Vantslot.net

Reprinted from the Dallas Morning News, Texas Living section

Including infant in a workout helps new moms Rachel Van\’t Slot has lost 45 pounds, while daughter Maxine has gotten uninterrupted time with Mom. (BRAD LOPER / DMN) Most new moms wonder how they\’ll ever find the time, energy and motivation to get back in shape. Rachel Van\’t Slot, 29, an exercise instructor at the Baylor-Tom Landry Fitness Center, had the same problem after she gave birth to her first child. She had gained 45 pounds with the pregnancy and wanted to get into a workout routine before going back to work. So she developed a light workout program for herself that she could do while playing and bonding with her infant daughter.

Texas Living

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Including infant in a workout helps new moms

03/08/2002

By KRISTEN KAUFFMAN / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
You aren\’t getting enough sleep. You\’re exhausted all the time. You have
more than a few extra pounds to shed.

And you wonder if you’ll ever look and feel like your old self again.

Congratulations ? you must be a new mom! And like most new moms, you\’re
wondering how you’ll ever find the time, energy and motivation to get
back in shape.

Rachel Van’t Slot, 29, a certified group exercise instructor at the
Baylor-Tom Landry Fitness Center, had the same problem after she gave
birth to her first child, Maxine, eight months ago. She had gained 45
pounds with the pregnancy and wanted to get into a workout routine
before going back to work.

“I was very frustrated because I had always been a very fit person,” she
says. “I wasn’t ready to start teaching again … I had to do something.”

So she developed a light workout program for herself that she could do
while playing and bonding with her infant daughter.

“I’d put her on the floor and do push-ups and kiss her forehead,” Ms.
Van’t Slot says. “She’d start to laugh and giggle. I’d say, ‘Hello,
Maxine; bye-bye, Maxine.’ ”

Other exercises target the chest, shoulders, back, arms, legs, glutes
and abs, using the baby’s weight for added resistance and results.

Goo-goo grunt work guidelines So you’ve birthed that baby, and now you’re ready to get back in shape while bonding with your child. Here are some tips from Rachel Van’t Slot, an instructor at Baylor-Tom Landry Fitness Center who is a new mom. Working out with your child can be great fun, but safety is the watchword. Consult your doctor about starting an exercise program, especially if you had a difficult or Caesarean delivery. Your six-week checkup may be a good time to talk about exercising. Consider baby’s safety first. If you are uncomfortable performing an exercise or feel you do not have a safe handle on your baby, do not perform the exercise. Some babies may cooperate more than others. Use proper form to get maximum results and avoid injury. Check your position in a mirror. If you doubt your execution of an exercise, consult a fitness professional. Do what you can when you can. With a new baby in the house, it can be tough to find 30 minutes to do all of these exercises in a row; just try to do multiple repetitions when you do perform the exercises. Set realistic goals and praise yourself for what you accomplish. Focus on the positive. Small gains eventually add up, leaving you with the base strength and motivation to set bigger goals when you\’re ready. Be kind to your lower back by using the proper form when lifting (bend at the knees instead of at the waist). Include cardio in your routine by taking baby for a daily brisk walk in the stroller. Have fun. These exercises are not meant to be just another chore you have to do; it’s play time with a purpose. You can sing, talk or make up silly rhymes to go along with the activities ? whatever makes it more enjoyable for you and your baby. Kristen Kauffman

For example, for an abdominal workout (a major problem area for anyone
who has just had a baby) Ms. Van’t Slot does a reverse curl with Maxine
resting on her shins and also does sit-ups holding the baby on her chest.

Some of the exercises include moves that most moms do anyway while
playing with their infants, such as lifting the baby into the air. Check
your form and do eight to 15 reps, and you’re doing an anterior overhead
press for the deltoid and tricep muscles.

Or how about getting up out of the chair while holding the baby ? that
seems to occur naturally all day, every day. Use the proper form and do
it 15 times or more in a row, and you’re doing squats for your legs and
buttocks.

“A chair is good for people who have just recently delivered, and it
keeps you out of danger of falling,” she says. “Squats get quads,
hamstrings, glutes.”

Ms. Van’t Slot says as the baby grows, you automatically step up your
program because the weight you’re lifting increases. Now at more than 20
pounds, Maxine is giving her mother quite a workout.

“I think it’s a good way to get back into a routine,” she says. “As she
grew, it was a good way to get stronger together.” But she cautions moms
to discontinue the workout if the child begins to squirm, and also once
the child grows and is too heavy for mom to safely execute the movements.

