Postnatal Personal Training Secrets: The Truth About Diets!

I was asked by a new postnatal personal training client today who wants to drop some weight: ‘Will I have to go on a diet?’ Then she added: ‘I seem to have spent most of my adult life on a diet, but the weight always goes back on…’

Which is why, IMHO, you should never go on one in the first place!

Here’s a postnatal personal training secret for you, with my compliments: Don’t Diet!

The best thing you can do to for your body shape nutritionally after having a baby (or at any time), is NOT to count calories or pick a ‘diet’, but to simply start to ‘EAT CLEAN’.

Make it a permanent change in the way you eat, not something you do or ‘go on’ for a few days or weeks.

Avoid processed foods & keep your food as close to its natural source as possible. By that I mean, if the original (natural) source of whatever you’re about to eat is un-identifiable , don’t eat it!

By the same token, if you can’t pronounce the ingredients list on the label… don’t eat the food!

White, refined grains such as white rice, white bread, & anything baked using refined flour are full of empty calories, which make you fat. They will also clog up your digestive system & may cause bloating… none of which is going to do much to lose the mummy tummy.

Switch to wholegrains for a lower GI & extra fibre, along with drinking plenty of water & herbal teas. This will help to keep your digestive system working efficiently & reduce bloating.

‘Diets’ by definition, always come to an end, & then you’re back to square one, whether they ‘worked’ or not.

I have this theory: if any of the ‘diets’ we’re told to go on actually worked, there’d only be one book. But there’s thousands. There is absolutely nothing remotely ‘magic’ about cabbage, or grapefruit, or any other wonder ingredient that we’re advised to eat exclusively for a set amount of time.

If you eat significantly fewer calories, you’ll lose weight. If you’re only eating a very limited selection of foods or food groups, you will by definition eat fewer calories (out of boredom if nothing else). The resultant weight loss doesn’t mean that a particular diet ‘worked’, it just means you ate less for a while, & lost some weight.

Diet ends… you go back to previous eating habits… the weight comes back. I’m not going to patronise anyone by listing the foods that make you fat.

This isn’t just about postnatal personal training, but about any personal training… if you’re being ‘put on a diet’, get a new trainer!

Every time you eat foods you know you shouldn’t (if you want a flat tummy that is) then you’re laying down an extra layer of fat. And every time you exercise more intensively & effectively, or eat cleaner, you’re laying the foundation for a lean, flat tummy.

Simple!

Note, I didn’t say it was easy. Simple. But not always easy.

What’s your story? What’s your ‘going on a diet’ experience? What has or hasn’t worked for you? Do you have ongoing struggles, cravings or battles with your food and drink choices? Please share your stories!

Goodbye Mummy Tummy -15-Minute Interval Training Workout For Busy Mums!

Every mum who attends one of my Mummy Tummy Masterclasses or starts postnatal personal training, says they need quick exercise solutions. None of us mums has the time (or the inclination ), to spend hours in the so–called ‘fat-burning’ zone of slow, steady cardio exercise. And what’s more it won’t get rid of your mummy tummy!

The lazy gym trainer’s mantra: ‘20 minutes on the bike, 20 minutes on the treadmill, stay in the FB zone, blah blah (while I stand here & watch MTV!)’ or run the same steady route, at the same speed week in week out – & your body simply gets used to it, you get bored,you reach a plateau of fat loss & motivation… and the mummy tummy stays put.

The good news is you don’t have to.

Interval training is the quickest, most effective way to burn the baby fat (actually, any type of fat… it really is all the same stuff!)

Here’s an example: Warm up running steady for a couple of minutes, run hard for one minute, reduce speed for two minutes, run hard for one minute, reduce speed two minutes, & then do it again, & again. That’s it – That’s intervals!

You need to keep ‘surprising’ your mummy tummy (in fact your whole mummy body) by making it work in short intensive bursts.

Here’s another variation: Start jogging gently for one minute (about 4 on a 1-10 scale of exertion, where 1 would be standing still & 10 would be as fast as you could run), increase it to level 8 for one minute, increase again to the level 9 for one minute, then run as fast as you can for up to one minute (level 10), reduce it back to 9 for one minute, reduce it again to to 8 for one minute again, reduce it to 7 for another minute. Like a pyramid with the most effort in the middle.

