2790: How To Get in Shape After Having a Baby

Summary

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Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth

Episode 2790 — How To Get in Shape After Having a Baby

Hosts: Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, Justin Andrews, Doug Egge
Date: February 9, 2026

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Overview

This episode dives deep into the often confusing and pressured journey of getting back in shape after having a baby. With decades of experience coaching thousands of women through pregnancy and postpartum fitness, the Mind Pump hosts cut through myths fueled by social media and “snapback” culture. They provide science-backed, health-first strategies focusing on strength, realistic expectations, and holistic well-being—for both body and mind. The tone is honest, empathetic, and sometimes blunt, with personal anecdotes and practical advice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Preparation Matters Most

• Before Pregnancy Is Critical:
  • “The biggest key, in my opinion, to this is what we do before.” (03:24)
  • Building muscle and metabolism before pregnancy makes recovery, delivery, and regaining strength significantly easier.
  • “If you're really setting yourself up well and if you're thinking about this because you're thinking about having a baby, what you do before you get pregnant makes such a big difference.” (03:44)
• Muscle as Protection:
  • Muscle aids metabolism, joint protection, and blood sugar control (helps prevent gestational diabetes).
  • Being strong—rather than just lean—pre-pregnancy is crucial.

2. Realistic Timelines & Expectations

• Societal Pressure vs. Reality:
  • There’s pervasive hype around quickly regaining pre-baby shape, but real healing is much longer.
  • “Takes longer than you think to get things back to…normal.” (05:41)
  • Actual research and experience: it can take up to two years to “feel like yourself again.” (18:50, 24:26)
  • “Social media would have you believe otherwise. It actually takes a lot longer than they'll try to advertise… It takes about two years of doing things right.” (18:50)

3. Individualization and Postpartum Exercise

• Strength Training is King:

  • Postpartum, strength training is superior due to its adaptability and impact.
  • “Strength training is highly individualizable or modifiable. Physical therapists use strength to rehab people from injury; NFL coaches use it to make pros stronger. It's just how you apply it.” (09:20)
  • “Other forms of exercise require more time… Strength training requires remarkably little time.” (10:22)

• Volume & Intensity:

  • Two sessions per week (sometimes three, with one light) is usually optimal. Anything more is often too much.
  • “About two days a week, maybe three, but usually two. More than what I said is almost always too much.” (13:43, 13:57)

• Re-learning Movement:

  • Pregnancy alters muscle recruitment, core activation, pelvic floor function—so returning to “what you did before” increases risk of injury.
  • “Muscle recruitment patterns are different and you need to learn how to reconnect… A physio ball kind of forces that.” (15:41)

4. Personal Stories — Lessons from Coaching & Family

• Adam and Justin on Their Wives’ Experiences:
  • Second pregnancies often tougher; recovery can be longer if pregnancies are close together.
  • “Each successive one gets a little bit more difficult because...you just got over recovering and then you have another one.” (05:41)
  • Physical capacity and complications vary greatly between pregnancies, even for the same person. (06:20)
• Hardest Lesson: Hold Back, Don’t Overdo:
  • Even well-trained women want to “jump back in,” but restraint is crucial.
  • “The hardest part for me with Katrina was telling her not to do more… She felt good… but… you did all the hard work all leading up to this. Don't worry.” (14:39)
  • Forcing a slow pace prevents injury and long-term setbacks.

5. Walking & Active Recovery

• Unsexy, but Effective:
  • Walking is highly recommended post-birth—fits with caring for a newborn, reduces stress, supports recovery.
  • “Walking is the best form of exercise… All of my postpartum clients, I would encourage them to walk several times a day.” (17:40)
  • “It's really, like, reflective of active recovery...We want it to restore the body and get you reconnected.” (18:32)

6. Nutrition Mindset: Eat to Nourish, Not to Shrink

• Nourishing over Dieting:
  • “If you approach your postpartum diet with the attitude of, I'm going to change my body composition, I'm going to lose weight, you will fail.” (18:50)
  • Prioritize eating whole foods, enough protein and fat, plenty of fruits and vegetables; eat to be satisfied—not stuffed, not starved.
  • “Eat to nourish your body… If you eat to nourish, the rest of it takes care of itself.” (18:50)
• Build Muscle, Don’t Cut:
  • “Most clients at this phase say… trying to eat to lose fat. You should be eating to build muscle. That's the goal right now.” (21:09)
  • Focusing on muscle growth will ultimately result in better body composition.

