Blog

Giving talks and sharing knowledge

Over the past few months, I had the privilege of giving talks to 3 different groups of Mommies (and Daddies!). I spoke about Postnatal Fitness at 2 different baby bash/gathering and Prenatal Fitness (“Promoting a Pain-free Pregnancy”) at a pregnancy event.

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Being a Personal Trainer is about relationship-building with our clients, planning personalized workouts and providing nutritional coaching for our clients. It is also about sharing knowledge about health and wellness with them. Through these talks, I am happy to receive feedback that the information and simple exercises that I have shared are useful to our new parents(-to-be).

Having gone through 2 pregnancies myself and getting back my fitness after delivery, I can relate to the challenges these new mothers face. Seeing many smiles and nods from both Mommies and Daddies during my talk, I knew I was able to engage my audience with stories of my own pregnancies and my journey to recovery.

If you have an event for pregnant or postnatal mothers / mommy or baby gathering and would like to have someone speak to your group about fitness, do contact me!

Oooosh! To becoming a Fit & Healthy Mommy!

#fitmamaying

Prenatal Fitness

Why Prenatal Fitness?

Some of the benefits of prenatal exercise include:

  1. maintain or increase cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and flexibility,
  2. reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, Caesarean section, back pain, anxiety, nausea, heartburn, insomnia and leg cramps.
  3. improve posture and  increase energy level ,
  4. lower incidence of excessive weight gain,
  5. decrease length of labor and delivery complications,
  6.  better and faster recovery from childbirth.

Pregnancy is a good period of time for positive health-behavior change as new Moms feel more motivated to maintain a healthy lifestyle as it would impact their unborn child.

Pregnant women, without any contraindications or high risk, can continue most exercises with appropriate modifications, with the exception of high risk exercises like contact sports, activities with high risk of falling, scuba diving, sky diving and Hot Yoga/Pilates.

It is also important to note that as we progress in the pregnancy, our center of gravity is changing, and so are our postures. During the 2nd and 3rd trimester, avoid exercising in a supine position (face up, lying on back) as the fetus will compress the vena cava, a large vein that carries blood back to the heart. Exercise in an air-conditioned or well-ventilated room and stay well-hydrated throughout the exercise session.

Swimming and walking are good exercises you can start with. Be sure to have a small snack before you begin your exercise. Not sure what to do or want to find out more? Do contact us for a complimentary trial here.

Oooosh to a fit pregnancy and a fit mama-to-be!

 

 

 

Exercise Nutrition Certified!

PN 1 combiIf you are a mom, you know how tough it is to juggle work, family, and studies!

Sneaking in time to study when the kids sleep, in between personal training/coaching sessions and my own workouts, I am proud to say that I have completed my Precision Nutrition Level 1 Course (PN1)!

Nutrition and exercise go hand in hand to promote good health and fitness. If you are looking at weight loss, nutrition plays a big part (a much bigger part than physical activity!) in the entire equation!

Equipped with this better knowledge, I hope to provide better coaching services to my clients, in both fitness and nutrition. I will also be sharing snippets of information on nutrition on my website.

Interested in Nutrition Coaching? Hit me up!

 

 

Post-Natal Fitness

Our post-natal programme focuses on the following:

  1. Stabilization and strengthening of the core (recover from Diastasis Recti!), to have stronger abdominal muscles and reduce back pain.
  2. Stabilization of the joints, especially the hip joint.
  3. Strengthening exercises for postural improvement.
  4. “Mommy and me” exercise

Do contact us for a complimentary trial where we will help you to check for diastasis recti and also teach you a sample exercise.

Can’t wait to shed your pregnancy weight? Take your time! Remember that your body took 9 months or more to gain this weight. So, be patient and please do not go on any diets. Take a look at our weight loss programme here.

Our Post-natal body

Hi New (or experienced :p) Mommies and Daddies!

Have you ever wondered what happens to a new mother’s body? There is much talk about the changes to a mother’s body during pregnancy. What about after?

After the baby is delivered, all time and energy is spent on caring for baby. Do take time to recover well from the pregnancy and delivery too.

Here, I just want to highlight some things to note about our postpartum body.

  • Loose joints

During pregnancy,  a hormone, Relaxin, is released from the placenta. To prepare for childbirth, it relaxes the ligaments in the pelvis and softens and widens the cervix. Unfortunately, Relaxin does not only target the pelvis and cervix, it affects all the joints in our body! Thus, all our joints will still be loose from 5 months up to a year post pregnancy,

Personally, I fell down many times when I returned to my first hockey training after baby #1. It could be due to the loose joints as well as deconditioned muscles. I also fell down in the bathroom while holding baby #2 in my arms. Thankfully, baby was not injured but I had a bruised knee.

Do take note not to overstretch when doing exercises!

  • Poor posture and back pain

There could be several reasons that lead to the above.

  1. Overstretched and weak abdominal walls from pregnancy, strains the back.
  2. Poor biomechanics while carrying a newborn
  3. Increased weight in breasts due to breastfeeding
  • “Baby pooch” aka Diastasis Recti

When the separation between the left and right halves of the rectus abdominus  is more than 2.7cm or about two finger widths. It may or may not results in abdominal protrusion. But it definitely indicates reduced abdominal strength.

Before your jump in on weight loss, it might be a better idea to focus on building up your core strength and improving your posture.

Oooosh!

Fitmamaying