Fitness classes for mum and baby

I'm completely out of shape (as you would expect) after pregnancy and birth and the early days of having a baby are just so physical, it's no wonder my back is whinging and I get puffed walking up the stairs still.

So as well as a gentle easing back into running I've signed up to a couple of fitness classes for me and the little guy to help get my poor old body back up to speed.

First up is mum and baby yoga. There are tons of these sorts of classes about. I tried to find one that was equally balanced for baby and me. I have found many classes do tend to be much more for baby when what I really want is a bit of time to do a set of downward dogs and stretch my back out back to its normal height.

I've found a fab class that progresses each week as you improve. Honestly I feel like I've been for an hour long massage it's that good. Plus the little guy loves it too and usually conks out midway through. 

Yoga or Pilates is so important for mums to do. First it helps with regaining core stability and strength and second it helps with realigning the body back into a good posture. My body at the moment is mainly spent hunched over my baby feeding him, or carrying him around in a sling which tilts my posture out of shape. Finally it just makes you feel good and is a bit of time well spent just for you.

The second class for general postnatal fitness that I do is not quite as common as mum and baby yoga but classes can be found in most areas. Again I've been really lucky as this hour-long session concentrates solely on mum but babies are welcome to attend. The class focuses on strengthening and toning all major muscle groups plus working on core strength post birth - so no sit ups but lots of bridges, pelvic floor work and so on.

I feel like a knackered old mare in these classes as the moment but am so excited to have found this sort of class as  its more important than ever to build my strength and cardio back up if I want to get back to running effectively.  I can't just rely on running and shouldn't either as I've lost so much strength through pregnancy. 

There are lots of other mum fitness classes available. Buggyfit run classes countrywide. They are held outside with babies in the buggies and Busy Lizzy (only in the Southeast) run a membership scheme for mums to attend various postnatal fitness classes such as yoga, pilates, boot camp and aerobics. I feel a bit sorry for the little guy as first time round I spent all my time doing classes and groups for baby, but this time round I'm being a bit more selfish and doing stuff for me, but happy mum equals happy baby so the downward dogs will continue.