7. Expert Help & Pitfalls

• Hire the Right Coach:
  • Experience matters: find a trainer with history working with postpartum women, ideally a woman who’s been through it herself.
  • “Look for a female trainer who's already had kids, who has experience training postpartum clients.” (22:03)
• Avoid Group Fitness Classes:
  • Programs like Orange Theory or F45 are not suitable postpartum—too much intensity, not individualized. (23:56)

8. Mental Health & Patience

• Exercise Supports Mental Health:
  • Proper movement is a potent tool against postpartum depression or anxiety. (22:03)
• Patience is Key:
  • “Be patient… This is time and time again… Your body isn't ‘back to itself’ for about two years… If you rush, it's gonna backfire.” (24:26)
  • “You just grew a human. So, you know, let's be patient and calm down and take your time with it.” (25:00)

9. Free Resource

• Mind Pump offers a free postpartum guide: mapspostpartum.com (25:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Preparation:
  “Building muscle is the best way to set this up… The best way to set up for pregnancy is to get strong. And in fact, getting too lean will make it hard to get pregnant.”
  — Adam Schaefer, 07:01

• On Recovery Timeline:
  “You did all the hard work leading up to this. Don't worry… It feels like I want to get right back to where I was before. It's like, don't worry.”
  — Adam Schaefer, 14:46

• On Social Pressure:
  “Social media would have you believe otherwise… It actually takes a lot longer than they'll try to advertise.”
  — Adam Schaefer, 05:41

• On Eating to Nourish:
  “If you approach your postpartum diet with the attitude of, I'm going to change my body composition, I'm going to lose weight, you will fail… Instead, here’s the mentality: I’m going to eat to nourish. And as a side effect, you get great results.”
  — Adam Schaefer, 18:50

• On Strength Training:
  “Strength training is highly, highly individualizable… The reason why it's key: you don't need a lot to get your body to change.”
  — Adam Schaefer, 09:20, 13:55

• On Coaching:
  “Hire yourself an experienced, good trainer… Look for a female trainer who’s already had kids, who has experience training postpartum clients.”
  — Adam Schaefer, 22:03

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Important Timestamps

• 02:49: Opening reflections—biggest keys to postpartum fitness
• 03:24: Value of building strength BEFORE pregnancy
• 05:20 – 07:01: Lessons from hosts’ personal and client experiences
• 09:20: Why strength training is ideal postpartum
• 13:31: Common mistakes—doing too much, too soon
• 15:41: Importance of physio balls & relearning movement patterns
• 17:40: Walking and being active with a newborn
• 18:50: Recovery timeline; patience and realistic expectations
• 18:50 – 21:50: Nutrition mindset—eat to nourish, not to lose
• 22:03 – 23:49: How to find a qualified postpartum coach
• 23:56: Why to avoid group fitness programs
• 24:26 – 25:00: The two-year reality check and wrap-up
• 25:00: Free postpartum guide at mapspostpartum.com

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Takeaways for New Moms

• Preparation before pregnancy sets the stage.
• Strength training—light, well-structured—is the safest and most effective way to rebuild.
• Expect two years for “full” recovery; be patient and gentle with yourself.
• Eat to nourish, not to shrink.
• Daily walks are powerful recovery tools.
• Don’t trust the social media “bounce back” narrative.
• The right coach matters—individualized, not group, and ideally experienced with postpartum clients.

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If you want a practical, science-based, and compassionate guide for postpartum fitness, this episode serves it up—no gimmicks, no pressure, just real talk and expert wisdom.

