So it has begun! My long time dream is finally a reality! We kicked off our Mums and Bubs sessions on Tuesday and although there could've been more people, it was an enjoyable session all-in-all. So on that note I thought I would write an article on the benefits of postnatal exercise. As mums, we are so busy taking care of everyone, we forget to take care of ourselves. When you have a new baby, everything changes. You are sleeping a whole lot less (unless you are one of the lucky few who have sleepy babies - I'm still waiting for a complete night sleep 16 months later!!) and you have this little person demanding a whole lot of your time and energy. After looking after this little person, there is still housework and cooking and a husband to see to. We tend to put ourselves on the back burner. We absolutely shouldn't! Exercise has so many benefits and they are so worth the effort! Some benefits of postnatal exercise are:
So where do we find time in our busy days? Shouldn't we be resting when our baby is resting? The answer is yes - you probably should, but any exercise is better than no exercise at all. If bub is getting a bit fussy - load her up in a pram and go for a stroll. You will feel better being outdoors and she will probably drift off to sleep in no time! A great motivator and fitness idea is to find a postnatal mums and bubs fitness group in your area. The social aspect of the session can also go a long way to make new mums feel "normal". Also important is to remember that core stabilisation and pelvic floor exercises can be done any time. While you wait for the kettle to boil - contract your deep core muscles and pull in that pelvic floor. Hold it until the jug is boiled! Repeat that whenever you remember - e.g. waiting at a traffic light, changing baby's nappy - whenever you think of it. Contract the muscles and hold for at least 10 seconds, and don't forget to breathe. In fact - do it right now while you read the rest of the article! Very important to remember is to not beat yourself up when you can't make it to a workout. Sometimes life happens and we can't always do it all! Eventually life will calm down and you can get back into a workout routine. Make sure that when you exercise you are wearing a good supportive bra and, if you are breastfeeding, that your exercise sessions are after you feed bub. Also - only do exercises that are comfortable for you. As soon as you experience any pain or discomfort stop the exercise immediately. Also - don't expect to run a marathon 6 weeks after giving birth. Start slow - with low impact exercises and work your way up. Yoga, pilates, aqua aerobics, low impact aerobics and light weight training are all good starting points. Also - ALWAYS speak to your doctor or midwife before starting any postnatal exercise program. You may need to wait a bit and recover first. Don't feel despondent when this is the case. Eventually once your body has recovered properly - it will be stronger to do the exercise. I hope that this article was informative! If you have any more questions - drop me a line. I'm always happy to have a chat. (You can release your core and pelvic floor now!) Cheers! xox
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Nothing quite like a bit of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) to make my day. I had a killer workout session with my dear friend on Sunday - really lifting heavy and doing exercises that I don't normally include in my workouts. Well well well, Monday I was sore, but it was manageable. Yesterday I well and truly felt muscle that I didn't even know existed screaming out my name. Yes - even us Personal Trainers experience DOMS.Whenever we change things around (and we have to do that so our bodies don't become complacent and we hit that awful plateau), our bodies need a few days to acclimatise.The third day is always the worst The last few days has been a bit up and down. My youngest boy is cutting about 4 teeth so mum and bub are both feeling a bit tender due to sleep deprivation. (so I also apologise in advance if my post starts to ramble and if I stop making sense...) I have just changed my workout program to try and shift the last 7kg that just won't budge. So this morning I was supposed to get up nice and early and join the local parkrun for a 5km run at 7am. I was all stoked and ready to don my new Lorna Jane jacket, but when the alarm went off I actually couldn't bring myself to get out of bed.... I chose sleep. When I eventually woke up from my slumber I felt awful that I was "weak" and "unmotivated". For that brief moment I forgot to cut myself slack. I had to give myself a good talking to and remind myself that I do have 3 kids, one of whom is teething! Sleep is as important as fitness in living a healthy life. So, I sorted the kids out with breakfast, put on my runners, grabbed the dog and we went for our own 5km run. And it felt great. I think the lesson here is that it doesn't help to beat yourself up. Sometimes life happens and we don't get to do that specific workout we had planned. That is when it is a good time to take a deep breath, and improvise. Yes I didn't get my 5km parkrun this morning, but I had a 5km run with the dog at 10am and even managed to shave a whole minute of my PB! As mums, life throws us all kinds of curve balls and we do tend to put ourselves on the back burner. It is ok to deal with the curve balls and still take time to look after yourself. Any exercise is better than no exercise. If you didn't have time to go for a run or do some exercise - do a few burpees while you wait for the kettle to boil next time you make yourself a cuppa. Or do some incline push ups on the kitchen bench while your dinner is cooking. Sometimes, fitness takes a bit of creativity. I can guarantee you, it will always be worth the effort! What did you do today to get active? xox Having a Mums and Bubs practice run tomorrow to take some photos for Facebook and the website. So I am at the park now and just finished a trial sesh - just me and my boys. Feeling great but I really hope my littlest one behaves when his big brothers aren't around to distract him. He would much rather play with them than be mummy's workout buddy! Business cards - check. Magnets for car - check. Marketing and business plan - check. Small loan to help with startup cost - pending. Last and final prac session - booked for this coming Saturday. Photoshoot to pretty up my website and Facebook Page - Waiting on responses.