Go up the pyramid & down again for 10 to 12 minutes. This burns a lot of body fat & stimulates metabolism. Then you need to alternate this with resistance exercise.

You don’t need weights or equipment, the latest technology or fancy choreography. You just use ‘bodyweight’ exercises such as the ones below.

Resistance training builds muscle, & more muscle means you burn more calories & more body fat. Resistance training also keeps your metabolism high for hours after you’ve finished exercising. (So you’re still burning calories long after you got home & started making the kids’ tea!)

Here’s your first 15 minute workout to be going along with!

Warm up: run up & down the stairs a few times, do step-ups over the bottom 2-3 steps for 3 minutes, take the dog for a brisk walk or dance around manically with your kids for 5 minutes – just get your heart rate up!

Then do the pyramid described above –it doesn’t have to be running, you could run on the spot, or skip with a rope, air guitar with the kids, play something energetic on the Wii… It really doesn’t matter!

The point is to get some really intensive work into the space of about 8 minutes & to go up & down the scale of intensity.

Don’t rest! Now do 15 SQUATS, keeping your knees behind your toes, your back straight & your core strong. Push up through the outside of your feet & your heels (so you feel your butt work!). Breathe in as you squat down, & exhale & engage your core as you push up… pull that mummy tummy in!

Use your arms to keep heart rate up even more!

Don’t stop, straight onto LUNGES! It’s really important to keep your knees behind your toes & don’t lean forward into the lunge. Again breathe in as you bend your knees & lower, then breathe out, engage TVA & come up. Repeat 10 times on each leg.

A plank next: a great core exercise that really works the lower back as well (don’t try a full plank until you have mastered your TVA activation exercises & belly breathing). Lie on your front with your elbows bent to your sides. Tuck your toes under & push up onto your forearms, holding you body in a straight line. Keep TVA & PF activated & don’t forget to breathe! Your goal is to hold the position for 1 minute.

Still got some time left before the school run? Then do the whole thing again!

If you did all that in pretty quick succession, with good technique & correct TVA activation throughout – you just knocked the socks off an hour’s boring cardio in about 15 minutes – good eh?

And although there’s not a sit-up to be seen, every one of these exercises works your abs better than crunches ever will… Goodbye Mummy Tummy!

The Mummy Tummy… How Long Can you Blame Your Babies?!

That’s what women often ask when they get in touch or find out what I do for a living… ‘my youngest is 7… but I’m still blaming the mummy tummy (or jelly belly, muffin top, you get the idea) on my babies!’

‘Postnatal’ recovery… how long does the ‘postnatal’ (or postpartum if you’re reading this in the middle of my night) bit last?

Well in my experience (& my clients’), a correctly prescribed postnatal exercise programme will put your body back to where you want to be within a year of having your baby, including tackling the mummy tummy.

BUT… funnily enough… most women don’t actually have the guidance (or possibly the inclination) to really commit to a ‘correctly prescribed  postnatal exercise programme’ for the 12 months after their little miracle arrives.

(Can’t imagine why… anyone would think that first year was hard work, or tiring, or utterly overwhelming or something)

Anyway, point is, most don’t. Which means, that unless you are blessed with REALLY annoying (for the rest of us) genes, then that mummy tummy is going to be obscuring the waistband of your jeans for some months or years to come.

I have good news though! It’s never to late to start knocking those wobbly bits back into shape.

I can already hear your ‘I’m the exception to the rule!’ cries: ‘but my stomach muscles split!’ / ‘I’ve had 3 c-sections’ / ‘big bones’ or ‘my mother never lost hers either’.

Honest. Something can be done dear fellow knackered mum. Something CAN be done.

I’ve had mums at my Mummy Tummy Masterclass who are really VERY postnatal (17 years…  beat that anyone?), & who are benefitting now from learning how to engage their transverse abdominal muscles, knit those abs back together again, & then lose the fat that would have covered up all their hard work.

So the answer to ‘how long is my postnatal tummy actually postnatal?’

Until either your fairy godmother waves the washboard abs wand, or you give it some help.

If you live in London or Surrey, why not grab 3 or 4 slightly wobbly friends & book a Mummy Tummy Masterclass at your home? A whole world of strong mid sections, no back ache & bikini’s could be waiting for you!!