Transcript

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[Mind Pump Host (Sal Destefano)]

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[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

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[Mind Pump Host (Sal Destefano)]

With your hosts Sal Destefano, Adam Schaefer and Justin Andrews, you just found the.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode we talk about how to get in shape after having a baby. Now this episode is brought to you by our sponsor, Legion. Legion supplements are some of the best in the world for high performance athletes. People who want to build muscle, burn body fat, be effective. These are not supplements for everyday regular people. These are supplements for people who are serious third party tested. What it says on the bottle is in the bottle and they only contain ingredients and compounds that are backed by data, nothing else. They don't waste time with all the other fluff anyway. Go check them out. Get a discount. Go to buylegion.com mindpump that's B-Y-L-I-O-N.com mindpump use the code mindpump and you can buy one. Get one 50% off if you're a new customer. If you're a returning customer, you get 20% cash back. Also, we have a sale. We have a new workout program bundle. It's the couple's bundle. It includes maps, aesthetic Maps. Hit maps. Muscle mommy and the no BS six pack formula. Go check it out. Go to MP valentine.com All right, real quick.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

If you love us like we love you, why not show up by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs, or training gear [e-mail] I'm talking right now. Hit pause, head on over to mypumpstore.com that's it. Enjoy the rest of the show.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

One of the most challenging times in your fitness journey is probably right after you had a baby. This is very difficult. Now, luckily, we've trained people for decades and a significant percentage of our clients were women who had babies postpartum training. Now, you got to do it right. There are specific ways to apply exercise to approach nutrition. And there are specific things you should expect and not expect if you want to be successful. If you do this right, it's great. If you do it wrong, it could be a total disaster. So we're going to talk about this right now. How to get in shape after having a baby.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

The biggest key, in my opinion, to this is what we do before.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Always, always makes a big difference.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Setting yourself up for pregnancy is far easier than trying to get into fitness or get into shape while pregnant or after pregnancy.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

You could do it. Oh, yeah, of course. But in a good. If you're really setting yourself up well and if you're thinking about this because you're thinking about having a baby, what you do before you get pregnant makes such a big difference in your recovery, how fast you get in shape, your delivery, the health of your body during and after makes a huge difference.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

And I think a lot of this muscle is so protective. Once you build the muscle, it takes very minimal to keep the muscle. And so if you do that, it's pro metabolic for you. So calories and stuff like that. So there's so many things that going into pregnancy, if we do a really good job of building muscle, building your metabolism, getting you strong, that you can really get away with or like, you know, you can reduce the volume and intensity and frequency throughout the pregnancy, pregnancy significantly. If you go in that way and still come out really, really in a good position, totally versus not at all. And then trying to figure it out or trying to get it going while you're pregnant.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

Yeah, definitely those. But also too, like, I think there's a lot of information out there that really hypes up getting back into shape quickly after having a kid, which, you know, I always have to kind of calm down and slow down that momentum to really allow the body to heal properly, but it also work with your body. So to do it the right way to set yourself up so you know you have success like going into the future.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

You guys, you guys both, both your wives have had multiple pregnancies. I only went through one with Katrina and it's been a while, especially for Justin. You more recent. Was there a big difference between the two pregnancies as far as how your wives went in, how they came out? I can only speak to the one that Katrina had. And so I know what we did and.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

But there was a difference because we. Jessica got pregnant two years after having Aurelius. So. And so that's right. And we'll talk about this later. But takes longer than you think to get things back to quote unquote normal. That's a really bad way to describe it, but social media would have you believe otherwise. It actually takes a lot longer than they'll try to advertise. But if you have kids back to back to back to back within a year, especially a year or two years, each successive one gets a little bit more difficult because it's like you just got over recovering and starting to feel good and then you get have another one. So that was the big difference that I noticed.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

What about you, Justin?