Watch this space for more fitness focused articles once I am qualified. :-) These are my older two boys having a workout with Mum (excuse the blurry image..). Setting a positive example is so very important in raising healthy children. I'm using my older two boys as my Guinea pigs for when I start up my Mums and Kids sessions. They are so keen and love our workout sessions!
On a different note, I have finished my assignments so unless I have to do a resubmission I am done with the theory section of my qualification. Tonight I will finish up researching and planning my practical simulation and then I will contact my mentor to get it all done and dusted. We hosted a Biggest Morning Tea this morning in aid of Cancer and I donated a couple of PT vouchers towards the raffles. So as soon as I have my qualification in hand I am ready to hit the ground running with a few clients already lined up. xox I just finished my very last online quiz!!!! Woohoo!!!! But now I have 3 assignments to finish up and I need to start working on my simulation presentation. I want all my assignments submitted by the end of the weaken. Then I will get in contact with my mentor next week to arrange my last practical session and my simulation practice. Time to get this baby done! My business is ready to start - I just need the certificate to say I am qualified and then I can purchase my insurance. Then it is all systems go go GO!! So I'm continuing with my studies and slowly getting there. I've come down with an awful headcold and motivation to do anything is a bit hard to come by at the moment. I feel terrible and haven't even managed a workout in about a week so I feel slack on top of it all. But just again - proof that you sometimes cannot do it all. My priority now is to shake this cold and get better. On the positive side - I was pretty stoked when I checked my Chess PT email this weekend and lo and behold I had my business name registration certificate waiting in my inbox! It's becoming so real and it is so exciting! Hubby is out of town this week so I am hoping to knock over a few quizzes. Then I can focus on the assignments on the weekend. Only 3 more to go! Then it is just the practical holding me up - which I can arrange to finish up as soon as I am ready! My goal is to be done by the end of June so my business can start at the beginning of the next financial year. 6 weeks and counting! I also need to have a bit of a brag - my eldest boy (9-year old) did his first cross country race on Friday and ran 2km in 15minutes coming in 8th place. Very proud mummy moment as he has extremely low muscle tone and has never been particularly fit or active. He absolutely loved the cross country so it looks like the dog and I have ourselves a running mate on weekends! He wants to train up an beat his previous time next year. Also on a kiddy fitness note - I was showing my boys how to do a proper jump squat earlier and even my 14-month old got in on the action! Made me realize how important it is to set positive examples for them - regardless of how old or young they are! I'm so glad that my passion for fitness is rubbing off on the rest of my family! Anyway, I've waffled on long enough.. Now I've got to go be mummy and make some loombands with my kidlets. xox I just thought I would jump on real quick and share the awesome day I had! I completed my Business Plan so I feel like I have some direction where I need to be going business-wise. And I have spoken to my local council about doing some bootcamps and fitness classes in the local parks and they are very supportive of the initiative.
Might not sound like much - but I'm pretty darn stoked about it all. Seeing all my plans black on white is quite amazing. I really think I could make a huge success out of this. Watch this space people! I'm ge Since my last post I have managed to do 3 quizzes and submit 2 assignments. The assignment I am working on now is actually a good one. It's doing up my Business Plan. So I've taken this opportunity to register my business name as well as apply for an ABN. It's going slowly - there is a lot to think about and add. But I want to do this properly so that I can use the business plan in my business. After that I have another 4 modules to go: Financial Planning, Small Business Marketing, Small Business Operations and Financial Management. All very necessary, but as the meme I posted indicates, I'm finding a lot of distractions... I also still need to do a fitness assessment with the guidance of my mentor as part of a prac session, and then do my practical simulation. I am hoping that I will finish in the next month or two. I have also been looking into some CEC courses that I want to be doing and man oh man I need to start earning money so I can do it all!!! I have so many plans! I just want to get into it! This whole new endeavour is very very exciting! But for now I need to go finish some baking for my eldest son's birthday. Mummy duties always come first! Chat soon! xox |
AuthorCarien Hesselberg - Mother, Wife, Personal Trainer. Archives
February 2015
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