The Mommy Strength Workouts has different types of fitness workout equipment to help keep your body prime and in shape during and after your pregnancy. This page will help you select the equipment that you need, while saving you the most money.
Basic Run Down of of equipment needed for Mommy Strength (more details on rest of page):
- Body Weight (Just You :)- All Moms
- Resistance Bands- All Moms
- Band Utility Strap- All Moms
- Medicine Ball (sandbag or kettlebell can replace on most exercises)- All Moms
- Swiss Balls or Stability Balls- All moms
- Kettlebells- Michelle (More to come)
- Improvement Warrior Yoga- Yoga mat
All Mom’s workouts you will need a stability ball, also known as a swiss ball. These can be found at common places such as Target or Walmart and sporting goods stores, and usually run around $10-20 depending on your location. They are height specific, make sure you get the right one. And make sure they are always properly inflated.
Resistance Bands
Mommy Strength will almost always with every workout feature both body weight and resistance band exercises. The resistance bands you will need are the 41″ layered latex band. This is not tubing with handles on it, or bungee cord. You will not be able to perform a majority of the exercises if you use band tubing. The resistance bands we recommend are much more effective and last a lot longer. To find out more about Bands, click here for our Bands FAQ.
I recommend getting your bands from Resistance Band Training. Dave Schmitz, the Bandman, has created his entire business around Resistance Band Training (RBT) and educational information about band training. He is one of my favorite strength coaches in the world and if ever get to see him in action I highly recommend it.
Dave Schmitz, The Bandman- ResistanceBandTraining.com
You can also get them from Iron Woody Fitness.
The band utility strap is something that you will also need especially in the second and third trimester workouts, but it will be used with all Moms’ Workouts. Please see down below for more information.
Which to get: Please note that differences in strength, where you are starting at, and different exercises will affect which band you can start with and move up to.
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Now in the workouts we will always use just single bands. If it is just you who will be doing the workouts getting the singles will do you fine. But if your kid(s) or partner will be joining you then it would be cost effective to get the pair instead of the single.
With that said:
I recommend getting the first 4 bands. Dave Schmitz the Bandman’s would be Orange, Red, Black, and Purple. Purple gives a lot of tension, very few women in my classes use it. But if you are planning on implementing stretching with bands into your routine (which I very much recommend and is located in the Warm-Ups section once you become a member) then that band will be necessary. Iron Woody colors would be Yellow, Purple, Red, and Blue.
Tensions and Strengths of the bands are:
- Orange Band (Micro Band)- 5-15 pounds of resistance
- Super Orange Band (Super Micro)- 10-20 pounds of resistance
- Red (Mini band)- 15-35 pounds of resistance
- Black (Monster Mini)- 35-55 pounds of resistance
- Purple (Light-Large)- 50-75 pounds of resistance
- Green (Average-X-Large)- 75-120 Pounds of resistance
- Blue (Strong-XX Large)- 120-200 Pounds of resistance
- Grey (Super Strong-XXX Large)-200-250 Pounds of resistance
- Large Black (Mega Strong-XXXX Large)-250-300 Pounds of resistance
From Dave Schmitz, The Bandman: Also please read ‘Other things to take into consideration when purchasing the bands‘ below.
WOMEN:
1. Beginner Band Pair Package
2. Small Single Band Package
3. Band Utility Strap (All Band Workouts)
Other stronger Band Packages
4. Intermediate Band Pair Package (All Band Workouts + Beginner/Advanced Bootcamp)
5. Small Single Band Package (Strong)
6. Medium Single Band Package (Stronger)
7. Large Single Band Package (Strongest)
Other things to take into consideration when purchasing the bands:
1. Different workouts and exercises will require different strength bands. A band exercise you can do for :20 will not be the same band you can use on a :60 exercise. Unless you’re dogging it on the :20 (This is why you will need a variety of strengths of bands.)
2. The recommendations above are just that– recommendations. Feel free to get any type of band or package you like.
3. If you have any injury of the major joints then we do recommend getting a package with the smallest orange band. In our physical classes we don’t let any adults use the orange band (except on really hard exercises unless they have an injury.)
4. To see why I love resistance bands as a training tool and what they can do for you click here to see the FAQ Bands.
Kettlebells
Professional Grade Kettlebells
As of right now, April 2014, only Michelle uses Kettlebells in her workouts. We do plan on adding more in the future as it is mine and a lot of my clients favorite tool.
Kettlebells have been around for a long time, just not here in America. The thing is, kettlebells are not cheap. Unless you buy a cheaply made one. If you’re going to train with kettlebells and make it a part of your daily/weekly routine, you need to get quality made kettlebells. If you buy a quality kettlebell now in 2014 (or whatever year it is now), you will still have that kettlebell in 2060. They don’t break or go bad- EVER. It’s a solid piece of iron! I’ve searched and scoured the universe for the best kettlebells at a resonable price. And I’ve also found the best kettlebells for top dollar. It’s up to you to decide which ones to add to your arsenal. (And if you find other ones not listed here, please let me know 😉 But please don’t buy you’re kettlebell from Wal-Mart or Target, and please don’t buy a fit-bell, a go-bell, a kettle-stack, or any other name-bell. They are not the same as a kettlebell as much as they would like you to believe– you get what you pay for. You can only experience true kettlebell lifting with an actual kettlebell. 2 online retailers I have found are the best quality:
Perform Better– Good prices. Awesome customer service. 1st Place Bells are good, very smooth and balanced. And you can’t go wrong with the competition style (I have 2 8kgs, 2 10 kgs, 1 12kg, 2 20 kgs, 1 36 kg and 1 40 kg) and it is my favorite style.
