'GMA' Train My Way: Coming back from having a baby
We all have workout goals, whether you're new to working out, trying to fit exercise into a busy schedule, preparing for a wedding, hoping to feel confident for a vacation or coming back from having a baby.
"GMA" Train My Way paired five high-profile fitness trainers with five women for 30 days to tackle their workout goals. We followed their journey and got their tips and workout guides.
The challenge: Back from baby
We paired Heidi Kristoffer, the creator of CrossFlowX and a mother of three, with Laura McGill, 33, the mother of a 1-year-old son, Charlie.
"Since I’ve had my baby, I feel like I have no core anymore and my son is almost 25 pounds right now," McGill said. "I want to kind of get stronger so I can lift him up."
The program
Kristoffer focused on making sure the workouts worked with McGill's schedule and would allow her to put herself first.
"You have to make you a priority," she told McGill. "You’ll feel so much better that you’ll be a better mom and you’ll be better at your job because you are more secure in your foundation because you are healthier, physically and mentally."
You have to make you a priority
1. Daily exercise: To make sure McGill's workouts worked for her, Kristoffer asked her what she could handle and started with a daily, approximately 10-minute workout that focused on fast repetitions combined with static hold poses.
2. At-home workouts: She gave McGill exercises to do on her own at home and McGill took online classes of CrossFlowX, the workout Kristoffer created that combines fast-paced yoga flows with high intensity cardio intervals and Kundalini kriyas, fast and repetitive or static poses paired with yoga breathing techniques.
3. Increasing intensity: Kristoffer added a few minutes onto McGill's daily workouts each week.
"The biggest challenge was just finding time every single day to work out," McGill said. "Especially when I wouldn’t get a workout in in the morning and then I’d have a full day at work, I’d come home, I would have to breastfeed my son, put him to bed and then the last thing I wanted to do was hold a plank."
She continued, "But I pushed through it. The more I did it, the more it became part of my routine."
What happened after 30 days
McGill started the 30 days able to hold a plank for one minute.
I’ve made a lot of progress and I feel stronger
By the end of the 30 days, she more than doubled her time and held a plank for two minutes and 15 seconds.
"I know in my heart that I’ve made a lot of progress and I feel stronger," McGill said, adding that her advice for other moms is to be patient with themselves and start small, even if it's 10 minutes per day.
Kristoffer noticed how McGill prioritized herself and her fitness throughout the 30 days.
"She is a full-time mom, she has a full-time job. She does it all and she still managed to put herself first, so I feel like you really can, anyone really can, put yourself first," she said.
Now here's an at-home workout for you
Kristoffer shared moves to do at home to help you feel "super strong, super capable on your mat and off."
"I start off every CrossFlowX class with an ab series because when your core is engaged, the rest of your body is safe," she said.
1. Superhero plank series: Come to a high plank pose. Line up your plank so your wrists are directly underneath your shoulders, your feet are hip distance apart, belly pulled in.
Extend your right arm and then your left arm as far forward as possible. Then take your right hand back to plank and your left hand back to plank.
Tap your right knee to the outside of your right shoulder and then your left knee to the outside of your left shoulder.
Lower your right forearm to the ground and your left forearm to the ground. Tap your right knee to the outside of your right shoulder and then your left knee to he outside of your left shoulder.
Exhale your right hip to the ground, return to center, then exhale your left hip to the ground. Repeat twice.
Lengthen the right arm, then the left arm, to return to high plank, and repeat the entire sequence.
2. Shoulder twist: Soften your knees with your feet hip distance apart. Take your fingertips to the inside of your shoulders. Twist your shoulders side to side. Continue for at least one minute.
3. Squat variation: Begin in a wide yoga squat. Keep all four corners of your feet completely connected to the ground as you lower your body down. With palms pressed together in front of you, inhale as you raise your body and exhale as you return down. Continue for at least one minute.
4. Mountain climber combination: Begin in high plank pose and run in place (mountain climbers) for one minute. Put your knees down and slide one knee off the mat into frog pose. Cross arms over each other and relax. Switch arms after 30 seconds for one minute total.
