A fitness trainer has revealed the four high-intensity moves she prioritized to completely transform her body and gain muscles after giving birth to her son.
Kelsey Wells, creator of PWR Programs, works as a fitness trainer who helps other people achieve their own health goals through workout series involving weights and cardio moves.
When speaking to Women’s Health, the fitness trainer explained how four specific HITT (high-intensity interval training) exercises were able to transform her body postpartum so she could gain muscle while losing weight.
Getting fit: Kelsey Wells works as a fitness trainer who transformed her body postpartum
Transformation: When speaking to Women’s Health, she explained four HITT (high-intensity interval training) moves that worked to transform her body
Incredible: Kelsey has often shared her transformation pictures online for followers when promoting her workout routines
‘It’s perfect for clients who want to do a challenging cardio workout, and even helped Kelsey get in shape during her own fitness journey,’ Women’s Health explained about the four workouts.
The first exercise Kelsey recommends was the burpee with an added tuck jump at the end.
For this move, the person trainer details getting down into a squat position before placing the hands on the ground.
The participant should then shoot their legs away from the body in a straight line to land with their body positioned in a plank parallel to the ground.
‘Your body should be in a straight line from your head to your heels,’ Kelsey advises, showing the position with her shoulders directly over her hands.
Once the plank is hit, the feet should then jump back up towards the hands into a crouched position. The move ends with jumping up into a tucked position by bringing the knees towards the chest.
BURPEES: She first recommended people do burpees for 20 seconds, advising them to first hit the squat position (top) before jumping out into a plank (bottom)
HIGH KNEES: After doing the burpee for 20 seconds and taking a 10 second rest, people are recommended to move on to high knees
‘Once your feet are underneath you, jump up and bend your knees to bring them in toward your chest by using your abdominals,’ she said. ‘At the same time, draw your elbows in towards your knees.’
Kelsey recommends doing the move for 20 seconds before moving on to high knees, the next move in the four-part cardio series.
For high knees, the fitness trainer advises for people to keep their elbows tucked into their sides while the lower portion of the arm is extended outwards over the mat with the palms facing down.
Each knee should then attempt to hit the palm of the hand when getting pulled up towards the chest.
‘Keeping your weight in the balls of your feet, start lifting your knees to tap your hands, alternating sides,’ Kelsey told the publication.
THE SPRAWL: Then the next move in the cardio series is called a sprawl. It entails someone first hitting the squat position (pictured)
THE SPRAWL: After hitting the squat, it is advised to place the arms down on the mat and jumping back into a plank (pictured) before then propelling the body back into a squat
JUMP SQUAT: Then the final exercise in the cardio series is a jump squat. Participants first hit the squat position (left) before jumping straight into the air (right)
This exercise should continue for 20 seconds before transitioning to the third move of the series, the sprawl.
The third move mirrors a similar body position as the burpee where the participant first hits a squat before shooting their legs back into a plank. Then reverse the movement to bring the legs back into the squat position after briefly holding the plank.
Again, this move should be done for 20 seconds before moving onto the fourth and final move of the series.
Kelsey’s last cardio move for the HITT series is the jump squat.
She advises jumping up towards the ceiling and straightening the legs before landing back down into a squat position.
This move is done for 20 seconds before finishing the first round of the workout.
Kelsey recommends taking a 10 second break between each move and running the entire workout for as long as someone is comfortable in order to break a sweat and get the heart rate up.