2790: How To Get in Shape After Having a Baby

0:00If you want to pump your body and expand your mind, there's only one place to go. Mind pump, Mind Pump with your hosts, Sal DiStefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. You just found the most downloaded fitness, health, and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode, we talk about how to get in shape after having a baby. Now, this episode is brought to you by our sponsor, Legion. Legion supplements are some of the best in the world for high-performance athletes, people who want to build muscle, burn body fat, be effective. these are not supplements for everyday regular people.

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1:13It includes maps, aesthetic maps, hit maps, muscle mommy, and the no BS six pack formula. Go check it out. Go to MP valentine.com. All right, real quick. If you love us, like we love you, why not show it by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs, or training gear over at mindpumpstore.com. I'm talking right now. Hit pause. Head on over to mindpumpstore.com. That's it. Enjoy the rest of the show. One of the most challenging times in your fitness journey is probably right after you had a baby. This is very difficult. Now, luckily, we've trained people for decades, and a significant percentage of our clients were women who had babies, postpartum training.

1:54Now, you've got to do it right. There are specific ways to apply exercise. to approach nutrition. And there are specific things you should expect and not expect if you want to be successful. If you do this right, it's great. If you do it wrong, it could be a total disaster. So we're going to talk about this right now, how to get in shape after having a baby. The biggest key, in my opinion, to this is what we do before. Always. Always. Makes a big difference. Setting yourself up for pregnancy is far easier than trying to get into fitness or get into shape while pregnant or after pregnancy. You could do it.

2:33Oh, yeah, of course. If you're really setting yourself up well, and if you're thinking about this because you're thinking about having a baby, what you do before you get pregnant makes such a big difference in your recovery, how fast you get in shape, your delivery, the health of your body during and after. It makes a huge difference. I think a lot of this, muscle is so protective. once you build the muscle um it takes very minimal to keep the muscle and so if you do that it's pro metabolic for you so calories and stuff like that so there's so many things that going into pregnancy if we do a really good job of building muscle building your metabolism getting you strong uh that you could really get away with or like you know you can reduce the volume and intensity and frequency throughout the pregnancy significantly if you go in that way and still come out really, really in a good position versus not at all and then trying to figure it out or trying to get it going while you're pregnant.

3:40Yeah, definitely those. But also, too, like I think there's a lot of information out there that really hypes up getting back into shape quickly after having a kid, which, you know, I always have to kind of calm down and slow down that momentum. to really allow the body to heal properly, but then also work with your body. So to do it the right way to set yourself up so you have success going into the future. You guys both, both your wives have had multiple pregnancies. I only went through one with Katrina. And it's been a while, especially for Justin, you more recent. Was there a big difference between the two pregnancies as far as how your wives went in, how they came out.

4:26I can only speak to the one that Katrina had. And so I know what we did. There was a difference because Jessica got pregnant two years after having Aurelius. And so that's right at the, and we'll talk about this later, but it takes longer than you think to get things back to quote unquote normal. That's a really bad way to describe it. But social media would have you believe otherwise. It actually takes a lot longer than they'll try to advertise. but if you have kids back to back to back to back within a year especially a year or two years each success of one gets a little bit more difficult um because it's like you just got over recovering and starting to feel good and then you get have another one so that was the big difference that i noticed what about you justin yeah so the preparation going in was pretty similar um but the actual pregnancy themselves were totally different and so uh the second one was was definitely more challenging and there was complications.

5:24And so it, she wasn't really like as physically able to still kind of maintain, you know, muscle and do like exercises quite as intensively as the first time she was pregnant because yeah, so Everett was basically like a twin. And so, you know, we went through that process. But you know, the recovery of it took a lot longer the second time. Yeah, I've trained a lot of women through this process. And if you do it right, it's actually quite smooth. I'm not going to say it's easy. It's smooth. If you do it wrong, oh man, it gets really difficult. And I've seen a lot of women that have done this the wrong way where they hurt themselves.

