Your days run on feeds, naps and whatever sleep you can collect in pieces. You want to feel strong in your body again, but the advice around you pulls in opposite directions: rest completely, or bounce back fast. Neither fits the life you are living now, with a baby on your hip and very little time that belongs to you.
Patrick Doherty, CSCS, offers postpartum fitness coaching for people who want to build strength and lose fat with a plan built around their real week. For new mothers, that means starting from where you are today and building gradually, at a pace set by you and your recovery rather than by a calendar or a social media feed. You can train with Pat in person in Arlington, follow your program at home or at a gym near you, or combine the two.
Before you start, and why generic plans miss the mark
Before you begin any training after giving birth, get clearance from your doctor or midwife. They know your birth and your health, and their advice comes first. Once you have that go-ahead, the question becomes what kind of training actually suits you now. Most programs aimed at new mothers promise a quick return to how you looked before, or hand you a fixed set of workouts that ignores how little sleep and time you have. What tends to serve you better is personal training that starts at your level and moves forward only when you are ready.
Your life has also changed shape. Time for yourself arrives in short, unpredictable windows, your sleep is broken, and your attention is mostly somewhere else. A plan that needs an hour at the same time every day will not survive that, however good it looks on paper. Training has to fit around the baby, not the other way round.
⏰ Plans that rush you
Programs built around a countdown push you to do more than your body and your week can take. Your program has no deadline. It progresses when the sessions feel manageable, and holds steady when they do not.
🧠 Routines that assume you slept
A plan written for a rested person collapses after a night of feeds. Pat adjusts the session to the energy you have that day, so a hard night means a lighter workout rather than a skipped one.
🏋️ Workouts that ignore your day
Lifting a car seat, carrying a baby on one side and bending over a changing table are all part of your day now. Training that builds strength for those movements makes more sense than a generic circuit.
📱 Pressure to look a certain way
You do not need a program sold on getting your old body back. The coaching is about feeling stronger and more capable in the body you have, with goals you choose.
How postpartum fitness coaching works for new mothers
The first conversation covers where you are now, what your doctor or midwife has told you, what your days look like and what you want from training. Pat builds one program from that, starting simply and adjusting it as you go, so nothing is added before you are ready for it. Early sessions focus on learning basic movements well: squatting, hinging, pushing, pulling and carrying, at loads that feel controlled. How you felt after each session, how you slept and how much time you had all shape what comes next, so the plan follows your week rather than a fixed schedule.
Sessions with Pat in Arlington
In-person postpartum fitness coaching is where you learn or relearn the basic movements with a coach watching closely. Pat checks your technique and sets loads you can handle well before anything gets heavier. An hour out of the house with a clear plan may also be a welcome break in your week.
Training at home around the baby
Some weeks, leaving the house is the hardest part. On those weeks you follow your program at home, during a nap or whenever a window opens, and Pat reviews how it went and sets the next step.
Moving between the two
A hybrid may fit best: in-person sessions when childcare allows, home sessions when it does not. It is the same plan either way, so a disrupted week never means starting over.
Throughout postpartum fitness coaching, your program is reviewed and adjusted rather than pushed on a schedule. If anything feels wrong during training, you stop and check with your doctor or midwife before carrying on.
Questions about postpartum fitness coaching
When can I start training after having a baby?
That is a question for your doctor or midwife, not for a coach. Once they have cleared you, Pat starts your program from where you are that day. Nothing is set by a number on the calendar.
I am exhausted most days. Is it worth starting now?
It can be, as long as the plan respects how tired you are. Sessions can be short and lighter on the hard days, and your program changes as your sleep and energy change. The aim is training that adds to your week rather than draining it.
Can I train at home with my baby around?
Yes. Tell Pat what space and equipment you have, and your program is written around it. Sessions can be broken up or moved around naps when they need to be. A short session done during a nap still counts, and the program is written so those short sessions add up.
Will this get me back to how I looked before?
Pat makes no promises about that, and you should be wary of anyone who does. The coaching focuses on building strength and feeling capable in your body now, with goals you set and a pace that suits you.
Do I need to have trained before?
No. Whether you lifted regularly before pregnancy or never have, you start with movements you can do well today. The program builds from there, adjusted as your strength and confidence grow.
Apply to work with Pat
When your doctor or midwife has cleared you and you are ready to start postpartum fitness coaching at your own pace, call Pat, or book a meet and greet with him.