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

Yeah, so the preparation going in was pretty similar, but the actual pregnancy themselves were totally different. And so the second one was, was definitely more challenging and there was complications and so it. She wasn't really like as physically able to still kind of maintain, you know, muscle and do like exercises quite as intensively as the first time she was pregnant because. Yeah. So ever was basically like a twin. And so, you know, we went through that process but you know, the recovery of it took a lot longer the second time.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Yeah, it's. I've trained a lot of women through this process and if you do it right, it's actually quite smooth. I'm not going to say it's easy. It's smooth. If you do it wrong, oh man, it gets really difficult. And I've seen a lot of women that have done this the wrong way where they hurt themselves. Injuries are really common. Postpartum, your body changes radically during the pregnancy period. Radically. You have your. Everything gets looser, your core muscle activation changes dramatically. Obviously growing baby changes how your muscle recruitment patterns work, your pelvic floor changes with its recruitment patterns and just jumping into exercise, you're not like you were before. You have to train your body to get it where it was. Not to mention all the stuff that people don't Talk about like you just had a baby, you're not getting good sleep, maybe you're nursing. That changes things quite a bit hormonally and on the demands on you and then just the responsibilities that happen afterwards. But again, if you do it right, it's a far smoother process. Now, of course, the best work happens before and building muscle is the best way to set this up. So muscle is very protective. Okay, so fitness in general is great, but actually having physical muscle on your body is very protective. It's protective on your joints, helps with insulin sensitivity or blood sugar, so you avoid things more likely to avoid things like gestational diabetes. You're also stronger, which makes childbirth a lot easier. Muscle sticks around relatively well in comparison to other adaptations from exercise, where you lose stamina very quickly, whereas muscle kind of sticks around a little bit, especially if you do a little bit to keep it there. So if you could set yourself up by building strength and muscle not getting lean, this is where people make a mistake. Oh, I'm going to have a baby. And you get real fit and lean. No, no, no. The best way to set up for pregnancy is to get strong. And in fact, getting too lean will make it hard to get pregnant. So you want to go in there with a, like a healthy body fat percentage. But most women get pregnant well right in the mid-20s, so not even super, not even in the leaner area of 20s. And then build some muscle and that sets you up. Strength training is still key postpartum.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

Yep.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

This is the best way to exercise postpartum for a couple reasons. One, strength training is highly, highly individualizable or modifiable. It's so modifiable that physical therapists use strength training to rehab people from injury or surgery. And NFL coaches use strength training to make, you know, high level professional athletes stronger. It's just how you apply it and what you do so you can individualize it to your body regardless of your fitness level and strength and how your body feels. And this workout, this exercise doesn't feel good or whatever. So it's very, very modifiable. It's also very impactful when you consider the time it takes for where you strength train to cause changes in your body in comparison to other forms of exercise. Other forms of exercise require more time to produce these kind of favorable changes. Strength training requires in comparison, remarkably little time. Yeah, remarkably little.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

Well, it's the only one that really like, helps to recalibrate a lot of the elasticity that the muscles and ligaments go through. So strength training itself Will really help you to regain that connection to movement again.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

I really wish that I could convince my wife to come on here and talk about this whole process. I think of all the years we've been together, this is one of the things that made me fall deeper in love with her. I knew for a very long time that she was this entrepreneur and into business and into sports and a lot of similarities is why we got along so well. Complete transparency. I always kind of wondered in the back of my head, like, oh, if I get this like, chick that's really into business, all the things like this, will she also be this like motherly type, you know, and will she, will she switch over that way? And to watch her switch and take all of her competitive athlete strengths and apply it in the direction of pregnancy and motherhood was, was like absolutely, like so cool to watch her do this. I mean, and the minute that we decided that we were going to try and get pregnant, like, it was on. It was like everything from like up until that point, I'd never seen her care about, like she's never cared to get jacked and shredded like I did or like to diet that hard. But when it became time that we're fueling this baby and I'm prepping for this nine month pregnancy and have this child, like her discipline around, how she fueled, how she trained, how she prioritized, sleep, like all those things, it was like so cool to watch. And then when I watch it all unfold and I've trained a lot of people, right. So I've seen that. Never experienced living with somebody who's going through that. So it was a different perspective for me. But I've had, we've all had lots of clients that we've trained through pregnancy and I'm sure we can all talk about ones that we saw do a really good job from our, from that view to, to get a front row seat of somebody like literally checking all the boxes. It was so cool to see. And again, I, I wish she could come on and express what it was, what it was like for her, because I know it wasn't easy. Like, I know that there's times when, you know, nauseous or tired and like, I watched her go through all that stuff, but I also watched her like, with this, like, this is like nine months of my life that's going to be hard and I'm going to do this thing and I can do hard things and be consistent with it. Yeah. And then I'm. And then the results of the recovery time the health of the delivery, the how the baby, all those things was. I felt so blessed. And it was like, man, I think so much of that. And I think going into that, with that, with that attitude of like, I'm gonna be very intense, full, like, I'm gonna go into this with intention and go, these. I have a plan. I'm gonna fall through it. Yes, it's gonna be hard. Yes, These things. But I know that I'll be rewarded for doing these hard things through this process.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

