Just Gave Birth And I Want To Start Training Again! | Ask The Coach

Coach Ani de Leon is a Certified Level 2 Triathlon Coach by the International Triathlon Union and has completed coaching, camp requirements and attended coaching courses such as Endurance Performance Systems Camp in Melbourne, Australia under Tony Benson, Noosa Triathlon Camp in Sunshine Coast, Australia under Nick Croft, High Performance Training Camp in Goldcoast, Australia under Col Stewart, and the Timex Multisport Team Camp, Coach Ani’s other significant highlights include : The first Filipina Ironman World Championships Qualifier and First Female Multisport Coach in the Philippines, Founder/Coach SuperTriKids Triathlon Youth Dev’t Program, Founder/ Coach of First All Womens Running Clinics (Pinay in Action) in the Philippines, Founding Member of First All Womens Cycling Team in the Philippines (Team Davids Salon), and lastly, perhaps the most important of all (for us at least!), she’s our first In[FOCUS] Athlete too!

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Photo Credit : breakingmuscle .com/womens-fitness/training-during-pregnancy-how-to-modify-your-workout-without-losing-your-workout

We got an email from Mariel Sugbay, a first time mother who just gave birth and wants to get back to her training routine as soon as possible. Our resident online guru, Coach Ani de Leon-Brown shares her insight as to what Mariel can do to slowly ease herself back into her training regimen.

From Mariel :

Hi Coach Ani!

I have just given birth and want to resume training as soon as possible. Can you give me a timeline as to when I can safely train again, from your experience?
Also, as a first time mother, how did you balance training and caring for your son?

From Coach Ani :

Hi Mariel! First of all congratulations on being a new mom!

Personally I fast-tracked my progress between giving birth and training/ racing as I set some big goals for myself right away (i.e. 70.3 after 3mos and ironman distance after 5mos. I do not recommend this for everyone. )

May I suggest that you do the following?

1. Do it by minutes, not by distance. Gradually build it up. For example for running: start with walking (10minutes or below). You can do this already in the first week. Then progress to a jog-walk combo in the second to third week. Do not put pressure on yourself to go beyond 20min. By the end of one month you can probably do a 30min jog-walk. It will be easier to slowly get back to straightforward training after that.
2. Your priority is your health. There will be a lot of days wherein you will have no sleep, will be tired from breastfeeding/ caring for the baby, plus work. Opt to rest/ sleep more than going for a workout if you are overly tired. If you are just moderately tired, do a short and light workout without intensity. If you push yourself too much, you will get sick, and everyone in the household will be affected, especially your baby.
3. Set some race goals for yourself which are manageable. I am pretty sure that even with just a few days a week of training you can do a 5k/ sprint race within the first 6mos. Within a year i believe you will be able to do either a 21k race or an olympic distance event. These are all distances which are doable at a relaxed but consistent training routine.

All the best and looking forward to seeing you at the races!!!