Low Impact Plyometrics For Moms

Instead of heading straight for jumps, use these low impact plyometrics to develop strength and power as a busy mom. Plyometrics are a style of power training most often related to jumping. Learn more about how to incorporate them into your training for the best results.

What Are Plyometrics

Plyometrics training is a style of training that uses speed and force to develop strength and power by tagetting the fast twitch muscle fibers.

As a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, I love using them myself and with my more advanced clients.

They're most often used with athletes who have developed a great baseline of strength. However, everyday fitness programs use them too. 

It can be done with both upper and lower body exercises in a variety of movements.

• Jump squats or box jumps
• Depth jumps
• Burpees
• Explosive lunges

And though plyometric training is extremely effective, traditional plyometric exercises are not a great option for everyone, especially new moms.

Why Moms Should Avoid Traditional Plyometric Exercises

You may have noticed as a mom that your body is a bit different than it was before you were pregnant. It could be bigger, looser, squishier, smaller etc. Regardless, it's different.

And between pregnancy and birth itself, your body has adjusted, adapted, and changed (not for the worse don't worry!).

There are a few reasons that jumping postpartum before developing a baseline of strength is problematic:

Pelvic Floor Issues

Your pelvic floor takes a lot of weight during pregnancy and birth. During any kind of jumping movement, gravity means that everything goes down... right into an overworked or stretched pelvic floor.

Meaning, when you reconnect with the ground everything shifts down for a moment before your body recovers.

Which means that plyometric exercises like jumping can cause leaking, discomfort, and stress if you're not ready for them.

The Hormone Relaxin

When you're pregnant, your body releases a hormone called relaxin.

The purpose of this hormone is to loosen the connective tissues around the joints so that your body can expand and accommodate pregnancy.

Basically, this hormone makes your joints a bit unstable

If you have unstable hips, placing them in a position where they have to work to stabilize you from a high impact landing repetitively isn't how to get strong.

All you're doing is wearing out your joints and tiring your muscles without giving them a chance to stabilize you or recover. This is a huge risk of injury.

Fun fact: The hormone relaxin has been known to stay in your body for up a year post-pregnancy. This means no matter how strong you are something is working against you.

Little Strength

Plyometrics were designed for optimal sports performance.

Not only does your technique need to be spot on but your body needs to have a baseline of strength before you can execute and reap the benefits of this type of exercise.

And immediately post-pregnancy, your body doesn't have that baseline. I'm sorry but it doesn't.  If you're still struggling with being strong, adding high repetition impact to basic exercises isn't going to improve your strength, it will injure you.

This doesn't mean that you can never jump again.

Far from it! Nor does it mean you can't work out. Just that there are better options to begin with (like the low impact plyometrics below).

In fact, when it comes to postpartum exercises the first steps should include:

• an appointment with a pelvic floor physio if possible (learn more about what they do exactly here)
• using postpartum ab exercises to help rehab and reconnect
• work on glute strength and mobility to prevent postpartum back pain
• ease into an appropriate, low-impact, progressive program

Low Impact Plyometrics

If you're deadset on reaping the benefits of plyometric training, below is where to start.

These exercises are the very similar to traditional plyometric exercises but are either scaled back in range of motion or in how you land.

They're a good place to start for moms in addition to a strength training program like SMASH Fit For Life.

Remember, the purpose of a plyometric exercise is to develop speed and power, so these movements to need to be explosive on the concentric (hard part) portion.

Speed Squats

Similar to a jump squat but without the landing. Aim to explode up and fully extended all the joints.

• Take the feet shoulder width apart or slightly wider with knees slightly bent.
• Drop down into the bottom of a squat.
• As soon as you're low enough, explode up out of the "hole".
• As you come up, keep rising in the squat until you're all the way up on your toes and full extended.
• Descend immediately and lower back into the squat.

Power Step Ups

Similar to a speed squat the goal is to come up explosively. You can add a knee drive to the top of the movement if you can control it but make sure to come down slowly and with control so as to keep the knee in line.

• Find a bench, stairs, or very secured chair. Place the left foot on the bench. The right foot should be very close to the bench.
• Pull your body up with the left foot and unbend the knee as quickly as possible.
• Bring the right foot onto the bench. Stand tall.
• Reverse the movement by bending the left knee, leaning forward slightly and slowly lowering the right leg to the floor.

Lateral Band Step Up

Similar to above but you need a resistance band for this one to add some tension. It's a lot more on the glutes as well.

• Stand on a box or stairs sideways with one foot on the box and the knee bent.
• The band should be under the working foot and around the shoulders.
• Powerfully stand up against the band and reverse the movement taking care to drive the knee out.
• Repeat and keep it quick.

Explosive Incline Push Ups

Develop your pushing and upper body power while still keeping your core engaged. This is a plyometric exercise so long as you explode through the push.

Before you begin, learn everything you need to know about push ups for beginners.

• Begin with your feet shoulder width apart and hands just outside your chest on a bench or table.
• Come into a plank position.
• Tuck your hips down slightly into a pelvic tilt, engage your glutes, round your upper back slightly, and come onto your toes.
• Initiate the movement: slowly bend your elbows backward as you lower towards the wall maintaining a straight line.
• At the bottom of the movement push back up as quickly and explosively as you can making sure to fully extended your elbows.

Frequenmtly Asked Questions About Plyometric Training

Other Fitness Tips To Help You Get Stronger

• 4 day workout routine for women
• 5 Moves every mom needs to master
• Benefits of resistance training
• 7 Exercises to improve your push ups
• How to progress the intensity of home workouts (without adding weight)
• The best at-home exercise equipment for small spaces
• How to heal your core
• Fitness tips for moms

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