I think one of the mistakes that we have to talk about is there's a lot of women that after having a baby, they're like, I'm ready to. I gotta go back to the gym or I gotta get in shape now.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

Yeah. Too early.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

And this is how much strength training is appropriate for most women. Postpartum, about two days a week, maybe three, but usually two.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Well, this is why we recommend MAP Starter.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Right.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

The program, even for someone who is.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

I mean, more than what I said, is almost always too much. Yeah. It's almost always going to make you not feel good and kind of hurt, and you're going to pull muscles and just not feel good or have the energy or not get the results. It's about two days a week, maybe three. But one of those days is really easy. It's about two days a week. It's way less than you think. And then the strength. The reason why it's key. What I said earlier is you don't need a lot to start to get your body to change. And what you'll notice, you just start to get stronger.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

Yeah, you'll make progress. That's the thing. But you have to allow both things to happen, to adapt and also to heal. So you don't want to take too much stress in the exercise away from the actual healing.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

The hardest part for me with Katrina Trina was it was telling her to not to not do more like she wanted to do more.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Because you feel like you can.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Yeah, yeah. She felt good. Right. Because she trained all the way up until damn near the. The week that we. We had max. But then she had. I think, I want to say it was six to eight weeks. I think she was told nothing. You can't do anything. And so it was somewhere in that long time frame, six to eight weeks, that she didn't. Didn't do any sort of exercise whatsoever. And then she was ready. And then I started her in MAP Starter. And, you know, within two weeks of doing Master, she's like, I want to do anabolic. I Want to do it. Like, she. And I'm like, no, like, you're fine. Like. And what I'm like trying to explain to her, I was like, man, just six, eight weeks ago, you were still strength training and you doing this is enough. You're going to be fine. Like, you've, you did all the hard work all leading up to this. Don't worry. You're like, yeah. And I can understand where she's coming from because her body feels and looks so different and because of what she just went through. And it feels like I want to get right back to where I was before. And it's like, don't worry.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

If you rush the process, then it'll set you back. It sets you back. I love physio ball physio balls. Strength training for postpartum. I love physio balls for this reason right here. And you don't feel this, by the way. You might feel this for some things, but a lot of times you don't notice this. Muscle recruitment patterns are different and you need to learn how to reconnect. And a physio ball kind of forces that. Yep. So when I'm sitting on a physio ball rather than a bench while I'm doing, let's say a shoulder press, because I have to balance on the ball and it's not intense. It's not like I'm sitting there trying to. But things have to activate to stabilize my body. If I'm doing a one arm dumbbell row and instead of putting my hand on a bench, I put my hand on a physio ball, there's stability that's involved. If I have my back on it while I'm pressing or use it for leg exercises, there's a stability component that requires me to reconnect to my muscles. Because if you don't do this, the injury rate postpartum is really high. Because of this difference in recruitment patterns. It's happened to my wife many times where she would come back, I feel strong. She's like, oh my God. I thought this felt light and now my back hurts. Like, what's going on? And it's like, these recruitment patterns aren't like they used to be. They'll get there. Physio ball based strength training is a great way to do it. This was my favorite tool postpartum. Oh.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Especially bridging on it, like you said, pressing movements where they have to bridge. And that is just such a. Such a good. That's why we recommend starter tends to be the program that we recommend. And even though, like I said, she was feeling stronger and wanted to do more, I had to pull the reins back quite a bit and remind.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

I'm glad you said that because a lot of times, like, oh, I feel.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Like, oh, yeah, yeah. If, if, if you would have just let. If you. If I would have just let her do what she wanted to do, she would have done more because she felt like, hey, I'm strong, I'm good. And what I was constantly talking, I was like, you don't need to. I said, it's been eight weeks, six. Eight weeks since you've done anything. This is to your body. Again, it's a novel stimulus and you're going to build muscle, you're going to start getting back. There's no reason for you to do anymore. It's only increasing risk.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