6:08Injuries are really common postpartum. Your body changes radically during the pregnancy period. Radically. um you have uh your everything gets looser your core muscle activation changes dramatically obviously growing baby changes how your muscle recruitment patterns work your pelvic floor changes with its recruitment patterns uh and just jumping into exercise um you're not like you were before you have to train your body to get it where it was not to mention all the stuff that people don't talk about like you just had a baby you're not getting good sleep uh maybe you're nursing That changes things quite a bit hormonally and on the demands on you.

6:48And then just the responsibilities that happen afterwards. But again, if you do it right, it's a far smoother process. Now, of course, the best work happens before. And building muscle is the best way to set this up. So muscle is very protective. So fitness in general is great. But actually having physical muscle on your body is very protective. It's protective on your joints. it helps with insulin sensitivity or blood sugar. So you're more likely to avoid things like gestational diabetes. You're also stronger, which makes childbirth a lot easier. Muscle sticks around relatively well in comparison to other adaptations from exercise where you lose stamina very quickly, whereas muscle kind of sticks around a little bit, especially if you do a little bit to keep it there.

7:37So if you could set yourself up by building strength and muscle, not getting lean. This is where people make a mistake. Oh, I'm going to have a baby and you get real fit and lean. No, no, no. The best way to set up for pregnancy is to get strong. And in fact, getting too lean will make it hard to get pregnant. So you want to go in there with like a healthy body fat percentage, but most women get pregnant well right in the mid-20s. So not even super, you're not even in the leaner area of 20s. And then build some muscle and that sets you up. Strength training is still key postpartum. This is the best way to exercise postpartum for a couple reasons.

8:14One, strength training is highly, highly individualizable or modifiable. It's so modifiable that physical therapists use strength training to rehab people from injury or surgery. And NFL coaches use strength training to make high-level professional athletes stronger. It's just how you apply it and what you do. so you can individualize it to your body regardless of your fitness level and strength and how your body feels and this workout this exercise doesn't feel good or whatever so it's very very modifiable it's also very impactful when you consider the time it takes uh for where you strength train to cause changes in your body in comparison to other forms of exercise other forms of exercise require more time to produce these kind of favorable changes.

9:04Strength training requires, in comparison, remarkably little time. Yeah. Remarkably little. Well, it's the only one that really helps to recalibrate a lot of the elasticity that the muscles and ligaments go through. So strength training itself will really help you to regain that connection to movement again. I really wish that I could convince my wife to come on here and talk about this whole process. I think of all the years we've been together, this is one of the things that made me fall deeper in love with her. I knew for a very long time that she was this entrepreneur and into business and into sports and a lot of similarities.

9:50This is why we got along so well. Complete transparency. I always kind of wondered in the back of my head, like, oh, if I get this like chick that's really into business, all the things like this, will she also be this like motherly type, you know, and will she switch over that way? And to watch her switch and take all of her competitive athlete strengths and apply it in the direction of pregnancy and motherhood was like absolutely like so cool to watch her do this. I mean, and the minute that we decided that we were going to try and get pregnant, like it was on. It was like everything from like up until that point, I'd never seen her care about like she's never cared to get jacked and shredded like I did or like to diet that hard.

10:37But when it became time that we're fueling this baby and I'm prepping for this nine month pregnancy and have this child, like her discipline around how she fueled, how she trained, how she prioritized sleep, like all those things. It was like so cool to watch. And then when I watch it all unfold and I've trained a lot of people. Right. So I've seen that never experienced living with somebody who's going through that. So it was a different perspective for me. but we've all had lots of clients that we've trained through pregnancy, and I'm sure we can all talk about ones that we saw do a really good job.

