How to be your healthiest self prior to getting pregnant The decision to get pregnant is a big one. One of the biggest an individual and a couple face. So much goes into the decision â are you ready as a couple? Are you ready as an individual? Is the timing appropriate with your chosen career path? Are your finances in order? And, is your health optimal for getting pregnant and growing a baby? The following are some tips to …
Why aren’t sit-ups safe after birth?
Iâm going to start by saying that the Fitness Industry, like many other industries, is an ever-changing one. Itâs full of trends. Exercises come in and out of fashion, research is done to prove exercises safe or unsafe, and as Fitness Professionals, we listen and make changes to our program content accordingly. Sit-ups, or any variation of this movement where you go into forward flexion ie: when lying on your back, you bring your torso towards your knees to work …
When Can I Return to High Impact Exercise After Birth?
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question, and Iâm going to use ârunningâ as an example of high-impact exercise in this article. Weâll start with a hormone called relaxin which is released into your system in the early stages of your pregnancy. Relaxin relaxes your muscles/joints/ligaments to help prepare your pelvis for childbirth. BUT, relaxin doesnât just affect your pelvis, it affects every joint in your body, AND, it stays in your system for up to six months …
Julia O’s Birth Story: Welcome, Elizabeth!
Julia Oâs Birth Story: Elizabeth Rebecca Orme was born Saturday, July 23 at 10:30 a.m.  I canât thank you enough for helping me prepare for labor, and hereâs why. At 4:30 a.m. on my due date, I started bleeding lightly and shortly thereafter having contractions 8 minutes apart for an hour. Throughout that day, I bled consistently and had contractions varying from 5 to 45 minutes apart, and they were painful! My husband, meanwhile, was sick and also in a lot of …
How to Exercise in Third Trimester
Your pregnancy is progressing nicely now; you keep checking off those milestones!  You may be seeing your provider more frequently if youâre nearing the finish line and your body is adjusting well to some pretty amazing anatomical, physiological and hormonal changes. No doubt, youâve had to slow things down a bit, but youâre probably fairly impressed with your fitness levels, all things considered, if youâre exercising. Itâs truly remarkable! Below are a couple of things to consider when exercising …
How To Exercise in the First Trimester
TOP 5 TIPS FOR EXERCISING IN THE FIRST TRIMESTER Youâll be pleased to know there are very few exercises that you canât continue doing in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.  Although you may struggle with fatigue and nausea, if you do no exercise for the first trimester, youâll probably feel more tired, your fitness level will drop and chances are…youâll feel sluggish and uncomfortable. So, why not go for a walk? Get outside for just a few minutes and …
Safe Core Exercise in Pregnancy
This can be so confusing! Â Sit-ups? Â Crunches? Â Leg-lifts? Planks? Â If you are pregnant, hopefully you are no longer performing traditional abdominal exercises such as crunches or sit-ups. Â If you have been, that’s okay…but this might be a great time to transition to more beneficial, safer core exercises. Â I will explain more about why and how to do so safely in this article. Traditional abdominal exercises such as sit-ups (as well as others), activate the rectus abdominis, the top layer of …
Diaphragmatic Breathing in Pregnancy & Postpartum
“Damn it! What?!” I exclaimed, exasperated as my little one called for me for what felt like the 80th time in five minutes. I again went to his side imploring, “I am right here, Honey, I’m just trying to cook dinner and I need to write a blog post about deep breathing tonight!” I immediately started laughing at the irony of the situation. What I really needed was to take a time out for breathing myself! The laughter worked wonders …
Reasons Why You Can’t Lose Your Mummy Tummy–Part II
Ok, so this is part two of a three part series of articles concerning your âmummy tummyâ. Recently, I discussed how new moms often feel a bulge or layer of fat around their mid-section, and no matter what they do, they canât shift it! Thatâs the pillow-like feeling I referred toâand it can be a bit of a surprise postpartum. So, letâs talk about diet and itâs impact on recovery and the mummy tummy! Diet and nutrition work in tandem …
How do I lose my Mummy Tummy?
 PART I How are you feeling about your postpartum belly? Personally, Iâve always been conflicted. Physically, mine felt like a pillow for quite some time and I even remember resting my arm on it while I nursed my newborn son!  What an odd feeling that was!  A belly that had been full and taught for so many months was now loose, overstretched, weakened and distractingly present. I had a sudden desire to obliterate this leftover pillow. Ironic, seeing as it …