Transcript
Speaker: Hello everyone and welcome back to the podcast. So today I sit down with Lorna Dwyer. Lorna is a pre postnatal coach and she is founder of Your Mama Strength. So Lorna runs online coaching and in-person pre and postnatal classes in North Dublin.
Speaker: She's been in the game for a long time. She's got years of experience and years of expertise And she is also mum to two young kids. So she knows her shit. She walks the walk. She lives the life.
Speaker: We have such a valuable conversation around pregnancy, around early postpartum, around postpartum as you progress, around pelvic floor health, around balancing parenthood and training and creating time to prioritize yourself.
Speaker: I've genuinely learned so much from this conversation that I know you will too. So here is the episode with Lauren O'Dwyer. Lauren, now welcome to the podcast. Hi, thanks for having me.
Speaker: I'm excited to chat about all things pregnancy, postpartum. Feels like a lifetime ago for me, but as and as they always say, you're always postpartum. Isn't that right? Once you've had one. And so I have so much I want to ask you and around this topic. But look, before we get into it, do you want to just tell everyone a little bit about you, who you are, what you do, what's kind of your journey that's brought you to where you are? Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: yeah Well, I'm a pre and postnatal specialist in North Dublin. and So I'm a primary school teacher by trade, like yourself. and So I currently am job sharing. have two small kids and running a business and running pregnancy strength and mobility classes, postpartum coaching. um But I suppose I got into that when like years ago i moved to Australia.
Speaker: and So I did my my pre my strength and conditioning coaching and a personal training coaching in Australia and then came back and set up female only fitness classes in, I think, 2015. And then from there, obviously, I had clients becoming pregnant and i was looking for qualifications and, you know,
Speaker: just learn more about it because it didn't come up in any of the personal training courses. and So I did ah a two-day weekend course in Trinity College, I think it was at the time, in 2015. So that was, you know, it was pretty basic, particularly now we're looking back.
Speaker: And then i ended up kind of, I went down the route of and precision nutrition, And then I was actually looking into strength and conditioning. So I did a ah course over a few months in strength condition and conditioning with the goal of going down the line of more towards the GA and Kavogi coaching.
Speaker: yeah and So I used to do like ah strength and conditioning with my team that I played for in pre-season. And I think that was the road I was hoping to go down. And then somehow this pre and postnatal course came somewhere out of the blue. Just I don't know how I came across it. And by reading through it, it was just something I just couldn't forget about.
Speaker: And then I remember the cost of it was like a lump sum up front and it was a lot. And i was like, at the time I was like, no, can't, can't like go into that. But in I ended up like after a week or two, just couldn't stop thinking about it. So i contacted the the course providers and they offered me a payment plan.
Speaker: So I ended up doing it and then that was like the start of it all basically. So that was 2018 I qualified and started my classes and I've just been like doing different courses and upskilling ever since.
Speaker: Isn't it funny how the universe works though, isn't it? Like, you know, that's like it wasn't it never your original plan and here you are and so passionate about what you do now. Yeah. And you know what, like, even just thinking back today, i was like, I actually wanted to be a midwife before I left secondary school.
Speaker: And then somebody put me off nursing at the time. So I ended up like going down the route of teaching. And it's just kind of funny how like you've come back to that. Like like looking after moms.
Speaker: That's so funny because this was me as well. Like when I was a teenager, I was like, I'm going to be a dietitian. Like i'm not I'm going to go and do dietetics in college. And then something put me off it. And like that, I went into primary school teaching and then I'm not a dietitian, but I'm back helping women with nutrition again. So it's funny, isn't it? Like you that we find our way back to what what's meant for us.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. But it's amazing that and that you like you've... all of you You've spent so much time in the fitness industry at this stage with women in the pre and postnatal and space. And I think what you do is extremely important because am as as we all know now, the health and fitness space online is very it's widely unregulated. and anyone Anyone can give you advice online.
Speaker: i am And even within the health and fitness industry, like you said, the personal training courses, They don't give you pre and post, like it you have to do a separate course. Yet a lot of people are getting advice from coaches who are not trained. And it doesn't mean they're not good coaches, but they're not specified, they're not specialized in pre postnatal, which is is so important. And I even just think back to my own journey, like my last child, my my youngest child, he's nearly nine now. But after he was born, I was dying just to get back to it. And like that was 2017.
Speaker: There wasn't really that much, like, like there was like in my local area, there wasn't anyone doing pre post like, sorry, postnatal classes or training. And so I just kind of jumped back into the workouts I was doing because I was just dying to get back in shape. And like I paid for that years later, really.
Speaker: Yeah. And it it is very much like you either jump back or people do nothing for a long time and end up in, you know, pain, discomfort and just feeling crap in themselves because they don't know how to approach it.
Speaker: and Like there's a lot more information around it now. But like that, when I started in 2018, there was nothing. I was probably the only person in North Dublin doing the classes. And some of them babies now are in like senior infants on first class, which is mental. Yeah, yeah. and It's interesting that, yeah they you like there obviously, you know there are lots of of postnatal classes now But I would still imagine the majority of people probably fall into the first category or the second category that you said there, the jumping straight back to fitness um to get back in shape or don't know where to start or too overwhelmed and leave it for a very, very long time. And the people that leave it a very long time and then they decide to go on a fitness journey, they're kind of, they're
Speaker: they They forget that they're postpartum, really, don't they? So they just jump into normal fitness without ever doing the recovery. They just meant and they miss out on those foundations that can just, it's more about our long-term health. You're kind of thinking not now, but, you know, when we're in our 50s and 60s.
Speaker: Yeah. So if, so just say someone and didn't start into a postnatal course, and straight after having their baby and they left it like five years let's say and they did nothing for five years not did nothing that sounds terrible like busy as mothers did a lots in their life but nothing in relation to their strength and their fitness for five years and they start training do they should they really be starting is is where they start very different to where you'd start if you started six weeks postpartum let's say
Speaker: Well, they've probably built up like general strength from day-to-day life and walking and things like that. And they might start a class and be fine, but then it might be something like sprints or jumping jacks and they go, oh, hang on a second.
Speaker: I'm after wetting myself. Or I'm feeling this kind of heaviness in my pelvic area. and So it could be then that these symptoms show up when the early work hasn't been done.
Speaker: This is exactly what happened to me. so and i I actually, so was it like, it was last year, last year I was training for a 10k and I had gotten into running running and I'd noticed right that when I'd be doing my training, right. For, for, for the run, which I know like, or even when I actually did the run, depending on where I was in my cycle that week before my period, if, and I went running, if it was anything over like two kilometers,
Speaker: I would be saturated by the time I get back and it wouldn't be like a big gush like it would just be a little leak the whole like and I like I would soak through a pad the whole lot like I'd have to wear black leggings and I'd have to like full strip off have a full shower afterwards and I did the 10k race and it must have been that week before my period and I had to change I i brought a change to trousers with because I knew I'd need it I had to go into the port-a-loo after the event and anyone who's done a like a running event and those like sorry gone to any event where there's a port-a-loo you know how disgusting they are and trying to actually take a pair of gym leggings off you in a portaloo and like you're undoing your laces and your laces are touching the pissy floor and I had to do that and try to balance myself touching off the edges and put clean trousers on me I was traumatized I was like at that point i was like this is not normal was like I had I was like I booked an appointment with a pelvic health physio afterwards because I was like I that's not normal that that's what I'm experiencing and
Speaker: in the run up to that race and I was talking to different women about it and people were advising me, oh, you know, you can go to Penny's you can get the absorbable pants. like And like, well, with really good advice, you know, that like, you know, be really kind advice. But I was like, shouldn't have to.