11:13From that view, to get a front row seat of somebody literally checking all the boxes, it was so cool to see. And again, I wish she could come on and express what it was like for her, because I know it wasn't easy. I know that there's times when nauseous or tired, and I watched her go through all that stuff, but I also watched her like with this, like this is like nine months of my life. That's going to be hard and I'm going to do this thing and I can do hard things and be consistent with it. Yeah. And, and then I'm, and then the, the results of the recovery time, the health of the delivery, the, the, how the baby, all those things was, I felt so blessed.

11:56And it was like, man, that, I think so much of that. And I think going into that with that, with that attitude of like, I'm going to be very, uh, uh, intense full of like, I'm going to go into this with intention and go, these, I have a plan. I'm going to fall through it. Yes. It's going to be hard. Yes. These things, but I know that I'll be rewarded for doing these hard things through this process. I think one of the mistakes, um, that we have to talk about is there's a lot of women that after having a baby, they're like, I'm ready to, I got to go back to the gym or I got to get in shape now.

12:30Yeah. Too early. And this is how much strength training is appropriate for most women postpartum, about two days a week. Maybe three, but usually two. Well, this is why we recommend MAP Starter. Right. The program, even for someone who is - I mean, more than what I said is almost always too much. Yeah. It's almost always going to make you not feel good and kind of hurt, and you're going to pull muscles and just not feel good or have the energy or not get the results. it's about two days a week maybe three but one of those days is really easy about two days a week it's way less than you think and then the strength reason why it's key what i said earlier is you don't need a lot to start to get your body to change and what you'll notice you just start to get stronger yeah you'll make progress that's the thing yes uh but you have to allow both things to happen to adapt and also to heal uh so you know you don't want to take too much stress in the exercise you know away from the actual healing the hardest part for me with katrina was it was telling her to not to not do more like she wanted to do more because you feel like you can yeah she felt good right because she trained all the way up until damn near the the week uh that we we had max but then she had i think i want to say it was six to eight weeks i think she was told nothing nothing can't do anything and so i it was somewhere in that long time frame six to eight weeks that she didn't didn't do any sort of exercise whatsoever and then she was ready and then i started her in map starter and uh you know within two weeks of doing map starter she's like i want to do anabolic i want to do it like she and i'm like no like you're fine like and what i'm trying to explain to her it's like man just six eight weeks ago you were still strength training and you're you doing this is enough you're gonna be fine like you've you did all the hard work all leading up to this don't worry you're like yeah and and i i can understand where she's coming from because her body feels and looks so different and because what she just went through and it feels like i want to get right back to where i was before and it's like don't rush the process then it'll set it'll set you back it sets you back i love physio ball uh physio balls strength training uh for postpartum i love physio balls for this reason right here there's and you might you don't feel this by the way you might feel this for some things but a lot of times you don't notice this muscle recruitment patterns are different and you need to learn how to reconnect and a physio ball kind of forces that yeah so when i'm sitting on a physio ball rather than a bench while i'm doing let's say a shoulder press because i have to balance on the ball and it's not intense not like i'm sitting there trying to but things have to activate to stabilize my body if i'm doing a one-arm dumbbell row uh and instead of putting my hand on a bench i put my hand on a physio ball there's stability that's involved if i have my back on it while i'm pressing or use it for leg exercises there's a stability component that requires me to reconnect to my muscles because if you don't do this the injury rate postpartum is really high because of this uh difference in recruitment patterns happened to my wife many times where she would come back i feel strong she's like oh my god i thought this felt light and now my back hurts like what's going on yeah And it's like these recruitment patterns aren't like they used to be.

15:40They'll get there. Physio ball-based strength training is a great way to do it. This was my favorite tool postpartum. Oh, especially bridging on it, like you said. Pressing movements where they have to bridge, and that is just such a good – That's why we recommend Starter tends to be the program that we recommend. And even though, like I said, she was feeling stronger and wanted to do more, I had to pull the reins back quite a bit and remind her. I'm glad you said that because a lot of times they're like, oh, I feel like I can't. Oh, yeah, yeah. If I would have just let her do what she wanted to do, she would have done more because she felt like, hey, I'm strong.

