How to Lose the Pregnancy Pounds

When a woman first has a baby, she is typically never more motivated to get her body back than in the weeks and months following the birth of her child. Occasionally I meet women who are still claiming to hold onto the pregnancy pounds, only now their baby is 13 years old. So the question begs, is it possible to regain your pre-pregnancy body? Do you feel that varying an exercise routine helps in revving a woman's metabolism and jumpstarting weight loss? Variety is absolutely one of the main components to seeing progress with an exercise program. If you continue to repeat the same exercise sequences at the same intensity and for the same duration, you are missing out on one of the key principles of training which is to overload your body. By using a variety of cardiovascular techniques including continuous training, cross training, interval training, speed play as well as a variety of strength training techniques like super slow, break downs, and changing the repetition range you continually keep your body challenged and steer clear of a plateau. Is there a trend towards interval training or short bursts of exercise to prevent a plateau in weight loss? There is significant research to support bursts of exercise for burning additional calories both during the acceleration period as well as in the time following the cessation of exercise - known as after burn. These periods of acceleration can be performed during cardio sessions and can also be incorporated in to a strength training session. One example of a strength can cardio combined format would include performing 3 leg exercises followed by 3 - 5 minutes on the stair master. Then 3 back exercises followed by 3 - 5 minutes on the rower, then 3 chest exercises followed by 3 - 5 minutes on the elliptical trainer and so on until all of the major body parts had been exercised. This is a highly efficient way to combine strength training with cardiovascular conditioning and burn the maximum amount of calories during a strength training session.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Discipline
• Patience

1. When you eat mindfully, using a combination of lean protein, complex and fibrous carbs and low fat, you turn your body into a fat-burning machine instead of a fat-storing machine.
2. Returning to exercise should be thought of like going backwards through pregnancy. As pregnancy progresses, exercise naturally tapers off. After birth the reverse should happen to gradually work towards pre-pregnancy status.
3. The cardiovascular prescription for fat loss is 20 - 60 minutes. Time and intensity are inversely proportional. Those who can work at higher intensities can burn more calories in a shorter period of time.

Tips & Warnings

• The time taken for exercise should be guilt free. The better care taken of a new mothers body, the better she will be able to take care of a new born.
• Once you are cleared of your post natal vitamins, consider a multi-vitamin for your health. Since your time becomes highly in demand with the needs of a newborn, consider a meal replacement drink or bar for some on the go nutrition.
• Be careful when rising from the floor after stretching. Get up slowly to prevent fainting or dizziness.
• Any pain associated with exercise means all activity should be stopped immediately.