It Seems There’s a Lot of Not-So Yummy Mummy Tummies Out There!

I have been so delighted with the response to my new Mummy Tummy Masterclass!

Clearly mums are simply not getting the answers they need to restore their tummies to pre-baby (or better!) shape. My clients tell me they are left feeling that this is ‘as good as it gets’, especially when a few babies & a few years have rolled by…

I’m loving meeting you all & hearing your stories (I will NEVER tire of birth & baby stories!), but most of all I’m loving being able to share the secrets of postnatal exercise & fat loss with you. The mummy tummy, the muffin top… whatever you call it, I have answers & strategies you can start using today!

Real, busy mums are finally getting the solutions they need to fit in the correct postnatal exercises for abdominal separation, diastasis recti, core restoration & better posture. Most of all, for a flatter stomach!

Thank-you for your interest & for all your questions. Let me know if you’d like to discuss or book a Mummy Tummy Masterclass for you & your friends!

The Mummy Tummy Masterclass Explained

Do you have a Mummy Tummy??

As a certified pregnancy & postnatal personal trainer, the most commonly asked question is ‘Now that I’m pregnant / have had a baby… Will I ever have a flat tummy?’!

And since a series of personal training sessions are not an option for everyone,  the Mummy Tummy Masterclass was conceived. The Mummy Tummy Masterclass is a 2-hour, one–off, focussed class for expectant, new (& not so new!), mums.

We come to you, & are currently booking sessions in SW & Central London, as well as in Cornwall.

Here’s how it works:

You need a group of 5 mums (a couple more is fine so long as you’ve got room!) to book a Mummy Tummy Masterclass at your home or other venue (like an NCT gathering or toddler group or whatever).

This is what it’s about:

The ‘mummy tummy’ is that all too familiar mid-section that just won’t lie flat after having a baby, for months or even years afterwards. It doesn’t seem to matter how much postnatal exercise you do, how many sit-ups you perform, how little you eat, or how far you run – the post-baby tummy is just ‘part of being a mum’ & probably ‘as good as it’s going to get’.

Until now!

Fact: Four factors contribute to a ‘mummy tummy’. One is the condition diastasis recti, a perfectly natural & very common abdominal muscle separation during pregnancy. It is often more pronounced with second or subsequent pregnancies.

But that’s only one factor… & unless you tackle ALL FOUR (yes venti lattes do come into it somewhere too), then your tummy is going to stay right where it is.

Fact: The wrong (but often prescribed) exercises will make a mummy tummy worse, but the right combination of strategies & exercises will make a flat tummy possible!

The right exercises during pregnancy will make the condition quicker & easier to repair after childbirth.

The Mummy Tummy Masterclass is a one-off, focussed session which will:

• Explain  the need-to-know muscles, hormones & physiology responsible for the post-baby mummy tummy
• Explain the 3 essential factors which deternmine the shape of your post-baby tummy…  & what to do about them, right now!
• Provide straight answers & facts to dispel common misconceptions & myths surrounding postnatal exercise & expectations
• Offer individual testing for every participant, to diagnose & explain the extent of their own mummy tummy, & what they can do about it!
• Expert demonstration, practice & guidance to identify & correctly engage the precise muscles needed to restore & build your flat post-baby tummy!
• The exercises you need to know, & how to do them correctly & effectively
• The exercises you must avoid, which will actually make the condition worse
• How to use these muscles effectively in your everyday movements & activities in a way which will repair, not worsen, your mummy tummy!
• Easy to follow instructions & guidelines to take away with you

This is practical, focussed session which gives real, busy mums with no time & too many commitments, the information & strategies they can REALLY USE… NOW!

To book, just fill out the form!

First Name *
Email *
Last Name *
Postcode *
Telephone *

THANK YOU!

I’m looking forward to meeting you & your tummies!

DIASTASIS RECTI Test, What Works and What To Avoid

Frequently Asked Questions About Exercises to Alleviate Diastasis Recti or Postnatal Abdominal Separation.

Q: How do I test for diastasis recti?

A: Lie on your back with your knees bent & your feet flat on the floor. Relax your head & shoulders & place your fingers (palm facing you) just above your belly button.

Lift your head, neck & shoulders slightly off the floor & press down with your fingertips. If you feel a gap, that’s the diastasis. You will feel the muscles close in around your fingers as you lift your head & neck. Don’t lift your shoulders up too high.

