The first eighteen months with a small child do something specific to your training. Sleep collapses. Time disappears. Your body changes in ways that aren't accounted for in any program written by a coach who's never been here. Most parents I've worked with in this phase need exactly one thing — a coach who treats the two-hour-a-week window like a real container, not an interruption.
This is strength coaching for new parents in that window. It doesn't try to be a return-to-pre-kid lifestyle. It tries to be the most useful thing you can do with the time you actually have.
What the work looks like
Two strength sessions a week, in person, an hour each. Maximum focus, minimum filler. Heavy compound lifts as the spine. No cardio in the gym session — you're already getting steps and stairs at home. No "burner" finishers. Every minute of the session goes toward the work that compounds.
Outside the sessions, almost nothing. Maybe ten minutes of mobility a few days a week if you want it. The mistake new parents make most often in training is trying to add too much around the existing two-hour window — they try to keep their pre-kid program and then drop the strength work because they can't sustain it. The right move is the opposite: shrink the program, protect the strength work, let the rest stay relaxed for the year.
What's different about postpartum training
For mothers in the postpartum window, the work has to account for a specific recovery sequence — pelvic floor, abdominal wall, hip alignment. I'm not a pelvic floor PT, and any client coming in postpartum should have been cleared by their provider first. From there, my job is to build the strength work around the structural realities of postpartum recovery without treating people like they're fragile.
For fathers, the issue is usually different — sleep deprivation, time poverty, and a body that's been on call for six months and is suddenly stiff in places it never used to be. Same approach: two focused sessions, no filler, real load.
The 12-week consult
Coaching starts with a 12-week consult. Free, thirty minutes, in person. Tell me what your week actually looks like — we figure out together whether this is the right fit for the phase you're in.
FAQ
My kid is four months old. Is that too soon? For mothers, after clearance from your provider, no. For fathers, no.
Can I bring my baby? The space isn't set up for it, but a stroller can fit in the front for a sleeping baby for one session if needed. Beyond that, this generally needs to be one of the two hours a week that's yours.
What if I miss a week? We pick up where we left off. Missing weeks is expected in this phase of life — the program absorbs it.
The next step is the consult.