Ideally, as a new mom you will work at your own pace and comfort level as you begin your fitness regime after the birth of your baby. As you gain strength and confidence, you can begin to increase your level of intensity and length of workout. Making a commitment to workout once a week is a great start to a new mom's fitness plan, but that frequency might not provide the results you're looking for as quickly as you may have hoped.
In fact, working out only once a week can hinder your progress and make you more susceptible to injury as your muscle recovery time can actually be too long between sessions.
The Public Health Agency of Canada suggests that adults be moderately to vigorously active at least 2.5 hours each week to achieve optimal health benefits. Further, it suggests that you target your muscles at least twice a week. This can be translated to 3 x 50 minute sessions or 5 x 30 minute (or some other combination) sessions each week, depending on your personal schedule. This recommendation is suggested to help prevent injury, improve strength & performance and achieve results over time. Your workouts should have lots of variety in them and should be an activity you enjoy doing.
Overtraining is also important to consider. Women who exercise at a high intensity too frequently (every day without including one or two rest days) are at risk for over use injuries and adrenal fatigue.
Finally, it's important for you to ensure that you have plenty of rest and hydration and that you focus on eating a healthy, balanced diet. Incorporating training sessions 3 to 5 times a week will provide you with optimal results. Recognizing that moms lead busy lives and have limited free time, working exercise into your day with your baby, toddler or preschooler can be a great way for you to exercise and demonstrate a healthy lifestyle to your kids.
FITMOM Founder, Andrea Page, sharing information about how often you should workout once you've had a baby.