Repeat the test in two other place: directly over the belly button, & a couple of inches below.

A diastasis recti gap is measured in finger width’s. You are aiming for 1-2 finger gap or less, but don’t panic if it’s much bigger at first – up to ten fingers is not unheard of!

Q: Should I use a splint or abdominal wrap to bring the muscles back together? What’s the best exercise for diastasis recti?

A: Many women, & some popular exercise techniques such as the Tupler technique, advocate wrapping or binding the mid-section to draw the split recti muscles back together. Binding has also been traditional practice in parts of the Caribbean, India & Africa for generations.

In my experience, it can be helpful when the gap is wide (4 fingers or more), & certainly helps with awareness of the abs & for lower back support. However don’t use a wrap or splint as a substitute for caution when working the abdominals.

To use a splint (a towel does the same job!) to encourage your muscles to ‘knit’ back together:

Lie on your back with your knees bent & feet flat on the floor. Wrap a towel under your tummy & cross it over your abs, holding onto each end.

Slowly & gently lift your head, neck & shoulders off the floor, whilst drawing your belly button towards your spine & tilting your pelvis. This will activate your transverse abdominal muscle. As you lift, pull the towel tighter around your waist.

Do about 10 reps, building up to 30-40 a day (you don’t have to do them all at once!).

Q: How common is diastasis recti?

Over a third of women will have a gap of two fingers or more after their first baby. After second or subsequent pregnancies, this figure is more like two thirds, especially if the gap wasn’t closed effectively after the first.

Q: What else can I do to help a diastasis close up?

A: Think about the ‘bellybutton to spine’ contraction discussed in this post, with everything you do – not just when you’re specifically exercising your abs. When you sneeze, cough, pick up your baby, do any type of exercise, stand up from a crouching position, or turn around.

Try to get back in touch with your body & be aware of your core muscles doing the work to stabilise you in every day activity.

Q: What if I had my last baby years ago – can I still reduce a diastasis?

A: Yes – activating & engaging your core transverse abdominal muscles at any stage post partum can improve the gap.

If you did a lot of crunches &/or oblique crunches post baby, then you may have developed a ‘cone’ shape on your abdomen where you have worked the muscles hard, but in the wrong direction…  Practice belly breathing, engaging your transverse abdominus & pelvic floor & do the towel exercises explained above.

Persistence will pay off! These exercises might not feel like you’re doing much, but do them daily, as many reps as you can, & you will start to see a difference in 6 weeks.

Q: Which movements or exercises should I avoid?

Crunches, sit-ups, oblique (twists) combined with crunches; anything that involves a ‘jack-knife’ movement such as straight leg lifts or holds from lying on your back; pilates ‘100’s’.

In terms of every day movements, avoid lifting straight up from a horizontal lying position – always roll to your side & push up from there; be careful when twisting & turning from the waist, keep thinking ‘core’ & pull belly button through to spine whenever you lift, twist or get up from lying, bending or crouching.

Diastasis Recti & a Mummy Tummy: What Works?

I am asked all the time: ‘HOW do I get rid of my Mummy Tummy?’ & ‘Is it due to Diastasi Recti?’

Well, partly, yes it is. Diastasis Recti is ONE cause of a mummy tummy, & you definitely need to address it for a complete solution.

SO WHAT WORKS?

Cardio? A bit, to lose some extra flab maybe, but it won’t address the root problem.

Pilates? You could certainly borrow a few core & postural principles from pilates … but some moves could even exacerbate the problem.

Yoga? Good for lower back strengthening, which will help relieve back pain & improve posture, but it’s not going to repair the mummy tummy.

Or crunches? NO, NO, NO!!

What is a ‘mummy tummy’?

That saggy, loose, flabby tummy that just doesn’t seem to go away after your baby’s born, & REALLY refuses to go away after you’ve had more than one baby!

Firstly, you need to differentiate between a flabby belly (ie excess fat over your tummy), & the mummy tummy which is partly caused by diastasis recti, a (perfectly natural) separation of the abdominal muscles during pregnancy which makes way for the growing uterus.

Incidentally, you may have a diastasis and a flabby belly, but we will deal with both, so don’t worry!

