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Kettlebell Advice for training with a new born baby

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John Locke said:
Yeah, the newborn is too light ROFL
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One could go for the whole Milo of Croton thing.

Seriously though, when my kids were little, I remember that, as soon as they were asleep, I would sprint to the kitchen to shove a sandwich down my throat, then maybe try to knock out a shower or some chore. The clock was ticking....

Don't worry, the days are long, but the weeks, months and years are short. You'll wish you had all that back someday, probably not tomorrow, but someday.
 
Congratulations with the newborn! :D
Same situation here: our daughter born just over three weeks ago.

It is just best to have a program/routine without too high intensity or expectations and be flexible. Some nights are better than others in our family and when I feel exhausted, I just forward the routine for that day to the next. Somehow I still managed to follow the program I started, but due to nutrition and sleep the results of the Kettlebell Burn Program are not that significant.

Having a routine that is not too taxing and gives you flexibility with regard to intensity/volume is best in the first weeks/months. In hindsight I should have turned back to S&S or even better Q&D.
 
Your sleep is going to be broken. Nap when possible even if it's just 15 mins. I broke up my training sessions too. Multiple 10 min sessions of swings, tgus, or armor building throughout the day worked a lot better for me than one 30-45 min session.
 
Bro Mo said:
After 4 kids, I confidently say, follow S&S with as much, ideally >80%, adherence as you can.
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agreed . i have 3 - and the simplicity and compactness of the program is important for me especially when i try to squeeze it in after the midnight bottle. before the real sleep begins.
IMayAgainKnowChris said:
I’m getting 5-6 hours a night of sleep. I’m still functioning but any advice on getting the most of day-to-day life with a real sleep deficit? Diet is dialed in already. Haven’t hit a wall yet but...
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I knew a guy who took naps during lunch because of his newborn, at home. i never could do that , for whatever reason. generally our real bed time is around 12:15 and we are usually up around 6 am. recently i've been alternating daily workouts. one day i do swings next day i do getups. warm up and cool down stretch is repeated daily. some days i add in a set of presses if i feel like my shoulder could use it, or set of deadlifts if i feel like my hip hinge needs fine tuning. it's been helping with fitting things in between, for me.
 
S&S and GTG definitely. However, I would prioritize sleep over dedicated training time. Michael Walker, Cambridge UK Professor, has a great book and lots of TED talks and interviews for his book "Why We Sleep" and it has changed the way I think about sleep. The human body can go without food and water longer than without sleep. Think about that.
 
It depends. I have a toddler and newborn now. Kid #1 was hard because it was all new. We were your typical overzealous and worried new parents. My wife needed constant care due to medical issues at birth, we took turns bottle feeding around the clock, and S&S took a backseat.

I regret taking an extended break for 1-2 years because of Kid #1.

Lessons Learned:

- Get thru initial 1-2 months of parental leave without worrying...but get back on the horse after.
- Be creative with ways to watch kid and workout simultaneously...stroller/bassinet, etc.
- No pressure to meet certain standards/expectations, it’ll come back. Just practice.
- Consider taking workout to work...empty space, mat and a soapy towel do wonders in current times.
- Timeless Simple and “practice” workouts keep the pressure off..

I was serious about staying S&S fit for Kid#2 and glad I did. You won’t believe what the “WTH” effect does when carrying both kids, car seats, strollers, etc...and relieving over burdened stay-at-home spouse. My wife continues to be impressed with the strength I bring to the table...S&S also keeps you energized when you feel like an over burdened dad who has had to tolerate too much life stress....

I now am all 40 kg thanks to S&S 2.0 step-loading... close to getting 40 kg Simple times...and average 5-6 hrs sleep. The key is that I learned from kid #1 that you have to be able to take care of yourself first before taking cere of others (oxygen mask analogy).

Good luck and congrats!
 
Lots of gold in this thread. Congratulations on becoming a father!

Something to consider: Get a quality carrier and go for walks with your child. You will get some endurance benefits by this form of light rucking. Your rucking weight will grow quickly :D It is great for bonding, too, and very practical.

I remember when 4kg for 30 minutes was heavy and just the other day I went for a 2 hour walk with my 12 kg toddler in a carrier...

I liked the Marsupi carrier the most: Very lightweight and comfortable. Emei baby is also good.

Oh, and when in doubt: Take a nap first and then get some quality reps in afterwards if you still have the time and energy.
 
Baby #1 Dan John workout for busy people. Basically armour building with DBs and some farmers carries.
Baby #2 HIT barbell stuff, closer to DC training. Lots of failure sets. Worked well and was quick.
KB are newer to me so with baby #3 in November planning on double KB clean, squat, press 10-15 minutes few times a week. Will also do GTG push-ups, dragon flags, front lever practice.

Take away advice: Stay low volume to ward off fatigue, higher intensity (80%), and do not hurt yourself.
 
