For many mums returning to exercise after pregnancy, losing fat while building muscle can feel like a daunting goal.
'The odds are good that you lost some muscle mass during pregnancy. Maybe you weren’t training as much as you normally did or you weren’t training at all,' says Bailey, coach and founder of Well Mamas Coaching, in a recent YouTube video.
However, body recomposition is a gradual process, she explains, and consistency – 'sticking with it' – matters far more than getting everything right.
'It's not [about] doing it perfectly. It's not having an hour to yourself every single day to do all this magical meal prep and green juicing,' she says.
'It's just jumping back in when you can and not buying into the start-stop cycle of...start[ing] over on Monday and find[ing] a new plan.'
Here are her four top tips.
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4 ways to lose fat and build muscle as a busy mum
1. Strength train with progressive overload
Strength training with progressive overload is a 'gold standard' pillar of a realistic body recomposition plan, Bailey says.
Progressive overload means gradually making your workouts more challenging over time by increasing the weight, number of repetitions or training frequency, or by reducing your rest periods.
'This type of strength training is what signals your body...to adapt, change and rebuild the muscle fibres that we're tearing down during these workouts, which is what helps you build muscle,' Bailey explains.
She recommends focusing on compound exercises such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, hip thrusts and the bench press because 'you're recruiting multiple muscle groups'.
As for your workout schedule, she reassures viewers that you don't need to train 'six times a week...for 45 to 60 minutes'.
'Four workouts a week, 30 minutes or less, with progressive overload and compound moves...is plenty,' she says.
2. Eat enough protein
By now, it's well established that muscle growth and repair depend on eating enough protein.
'If you're not eating enough protein to repair the tears that you create in your muscles when you work out, then your body doesn't have the amino acids it needs to build those muscle fibres,' Bailey says.
She recommends aiming for around 30g of protein per meal. That's broadly in line with research showing that consuming around 25-30g of protein per meal is associated with greater lean mass and both upper- and lower-body strength in healthy women.
Good options include lean meat, beans and legumes, yoghurt, cottage cheese and tinned tuna.
3. Use a mild calorie deficit
'Mild' is the key word, Bailey emphasises.
A calorie deficit means consuming fewer calories than your body burns each day.
'Of course, you do need to be in some sort of caloric deficit in order for fat loss to occur,' she reminds viewers.
However, the size of that deficit matters.
She recommends a moderate deficit of around 200-400 calories below your maintenance intake.
'That's just enough to prompt your body to use stored fat for energy,' she explains. 'However, it's not so much that your body starts cannibalising muscle.'
Research supports the importance of avoiding an overly aggressive calorie deficit, with one study finding that eating more than 500 fewer calories than required impaired gains in lean mass.
She adds one caveat for breastfeeding mums.
'You want to go above what I would calculate if you weren't nursing – anywhere from 400-800 additional calories per day,' she says.
4. Prioritise sleep and recovery
Bailey acknowledges this can be difficult for mums.
'Often sleep and stress feel like they're not within our control,' she says.
However, sleep is essential because it's during recovery that muscle adapts and grows.
'The muscle...broken down through resistance training...is rebuilt...during sleep, while we're recovering,' she explains.
She also references research showing that sleep duration influences body recomposition, with shorter sleep associated with less fat loss (0.6kg versus 1.4kg).
If 'a solid eight hours' isn't realistic, she suggests finding even a few extra minutes by cutting back on doomscrolling or late-night TV.
She also notes that chronically elevated cortisol levels associated with stress may interfere with muscle-building processes, recommending outdoor walks, deep breathing or even guided meditation in the shower to create small moments of calm.
Want to train like Liz?
Her PT, Michael Garry has created a 4-week training plan exclusively for members of the WH COLLECTIVE. It’s designed to remove one of the biggest barriers to fitness: time. You’ll train for just 35 minutes three times a week – Liz’s exact strategy to build muscle, boost metabolism and support long-term health. Tap the link below to unlock 14 free days of training and start Liz’s plan today.
Kate puts together fitness content that covers functional and strength training, cardio, workout challenges, interviews and news. She's often doing gym laundry or listening to music.