That's right. And what's great about strength training is it positively influences the metabolism, which means your body will burn more calories on its own versus having to manually try to burn the calories like you would if you just did elliptical or treadmill every single day. Now, that being said, it is good to be active every single day. Walking is the best form of exercise. Not running, nothing else. If you like to swim, that's cool. That's inconvenient for a lot of people, walking. And I like walking for postpartum because it just so happens to work perfectly with the fact that I have a baby, put them in the stroller and go for a walk. So all of my postpartum clients, I would encourage them to walk several times a day. And this is what they were like. Well, that's perfect, because I think I'd like to take my baby on a walk several times a day. And this became their daily activity. Baby would take a nap, I go for a walk, I get my steps in, and then I strength train twice a week. It was a wonderful combination.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

It's really, like, reflective of active recovery. So it's like that level of intensity because we want blood flow and we want to contract muscles, but really we want it to restore the body and to get you reconnected. Reconnecting with your body at this point is the utmost importance.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

And think about it this way. So you got to go slower than you think with all of this. The strength training, the walking, the. All of this. Think of, Think of it this way. I need to get my body to heal and recover. Now, I know the doctor says six weeks. That's not what I'm talking about. Yeah, that's like the acute healing the healing process takes a lot longer. Yeah, it takes a lot longer for. I mean, and they've done studies on this now, and social media will have you believe otherwise. But most women that I've trained, they. And they did great that, you know, we got great results and they look fit and all that stuff, you know, eight months later, a year later. But it wasn't until year two when they were like, okay, I feel like I did before. This is when I feel 100% like I did before. So it takes a lot longer. So I'm only saying this because if you go in with expectations, like you see some fitness influencers, influencers on. On social media who are like, oh, I just had my baby four months ago. Look at me, I'm shredded. And you're like, okay, cool, I can get after it. No, that's never the case. Never the case with every single female. And they trained with me, so they got a professional trainer. It takes about two years of doing things right and whatever to where you're like, man, I feel like I did before. So you got to go slower than you think. And if you go faster than you should, you'll set yourself back. And that's the thing to consider. Now with diet. Here's the attitude with diet. If you approach your postpartum diet with the attitude of, I'm going to change my body composition, I'm going to lose weight, you will fail. Yeah, you're going to fail. You have a baby, you're probably not getting good sleep, maybe you're breastfeeding. This is a recipe for disaster. Instead, here's the mentality, I'm going to eat to nourish. And here's the side effect of that. You actually get great results every single time. So eat to nourish your body. What makes me feel good? What is going to be good for baby? If I'm breastfeeding, this typically looks like, almost always looks like whole natural foods, high protein, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables. I eat when I'm hungry. I don't eat until I'm stuffed. I eat until I'm satisfied. I don't eat things that give me indigestion. If I look at something well, it's probably not healthy. I'll stay away from that. But I'm still hungry, so I'm going to go eat this healthy thing. If you eat to nourish, the rest of it takes care of itself. If you eat for fat loss or body composition, it's a fail. It'll backfire almost every time.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

I'll say it another way. Most clients at this, at this phase say things like, or trying to eat to lose, lose fat. You should be eating to build muscle. Yeah, that's the goal right now.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

So which will give you more fat loss?

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Post baby, we are not thinking I need to eat to lose this baby fat. We should be eating to build muscle. And, and that is not the normal thing that you hear. The normal thing that you hear is I want to get rid of this baby weight. And they hire, hire coach and they think, diet, I need to cut calories or reduce. The strategy right now is not cut calories and try and lose weight. It's let's build muscle. Building muscle will speed up the metabolism and it will actually make you leaner.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

You'll get the leaner part, you'll get.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