16:12I'm good. And what I was constantly telling her, I was like, you don't need to. I said, it's been eight weeks, six, eight weeks since you've done anything. This is to your body again. It's a novel stimulus, and you're going to build muscle. You're going to start getting back. There's no reason for you to do any more. It's only increasing risk. That's right. And what's great about strength training is it positively influences the metabolism, which means your body will burn more calories on its own. versus having to manually try to burn the calories like you would if you just did elliptical or treadmill every single day.

16:43Now, that being said, it is good to be active every single day. Walking is the best form of exercise. Not running, nothing else. If you like to swim, that's cool. That's inconvenient for a lot of people. Walking. And I like walking for postpartum because it just so happens to work perfectly with the fact that I have a baby. Put them in the stroller and go for a walk. So all of my postpartum clients, I would encourage them to walk several times a day. And this is what they were like, well, that's perfect because I think I'd like to take my baby on a walk several times a day. And this became their daily activity.

17:15Baby would take a nap. I go for a walk. I get my steps in. And then I strength train twice a week. It was a wonderful combination. It's really like reflective of active recovery. So it's like that level of intensity because we want blood flow and we want to contract muscles. but really we want it to restore the body and to get you reconnected. Reconnecting with your body at this point is the utmost importance. And think about it this way. So you got to go slower than you think with all of this, the strength training, the walking, the, all of this. Think of, think of it this way. I need to get my body to heal and recover.

17:50Now I know the doctor says six weeks. That's not what I'm talking about. Yeah. That's like the acute healing. The healing process takes a lot longer. Yeah. It takes a lot longer for, I mean, they've done studies on this now and social media will have you believe otherwise. But most women that I've trained, they did, and they did great that, you know, we got great results and they look fit and all that stuff, you know, eight months later, a year later, but it wasn't until year two when they were like, okay, I feel like I did before. This is when I feel a hundred percent like I did before. So it takes a lot longer.

18:22And so I'm only saying this because if you go in with expectations, like you see some fitness influencers on social media who are like, oh, I just had my baby four months ago. Look at me. I'm shredded. And you're like, okay, cool. I can get after it. No, that's never the case. Never the case. With every single female. And they trained with me. So they got a professional trainer. It takes about two years of doing things right and whatever to where you're like, man, I feel like I did before. So you got to go slower than you think. And if you go faster than you should, you'll set yourself back. And that's the thing to consider.

18:55Now with diet, here's the attitude with diet. If you approach your postpartum diet with the attitude of I'm going to change my body composition, I'm going to lose weight, you will fail. You're going to fail. You have a baby. You're probably not getting good sleep. Maybe you're breastfeeding. This is a recipe for disaster. Instead, here's the mentality. I'm going to eat to nourish. And here's the side effect of that. You actually get great results every single time. So eat to nourish your body. what makes me feel good, what is going to be good for baby if I'm breastfeeding. This typically looks like, almost always looks like whole natural foods, high protein, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables.

19:36I eat when I'm hungry. I don't eat until I'm stuffed. I eat until I'm satisfied. I don't eat things that give me indigestion. If I look at something, well, it's probably not healthy. I'll stay away from that. But I'm still hungry, so I'm going to go eat this healthy thing. If you eat to nourish, the rest of it takes care of itself. If you eat for fat loss or body composition, it's a fail. It'll backfire almost every time. I'll say it another way. Most clients at this phase say things like, or trying to eat to lose fat, you should be eating to build muscle. Yeah. That's the goal right now. Which will give you more fat loss.

20:11Post-baby, we are not thinking, I need to eat to lose this baby fat. We should be eating to build muscle. And that is not the normal thing that you hear. The normal thing that you hear is, I want to get rid of this baby weight, and they hire a coach, and they think, diet, I need to cut calories or reduce. The strategy right now is not cut calories and try and lose weight. It's let's build muscle. Building muscle will speed up the metabolism, and it will actually make you leaner. You'll get the leaner part. You'll get the leaner part, but it's the better, smarter strategy to do it in a much healthier way.

