Ashlee Howard Bodyfit

Are you a new mum who is constantly carrying their baby around and feeding them?
OR
Are you an office worker who is constantly hunched over their computer?

Well…if so, these are the stretches for you! They allow you to open up your chest muscles and ease that back/ shoulder muscle pain ✔️

I’ve found these exercise have really helped me whilst constantly carrying/feeding my 3 month old Harry- bless him he’s cute as a button but man he’s getting heavy 🤣😝

**Hold each one for around 30-60 seconds

My emotions from my workout today 🤣

1. Pre exercise Happy selfie
2. Exhausted after warm up (5minutes! 🤣)
3. The ‘I’ve got this’ moto during workout
4. Relieved its over…whilst Harry was still asleep 👌🏻😴

I’ve started an 8 week challenge with some friends to keep me accountable getting back into exercising again. This is the 2nd workout of week 1 and let’s just say I’m already very sore 😳 haha. Lots of stretching this week I think.

Do you guys have a workout buddy or someone to keep you accountable? I’d love to know if you just exercise in your own or with someone?

Happy Friday guys I hope you’ve had a great week.

So today I ventured to the gym with my little man Harry because our gym has this new initiative called PramFit which means you can take your newborn baby up to 1 year old to the gym with you in a pram or a carrier and do your workout at your own pace.

I think this is such a great initiative for new mums to be able to get out of the house and be able to exercise and move their bodies.

I absolutely loved it and just love being able to exercise where as I wouldn’t be able to usually if I had Harry at home with me.

A few things that I would recommend if you’re planning to work out with your newborn baby at a gym:
-Try to walk them around the car park in the pram for at least 5-10 minutes to get them nice and sleepy.
-Bring your pram but also a carrier i.e. a baby bjorn etc just in case they want to be on you
-Try and feed them just before you workout so they are nice and full
-Pack everything, nappies formula if bottlefeeding, wet wipes…everything!
-Start with your compound exercises first (works more than one muscle group) Ie: squats, leg press, chest press, then move to your unilateral exercises (uses one muscle group) ie: bicep curl. Just in case your child starts to cry you will have completed your bigger exercises first and if you have time then you can do your unilateral exercises.
-Lastly allow double the amount of time you think you’ll need just in case you need to change them or feed them in between your workouts 😝

Props to the gym for being so inclusive to new mums 👐🏻

CHASE BILLY HOTTES 🎉

What an odd feeling today is. Our little man was taken from us 1 year ago today
365 days since we held you in our arms.

Today we are choosing to celebrate Chase as the strong little boy he was.

~I’ll always remember you kicking like a champion footballer, like your dad.
~I’ll remember Pres (our dog) and Tilly’s head on my tummy listening to you squirming around
~I’ll remember the first thing I said when I saw you was your lips were as pouty and gorgeous as Tilly’s ❤️

We love you too much for words! Constantly in our thoughts Xo

**To anyone who has lost an infant- I see you, you are not alone 💙 big love

I really enjoyed chatting to the MDNA netballers and parents at their dress presentation last night about not only my netball playing career but also set backs along the way, my MS diagnosis and the power of positivity!

I just love the enthusiasm on all their faces and their love for the sport because after all that’s what it’s about isnt it! You play a sport because you LOVE it and have FUN playing it!

Friends, let me introduce you to someone very special to me…meet Clementine the X Trainer! 😝 she is my newest addition to my gym😁

You may have seen in my stories a few months back, my garage/gym got flooded and a lot of things were ruined. My biggest machine was a seated recumbent bike which got ruined so I thought…let’s mix things up a bit 😜 I love her!!!

***TIP- if your looking to purchase a X Trainer make sure the Stride Length is long enough for you and your height!
I am 5’10 so I needed a stride length of 20 inches or more.
You can also google what stride length you need for your height. Just so you can get the best out of the machine;)

😘

HOW GOOD ARE HOLIDAYS!!!

Just a reminder to enjoy the small moments in life. Things go way too fast I’ve found so it’s important to slow down (my sisters moto this year 😉😜) and just lap up the things that are important to you!
😘😘😘

Ash’s Monday tip anyway 😉

Peace Out 2022! I hope you never return 😝

In all seriousness, I’m quite a positive person, but 2022 has absolutely kicked me and my families butt both physically and mentally.

BUT the positive is…it’s nearly over and we can move on from this year and LOOK AHEAD to big steps forwards and better things to come in 2023.

Love to all if you’ve had a year that didn’t turn out the way you’d hoped…LOOK AHEAD and keep going.

You’ve got this ✌🏻

Ash x 😘

A very big Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from our family to yours 😘🎄

I hope everyone’s being enjoying the first half of the festive season! It is flying by for us and not enough time…like everyone:)

Today I wrote out and tried this fun little workout. I thought I’d share for you all to try 😉

You just need some appropriate sized dumbbells for chest flyers (I used 4kg) and Deadlift (I used 2 x 7.5kg kettlebells)

You can see in the orange how the circuit works, like a ladder style workout.
Ie: on the first day of Xmas my trainer gave to me 1 Burpee. On the second day my trainer gave to me 2 Chest Flyers (or push ups) and 1 Burpee. On the third day of Xmas my trainer gave to me 3 Power Jacks (or star jumps), 2 Chest Flyers and 1 burpee etc…FUN I KNOW RIGHT 🙊

Give this a try or SAVE for later;) 👌🏻

Let me know how you go 😁🎄

PS. Tilly joined me for the first 3 exercises then she was done haha so opted to sit and laptop time haha.

Ash 😘

I hope you’ve all been moving your bodies in some way or another!
I’ve been busy here just life as a mum and juggling my 2 businesses, my PT and

Can you believe it is summer AND most importantly… the silly season 😝🎄 I honestly can’t wait. I LOVE Christmas!

