Heavy Former "Dancing With the Stars" professional Lindsay Arnold garnered a mixed fan reaction after she posted a workout video via Instagram on June 15.
Former “Dancing With the Stars” professional Lindsay Arnold garnered a mixed fan reaction after she posted a workout video via Instagram on June 15. She held her baby, June, in her arms throughout the workout. The dancer welcomed June on May 3 after having a scheduled cesarian section.
The mother-of-two posted a full workout that included a standing section, a floor warmup, bridges and leg raises.
Her full workout is:
Standing Segment:
10 reps squats
10 reps squat pulse
10 reps side to side squat walks
10 reps (each side) bent standing leg toe taps
10 reps (each side) side lunge w/ knee raise
Repeat 3x
Floor Segment:
Warm up with 2 min of 360 breath10 reps (each side) bird dog
10 reps tricep dips push up from knees
10 reps (each side) Side plank hip dips from knees
Repeat 3x10 reps (each side) supine knee to chest leg extension
10 reps glute bridge
10 reps (each side) supine knee fallout
Repeat 3x10 reps (each side) side lying leg lift
10 reps (each side) side lying knee to chest extension
10 reps (each side) straight leg circles
Repeat 3x
“Listen to your body and be sure to have clearance from your doctor before engaging in exercise postpartum,” Arnold added at the bottom of her post.
Arnold joined “Dancing With the Stars” during season 16 in 2013. Arnold won the Mirror Ball trophy for the first and only time when she danced with actor Jordan Fisher during season 25. In September 2022, Arnold announced via Instagram that she would be quitting “DWTS.”
“As many of you know my family and I live in [Utah] and in order to do DWTS I have to move myself and my daughter Sage out to L.A. and leave behind my husband Sam who works full time here in Utah,” Arnold wrote at the time. “Logistically there is SO much involved with making this happen and there is a lot of sacrifice that has to be made that unfortunately just did not feel right for us this time around.”
Arnold and her husband, Sam Cusick, are high school sweethearts who have been married since 2015, per Us Weekly. They share two children together: 2-year-old Sage and June, their newborn.
According to The Bump, new mothers with a C-section should only work out once they have their doctor’s approval.
“A c-section is an abdominal surgery, so six weeks is the minimum you should wait,” Nazneen Vasi, PT, told the outlet.
“It’s imperative to go to the OB and get an okay prior to commencing physical therapy or exercise,” Vasi added to The Bump, “because there can be complications, including slow healing at the incision site or an infection.”
Fans Had a Mixed Review to Arnold’s Workout
While some people were supportive of Arnold moving her body six weeks after a cesarian section, others were concerned.
One person wrote, “6 weeks after a C-section? F*** no.”
“Be careful after the c-section, girl!” a fan warned.
Another social media user was curious why Arnold included June in the workout video. “Is it good to be moving Baby so fast and bouncing with her,” they said. “Yes you are holding her head but why is it good to include baby? She could just be in the little bed on the floor!”
Some people came to Arnold’s defense, like one fan who wrote that the “DWTS” pro was probably told it was OK to exercise by her doctor.
“Y’all, she’s 6 weeks out and I would guarantee she was approved by her doctor,” they said. “Not to mention, she’s done this before. She knows her body! And for the love of god, she’s not shaking the baby, this video is clearly sped up.”
Arnold Said Baby June Gave Her Parents a Scare
Arnold wrote on Instagram that she loves her daughter, but welcoming her to this world wasn’t easy.
The “DWTS” star said June was breech and had a cord wrapped around her neck.
“Baby girl came out butt first and I was actually able to watch most of this delivery through a plastic curtain,” she said. “When it was time for her head to come out that’s when we could see that the cord was wrapped around baby girls neck.”
“It was extremely difficult for them to pull her head out and the cord was compressing around her neck as they pulled,” Arnold wrote via Instagram. “When they finally got her head out they quickly unraveled the cord and it was wrapped around our sweet girls neck 6 times. Very scary and shocking moment for everyone in the room (my doctor said he has never seen a cord wrapped that many times).”