Rogue Fitness- Good quality. Several styles to choose from
Now probably comes the question of ‘which one(s) to get’.
Six things to keep in mind when buying kettlebells:
1. Different exercises you will be able to handle different weights. So a swing or a goblet squat you will probably be able to handle more weight then if you were doing a press or turkish get-up. In that regard if you don’t have any kettlebells as of right now, it’s best to get at least 2 of different weight. But if that’s not possible one will suffice (for now).
2. Where you are starting? What your level of fitness is now? All exercises and your ability to perform that exercise with any given weight will not only be affected by your beginning strength level, but also by your flexibility, mobility and stability of the joints needed to perform said exercise. If you lack flexibility, mobility and stability stick near the very low end (if not lower) of the recomendations below. If a kettlebell is too heavy for you, your technique will suffer and so will your body. Don’t have an ego when it comes to kettlebells. Technique is much more important then the weight you can lift. The weight will gradually increase, but that has to happen after you get the technique down. If you cannot bend over and touch your toes without bending your knees. Start with a lighter bell. Kettlebells are not the same as dumbbells, don’t base your kettlebell selection off of dumbbell weight
3. The recommendations I am going to be giving you are based off of kilograms (KG), which most kettlebell companies set their weights in. Some are in pounds, if you’re more comfortable with that get those.
4. You don’t need to get them all at once. I have slowly overtime built up my personal kettlebell set. Usually 1-3 bells at a time.
5. Some exercises are easier to learn with a heavier bell. Again get 2, if you have none right now. But if it’s not in the budget stick with one.
6. Single vs. Double Kettlebell Training. You will learn kettlebell technique starting with just one kettlebell. This is known as uni-lateral training, or training one side of the body at a time. Most of your first workouts with a kettlebell will be on just one-side of the body at a time. Master single bell training then you can move on to double. The workouts on Mommy Strength will just be with one kettlebell at a time.
Recommendation Women: Keep in mind these recommendations are for people brand new to kettlebell training. Strong and Fit Women will want to go with anywhere between an 8-12 KG (17-26 pounds). If you are just beginning with kettlebells start on the lower end. 16 KG (35 pounds) is not pushing it either depending on how fit and strong you really are. Women who haven’t been working out lately should go with anywhere between 6-10 KG (13-22 pounds). And always remember, ladies, heavy weights will not equal big and bulky muscles, especially with kettlebells. Lean, sexy, and strong should be your mantra when training with the ‘bells.
Recommendation Men: Keep in mind these recommendations are for people brand new to kettlebell training. Strong and Fit Men will want to go with anywhere between a 16-24 KG (35-53 pounds). If you are just beginning with kettlebells start on the lower end. Men who haven’t been working out lately should go with 10-22 KG (22-44 pounds).
I’ve seen other types of kettlebells on the market other then what you suggest. Can I use those?
The type of kettlebell that I recommend are solid, cast iron kettlebells. It’s solid iron. If you drop it it won’t break and it will last your lifetime and everybody you pass it on to (they make great heirlooms 🙂 Other types of kettlebells on the market are: Plate loaded kettlebells
These types of bells allow you to add weight incrementally by adding weight plates. They are cheaper, but if one word could sum these types up, it would be DANGEROUS. I’ve picked them up once just to see what they felt like and that was it. I don’t want to be doing overhead lifts, or snatches or jerks or the like with a bunch of weight plates that ‘snap’ into place. But that’s just me 🙂 Also the way it rests on your forearms will be different and not as comfortable as a cast iron bell, due to the different sizes of plates and the unsmooth transition between the two.
Coated Kettlebells
The most common is vinyl, and I think there are some with rubber around it. Kettlebells with rubber on the bottom is fine, but if the entire bell is coated it is not a traditional kettlebell. These types were made more for fitness. The handles to the top of the bell are shorter as well. This is not good for traditional exercises that we will be doing a lot of such as cleans and snatches. The shorter distance causes the bell to land differently on the wrist (higher) which with a lot of repetition could injure that area. The handles also tend to be smaller (not as thick), which will not help with your grip strength, which is critical with longer kettlebell circuits and also holding baby. Unless it actually says that you are ordering a cast iron kettlebell coated with vinyl (Perform Better) do not get it as it is not a traditional kettlebell.
Loaded kettlebells
The last type of kettlebell are kettlebells where you fill it up. These can use water, sand, or pellets. These are better then the other two, but if you drop it, clean up is a mess. But remember that water and sand will move around during the lift, which can actually help you get stronger as more stabilizers will engage. But I don’t trust anything where things can spilll out when I’m working out.