Just jumping on here to remind you to try do something small everyday to move your body! Walk with a friend, take the stairs at work, work your kids to school instead of drive. Anything you can think of.

You’ll feel better for it 😜

I must admit last week I had one of the worst weeks of the year for various reasons:
-our backyard & garage/gym flooded (to the point I saw my gym equipment floating down the street!)
-it was our little boy Chase’s 6month anniversary since his passing
-I was sick and looking after your toddler when you’re not feeling great just ain’t it 😉

ANYWAY! The point is Marcus and I had a crappy week! I Definately had self pity and winged (and cried) to my family and close friends but ITS OK to have these kind of days/weeks.
It’s actually IMPORTANT to feel all the emotions that you are feeling at the time and work through them (weather it be with family, friends or professional)

At the time I felt like I was being ‘that person’ who was winging and being negative and I don’t want to be that person! But it’s also important to express these emotions.

So to anyone you needs to hear this!
LET IT OUT & SPEAK OUT if you need.

Ash
Xox

I want you to think about 3 things that you APPRECIATED today

I’ll start- The beautiful colours the Spring gives us! This was on my walk today…How amazing 😻

Try to appreciate even the smallest of things in every day! 😘

I hope everyone had a great start to the week in the beautiful sunshine.

Doesn’t it just make you feel so much happier when the sun pops out to say hello!

WAVE OF LIGHT- Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day (15 October…but really, everyday!)

Last night I got together with my beautiful friend Courtney who also loss her little man Darcy only 2 weeks after Chase became an angel. We spoke about our boys, had wine and pizza and watched our girls run around after each other laughing, eating ice cream and just being besties!

If there is a silver lining within this tragic event for both of us it’s that we found each other and have become such a support whenever we are feeling all the emotions.

We need to try to find the positives and such sh*tty situations. Whilst we will never know why Chase left us, he is looking over us and bought Courtney and her family into our lives!

Chase Billy Hottes 27/4/2022
Darcy Dean Barker 13/5/2022
…and the MANY other angels shining a light over us all 💙

Adventure Sundays!

Our favourite day of the week. We try to get out somewhere different as a family on Sundays. This morning on our adventure to a beautiful tram cafe, Tilly met some beautiful horses, goats and dogs…safe to say she was loving life 😄🥰

I hope you got out in the beautiful sunny spring weather today 😘

I had such a great time speaking at the ACS All Stars Presentations last week.
The athletes were all so deserving…especially an inductee into the Hall of Fame (usually after they finish school they get inducted) who is Yr 8 😳 student Charli Petrov who just got back from competing and receiving GOLD in the dual diving with Melissa Wo 😳😳😳 Ummm ok, felt slightly inadequate sitting next to her!… let’s be honest, in year 8 I was just trying not to fail maths 😂
A great young achiever that’s for sure!

Today is Red Nose Day, remembering all our little superhumans that flew too soon.

I’ll never forget my beautiful man and always mention Chase’s name daily!

Our little superman, 15 weeks ago he left us 👼

Love to everyone who has lost! X

CORE CORE CORE!

Slowly finding strength back in my core 12 weeks after giving birth now to baby Chase.

Core is so so important for nearly every movement!

**DID YOU KNOW- your core wraps all the way around your waist NOT JUST in the front where you may see a ‘6 pack’.

This is why if you have any lower back pain or issues and you go and see someone for it the first thing your practitioner may do (if it’s not a pre existing injury) is give you exercises to improve your core strength.

Core is not just sit ups either. Make sure you are incorporating different exercises that target all your different muscles around that area 😉
Think planks, leg lowers, side planks, reverse crunches. There are sooooo many exercises you can choose 👊🏻

Just a reminder for your weekly To Do list 😉

GIVE YOUR BODY SOME LOVE!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Just a reminder you can give your body some love in many different ways:
-MOVE your body ie: weights, walk, swim etc
-NOURISH your body with the right nutrients
-MIND; Work on your mind through mindfulness, yoga, expanding your learning etc

Today I couldn’t go for a walk…didn’t want Tilly out in the cold. So we opted for movement inside today. Tilly did it with me (kinda)
Think lots of side step and tap, side back high 5s to each other, grapevine (…or Tilly tripping over her feet🤣) and lots of laughs haha.
But if you are a parent or guardian and your child WILL NOT join in…no judgement from anyone with chucking the tv on for them so you get a little exercise in! 😜
You do what you have to do!

Hope it was a great day 😘

Happy Monday friends!
Ok so I don’t wanna brag or anything but…I went for a little run on the weekend 😂 yes me, who hates running! Ok it wasn’t a continuous run and it definitely wasn't fast but it was classified as a run haha.

This is what I did on the treadmill:
-1minute run (I did 10km p/hr)
-2 minutes fast walk (I did 5.5km p/hr
For 21minutes or 7 rounds.

This is a good little starter for anyone beginner or postpartum. You dont even have to run for a minute in the beginning, try 30sec ones instead.
Then gradually build you way up.

Next time I will run for 1min and decrease rest time to 1minute walk.

Try this either on a treadmill or outside 👌🏻👊🏻

10 MINUTES IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!!!

Yep…my workout didn’t go according to plan this morning.
Arrived at the gym and started my warm up on the X Trainer then I got ‘the call’ from childcare saying Tilly had a runny nose and to pick up up 😫😩…10minutes is better than nothing right. It definitely is!!!

In saying this, I was lucky enough that I was meeting my mum today and she looked after Tilly whilst i went into my gym this arvo and sneaked a Pilates session in 😝
Body and mind are thankful now for it.

*Remember- any movement is better than no movement 😜