The leaner part, but it's the better, smarter strategy to do it in the much healthier way. And so switch that mindset of I need to lose this baby weight to I need to build some muscle right now. And that should be the focus.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Totally. And here's another thing. If this is feasible for you, the best investment you can make in terms of your health, physical health, your fitness, anything, including your mental health. And the data supports us as well. Like one of the best ways to combat depression, anxiety, postpartum blues, or even postpartum depression, exercise is remarkable. Properly applied exercise is remarkable with this. So it's a good investment. Hire yourself an experienced, good trainer. Now, notice I said experienced and good. So there's a lot of trainers out there. There's not a lot of good trainers, unfortunately. And of the good ones, not all of them have experience working with women who've had a baby. Now, this typically looks like, and I hate to stereotype, but unless you hire a coach for mind pump, because we know we have really good coaches. If I was talking to a friend of mine in another state and they were like, I'm looking for, I just had my baby, you know, three months ago. I need to hire a good trainer. And I don't know anybody in that area. And they said, what should I look for? I must say, look for a female trainer who's already had kids, who has experience training postpartum clients. So I hate to stereotype, but typically they're the best at training this type of client insider knowledge because they've experienced it and they've trained other clients with it and then they've had kids themselves. That's not to say there aren't good male trainers that are good at this. I was good at this. I know you guys were as well.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Yeah. But I didn't get good at it until I trained a bunch of how to come out the gates.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Good. Right, Right.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Good.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Because I've trained a lot. That's kind of like. There's a lot of ways to find a good trainer, but this is one of the things. Like, do they have kids of themselves? Have they worked with lots of women who've had babies? In fact, oftentimes trainers who are good at this will advertise it. I specialize in training postpartum women.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

This is a specialty.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

It is a specialty. It's very different from. From normal, you know, fitness training and normal diet advice and all that stuff.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

And stay away from group training.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Terrible.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Good point.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Thank you for saying that.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Yeah. By the way, that happens a lot. By the way, that that feeds right into what I was saying. Because the common thing is lose this baby weight, Go join my favorite group. X terrible orange theory, F45 type of class. Terrible strategy. Right here. It's.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

That's a recipe for you to build.

[Mind Pump Host (Likely Adam or Justin, discussing personal experience)]

Muscle and train to get strong. That is what we're doing. And. And slower is better.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

Real solid strength training is all looking at this.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

Yes, yes. And lastly, be patient. I said this earlier. This is time and time again. In fact, now we have studies to support this. But your body isn't quote, unquote, back to itself for about two years. That doesn't mean you're not making fitness progress. You're not getting strong. You don't feel amazing. You don't look amazing if you're consistent year out. But you'll know. You'll know because you'll be a year out, you'll be fit and you'll be like, but I'm still. Still don't feel like I used to. Takes about two years. So be very patient with yourself. If you rush this process, it's gonna backfire.

[Mind Pump Host (Justin Andrews)]

It'll take longer.

[Mind Pump Host (Adam Schaefer)]

It's gonna backfire. You just grew a human. So, you know, let's be patient and calm down and take your time with it, and you'll get great, great results. Now, here's what we did. We had our trainers here at Mind Pump. So we have trainers and coaches that work here, and they're amazing. And we had them put together a postpartum guide. Okay. And it's free. It's mapspostpartum.com Go there, get the guide. It's free. It'll help you with this entire process. It breaks everything down. At least you'll have a guide. To follow. And again, I want to say this again. If you do it right, it's a smooth process so it's not as scary as you may think it is. Do it right and it's going to be awesome. You can also find us on Instagram. You can find us at Mind Pump Media.

[Mind Pump Host (Sal Destefano)]

Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy, and maximize your overall performance, check out our discounted RGB super [e-mail] the RGB Super Bundle includes Maps, Anabolic Maps, Performance and Maps Aesthetic. Nine months of phased expert exercise programming designed by SAO Altogether Adam and Justin to systematically transform the way your body looks, feels and performs with detailed workout blueprints and over 200 videos. The RGB Super Bundle is like having Sal, Adam and Justin as your own personal trainers, but at a fraction of the price. The RGB Super Bundle has a full 30 day money back guarantee and you can get it now. Plus other valuable free resources at. More mindpumpmedia.com if you enjoy this show, please share the love by leaving us a five star rating and review on itunes and by introducing Mind Pump to your friends and family. We thank you for your support and until next time, this is Mind Pump.

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