Strengthen Your Mom Muscles

: You ready to get out? You ready to get out, big guy?

Chantel Cohen believes in fitness and it shows. She's in great shape, even after two babies.

: You ready to get down?

Unfortunately, years of weight lifting didn't prepare her for the strains of motherhood.

I have back problems, knee problems. I've thrown my back out putting the baby into the car seat.

Like most moms, Jill Haire didn't expect little Hudson to be quite so heavy so fast.

When they are babies they are so light and it's easy, but in a few months they grow so fast and they get big and heavy.

: And as you turn and pivot, you're gonna curl right across.

To survive the physical stresses of motherhood, both women are working with personal trainer Vladimir Bellavue at the Athletic Club Northeast in Atlanta, Georgia. He's an expert in functional training, exercises designed to mimic everyday life.

: Now come in, and curl up. Good. Make sure you get that pivot each time.

You have to have some basis of core strength to do some of these exercises, but it's interesting, a lot of ladies who have babies they don't think of honing those core exercies, those core muscles to do what they're doing.

Yet strong core muscles are crucial for moms who spend much of their time bending, lifting and toting children.

Carrying the car seats, the baby car seats that you click out, I mean those are so heavy.

If you have an imbalance on one side of the body from holding a baby too long it can definitely wear down the muscles and the joints in one area. So the idea is to balance everything out so they are core stable enough to be able to multitask.

: So hands out in front of you...

Jill's been working with Vladimir since Hudson was born. She's seen a remarkable change in her mom muscles in just a few short months.

I've got so much tone and my body's changed and my arms, it's great! I feel good. I feel like I'm ready for baby number two, maybe.

If you're ready to start building up your mom muscles, check out our gym video.

: This exercise is great for moms going to pick their baby from a lower location and bringing it to a higher location.

Exercises for Everyday Living. For WebMD, I'm Sandee LaMotte.