In addition to helping Mom get back in shape, the exercises may benefit
baby. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education just
issued new guidelines that say many babies do not get enough physical
activity because busy parents confine them in exer-saucers, swings,
bouncy seats, jumpers and playpens.

The association recommends that part of an infant’s day should be spent
in structured activity with a parent or caregiver ? playing peek-a-boo
or patty-cake, being carried to and exploring new environments. Ms.
Van’t Slot’s program runs along the same lines.

She says she keeps the routine in a playtime mood by maintaining eye
contact while exercising and doing silly things to make the baby laugh ?
songs, games, counting.

It’s easy to become discouraged, though, when your old figure doesn’t
come back as quickly as you’d like.

“I was surprised to find out that despite the fact that I had always
been a fit person, my cardiovascular endurance is still not where it
used to be,” Ms. Van’t Slot says. “I was surprised how normal it is for
your body to take time to get back to normal.”

Ms. Van’t Slot stresses that parents who can’t find the time to set
aside 30 minutes for exercise can still get a workout by doing reps of
one exercise during a spare moment, and by the end of the day, the whole
routine (or most of it) can be completed. The main thing, she says, is
to keep at it.

“New mothers feel so overwhelmed and so tired all the time; they need to
congratulate themselves when they can do some reverse curls or some
push-ups,” she says. “Just do what you can do.”

Kristen Kauffman is a Dallas free-lance writer.

Exercise guides

Push-ups (chest, along with triceps, delts, biceps and back) This works
great until baby is able to crawl away! Lay baby down on her back. You
will do a modified push-up with bent knees on the ground. Your hands
straddle baby in a wide position so that as you lower your upper body
your elbows form about a 90-degree angle. Keep your neck in neutral
alignment with your spine and your abdominals pulled into the spine as
you perform this exercise. You are leading with your chest, not your
head or hips, as you lower. When you lower, you can kiss baby\’s forehead
or nose.

Reverse curls (abdominals)

Photos by BRAD LOPER / DMN Reverse curls (abdominals) demonstrated by Rachel Van’t Slot and daughter Maxine.

(For older babies with head and neck strength.) You are on your back
with your knees bent. Place baby on her tummy on your shins. Her body
should nestle between your legs with her legs straddling your flexed
feet, and your knees should be directly over the lower part of your
abdomen. Curl your knees toward your chest while lifting baby’s body
with your feet a little bit to give her the thrill of moving in the air.

Crunches (abdominals)

With baby on your lower abdomen, hold her hands or her torso, depending
on how self-reliant she is. Then, keeping

Crunches (abdominals)

your neck neutrally aligned with your spine, perform simple crunches, bringing
your upper back and shoulder blades slightly off the floor.

Be sure to pull your abdominal muscle in toward your spine as you
contract. You can play the “Hello, bye-bye” game with this one. As you
crunch up, you make eye contact and say “hello,” and as you lie back
down, you say “bye-bye.”

Close press (triceps)

On your back with your knees bent, have baby sit straddling your
stomach. Hold baby around her torso and under her arms. Keeping your
elbows close to your body at all times, begin with your arms at a
90-degree angle and then extend

Close press (triceps)

your arms up to a 180-degree angle, bringing baby with you. Return to the
90-degree angle with your elbows grazing your rib cage as you do so. Do
as many repetitions as you can with a smooth, controlled motion without
locking out your elbows on the extension.

Anterior overhead press (shoulders)

Anterior overhead press (shoulders)

Holding baby facing you, lift baby overhead and back down so that your
elbows are almost to your rib cage.

What makes this an exercise vs. simply a playful move for baby is the
repetition. Be sure to keep your torso stabilized without swaying your
lower back. Keep a smooth, consistent motion.

WARNING: Play it safe, and never remove your hands from baby as if to
“throw her up in the air.”

Squats ( bottom and thighs)

Standing in front of a stable chair with baby in your arms and squarely
facing you, position your feet so that they are hip-width apart. Hold
baby close to you and support her head and neck with your hands as you
squat into the chair.

Squats (bottoms and thighs)

Using a Baby Bjorn or other frontal baby carrier keeps baby safest. Beginners
can sit down and then stand right back up. Intermediate exercisers can
barely touch the chair with their bottoms and then stand up. Advanced
exercisers can squat without actually touching the chair. Do as many
repetitions as you can. Keep your back in neutral alignment.

HINT: Make sure the chair is not too low to the ground. Your knees
should come to about a 90-degree angle once you are seated.

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