Speaker: i shouldn't have to. I was like, i really need to fix this. And this is a year ago. So eight years after I've had my kid. Jesus. But i am it's so common. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: And like that kind of thing, like wearing in the pads and stuff is a support and you don't want people to not exercise because they have these things. We can still exercise and wear pads, but also be working towards improving it. and So that's the thing, like, you know, if you think of women now, like you could be doing the park run or something, there's probably loads of women running in their 50s and 60s wearing pads because they're leaking.
Speaker: and And thankfully they are running because it's the other half that are just not doing it because of it. But had they had the support postpartum and in those early weeks and years to rebuild that strength and learn how to maintain it, they wouldn't be in that position. Now, obviously there's people that have bigger you know injuries and stuff like that that can lead to that long term.
Speaker: Yeah. well and Most people try and make huge improvements, but pelvic floor, physiotherapy, Yeah, definitely. And like, you know, I'm one of them that that has made a huge difference. And i am and that's it. I think it we shouldn't allow it to stop us to stop doing what we want to do, whether we want to jump on a trampoline or, you know, go running or like do jumping jacks in jackson a class or whatever. And, you know, if we need to wear black leggings, we need to wear a pad. And if we have the absorbable with but ones and it and it makes us get out and do it, it's great. But I think and i and that's why I spoke a lot about it at the time. But I just think it's so important for us to
Speaker: realize it's not too late and I didn't know it wasn't too late Lorna at the time until I did i did a podcast with the pelvic health physio and I was like oh I really should actually just it's do something about this I then it's not that anyone told me it was too late I just presumed in my own head and I wonder how many women presume in their own head oh sure Jesus look this is just Part of being a woman, part of getting older. I've been in gym classes myself and, you know, there's women there that maybe are, you know, older than me in their fifties and the next thing they're sprints or they're skipping and there's the joke about it and all, you know, all and it's all a bit of a laugh and a joke and, oh, I can't do those.
Speaker: But those women don't even know pelvic health physio exists. Yeah. You know, and they're living with that where they could make improvements now. Yeah. and but if I was waiting privately three months but for a pelvic health physio.
Speaker: Three months. like this it's It's hard to to get in. takes a bit of time. Yeah. Yeah. So they they do be fully booked out. Yeah. And I do. That's it. Like with the classes, as it is a bit. And I think it's important that we talk about it in the classes and we have a laugh laugh about it. But I think as coaches and any anyone who's providing the classes, it's so important to be able to give the advice to women of what ah what they can do um and let's take it back for now right because i do i want to because i kind of want to go through this in a like a chronological you know pregnancy early postpartum longer term postpartum and and kind of you know go in that in that order with pregnancy and training yeah
Speaker: There's so much mixed information out there as to what you can and can't do, should and shouldn't do. it Talk us through pregnancy and your thoughts on on training through pregnancy.
Speaker: Well, Yeah, so exercise is completely normal, healthy, recommended. and And I suppose the guidelines that would have come out, I think 2019 was when the pregnancy guidelines came out and it was recommended 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week. So it's like 30 minutes a day of aerobic exercise. So it could be your walk and your swim and cycling and then recommended strength training. and But that is all being updated. So that is kind of seen as like,
Speaker: and a baseline so that it's not the the ceiling for what you can do. And so for most people, they can just continue to train as normal if they've been training all through their pregnancy. and And there actually isn't a lot of changes to be made.
Speaker: And it's safe. And it's more about how you're feeling. and But the important thing is for people who aren't training or have a break in training, you know, and like you'd have a lot of people that are very sick in their first trimester.
Speaker: And then they feel like they can't get back into exercise. But that's where there's a big misconception. So if you haven't been training before, you haven't, you've had a large break in training that you actually can get back to it.
Speaker: Oh, okay. That's good. no Yeah. So it's just like, obviously you would ease back in and build, but I'd have a lot of girls coming to me. They've had a long break in training. Maybe they've had a journey to trying to conceive and they've kind of pulled back on their training a little bit and they're very nervous about approaching it. And I'll always say to them, come in, you know, body weight, move lightly. In a few weeks, you're going to feel stronger. By the end of your pregnancy, you're going to be doing so much more than you are now. And and then obviously things change throughout the trimester, but it's not like this is what you do in trimester one. This is what you do in two and three.
Speaker: it's based on the individual and adaptions as how they're feeling. So yeah, how comfortable they feel in their body. And yes like, are there certain things like, you know, the way i would have been told, like after a certain amount time, you're not supposed to like flatten your back and in relation to like exercise, keeping your heart rate under a certain amount. But they are kind of like the old misconceptions around it. So the the heart rate was 140 beats per minute.
Speaker: And that kind of went out around the 2019 guidelines. And it was more about your rate of perceived exertion. So or the talk test. So like you should be able to exercise and continue a conversation.
Speaker: And then with lying on your back, again, there's no evidence to say that that is to be ruled out. And it was from 16 weeks. They kind of said not to be lying on your back anymore. And most people would move to an incline for a chest press or something like that.
Speaker: Whereas now it's like trying to teach people awareness and it's about symptoms. So if you're doing a chest press and you feel fine, that's fine. But you would try to limit your time when you're back. So like I would never program someone to be doing, say a floor press, chest press off the floor and then stay on their back for a core exercise. Yeah. I'd always move them from their back to their side, you know, into an all fours position. maybe And most of us, when we're pregnant after a certain point, it's not comfortable to lie flat for too long. Like usually, and oh Jesus, I need to. move to the side so it is about um listening to your body what about core exercises um core exercise yes again that's being there's more talk around that that before it was a bit like avoid core exercises now it's more about the importance of core exercises but it's kind of what you're doing how you're doing it how you're breathing how you're managing pressure and doing things that are beneficial
Speaker: Yeah. You know, and like we would, you know, say if you're doing a plank, a full plank off the floor might be too much pressure for your core and you'll feel like maybe you're bearing down your pelvic floor or your breath is all pushing out on the midline of your stomach.
Speaker: So within my classes, I'd be teaching them how to connect their breath with their core so that it's supported. We might bring that to an incline. You might bring it to your knees. And, you know, and within a class, you have different abilities, different, ah you know, how big someone's bump is and how much they can control that. So that would be adapted for them.
Speaker: You said something there about birth preparation. And so before we just dive into the postnatal side of things, what exactly do you mean by birth preparation? So in the a pregnancy program or the classes that I do with my clients, like obviously they're they're training to be strong.
Speaker: You know, and fit and maintain like normal training throughout pregnancy. And we spoke about like the core and the breathing and how important that is and how that can come into baby's positioning as well. and But within the classes, what I'm integrating in is mobility for birth prep.
Speaker: So I've done training around like the biomechanics of birth. So that's kind of how the baby comes into the pelvis and how they're born. So different movements can open like the inlet of the pelvis. So when baby is engaging, the mid pelvis where they start to turn and rotate. And then when they're born is the outlet of the pelvis. So if your a pelvis can move well and you can breathe well and there's a connection between like your ribs, your breathing and your pelvis, then that can help with baby's positioning and making birth more straightforward.
Speaker: So what we do in the classes is every week my clients are adding in all of these movements within their strength training. So in their warmups and their cool downs and within the program at home,
Speaker: So that kind of means that you are maintaining that balance throughout your pregnancy rather than like in the last three weeks, you're trying to do all this ball work. and So, yes, so they're basically adding that in, keeping their pelvis as balanced as possible, which means they're less likely to get things like pelvic girdle pain.
Speaker: and Or if they do, it's much more manageable. And then things like breech babies, we're trying to avoid that. But then also if someone presented with a baby that was breech, we might be able to give specific movements to help like balance, release a bit of tension, but also I'd like recommend chiro and make possibly physio or something as well. and And then what happens then, I suppose, if you're doing something through your whole pregnancy weekly, and then it becomes daily,
Speaker: that when you actually go into labor, all of this movement becomes an in like intuitive. So it's not like I'd give someone like a list. You need to move exactly like this through labor to help baby to be born.
Speaker: But women just start to move into these positions because they've been doing them before. And they're accessible because they've been doing them, you know, and then it can help. with You know, you're not guaranteeing that everything is going to be straightforward, but you're doing as much as you can to help baby have that space to turn and be born.
Speaker: So we do a lot of that. and And then I suppose in in the last two weeks of pregnancy, when they come to the class, I literally focus on on birth prep with them.
Speaker: teach them how to use their ball. So I suppose a lot of people think they get on their ball and they just bounce and move and it brings labor on, but it actually doesn't start labor at all. Baby decides when labor starts, but the ball creates space and it opens up the way for the baby to be born.
Speaker: And so things like going out and walking, that's like, you know, the pelvis is moving side side. It's just rocking and swaying and allowing baby to come down and curb walking and things like that.
Speaker: And so that's ah like part of the training. So I always kind of think, you know, if you're just training as normal to a pregnancy, that's safe. It's brilliant. You're fit. You're strong. But you're just missing this little thing that could be huge for you.
Speaker: And that's just something that I do that I'm really passionate about. That's amazing. No one has ever told me about that before. I've never heard anyone spoke speak about this before. And I've spoken to a lot of people. So like this is this is amazing.
Speaker: It's something like if anyone's listening that has had a breech baby before or they've had friends, they might have heard of spinning baby. So was talking you about that. So that's a training I had tried to do, but then it was cancelled. So it's something I will do down the line. But I've done other courses similar.
Speaker: and And that's like, yeah, so like with my own, I had a malpositioned baby for my first and it or ended in an emergency C-section. And the only problem was I didn't know he was malpositioned. And if I had a known, i would have used some of these techniques.
Speaker: So I just thought he was in the right position and I just couldn't handle the pain. So anyway, that ends up in it a bit of a disaster. And for my second baby, I was like straight into all this training, like straight away the minute I found out was pregnant. And yeah, I think it made a big difference to achieving a V back in the end as well. Yeah, which is amazing. It was amazing to be able to do exactly, especially so soon after A C-section.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's amazing. and I like you kind of blow my mind with this because I'm like, who knew that there's mobility? Like people do talk you about strength during pregnancy the whole time, but the mobility side of it and the actual preparation for birth that can be tied in with your strength training and done within your fitness classes.
Speaker: It's it like it makes so much sense. Like, why is that not more widely spoken of about? Yeah. And just going back to lying on your back in case anyone's wondering, like the symptoms will be if you are lying on your back and you start to feel nauseous or in any way dizzy or lightheaded. So it's to do with the weight of the the baby on the vena cava. So like it's a blood flow thing.
Speaker: So in exercise, because you're moving, it's not the same as sleeping on your back. So from 28 weeks, it's recommended not to sleep on your back anymore. And that still stands. So if you wake up on your back, you can always move on to your side. It's not something to be worried about, but not to intentionally sleep on your back.
Speaker: Yeah. And have your pillows arranged in a way to. Whereas with exercise, it's like if you're on your back for 30 seconds to do a movement and you feel fine, that's grand. But if you are someone who starts to feel symptoms, then it's not for you and it would need to be adapted.
Speaker: Yeah. Okay. No, that's really good to know. Yeah. In relation to core exercises again, then. So I like there are probably people out there thinking like, what's the point in the core exercises when your core your core muscles have, sorry, your core, your abdominal muscles have, and have separated. So a lot of people will think that core exercises are just about your abs. Yeah. And you and me both know that's not true, but I just kind of want to kind of explore this idea.
Speaker: So obviously it's made room for your baby. People are like, well, sure, look, you a big bump there. What's the point in doing core exercises while you're pregnant? So what is the point? Well, it'll help with your recovery postpartum. So if you still have that connection and that control. So we talk about it in classes, like hugging the baby or your connection breath. So when you're exhaling on an exercise, you're thinking of your TVA, which is like as your belt, you know, coming in and lifting up.
Speaker: So we always I'd always talk to the girls about when you inhale before you do a movement, you might exhale into your shoulder press and you give a hug of the baby and lift. So you're actually hugging your core from the bottom up and in.
Speaker: and then relaxing and letting go so it's constantly getting that connection um otherwise your baby belly's just hanging out there and it's not getting it like that it's not getting any work so that can actually be really important for a baby's positioning as well so if you have a ah stomach that kind of grows out and starts to hang down with no support that can be you know they can affect how baby lies and in the getting ready for birth so that's something we would work on and then Obviously, if you know how to do that breathing, that connection, you can start that straight away post-person and it will help with that ah core strength and recovery after.
Speaker: That's so interesting because like when I think about and you talk about that connection breath which I'd like to focus on now for a minute and with the connection breath because I really didn't understand what that was for for like I i was working in the early days I was working in a gym and and the gym own in a small gym and the gym owner did postnatal classes now I didn't have to teach them because I wasn't qualified and in that at the time and she and would ah but I observed the classes and she had her her ladies doing connection breaths and my house was like kind of what What exactly are they doing there? Which which you've you've explained there in relation to to like it it's the is it the exhale that you're squeezing up your you're holding a baby and bringing your pelvic floor up as you exhale?
Speaker: Yeah, but if you, it's not really, you're not lifting your pelvic floor really, unless you're doing pelvic floor exercises. Yeah. So what I tried to explain in the pregnancy and postnatal classes is when you inhale, your diaphragm moves down and your pelvic floor mirrors that. So when you inhale, they both move down. When you exhale, they move up.
Speaker: So if you're doing your breath early postpartum, it means your pelvic floor is lifting and it's relaxing and it's lifting and relaxing. But when you do your squeezes, it's a very unintentional lift, lift, lift, lift lifts hold. Yeah. oh yes So within a class, you could have someone who needs to strengthen their pelvic floor. You could have someone who has a high tone, hypertonic pelvic floor and they actually shouldn't be lifting and holding too much. They need to focus on letting and go. and And the same postnatally, some people will need to,
Speaker: to get their pelvic floor to relax before they can then strengthen it. So that's where the physio is really important. Yeah. Yeah. And actually getting examined. And that's exactly what that was, what someone had taught me. They were like, it depends on what's going on with your pelvic floor. And you need to be examined to know what that is. So you know what the correct exercises are. but what i But back to the connection breath, because we I do really want to talk about the pelvic floor. and With the connection breath, what's really interesting about putting this in place during a pregnancy class is, it like you said, it lends to postpartum. in relation to how to breathe through training, but also as a woman lifting heavy weights, I like in the early days, I was trained by men, you know, I learned how to lift heavy weights by men and I was taught to brace and to hold my breath coming up out of a squat, to hold my breath, doing a deadlift rather than exhale.
Speaker: And, um, I think that also didn't help with my pelvic floor issues of the, of not being able to run with without wetting myself, you know, but, um, that if you learn that in pregnancy, you're carrying it through your postpartum journey and just your strength training journey journey into the future how to lift correctly as a woman.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. And look, like we'll do the connection breath and we'll exhale on exertion throughout the early postpartum days. And we do have to build back to then, you know, being able to breath hold a little bit, to be able to brace a little bit, but to play around with different breathing strategies that suit the individual.
Speaker: And again, that's where physio can help as well. and But for most, you know, for most general population, the exhale on exertion works really well. And it might be someone who wants to go and do very, very heavy weightlifting that will really have to learn how to brace properly again. But it's probably not the way you were taught by...
Speaker: you know a male trainer or any sort of trainer in the gym that's not um experienced with postnatal concerns is bracing for anyone who doesn't sorry i'm going to explain for anyone one who doesn't understand bracing um is you know with heavy lifts when you're kind of you're pushing like you know you might have a weight lifting belt on you're pushing your you're you're tummy out against the weightlifting belt, you're holding your breath and you're like really kind of pushing down to get as much and momentum, but energy as you can at strength and Do you, it like, is I thought that bracing is not recommended for women, unless obviously you're going into a weightlifting competition or into like powerlifting competition.
Speaker: and So most of us don't need it because you're not lifting a weight that that's that you really, really need to brace for. it But some people will have to learn to do it again. But instead of bracing and pushing out and everything going down, you need to learn how to to brace, but to be able to lift up.
Speaker: Yeah. And that's counterintuitive, isn't it? Yeah. Like that's, that doesn't, I, like I find that hard. Like that goes against what I want to do when I'm bracing. I want to go like, you know, and just like push down and with my core, like really just, yeah, push down and out like with my core rather than like sucking it in and not sucking it in, but, you know, bracing and and bringing it up. and Yeah, that's there's just so much that's really not taught properly, isn't it isn't there?
Speaker: Yeah. And again, like it there's no kind of do's and don'ts and one size fits all. it's It's very individual. And like you're dealing with women who've had, you know, a different type of birth and they have a different type of recovery. And then there's someone had a C-section. And then sometimes like C-section recovery might be easier than someone's had a vaginal delivery. So It depends on what they're going through and how long their process is.
Speaker: And and there someone who's symptomatic postpartum, someone's not symptomatic postpartum. Like there's just within a class, I'll have a lot of different people with different needs. Yeah. And I'll be checking in with them on an individual basis. And I might like, look for you, I just want you to try this instead. And then if that feels OK, we'll try this. So you're trying to kind of push them on a little bit within what they're able for.
Speaker: Yeah. i think sometimes postpartum can feel it it feels like such a kind of anti-climax after you know training through pregnancy doesn't it like you know that feels so strong and empowered right you know and I've seen women train like all the way up to giving birth and you know and then just knowing what it feels like to be postpartum myself as well it can just you you like you have to take such a massive of in inverted commas step back and that can be quite a a shock for women can't it yeah
Speaker: Yeah, like you'll have two types of women in pregnancy. You'll have women that feel like they're vulnerable, really vulnerable, and they're more afraid to train in pregnancy. And then they think they'll be fine, you know, just go straight into it postpartum. And then you'll have women who are very much like, I can do whatever I want. I can keep training in pregnancy. And then they're like, I need to respect my body now postpartum and rebuild properly to get back to that. and And I think like,
Speaker: For me, I suppose I look at it as a cycle, like there's different cycles through training and you're training through pregnancy to keep fit and healthy. But with my training, also we're preparing for birth with our mobility.
Speaker: yeah and So I have huge focus on that. And then you're coming to this point of like early postpartum and rebuilding back out of it. So you know the way when you train to a certain point, you're like what else am I training for? Whereas it brings you back and it makes you focus on these things that you wouldn't have time to focus on.
Speaker: you know normally the mobility the breathing the deep core work like you just wouldn't do that when you're like flying out to the gym at six o'clock you know Monday to Friday normally whereas this it's like this rebuild and that like for six to eight weeks can like be a really good time for all of that um because like I suppose I've done that twice with two babies close together Yeah. You know, you've gone through this postpartum recovery rebuild back to run. And I was only back run and say in November, and then I was pregnant again in January and back through that cycle and out doing the return to run and the second year I'm back into it again.
Speaker: And then you're just moving on from there. But like I was talking to a girl this week, she had a bit of a back injury set, a setback. And i was like, it's just like postpartum. It's just, you know, you need to respect that recover, rebuild, do a rehab, and you'll be back into the other side building up afterwards. Yeah.
Speaker: It's a mindset thing, isn't it? It's about just realizing that there's no quick, it's the same with like fat loss. Like, you know, someone wants to lose weight. There's no quick, there there are quick fixes, but they won't, you can't keep them. You know, there's no quick way to do anything that's worth doing and it it takes time and you have to. approach it with the goal of like okay yeah this is like me training for a 10k or this is like me training for um whatever type of competition you're going doing or just this is like me training you know to progress progressively get stronger but i just have this this is just a slightly different goal for now and it will be the other goals again
Speaker: Yeah. And like when you know that every day and every week that you show up, you're just building and building those foundations. And because I know like when you when when I meet moms in the first you know couple of weeks when they start classes, I'm saying to them, like, you know, if you'd show up and do these little bits, it's nothing hard. Just do these little bits.
Speaker: In six weeks time, you are going to feel so much better. And then in 12 weeks time, you're nearly going to feel back to normal. And then you're just going to push your on from there. And it's just, you know, instead of looking all the way down the line, which feels a little bit overwhelming, it's like just take it a week at a time. But especially when you have a structure to follow, you're just taking those boxes and you're just building on that every week.
Speaker: Yeah. And no, I think it like for me, it really helps like to kind of know the path a little bit, doesn't it? Like to know, I think it's so important to kind of know, have your vision in front of you, what you're actually working towards so when it feels kind of pointless or it feels like an effort or feels like oh I'm not doing anything here you know that you are because it's one step in in the direction that you're going in and you can kind of focus on that vision of of you feeling strong again yeah so do people start with you postpartum as after the six-week check-up like is that
Speaker: Yeah. So if I've had someone through pregnancy, they tend to be ready to kind of join quickly because they're already in the mindset. They know me, they know what we're doing. And I also set my pregnancy clients up with a postpartum pack.
Speaker: So like guidance around even being in the hospital, you know, tips about looking after your hydration, avoiding constipation. Like this is all part of your recovery. So like, you know, I'm kind of saying him, get your husband to bring your raspberries in, make sure you're drinking water, get your fiber, make sure you're able to go to the toilet. and You know, all that sort of get up out the bed if you can, fill your water bottle, just those short walks through the true of the day when you're in there.
Speaker: That can be a big help. And then they, so they have information around that. And then within the first week, they can start with simple movements that would, you know, like if you wait six weeks and you're feeding on the couch and you're sitting a lot during the day, you're, you start to become hunched over. You, I'll always have people back pain, coccyx pain, shoulder pain, neck pain.
Speaker: And it's all just from being, inactive, but also winding a baby 24 hours a day. So they have simple movements like sitting on the couch, you fed your baby, put them down and start doing your shoulder rolls and some connection breaths and some like, you know, head turns, ankle rotations. So within the first week, they're doing a little bit of that.
Speaker: Then they might move to the floor and they start doing some, you know, lying on the floor, heel sides. It's the stuff that you will get on the piece of paper from the physio. But nobody ever does it because they don't really know how to do it. And they've nobody there to support them.
Speaker: Do you get the physio on a piece of paper nowadays? Because you didn't. In the hospital. Yeah. They'd usually hand you a piece of paper and it'll show you some like little pelvic tilts and some heel slides. But like most people have never come across that before. So they're like, what?
Speaker: What is that? Yeah. and Whereas mine for by girls, I have they have little video. It's five minutes long. And I say to them, five minutes, you can you can do that every day. And if you happen, the baby allows, do the video twice. That's 10 minutes of breathing and core connection in the first six to eight weeks. That can make a huge difference to your recovery from where you go then after six week mark.
Speaker: But if someone has never trained with me before, They might come at six weeks. and And usually when they sign up, I'll send them a few little videos to follow along just to set them up. And then, but it could be, they could be three months or six months postpartum before they eventually get around to it, you know, to signing up. So and yeah, everybody could be at a different point, but like you could be six weeks postpartum with six weeks of this early recovery done and feel a lot better than someone at six months postpartum who hasn't done any of that yet.
Speaker: Yeah, you know, that makes so much sense. I'm just thinking about like you saying those like videos of the little pack that you that you give to your your pregnancy clients when they finish up. Like, i would have loved to have had something like that. Like, it you know, just to. And you know, what like not even for the health and fitness side of it, like.
Speaker: ah Like you feel so disconnected from yourself and your body after you have a baby. And everyone thinks, oh, it's such a magical time. But for a lot of women, it's a really, really traumatic time as well. And, you know, you've got this baby, you're not getting any sleep. You love the baby so much. But at the same time, you're emotionally and hormonally not feeling great.
Speaker: And... Like just having that little bit of time to connect with yourself. Yeah. And I think the, originally it was like do nothing for six weeks. Now I've been doing this with my clients for years.
Speaker: You know, I was like, here's some movements you can do. Focus on what you can rather than what you can't. And like, I'd say to them, all these movements are easier than you getting off the couch with your baby in your arms, which you have to do multiple times a day. They're easier than walking up the stairs, getting in and out of the car, carrying the car seat. Yeah.
Speaker: So in those six weeks, your baby is going to be so much heavier at the end of it And you're still twisting and turning, putting car seats into the car, lifting prams in and out because you're on your own. So these movements will support that.
Speaker: and And there's a lot more coming out now about the benefits of some movement in the first six weeks, particularly for your mental health, but also for your pelvic health and your core recovery.
Speaker: Are these exercises suitable for someone who's had a section or is that different? Um, yes, they are, but it depends, right? So if you've had a section and you're recovering normally, but there's women that end up with like their, their scar doesn't heal properly, their wound reopened. So it's the same with an episiotomy. Someone else might not be able to do that because their recovery isn't as straightforward, but I've gone through like C-section and a vaginal birth with a a significant tear.
Speaker: And on both of them within days, I was doing my, my breathing on the couch. Yeah, because it's breathing. on Yeah, exactly. You're not going to hit ups like or planks. And breath like what I would have noticed in saying a cat cow kind of movement and in the C-section, you're only moving within the range that your body allows because obviously you don't want to be pulling on anything. So it's all like just moving within a range. And then over time, then you can move more. But by seven weeks, if you have had a C-section,
Speaker: Obviously you go, you get your pelvic health physio assessment. You still check your pelvic floor, but they'll check all your tummy muscles for any tension and looking at your scar. And like your scar can be worked on at seven weeks postpartum.
Speaker: You know, so the physio will be rub, you know, will rub your scar and show you how to do scar mobilization. Yeah. And I could see it Yeah. And again, that's, that's only if it's, if it's well healed, it won't be touched if it's not well healed.
Speaker: Well, that's really important as well. So I think C-section moms think they don't need any of this, but that can be linked to pain and discomfort, how you move up. Like if you're back running, you might suffer with some hip pain and that can be linked to adhesions in your scar.
Speaker: So that mobilization is really important and for your function, your overall function and movement. Yeah. Yeah, no, and that, I think that's just so empowering to know because I think C-section mums can sometimes, they feel really hard done by, they can feel like their bodies let them down. They can feel very much like, you know, like you can't drive, you're not supposed to lift things, you know, and it can be a really difficult time, obviously a really painful time for the first few days. And, you know, it gets, gets easier as the days go by, but just a really, I just think it's really empowering to know there are a few little things that you can do for you. And I just, think that like not only physically are you doing so much for yourself but just I think just emotionally and just actually caring for yourself a little bit because we tend to forget to care for ourselves and because it's so overwhelming those are those early weeks so someone one starts right if you if you're starting a a postnatal class and you have someone who's been with you in pregnancy and and they're starting at six weeks you have someone brand new who's starting at six weeks you have someone else brand new who's starting at six months do they all start with similar enough Yeah, if they will. And I'll go around individually and check how they're doing their movement, how they're doing their breathing. But someone who I can see is doing really well and really good control, I might then extend them a little bit in, say, a particular core exercise and or give them a few extra reps on something.
Speaker: Or, you know, within the class, because I have a class and then they also have a home program, I'll be asking them, well, what weight are you squatting at all? OK, let's try a little bit heavier here in class and see how you're getting on with that. And someone who starts with me, say nine weeks post C-section, I might keep them body weight squats for the first week or two compared to someone else who's further on, you know, so it's just taking an individual as well. And also their training history. Someone could be a complete beginner. They've never actually exercised before.
Speaker: And now they've they've decided it's the time to get into it. And someone has been training all through their pregnancy. So it's, yeah, be bit individual. But for everyone, you start body weight first, get used to the breathing and then get moving. and Because you're going to be sit stiff and, you know, stiff and sore after your first session regardless, because you've had six weeks of not doing any squats.
Speaker: Or, you know, like you'll have DOMS after body weight squats after your first class. And I think it probably it's important to remember anyone who's who's listening is thinking of of, you know, taking the step of of, you know, of joining a class or, you know, getting moving again. And it doesn't really matter your starting point once you start and you stay consistent and you'll get to where you need to be eventually.
Speaker: Yeah. And I think that that little bit of support and just having a guideline really, really helps, you know, because you you'll have people who maybe, you know, look on YouTube and look up a few random workouts and do it, you know, do it for the first week and then do nothing for three weeks and then they dip into it again and they just get fed up of it then. So I think when you have something to follow along that's progressive and you start to feel and see results, then that's really motivating for people as well.
Speaker: Yeah. No, like, yeah, 100%. What about the ladies like myself, right, that are, you know, in their 40s or even ladies in their 50s, 60s or whatever, who, do you know, didn't didn't have didn't maybe have that available to them, ah didn't do any of this postnatal stuff and it is into health and fitness now, but are suffering with pelvic issues, pelvic health issues in relation to like, you know, like I said, like, you know, incontinence or whatever, you know, and that can, that can and be exaggerated and as you kind of hit perimenopause and menopause. And I know that's not your area of specialty. So I'm not, I'm not asking you to kind of of to give kind of menopause specific advice, but just as someone who works with women so soon after birth,
Speaker: And, you know, and up until they they kind of get back to to general fitness. but What about the ladies who are starting their fitness journey that never had that? Is there exercises that you would recommend that they include in their their training routine, whether their warm up, their cool down, their core exercise section of their workout that every woman should really be doing until they build up that that strength that they might have skipped?
Speaker: I think they'd be worth seeing a pelvic health physio, you know, guest learn how to do their pelvic floor exercises. So they will need to do them, yeah you know, if they're having symptoms of leaking. And so definitely pelvic health physio and then the pelvic health physio will give them specific exercises to do.
Speaker: So in their warmups, you know, they can still go and train and do what they were doing and enjoying. But yeah, if they want to get the best out out of it and not to be symptomatic, definitely seeing a pelvic health physio. Um,
Speaker: you know sometimes women need support of something like a pessary and so the physios is just a completely different thing so they're going to be so individual to the person and because you'll have people that may be having continence and they need internal support to to reduce the symptoms so it's not that it's ever like completely fixed but they can reduce the symptoms yeah and i think it's just really important for women to know that there's always a solution as well and if things are really bad it's not something that you just have to accept oh i'm getting older now i'm 50 now i'm 60 now you know go to the pelvic health physio like i i went to a fantastic um pelvic health physio in braille and um like there's different pelvic health physios around the country they're hard to get into get your name down like this is your sign make the phone call get your name down and and see the physio um
Speaker: because they went like yeah she examined me she was like oh you know this is what you need to do and gave me exercises and gave me the she recommended the squeezy app have you heard of the squeezy app yeah yeah yeah and which is the nhs one isn't it yeah and it just gives you the reminders and a bit of a like a you know that can watch the video and or not the video the little symbol and it helps you kind of head tells you when to squeeze tells you when to let go it does the slow ones it does the fast ones but it takes like two minutes or something and so you can do it while you're making your morning cup of coffee or whatever you know or while you're waiting for the kettle to boil so like to kind of habit stack it with with something that you're already doing um so yeah no I thought that I actually responded really well to this which I know says a lot about me but it was I'm like you know anything that helps I think um she was also saying that there is this pelvic health or it's like this pelvic floor
Speaker: device that you can get, that you put inside your vagina. And it's it's a game, like it's an app and like you you squeeze like to play the the game.
Speaker: I was like, oh, my God, amazing the things people create, like was look and whatever works for people, you know, I can't even remember the name of it to recommend it. But and yeah, just am in relation to everything we've talked about with pregnancy fitness, postnatal fitness, fitness in general as females and as mothers, be hard fit it in.
Speaker: It can be hard to get you all in. That's it. Like, you everyone's like, this is great information. Where the fuck do I put it in my life? And look, there's no, like, I can talk from my perspective of being a mom of three, running a business, doing the move from teaching, having two jobs, building the business, still, you know, trying to manage my kids. My kids are... 16, 13 and 8 now. So life's a little bit easier in that sense. They're in school. The older ones don't want to out with me anymore anyway. I just more policing them.
Speaker: So I have a little bit more headspace. and But you're right in the trenches there. You've got two very small kids. You're teaching. You have two jobs. You're running a business and you're teaching. So have three jobs and you're a mum of two small kids.
Speaker: How do you do it? ah Well, it's harder now than when I was on maternity leave. So i'll just put that out there because I think a lot of people think, oh, maternity leave and newborn and I don't have time. But actually, life just gets much busier. and So for me at the minute, when I'm in school, the two days a week or three days a week, I have a child minder, which I'm very lucky to have. So that's my window between school and collecting the kids. That's my gym time.
Speaker: And before they were in the minders, it was all at home. um the odd time if my partner got home from work on time I might get out in the evening to a class I didn't really like going to like you know an open gym at five or six o'clock but if I could sign into a class in a local strength and conditioning gym I'd go to a class once a week um so yeah I get to the gym twice maybe three times or as a home workout and I try and get out for a run maybe a park run And i I'd often come home and see Stephen's only in the door. I'm like, will you get the running buggy? We'll go for a walk and maybe a run. Throw the two of them in. And the only problem with that is they kill each other.
Speaker: So well and well, now they're three and a half and just should be two in October. Yeah. So they're kind of getting on a little bit better. But when we started with the running buggy, I got it literally because I was like, if you bring the two of them, we can go together because we ought me and Stephen used to run together. And I was never a big runner, but we'd run a 5k or 4k before we had kids.
Speaker: So kind of missed that. So I was like, if I got a running buggy, he can push them. He's a good runner. He's no bother to him. And I'd struggle along beside the three of them. but at first we'd get 2k in and he'd be pulling her duty out of her mouth and throwing her teddy on the ground. And I just keep running and I'd look back and Steven was losing his marbles. Um,
Speaker: But yeah, like things like that, just get out for family walks as well or get out for a run with the buggy. Like it's just never perfect though. That's the the thing to highlight. That's the key, isn't it? It's just letting go of perfection that like you don't have to, it doesn't, you don't have to have a perfect workout routine just because you can't run exactly the way you used to before you have kids doesn't mean that you can't, go out and try just because it's not as peaceful as it was before. you Like they're only small for a ah small period of time anyway to ah to include the family as much as possible. But another point that you made that i love here is that you have your childminder, you're paying your childminder anyway.
Speaker: And that you take that time for you when you can and you go to the gym after work. And I know, look, I know as a teacher, you finish a little bit earlier than someone who works corporate or whoever might have to work till five or six. But you you do take that time. And I like i know what it's like to be a teacher. you're fucking exhausted by the end, by three o'clock anyway. But there are a lot of women who would feel guilty doing that. And I think that's the that's what we need to start releasing and letting go. that you're not being selfish by taking that hour to go to the gym for yourself likewise I know a lot of women feel guilty about going out to a gym class at like 6 or 7 p.m or 8 p.m you know it's bedtime it's bad time it's dinner times or whatever don't have to be out every night but if you have your two nights or whatever a week that's I it's just sacredly protecting that time is so important I think And when you start to feel that guilt creeping in, acknowledge it, don't judge it, but then you need to release it and you you need to do it anyway. and
Speaker: And then the home workouts as well the that is the other thing. Again, that's kind of like the run with the double buggy. It's not going to be perfect at home workout when you've got kids. But like when i when my older two were little, I used to home workouts and I'd be on the kitchen floor and they'd be climbing all over me and they'd They want to be joining in, but it's so powerful, like, because now my kids are teenagers and they think it's normal to be into sports and to be fit, go to the gym. I go to the gym is like going to work. You know what I mean?
Speaker: They don't understand that going to the gym is not a normal thing for people. You know mean? Or that exercising isn't normal for some people. They just presume that exercising is like brushing your teeth and eating, know? Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. And like my postpartum with both of them, everything was at home on the floor in the living room. And it's kind of like, I suppose with my mam's as well that I'm working with, it's like leave the weights in the living room in the corner. They're there. Don't put them in the press under the stairs where they're hard to get at. Leave them in your eyesight.
Speaker: Get up in the morning. Do it in your pajamas. Yeah. So, you know, it's easy when you first baby. Then you might have a crash drop off. But like that habit stack, drop the child to the crash, go back, do your workout in the morning with the baby at home.
Speaker: if that's the time that suits you. So for me, I just found when my baby was around like six to eight weeks, they actually started to really take in the gym, you know, the baby gym.
Speaker: So I used to get like 15 minutes off the baby on the floor. Yeah. And then. It's really in time, isn't it? When they're entertained by things. You're like, yeah. So like, you know, and the first few weeks of trying to get those early exercises in, you'd have to stop and breastfeed on the couch and then you get up and do another bit. And, you know, that's not ideal, but.
Speaker: I suppose I had a C-section. I wanted to have another baby. I wanted to build the foundations to be strong for another pregnancy. So I had a ah deep why. Yeah. And after my second baby, I had a, I was very lucky to have a VBAC, but I did have a tear and it was quite a significant tear. And being working where in the area that I work and working with physios over the last nearly 10 years, I know how significance that could have been for my pelvic health. So that was my why get up and lie down on the floor and do my 10 minutes of exercise. Like I did have a bit of incontinence after my second baby in the first eight weeks. It was more urge incontinence, you know, where you, you know, you have to go to the loo, but by the time you get to the top of the stairs, like you completely wet yourself.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. You know, and like, that's kind of what I was, I was noticing. So I just had to work on it and I wanted to get back running and ah lucky enough by 12 weeks, the symptoms had improved, but like, it doesn't mean you stopped working on it. and i'm Not luckily enough if you had put the work in, not just luckily enough, as in you, like you didn't sit there hoping you, you were doing all those early exercises. Yeah. And that's the thing. Like I've, you know, if you play football or you play sports and you have it a bad ankle sprain or you do your ACL, you go to physio.
Speaker: And if you do your physio every day, when you go back in two weeks time, your exercises will be extended and you do it again and you build and you get back to your sport.
Speaker: And it's the same postpartum. If you do nothing, it nothing changes. So all those little bits will add up over time. And I suppose maybe it's the sports background for me that kind of gave me the motivation to do it. But like that, you're not motivated every day. I just wasn't bouncing down the stairs to do my rehab. Like I just knew that I don't want to be leaking and having issues when I'm in my 50s and 60s. And it's a different kind of hard, isn't it? Like, you know, physio exercises or postpartum exercises, they're tedious, annoying exercises that you feel like you're not doing anything. It's boring.
Speaker: And you're like, oh, what like, gosh I'll just skip it. What, like, what difference is it going to make? That's the hard there. But then like, it's the workouts of like you training for 10K or a marathon or, you know, like lifting heavy weights or do doing it an intense workout is hard in a different way. And so you have to just focus on like, this is what's,
Speaker: Yeah, like you you want to do that the really, you want to get back football train and you want to do whatever, you know, and you want to get a sweat on, you want it like, and you enjoy that kind of hard because of the Adortons.
Speaker: But you have to do this hard, which is actually not hard compared to the workouts that you get back to when you think a about it. And I think it's, it you're probably right. I'd say it's your sports background. that gives you that physio mindset to to be like, respect the physio exercises, respect those early days, the rehab, the, and the being patient because you've lived it and you've seen how you were you rehab back to, to high performance. Yeah.
Speaker: But like a lot of women don't, I don't think get understand. They haven't experienced that, you know, I mean, one of them, I wouldn't have experienced. I'm like, I just want to, i just want to look good again. And I just want to be fit and healthy and, You know, that's in the early days. And and I just felt really frustrated.
Speaker: But really, like if someone had been like, look but this is the path, like but you do, which I just think is so amazing to be able to be like, this is the path. Just follow it. It's not hard at first. It's just creating a little bit of time. But I think this or these early exercises, giving people that little bit of self care. Yeah. in those are like learning how to care for yourself from week one, week two of of your baby being born leads to you then being like, I deserve the time to go to the gym.
Speaker: Yeah. And like that, I was talking to a client this week. was like, look at your daughter. Like when she's a mother, you will want to help her. you will want her to have support to be fit and healthy.
Speaker: You won't want her putting herself at the bottom of the list all the time. Yeah. Or if you have a son, you'll want him to offer his partner support. Yeah. In these days. So like why we always kind of put ourselves at the very bottom of the list.
Speaker: And like we still kind of come at the bottom of the list, but we just shove that exercise and that self-care up to the top. And, you know, like I like that. i I posted a video the other day on Instagram, like the house is upside down. and I loved that video. I was like, yeah, that's my house. Yeah. And like, even I remember being postpartum and the clothes horse was there and all the clothes needed to be put away. And i was like, well, like if I do 20 minutes of this workout, I can tip away at the clothes between feeds, between lunch, between a walk, and that'll get done throughout the day.
Speaker: you can't just tip away at a workout. You get that done in 20 minutes, get it out of the way. And then, you know, potter around at all those bits and pieces that you want to get done. Yeah. no Yeah. And it's funny, like I always remember my, i think it was my dad that said, it was my dad that said it to me when like my kids were really small i was stressed about like to go the state of the house and and and like, oh, there's toys everywhere. all And he was like, they're only little for a short period of time. Like you'll have the rest of your life to have the perfect house. Like, you know,
Speaker: just just Just embrace the chaos. like My parents come would come and be like, oh my God, the chaos, they find it hilarious. like They would have found it hilarious and thought it was so great. like you know and Toys everywhere, kids everywhere. like you know And it does go so fast. like There's very few toys lying around my house anymore, even though my youngest is eight. She's like, you know, it's tough. Let's put these young. The other two are past toys, you know what I mean? So it's just it's funny how quick it goes by. And I am what you're saying about, like, you know, if you have a daughter and how you want her to to approach. motherhood herself and you know like life herself I feel very much at that stage like I have two boys and I have a girl so have 16 year old boy eight year old boy and then have a 13 year old girl in the middle and I for all the mum guilt I had in relation to building a business in relation to you know making time for myself I'm so glad I did that now because I think you know teenagers in particular they don't do what you tell them But they subconsciously are doing things that they've taken in over the years. And if your daughter has seen you put herself first or has seen you give yourself a little bit of time, stand up for yourself, you know, prioritize health.
Speaker: she'll do the same, you know? And if you've got like, and I'm a 16 year old son and and he has a girlfriend now and I'm like, he won't tell me anything about her. She's like, you better not listen to this. He'll kill me. he He will definitely not be listening to this. But you know what I mean? Like, and i and I'd be like, he'll tell me nothing about her, but I have to, I have to be like, I'm like, you know, and now you need to walk her home. and you know, and then I'm like, it and I was so, I was like, I had to remind myself, he's he knows how to, how,
Speaker: to treat a woman. He knows he's he's he's grown up with me and with his dad and he knows this. And I think we forget how much power we have over what we what we how we show up for ourselves and for our families and and how much of that really, and yeah, it makes a difference to our kids a hell of a lot more than we think.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, like my little ones would be like, Mammy, are you going for a run? You know, they see you putting on your runs. No, I'm not going for run. But like they expect that you are or I'd be going out to the gym. I teach the pregnancy class on a Tuesday evening.
Speaker: And the little fella would be like, you going out to coach the girls? Yeah, yeah it's lovely. Like, and they just it's just so normal to them, you know, and doing the home workouts and seeing you do home workouts when you're there or going to the gym. And it's it's it's so good. It's it's the best thing that you can do for them. um And I suppose in relation to saying that, I also just want to say that anyone who is listening feels like they haven't done that.
Speaker: It's not easy either. So, you know, it doesn't matter how, that like my I wasn't always into health and fitness. doesn't matter how the past has gone. Just make a decision today for yourself to be like, I'm going to give myself that little bit of time in the day for me.
Speaker: for my kids so they can see me prioritizing me in whatever way that means for you. I think it doesn't matter how we've lived our lives up until now. It's what we do now, I think, is most important. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: And it doesn't have to be like five days a week. You know, like, gone are the days I was in the gym, three, four days a week, floating around for two hours, going football training twice a week, park runs at the weekend. You know... Lorna, you'll get it back someday, I promise. don't know. I don't know. mean... The deal's never-ending now. Yeah. Um, but no, like, I think like, you know, I suppose people think, of if I can only do it once a week, what's the point?
Speaker: But even that once a week can make a big difference. And then you can just build on that and you might get a shorter workout like two other times a week, but like every little bit adds up. Yeah, definitely. And I think it adds up into building the identity, building your identity of who you are and who you want to be. Whether that is once a week, it doesn't matter. If you're someone who goes to the gym once a week, you're someone who goes to the gym. If you're someone who does a workout once a week, you're someone who works out.
Speaker: And think that's just, yeah. And you build from there. And if that's all you can manage for now, that then that's amazing. It's amazing. if If life is really, you know, really, really busy and tough, that's amazing. And then you'll want to do more. That's the thing, isn't it? Like the more, like people often think that motivation You have to wait for motivation to do something, whereas motivation comes after action.
Speaker: So you just take action. And then as you do do things, it makes you want to do more of them because you're like, yeah, it feels good. I feel I kept my agreement to myself and i want to do it again.
Speaker: Yeah. And you just start building habits and then it becomes like automatic. Yeah. You know, or you're just thinking about it, planning ahead. When are you going to fit something in throughout the week?
Speaker: It gives so much clarity as well, doesn't it? And patience, like patience. Oh my God, the difference in my mood and my patience when I get some form of exercise in, like with my kids and just with, like with the heavy workload of managing everything. It makes so, like just taking those 20 minutes, half an hour, whatever it is, just...
Speaker: makes your day so much easier and you being able to actually cope with whatever it is that's been thrown way that day yeah yeah Lorna this has been an amazing an amazing conversation and I've really enjoyed it and thank you so much for sharing all your expertise and so I know as well as your classes in Dublin I'll let you talk about them now and where where they happen and and where people can find you online because you also do offer for anyone who doesn't live near you you have online coaching available as well and for pregnancy and postnatal. but I'll let you talk about it now, but just tell everyone what where they can find you and and what there is that they can sign up to.
Speaker: Yeah, so I'm based, my classes are based in Dublin 11. So over the years, though, I've had clients travel from all over, it like I have girls coming out from Drogheda, Donabate, Ashburn, Castledoc, so all around that area and for pregnancy and postnatal. And then all of my classes,
Speaker: classes include the the hybrid side of the coaching so they have their home program their group check-ins and they're part of a community so whether you're pregnant or postpartum so um like that we're talking about motivation and habits it's so much easier when you're doing it with other people yeah and so yeah you'll get me on instagram at your mama strength um And yeah, you can DM me there or yeah, DM is probably the best, the best way to get me. But I'm always happy to chat and DMs as well. You know, if people have questions about what they're doing. and
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. Follow Lorna, reach out if you have any questions about anything we've talked about. She's so helpful, so happy to to give you advice. And and you do, that that you will have intakes for online if if people aren't close by as well.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. So you can you can reach out and ask her about that. It should be good to fill you in. Lorna, thank you so much. No worries. Thanks for having me. been great. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. And as always, if you enjoyed it, please do share it with your friends and your followers in your WhatsApp groups, on your stories. If you do, tag me at Kate Hamilton Health and at Kate Hamilton Business.
Speaker: And do share the episode with anyone that you think it may help. Also, if you haven't yet, please do subscribe to the podcast. This makes such a difference in growing it. These little things of sharing it with people who need it, subscribing. and And I really, really appreciate and your help and your support as I continue to grow this.
Speaker: If you are looking for support with your health and your fitness goals and you want a long term sustainable approach that is realistic and science backed, this is exactly what we do inside my Nourish Her health and fitness coaching.
Speaker: If you're looking for support while you're building your business and you want to do it in a profitable way that doesn't cost you your health and your freedom, this is exactly what I do in my Lead Her Business Mentorship. I've shared links to both in the show notes. So if you're interested, have a click, have a read, reach out to me.
Speaker: I'm happy to answer any of your questions and I hope you have a great day and I will see you on the next episode.