20:44and so switch that mindset of i need to lose this baby weight to i need to build some muscle right now and that should be the focus totally and here's another thing if this is feasible for you uh the best investment you can make in terms of your health physical health your fitness and even including your mental health and the data supports this as well like one of the best ways to combat uh depression anxiety postpartum blues or even postpartum depression exercise is remarkable Properly applied exercise is remarkable with this. So it's a good investment. Hire yourself an experienced, good trainer.

21:23Now, notice I said experienced and good. So there's a lot of trainers out there. There's not a lot of good trainers, unfortunately. And of the good ones, not all of them have experience working with women who've had a baby. Now, this typically looks like, and I hate to stereotype, but unless you hire a coach for Mind Pump, because we know we have really good coaches. is if I was talking to a friend of mine in another state and they were like, I'm looking for, I just had my baby, you know, three months ago, I need to hire a good trainer and I don't know anybody in that area. And they said, what should I look for?

21:53I must say, look for a female trainer who's already had kids, who has experienced training postpartum clients. So I hate to stereotype, but typically they're, they're the best at training this type of client insider knowledge because they've experienced it and they've, they've trained other clients with it. And then they've had kids themselves. That's not to say there aren't good male trainers that are good at this. I was good at this. I know you guys were as well. Yeah, but I didn't get good until I trained a bunch of them. That's right. I didn't come out the gates good. Right, right. I got good because I've trained a lot.

22:23That's kind of, there's a lot of ways to find a good trainer. But this is one of the things, like, do they have kids of themselves? Have they worked with lots of women who've had babies? In fact, oftentimes, trainers who are good at this will advertise it. I specialize in training postpartum women. This is a specialty. It is a specialty. It's very different from normal fitness training and normal diet advice and all that stuff. And stay with group training. Terrible. Good point. Thank you for saying that. Yeah, good point. That's the worst thing. That happens a lot. By the way, that feeds right into what I was saying.

22:52Because the common thing is lose this baby weight. Go join my favorite Group X, Orange Theory, F45 type of class. Terrible strategy right here. That's a recipe for disaster. Eat to build muscle and train to get strong. That's right. That is what we're doing. And slower is better. Real solid strength training is all we're looking at. Yes. And lastly, be patient. I said this earlier. This is time and time again. In fact, now we have studies to support this. But your body isn't, quote, unquote, back to itself for about two years. That doesn't mean you're not making fitness progress. You're not getting strong.

23:32You don't feel amazing. You don't look amazing. If you're consistent, you're out. But you'll know. you'll know because you'll be a year out you'll be fit and you'll be like but i'm still still don't feel like i used to takes about two years so be very patient with yourself if you rush this process it's going to backfire it'll take longer it's going to backfire you just grew a human so you know let's be patient and calm down and take your time with it and you'll get great great results now here's what we did we had our trainers here at mind pump so we have trainers and coaches at work here and they're amazing and we had them put together a postpartum guide okay and it's free.

24:07It's mapspostpartum.com. Go there, get the guide. It's free. It'll help you with this entire process. It breaks everything down. At least you'll have a guide to follow. And again, I want to say this again. If you do it right, it's a smooth process. So it's not as scary as you may think it is. Do it right and it's going to be awesome. You can also find us on Instagram. You can find us at Mind Pump Media. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB Super Bundle at mindpumpmedia.com.

24:43The RGB Super Bundle includes MAPS Anabolic, MAPS Performance, and MAPS Aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by Sal, Adam, and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels, and performs. With detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos, the RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam, and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can get it now plus other valuable free resources at mindpumpmedia.com. if you enjoy this show please share the love by leaving us a five-star rating and review on itunes and by introducing mind pump to your friends and family we thank you for your support and until next time this is mind pump