Training for power is not just for competitive athletes! Think about the many times every day that require you to move quickly from one spot to another! Power training is important for moms too. Power training relies on the fast discharge of type II motor units and their attached muscle fibers. For us moms, power training can enhance the ability to perform many activities of daily living, such as carrying children, navigating a busy urban street or navigating the day with a busy and fast moving toddler.
This circuit incorporates a power exercise between each strength training exercise. If you do not have access to a power plate, you can just perform the exercise on the ground.
Exercise 1️⃣: Squat to Alternating Arm Press
💁🏻♀️As moms, we spend a lot of time bending down to pick up… fast-moving,toys, babies, clothes, food on the floor…etc!
🧐That is a lot of pressure on the abdominal wall and pelvic floor. Having good pelvic motion to “steer the spine” and move through the hips helps to manage this pressure!
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❤️As one of my mentors says, “you must do the thing”. Christina Christie teaches in Female Chain Reaction, functionally feeding the pelvic floor through movement is key to lifelong function!
🙋🏻♀️Who would prefer to build lifelong function?
❤️This is not step one…it is a progression to build towards.
😊Here I am using a Power Plate to enhance the bottom-up load to the pelvic floor through my Vivobarefoot shod feet.
🤗The alternating arm press gives my ribcage and core a unique challenge and safely loads my diastasis increasing resilience through my core!!
❤️My goal with all movements is to consider where they will take me 30 years from now an how I am building health.
Exercise 2️⃣: Lunge Jump with a ViPR Pro Uppercut
🔥Once you are confident that you have:
✅Good breath mechanics
✅Good resilience through your abdominal wall (no diastasis or good tensioning)
✅Mobility through your hips and tspine
✅No pelvic floor dysfunction
🔥THEN…you can add power movements. Start unloaded and progress slowly, watching for symptoms.
🧐Why is it important to build to plyometric or explosive movements?
🌟These types of movements build bone, and when done with the proper dosage create a positive hormonal response to build muscle.
ViPR Pro is a great tool allowing you to load explosive movements in many different positions.
Exercise 3️⃣ Negative Pullups
🤗Pay attention to your body! ❤️Change your stimulus!
🧐Instead of pulling up, now I am working on lowering top to bottom. Why? .
🌟Because I was getting some doming of my abdominal wall during my pull-ups. This is not ideal with a diastasis!
❤️ The eccentric lowering portion of the pull-up does not create any doming and stimulates my deep abdominal wall via the arms. .
🤗This exercise pairs nicely with exercise 2️⃣ with ViPR Pro!
🌟Don’t be afraid to mix things up to continually give your body a new and different stimulus! Especially important for moms who encounter many loads on a daily basis!!
Exercise 4️⃣ Lateral Leap with a ViPR Pro Chop
🤗I am finally starting to rebuild some power in my extended postpartum journey!
😊My goals for power training now are different than in the past:
✅Chase after my kids
✅Never again be asked, “mommy were you ever fast?” 😂 Yes, this happened!!
✅Reduce the loss of fast twitch muscle fiber as I age
✅Continue to create a more robust and resilient whole body system for all day movement and life demands!
🤗Consider your whole life movement spectrum when it comes to training! Everything from fast to slow to up to down! It’s al important! ❤️
Exercise 5️⃣ Squat to a Db Overhead Press
🤷🏻♀️Who knew that the position of my ribs and pelvis greatly affects my diastasis and pelvic floor?
🙋🏻♀️Who is looking for a great way to encourage their body to return to a position where the loads placed on the pelvic floor and core are lessened when we move?
😊You cannot maintain “perfect posture” all the time…but you can return to a better position for your body!
💥Here I am using the Power Plate to increase demand bottom up through my squat. You can also do this on the ground.
🔥 I have a tendency toward anterior pelvic tilt (lifelong but especially after two twin pregnancies) so the goblet squat is perfect for me!!
☀️The Squat to “tricep” press creates a perfect sensory awareness to keeping my ribcage over my pelvis. (Best position for me)
🤗I don’t walk around all day “holding” this position. Using these movements with load helps my body return to optimal and move through it safely!
Exercise 6️⃣ ViPRO Pro Halo to a Reverse Lunge
🙋🏻♀️Who has the favorite hip for carrying babies? Mine is the right!
🙋🏻♀️Who has the favorite hand for cleaning, chopping, doing all necessary “mom” jobs? Mine is the right! .
🧐Overusing one side can cause shifts in your ribcage, twists through your pelvis and a curious knee pain that was not there before!
😊This is a great exercise using my 10kg @viprpro to unwind the rib cage, encourage mobility through the shoulders and complement that with a load through the abdominal wall into the hips! Remember…the hips work with the core and the rib cage!
❤️This is a not a step 1 exercise, but a progression! It complements the pure plane exercise 5️⃣!
🤗Think about using as much of your body in as many different positions as possible! The goal is to create a globally resilient structure!
❤️I hope you enjoyed this 💪 workout!