You’ve been home with a brand new baby for six weeks, and realize your post-baby body more closely resembles your newborn’s than your pre-baby body did. Armed with your favorite workout DVD, your first attempt at a new mom workout routine is interrupted multiple times for feedings, diaper changes and soothing cuddles. You try to grab a walk, alone, when your husband gets home, but get only as far as the street corner when the cell phone rings: the baby is crying, and only you can remedy that. What’s a girl who wants to get back into shape to do?

Luckily, there are options, and one often over-looked solution is to scout out a gym that has a dynamic childcare service. In fact, many nurseries will take babies as young as 6 weeks old. The problem? New moms are often uncomfortable leaving her newfound love in anyone else’s care longer than a nanosecond.

Here are a few tips to make the transition to a regular exercise regimen a bit easier:

Ask and you shall receive. “Build your network of support,” says Cram. “You are with your babies 99% of the time. There needs to be a period of time when mom is focused on mom.” Help might be just around the corner (literally). Enlist the help of friends, neighbors, grandparents, and your spouse.

Make it a family affair. “The kids love the daycare area, and despite frequent trips to change diapers, it is totally worth the effort,” says Riley. “My kids have made friends (at the gym) and are learning about fitness, rock climbing, swim lessons…it is excellent family time.”

Get fit with friends. Exercising with a group of women who have similar interests and goals can provide both the structure and incentive you need to stay committed. Stroller classes (for infants 6-months and older) are one great example. But don’t overdo it. “Moms with multiples need to be very careful pushing strollers that are too heavy,” says Riley

And don’t forget to get the “go ahead” from your OB/GYN before beginning an exercise plan. By six weeks postpartum, most women who have no medical contraindications can return to a scaled-back version of their pre-pregnancy routine. Muscles, tendons and joints take time to return to normal. Maternal fitness expert and author of Pregnancy for Dummies, Catherine Cram, M.S., recommends short bouts of gentle exercise, such as walking in 15 min increments, three times per week for several weeks before increasing exercise intensity. “Start slow, and remember, every woman is different, so pay close attention to how your body feels,” says Cram.

This is actually one of the better questions I’ve received recently. Instinctively, my first thought is NO. More on this in a minute.

If, however, you are new to fitness and just starting to exercise regularly, then by all means do whatever type of exercise you like, even if it means doing the same thing every day. You will eventually reach a point when the results taper off, you lose motivation, get bored, or all of the above. That is when you’ll want to mix it up.

Even if you are a fitness guru, there will come a time when your “normal” workout routine isn’t working, or you suffer from burnout (this is common). To keep your muscles challenged and continue to see results, you need include the following components in your routine:

1. Variety

2. Cardiovascular exercise

3. Muscle strengthening exercise

4. Progression (which is just a fancy word for, “gradually making it harder” so that muscles and/or cardiovascular fitness continue to improve)

5. Stretching

Variety is the spice of life, and also the key to a successful workout routine. By continually surprising your muscles with new challenges, they will in turn adapt and become stronger, more efficient.

To mix up your routine, you  might try martial arts, swimming, weight training, yoga or Pilates, Zumba, BodyPump…you get the picture. This is also called “cross training.”

Cardiovascular exercise is the calorie-burning equivalent of driving your car on the highway. Aim for 30-60 mins on most days of the week.

Strength training is beneficial in many ways. It builds lean muscle, which increases resting metabolic rate. It also helps prevent injury by strengthening the muscles around the joints.

Progression will get you from A to B. You can progress both your cardiovascular and strength training routines, and there are many ways to do it. Read more about how to progress your routine.

Stretching We sit all day, move forward  most of the time, and, as the title of this post would indicate, tend to do the same workouts over and over. As a result, muscles get T-I-G-H-T. Stretching at least a few times a week for 15-20 minutes (2-3 minutes for each major muscle if you do 8 stretches and hold each one 15-30 seconds, and repeat), will go a long way toward improving elasticity, and help prevent injury. I’m a fan of yoga, as well as Pilates, but really, any stretching is good in my book.

You might also like: Is your workout working?and, Strength Training 101

Do you have a favorite “mix it up” routine? What do you do to add spice to your workouts?

I often peruse message boards to gain insight about women, and what problems they are facing in terms of fitness. I ran across a post that I thought would be relevant to a lot of readers, so I’ve posted a synopsis of this woman’s question, and my complete answer here.

Enjoy!

[abbreviated from WedMD message board:  I had a baby one year ago, gained 70lbs, and have had minimal success losing the excess weight. I have a stair climber that I use at home, but I'm not getting results using it and don't have all day to exercise. What (exercises) can I do at home that will help me lose weight, but don't cost a lot of money? ]

This is a very common problem: post baby weight loss woes. Often, new moms are often strapped for both time and money as well. Add to that the frustration of not losing weight after the baby as quickly as it was put on, and you have a recipe for tired with poor body image and the feeling that the new, post-baby body will be the forever body.

First off, I suggest drawing up a plan of attack. Sit down with pen and paper, and write down a realistic goal for yourself. You said you want to lose 70 or so pounds, so assume that at 2 lbs per week, you’ll reach your goal in 35 weeks or so.

Now for the hard part: consistency. How much time can you reasonably commit to exercising every day? Because to lose 2 lbs per week, you’ll need to create a calorie deficit of 7000 calories, or 1,000 calories per day. You can skin this cat several ways. You could burn off 500, and also reduce calorie intake by 500, for a combined 1,000 calories, or any combination that helps you reach that 1,000 calorie deficit goal. Just make sure you’re eating at least 1200 calories per day, or you’ll wind up doing more harm than good, and weight loss will surely stall as the body goes into starvation mode.

Back to the exercise part: what to do with what you’ve got. If you like the stair master, stick with that, gradually increasing the time spent exercising, as well as the intensity, until you’re exercising continuously for 45-60 minutes. I don’t know if you have weight equipment at home, but I highly recommend 2- 3 days of weight training per week, doing 2-3 sets of 8 or 9 exercises, targeting the major muscle groups. This will help build lean muscle, and improve your metabolism.

As the weather gets nicer, walk, walk, walk…or jog. If you don’t already have one, consider getting a quality baby jogger that is designed for jogging. You can buy used to save money. Check garage sales, Craig’s list, even Play it Again Sports or Once Upon a Child. It is a great investment, and your baby will love the activity as well. Groups such as Stroller Strides or Stroller Fit, and also Baby Boot Camp, are fantastic for moral support and camaraderie.

You don’t need any equipment to get a great workout. Jumping jacks, jump squats, push ups, bear crawls, burpees, tricep dips, and so on, all can be done using only body weight. There are numerous online resources for designing a workout like this. Try using keywords like: full body workout without equipment, or something like that. You can also check out my website for help: http://www.blueskygym.com/blog

Finally, stick to it. I know being a mom is tiring, and busy. Very busy (I have four kids myself, so I totally understand about not having all day to exercise.) Enlist the help of your husband and extended family and friends so that you grab an hour or so each day for yourself. You’ll be a happy, more energetic mom if you make this time for yourself. You deserve it!

Good luck! I know you can do it!