I’m going to cover the physiological process of diastasis, as well as an easy self test, in another post, but for now, we’re going to look simply at what works, & what doesn’t! Obvious indicators that you have a diastasis, are a bulging, or ‘doming’ above or below your belly button when you contract your abdominals (especially if you attempt a crunch or sit-up type movement).

There are a number of important muscles you need to exercise (in the right way) to repair a diastasis, the most important of which is the transverse abdominus. This is the innermost abdominal muscle which runs right around your middle like a corset. It is attached both in front of, and behind, the rectus muscles (the ones that have split), so if you work the transverse abdominus (TA) correctly, your diastasis (the gap) will reduce, & stay put!

To start identifying & ‘engaging’ your transverse abdominus, you need to ‘belly breathe‘. Sit on a chair or cross-legged on the floor & place your hands on your belly. Breathe in, fill your lungs & let your belly expand. Then exhale, emptying your lungs, whilst drawing your belly button right back towards your spine. Keep your shouders down & your neck relaxed.

Now try doing this from all fours.

There are a number of visualisations which may help, (this is where it can be useful to borrow from pilates & yoga as well as restorative core work) :

Imagine your recti (the vertical muscle we’re trying to put back together) as a string attached to your pubic bone. Now use the string to pull your pubic bone towards your belly button.

Imagine ‘zipping up’ the gap from below the belly button, to above.

Whichever works for you, remember to exhale as you draw your abdomen inwards, & inhale as you allow your tummy to expand & your lungs to fill. Don’t raise & lower your chest (it’s all in the belly), don’t hunch your shoulders, & don’t hold your breath!

You will find that as you do this, your pelvis will naturally tilt forward as you contract the transverse muscle.

OK, now add in your pelvic floor (now we’re really multi-tasking!). As you draw in your transverse abdominus muscle, pull up your pelvic floor. Remember, don’t hold your breath, all these muscles work together best whilst breathing

Ready to get really clever? From the all-fours position, put a pillow between your inner thighs, & as you exhale, draw in your belly button and pull up your pelvic floor, squeeze the pillow between your thighs.

Do this 15 times, every day. (That took, what, 5 minutes??) & you really are on your way to repairing a diastasis recti & losing your mummy tummy, ‘muffin top’ or whatever charming term you refer to it as!

I’ll come back to this with more variations & more detail, but I promise you, identifying & learning to engage your transverse abdominus is the way to go.

Do not, under any circumstances, do crunches or sit-ups post-baby, & certainly not if you know you have abdominal separation.

Any crunching, rolling or jack-knife straining or movement will serve only to widen the gap & make the ‘doming’ or bulging worse. Some pilates moves will fall into this category, so avoid those ones for now. For the same reason, avoid crunches or sit-ups that work the obliques (your waist) in a diagonal direction, until you know you have closed the diastasis gap.

Strengthening your transverse abdominus & working your pelvic floor (because these movements work so well together it’s great way to remember to do your kegels) will repair a diastasis & close the gap. It will also help alleviate back pain, improve posture & increase pelvic floor control!

If there is extra flab as well (which if you’re post-baby, is a distinct possibility ) then in order to see the difference, you will need to address your nutrition, & do some short sharp interval training (circuits) as well.

But your CORE is where you must start – so get belly breathing & ‘zipping up’ & find your pelvic floor… & you have the basis for the post-baby body you’re dreaming of!

Pregnancy Exercise & Nutrition: How Much Weight Should You Gain During Pregnancy?

When thinking about your pregnancy exercise & nutrition: How much WEIGHT GAIN IN PREGNANCY is too much? Or too little? How much of it is ‘BABY FAT?’

The most common pregnancy exercise question I get asked as a pregnancy personal trainer must be: ‘HOW MUCH WEIGHT SHOULD I PUT ON?’

Well every pregnancy is different. Some women gain a lot of weight (3.5 stone / 50+ pounds / 23kg), while others gain very little (1 stone / 15 pounds / 7kg). The answer partly lies in your pre-pregnancy body weight. For example, if you are around 5′ 6″ / 168 cm tall & weigh 10 stone 7 lb / 147 pounds / 67 kg then a healthy weight gain for you might be between 25 to 35 pounds / about 2 stone (11 to 16kg).

