Lauren Brooks Fitness

  This pre-exercise is phenomenal for anyone who has ever had a baby, C-section, hysterectomy, abdominal surgery, sits at a desk, or has core weakness. Elise Badone, Muscle Activation Technique Specialist, has come up with this isometric.  This looks like a "knee plank" but there is much more to it.  You will actually feel your TVA and pelvic floor muscles waking up and firing much more efficiently with the way that Elise has you do this exercise. Since I personally have had 2 Cesareans in a 24 month time span, I lost proper communication from my pelvic floor and abdominal muscular system to the brain.  The fact that I had two babies that were very large for my frame, in such a short time span, didn't help either!  With that being said as I became stronger my body became a very good over compensator.  Which happens to anyone who has had any trauma in that region.  Same goes with anyone who has had hip, knee, foot, ankle, or any sort of injury! T...

Baby Chloe is 6 Week s Six weeks means I get the clearance to start exercising again!!! Wooooo hoooooo!!!! This seems all too familiar. It was just 2 years ago that I was recovering from my last pregnancy and C-section with Lyla. I have to admit it feels a little more challenging this time around trying to figure out how I'm going to prioritize my life to make sure I actually have the time and energy to workout. I guess now that I look back I had it pretty easy with 1 kid.  I do feel that using kettlebells and remaining strong during both pregnancies, using pregnancy workouts , allowed me to recover in record time. While waiting to get the green light to use my kettlebells , I used walking as my outlet. I was given permission to start walking (for exercise) 2 weeks after surgery. Walking and the right nutrition has helped me over the past several weeks shrink down to a comfortable size. However, I am hungry around the clock from nursing, so I'm probably eating bet...

Today is Lyla's 2 month birthday. I can't believe it has already been 2 months. She is getting so big. I'm even starting to feel like a real person again. Here is my quick workout that I did today. KB Push-ups 6 x 3 Lat Pull down 60lb 8 x 3 Single Front Squat 26lb 5 x 3 each side 1 minute rest at the end and repeated 3 times Hanging Leg Raises 15 x 2 Windmill 26lb 2 x 2 Waiter Walk 26lb 30sec x 2 Repeated 2 times Plank Hold 60 seconds (core was already tired from hanging leg raises, so barely made it for this one) Stretched

It's been about 6 weeks since giving birth to my little girl via C-section. I have just got clearance to start lifting weights. As excited as I am to get back in to the gym I know I have a long long LONG way ahead of me. Before I got pregnant I was relatively strong for my size. I was able to easily press and squat two 25 pound kettlebells at the same time. I was also able to do pistols (one legged squats), pull-ups, and swing heavy kettlebells. After 9 months of being pregnant, 6 weeks of recovering from a C-section, and little to no sleep I am very deconditioned. I tried pressing an 18 pound kettlebell and my shoulder was actually shakey. Before I got pregnant I could press that weight in my sleep and hold it over my head for many minutes. So that is just one example of where I am starting from. I decided because I have lost so much strength, muscle, and mobility to start back with a variety of traditional weights, machines,kettlebells, and snowboarding. This workout...