My movement at this time, alongside following the postnatal Pilates KICBUMP program, has been centred around a lot of lower impact workouts. Lower impact movement, just like any type of movement, is so great for both your physical and mental health but it is also so fantastic as there are no jumping movements which keeps the pressure on your joints to a minimum (and another little bonus of a lower-impact workout is also that for any of you living in an apartment, you can avoid disrupting your neighbours below).

So, for those of you looking for some lower impact options, here are my top 5 from within the KIC app:

1. ‘Beginner Body Burner with Steph’ – Masterclass with BrookeThis workout with Brooke incorporates a mixture of dumbbell, bench/chair and mat exercises. It gets a whole range of my upper and lower body muscles engaged without any crazy intense jumping movements.

   Just because Brooke is our HIIT master trainer don’t think that her sessions aren’t already or can’t be made lower impact! The majority of her sessions, by the nature of the HIIT training style, will be higher impact, but the easiest thing to do is to substitute any jumping movements for a non-jumping equivalent. For example, swap jump squats to static squats, jumping lunges to stationary or reverse lunges and burpees to have a standing rise up instead of a jump and a step out rather than jump back into the plank position.

2. ‘Body sculpt’ – Masterclass with BrittStrength work is so important as building strong muscles supports and enhances all of our other movements. This masterclass with Britt is a lower-impact strength workout that works your entire body. Strength work overall is generally of lower impact especially when it incorporates those isolated and more static exercises such as biceps curls, weighted squats, lateral raises and Bulgarian split squats. Another benefit of taking on lower-impact strength workouts is that your consistency in your training will likely be even better as you’ll significantly lower your risk of sustaining an injury causing any set-backs.
3. ‘Breathe Balance Be’ – Pilates with MariPilates in general is such a great form of low-impact movement as it involves a lot of mat work. It’s that one workout style that you don’t think will cause you to feel a burn, but after a few pulses, boy are you wrong. I just love how I can really feel the muscles being engaged without any vigorous or high-impact movements. The ‘Breathe Balance Be’ is one of my personal favourites as it focuses on core strength, stability and muscle control.
4. Walking tracked using the KIC Run TrackerI know that this isn’t technically a workout in the KIC app, but I think tracking my walks on the KIC run tracker makes it count. Walking is such a great lower-impact movement which I have been loving especially when paired with a good podcast. It is always enjoyable, a great way to help my body recover and super safe for my body at this time.
5. ‘Connect with Your New Mumma Self’ – KICBUMP MeditationNow this “workout” is the lowest impact of them all, well it’s actually zero impact, just sit down, close your eyes and go. I’ve included mediations in this list because just as we exercise our bodies for mental and physical benefits, we should also exercise our minds for the same reasons. The ‘Connect with Your New Mumma Self’ meditation is my current favourite, but for everyone else we have a whole bank of meditations for you to choose from. I just love how meditations improve my head space and leave me feeling more ready to take on the day, or sleep well at night, when Harvey does let’s be real. I’d encourage you, if you don’t already to try incorporating them into your low-impact workout routine.

Of course if you are coming off the back of an injury, are or have recently been pregnant or have to move in a certain way for your body, please be sure to always consult with your medical professionals to make sure that the movement you’re undertaking is safe for you.

Love,

Steph xxxx