You do need to remember, though, that while weight gain charts can be helpful guidelines, I strongly urge you not to get too hung up on them. The best goal of any pregnancy exercise programme is not to worry about weight gain, but to take good care of yourself! REMEMBER (& I know this is stating the obvious but many women do seem to forget!)…

NOT ALL YOUR PREGNANCY WEIGHT GAIN IS FAT!

Your pregnancy weight gain is made up of the following (with approximate weights):

• Your baby ! (6-8 lbs)

• Placenta (1.5 lbs)

• Amniotic fluid (2 lbs)

• Uterine enlargement (2 lbs)

• Maternal blood volume (3-4 lbs)

• Maternal breast tissue (1-2 lb)

• Maternal body fluid (4 lbs)

• Maternal fat stores (roughly 7 lbs)

Secondly, weight gain during pregnancy is HEALTHY! It means your baby is growing well. If you’re active, following a sensible pregnancy exercise programme, eating healthily & not taking your pregnancy for granted, your weight gain during pregnancy & your weight loss afterwards will NOT be an issue. Your body is resilient! It will bounce back if you treat it well.

Remember (and trust!) that the extra weight WILL come off after you deliver your baby. If you’re active, you WILL get your pre-pregnancy body back… It’s only 40 weeks… so enjoy it!

If you feel you’ve already gained more than you should as a result of too little activity &/or overindulging, it’s never too late to turn over a new leaf! If you haven’t been exercising, start some pregnancy exercise today: a daily walk is a great start. And if you’ve been eating too much processed or take-away food, do your best to prepare & eat home-cooked meals with lots of vegetables!

It goes without saying that the foods that will make you gain unnecessary fat during pregnancy are the same foods that do you & your growing baby no good either.

So when someone offers you slices of cake or cookies telling you ‘Go on! You’re eating for two!’ – Your baby really doesn’t need those hydrogenated fats, sugar & empty calories any more than you do!

Actually, pregnancy is a great time to really start to think more carefully about what you are eating in terms of the nutrients you & your baby need. If you won’t change your eating habits for your own sake – at least do it for your baby’s! Remind yourself that there’s a little miracle going on in that bump… your body is an amazing, incredible machine, that is quite literally making a baby – brain, skeleton, nervous system, eyes, hair, every last bit of him or her is developing from scratch inside you!

Your body needs good fuel in order to do the best job it can – in the form of real, unprocessed, fresh food & plenty of good fats (Omega 3 & 6). If you choose your pregnancy foods with your baby’s development in mind, combined with sensible pregnancy exercise, then you won’t go far wrong & you won’t put on unnecessary weight!

Postnatal Personal Training in SW London

The benefits of having a specialist postnatal personal trainer in SW London derive from the simple fact that MUMS DON’T HAVE ANY TIME!

Being a busy mother is a highly rewarding, but exhausting, job which can leave little time for keeping fit & healthy or staying in shape. Second (or more) pregnancies, toddlers, school runs or managing a household or career at the same time, result in a challenge requiring huge reserves of energy & stamina!

Mums want their figure, their energy & self esteem back, but health issues, aches & pains, or simply a lack of time, inclination or direction often seem to get in the way. This is where your having a postnatal personal training expert come to your home will reap rewards!

No More Excuses postnatal personal training team in SW London offers one-to-one training at your home, completely focuses on YOUR goals & fitting into the complexities of YOUR life.

You WILL get results. Guaranteed.

Back ache, sciatica & other discomforts, as well as a simple lack of spare time to get to a gym or class, means that your postnatal exercise plans just don’t happen.

What specialist postnatal personal training in SW London should, IMHO, be provide – are safety facts & reassurance backed by the very latest research; exercise & nutrition strategies for specific problems & circumstances; as well as the elusive exercise solutions that save real women precious time!

If the advice you’re getting falls short, then hopefully this blog, my website or my team can help!

I’m always told that women want short, targeted, highly effective workouts designed to fit in with real lives & individual circumstances, not the other way around. They want increased fitness; energy & muscle tone, as well as reduced discomfort & the shape they want.

I really do believe that every mother CAN look and feel fabulous. That you really don’t have to just ‘put up with’ back-ache, & that your post-baby body or stress incontinence doesn’t have to be ‘as good as it’s going to get’!

For a free consultation with one of our postnatal personal training team in SW London, please just fill out the form on the right & we’ll get back to you right away!