I've been meaning to post this for a while but I think I was a little hesitant to post the photos. I've thought about it and I actually think it's really important to post the post-partum ones. I would have been less scared of the post-partum period if I had seen pictures of real people like this beforehand.
Anyway, I started doing this rotation 6 months ago because I just couldn't get myself to do full-length workouts after work. I'm a single parent, work full time, and my daughter is 16 months old. 20-30 minute workouts are the only ones feasible in my life right now.
In the first month and a half or so, I lost 5 lbs and 2 inches in my waist, and things have slowly and steadily progressed from there. I am now definitely the leanest overall and smallest in my lower body that I have ever been. I wasn't trying to lose weight, but I didn't like how my benchmark pants fit and I wanted to lean up. I have not been dieting but I have been eating cleanly about 80% of the time.
In a typical week:
ETA: I do my 30-40 minute Barre3 session at work during lunch, and the HIIT at night after DD goes to bed.
-4 30-40 minute Barre3 streaming workouts
-4 20-25 minute bodyweight or kettlebell HIIT workouts (all of them are strength-oriented, no pure cardio)
-1 60 minute upper body circuit with a kettlebell
-1-2 60 minute Barre3 workout(s)
I add in here and there when possible.
For example, this last week, I did...
Sunday: Live Barre3 class (60 mins), Zgym- Kettlebell Workout #6 X (3 rounds, 25:19)
Monday: Barre3 Total Body Rev (30 mins), Zgym- Cardio Shred #15 (21:45)
Tuesday: Barre3 Mind Body Balance (40 mins), Zgym- Jump Rope Cardio #8 X (22:12)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Barre3 Instructor Favorites (40 mins), Melissa Bender- HIIT the New Year Hard #5 (22:30)
Friday: Barre3 Studio Power (60 mins), Zuzka Light- 5 Minute Workout#24
Saturday: Barre3 No Props (30 mins), upper body kettlebell circuit (60 mins)
Here are some before and afters. Obviously a better "before" would have been 6 months ago since I did continue to lean up post partum prior to starting the rotation, but it does give you a good idea. Sorry for the grainy selfies.
OH! And P.S., here's my soapbox! In case you had any doubts... [corrected to clarify] size for size, muscle weigh more than fat! There's only a ~8 lb difference between these photos, if that (I don't own a scale, so I only know what I weighed at a doctor's office last October and what I weighed last week)... so I really think people should stop obsessing about the scale!
About a month post partum, when I had just started working out again:
This morning: