Olivia’s pregnancy fitness journey.
“I feel proud of myself for maintaining a fitness routine during pregnancy and knowing that exercising during pregnancy is good for the child birth process is a huge cherry on top. ”
Prior to this year Olivia had already been through a fitness journey with me a couple years ago.
I trained Olivia online throughout lockdown and she got amazing results.
She built strength whilst training from home.
Improved her relationship with food for the long term.
And managed to stay consistent throughout the pandemic.
This was a couple years before Olivia was pregnant.
But the goals this time were very different.
There have been some amazing successes for Olivia this year during pregnancy.
An increase in energy.
Stress relief.
Before starting we had an in-depth chat about what she wanted from training in this phase and where she currently was with her fitness.
I wanted to give her peace of mind about the things that are ok to do, and the things we will avoid and why.
Avoiding –
Sports, jumping, too heavy weights, running, crunches/sit ups and barbells on her back etc.
Doing –
Strength training, lighter weights throughout trimesters, yoga, walking, cycling or swimming.
It’s very easy to let the fear of getting it wrong stop you from doing anything at all.
Especially whilst pregnant.
But not doing anything is also detrimental.
The NHS says -
"The more active and fit you are during pregnancy, the easier it will be for you to adapt to your changing shape and weight gain. It will also help you to cope with labour."
I expressed to Olivia the benefits of training during pregnancy, not just for herself but also the baby.
- Hormone regulation.
- Improving sleep.
- Maintaining a good posture (reduction in lower back pain).
- Reducing constipation which can be a challenge in pregnancy.
- Improving the baby’s intelligence and cognition.
- Help towards the baby being born at expected weight.
- Making you stronger physically to carry the baby before and after birth.
The great thing about helping Olivia this year is that she’s noticed how much she loves fitness in and of itself.
And how having energy, mobility and strength is so important for day-to-day life.
Without thinking about a calorie deficit.
Without before and after pictures.
Whilst understanding that sometimes your energy is going to be lower, and you may feel less motivated in later months of pregnancy. But this doesn’t take away how exercise makes you feel.
“We don’t let what we can’t do, stop us from doing what we can.”
If I can get you to feel the benefit of feeling stronger and more energised like Olivia, that’s all the motivation you need to stay fit and active.
And the beautiful thing about that is that it takes care of the body confidence and weight loss you want.
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