Congrats! Got a newborn baby too, she's a month old now. What I do is the following:

Do 100 swings S&S-style 4-6 times a week with a proper weight - I do two-handed swings with "only" 24kg but the 100th swing has to be as good as the first one.

Mobility training (very light TGU, crawling)

Around 10k steps daily (walking with the newborn in a baby wrap or babybjörn can be quite demanding cardio-wise).

Most importantly: Sleep whenever possible..... And watch out for your diet not going down the drain.

Best regards
Jan
 
I can relate completely with the scenario. My son is now 3 months old and fitting in time between work and daddy duties is tough. I committed myself to doing S+S with 24kg during one of his naps but making sure my form and technique is as perfect as possible. You can supplement that with some mobility work. Being 42, I’ve placed an emphasis on moving well to keep the creaminess out of the joints as I get older. Deep body weight squats, slow push ups and planks will work wonders.

The biggest thing though is that you stay consistent. Not just for yourself but for who’s watching you now.

Congrats!
 
Firstly, congratulations.

what worked for me- coffee, vitamin D3 and Q&D then 3 months after the arrival, once I could get into some sort of routine, Easy strength 40 day workout served me well due to the workouts only taking 20-25 minutes and wouldn’t take too much out of me (really recommend this due to the lack of sleep and holding down a job).

hope this helps, and good luck
Gorg
 
Jamesjones said:
Hi everyone

I have recently become a father and would like anyone who has ha d a new born to give me some advice on structuring a kB workout to keep in shape as I know alot of people just stop all together die to the lack of sleep and general caring for Thier child I believe fitness is vital to life so any tips ?
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Congrats!

I enjoyed carrying my little one in an Ergo as much as I could and as much as she would tolerate. Which was quite a bit. I'd pack an IronMind Trainer, #1, and #2 in one of the multiple pouches the Ergo had and do a very casual unstructured gripper workout while doing my walkabout. That way I got my bonding time in with her and also a grip workout.

Kettlebell workouts were done more GTG style than anything for the first few years. I'd also do baby squats, and even walk enough laps through my house if the weather was not cooperating to equal miles of distance.
 
Congrats.

A newborn is how I got into kettlebells. I had a full garage gym, but even the garage was too far away from the baby.

I did Simple & Sinister in the living room right outside of the baby's room and have been using kettlebells ever since (4 years) and rarely use a barbell now. It was easy enough that it didn't make me wired and keep me awake.

A running stroller was a great purchase too. I could get him to sleep for his nap and get a good run in. You can buy a used BOB running stroller off Craigslist and they hold their value since the initial depreciation is gone. (This was once he was a good bit older, of course.)

My advice - sleep train the baby as soon as you think the little one is ready. We didn't, and to make it worse, we let the baby sleep in our bed. Kinda neat to bond that way, but wasn't good for my sleep or the wife's sleep or the baby's sleep. We were all miserable for far too long. He's still isn't easy to put to bed. Learn from my mistake.


The days are long but the years are short!
 
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Tirofijo said:
Congrats.

A newborn is how I got into kettlebells. I had a full garage gym, but even the garage was too far away from the baby.

I did Simple & Sinister in the living room right outside of the baby's room and have been using kettlebells ever since (4 years) and rarely use a barbell now. It was easy enough that it didn't make me wired and keep me awake.

A running stroller was a great purchase too. I could get him to sleep for his nap and get a good run in. You can buy a used BOB running stroller off Craigslist and they hold their value since the initial depreciation is gone. (This was once he was a good bit older, of course.)

My advice - sleep train the baby as soon as you think the little one is ready. We didn't, and to make it worse, we let the baby sleep in our bed. Kinda neat to bond that way, but wasn't good for my sleep or the wife's sleep or the baby's sleep. We were all miserable for far too long. He's still isn't easy to put to bed. Learn from my mistake.


The days are long but the years are short!
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We have had a bad time with colic but little man is settling down now and I use simple and sinister as my go too now covers everything I need
 
Congrats!

I have three myself. +1 on S&S, it really fits the parent life situation. When s*** hits the fan, and it will I promise, you most likely will be able to do the swings and save the get ups for later same day.

I would, as some earlier responders mentioned, also recommend some kind of GTG if you're interested in body weight challenges. Any form of push up, pull up, pistol or hand stand is perfect for it.

I've been a competitive powerlifter at a national level for years but life right now doesn't fit well with 5+ powerlifting workouts / week. I'm doing S&S 5-6 days / week and GTG OAP and pistols almost every day and it keeps me in great shape still, even though the workload is substantially lower than before.

The beauty with this kind of plan is that you can adjust it to your own level, pick it up where you left off and still progress over time.

Good luck, and do try to fit some kind of training in. It will benefit all of you, trust me!
 
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