The end state is you want to pull more than you push. So double the amount of pulls to pushes you do in a workout.

Pin

But What About The Abs

The abdominals are another issue entirely, which most often than not is directed by endless sets of sit-ups and crunches; however the problem lies in the fact that those exercises don’t really burn off a lot of body fat, as much as you would like to do 50 sit ups and crunches while imagining your body fat melting off in the nice burning sensation you just created in your abdominal cavity.

Sorry, you may be burning some calories, but you’re probably not burning a whole lot of fat.

Stick with these two big movements that hit the abdominals in the way they’re suppose to be trained anyway (abs and core muscles are designed for stabilizing the spine, not necessarily flexing it repeatedly).

Then hit some sit ups or crunches if you want or try some planks. Those are always a nice overall core strengthener. Probably not a good idea if you’re suffering from some issues post pregnancy or during pregnancy. Stay tuned for another post featuring getting your abs back after baby!

Done!

Thus concludes the first segment of the Best Exercises for Moms. Don’t worry there’s more to come that will give you even more bang for your buck at home. There’s really little excuse not to workout anymore. We all need to exercise and know it helps us through our daily lives, despite the “I don’t have time” excuse that is popular nowadays. Just think of it as a necessity to keep yourself tuned up and able to conquer the world if you had to. Now, check out Best Exercises for Moms Part II!

Besides you never know when Russia is going to like invade or something…

Give me a tag on Facebook if you like my articles!  Click CPT SMASH for the link.

-CPT SMASH