Looking For A Pregnancy Or Postnatal Personal Trainer In SW London?

May 26, 2010 By Wendy Powell Leave a Comment

Elly, A Few Weeks Postnatal. Baby is just behind the camera!

If you’re looking for specialist pregnancy or postnatal personal training, you need to be sure you’re really getting an expert.

If you’re pregnant or have recently had a baby, the world of gyms & exercise classes suddenly doesn’t seem to be belong to you anymore (if it you ever felt it did that is ;) )

Gyms are wary, pointing pregnant women nervously towards the treadmill with instructions to ‘only walk’ & to ‘make sure you keep your heart rate below 140BPM’ (this is outdated & inadequate advice BTW).

Most class instructors will want you to sit most of it out, & even your personal trainer is highly likely NOT to be specifically qualified. The teenagers patrolling the gym with ‘Personal Trainer’ emblazoned across their backs just don’t seem to exactly relate to what you & your body really need. They are almost definitely NOT really a specialist pregnancy or postnatal personal trainer.

Yesterday a new client joined us who has been working with her own personal trainer for years very happily. He is highly qualified & she enjoys training with him. But at 13 weeks pregnant, neither of them feels confident that he can give her the right kind of instruction. Good for him, I think that shows real professionalism to refer her. Some (& this applies to many professions) would be more concerned with keeping her short term business, than putting her in the safest hands.

Anyone advertising or claiming to be a pregnancy or postnatal personal trainer in SW London (or anywhere else for that matter… Google just like me to remind you where we are ;) ) should be able to give you certain reassurances… See previous post ‘How Do You Know if Your Pregnancy or Postnatal Personal Trainer is Any Good?’ for some guidelines when choosing.

Your relationship with your personal trainer at any time is a pretty close one. They see you sweaty, with no make up, feeling vulnerable & not-so-self confident… add to this the hormones, tiredness, emotions & monumental physiological changes of pregnancy & motherhood… & you really do want to make sure you’re comfortable with this person!

Qualifications are very important, obviously. As are insurance, first aid training & of course experience. But the missing link is what we at No More Excuses like to refer to as ‘getting it’. My fabulous team don’t just know how to train pregnant & postnatal women, they do it all the time, they know how to work around young children, they know exactly where you want to be… but at the same time they know exactly what else you’re dealing with. They Get It.

Military boot camp style suits some clients (we’ll shout at you if you really want us to!). Some women prefer a much more sensitive approach. Neither is any more effective than the other.

No More Excuses pregnancy & postnatal personal trainers in SW London (got it now, Google?) get you the results you’re after – safely – that’s a given. But where we are a little more flexible & undertsanding to the needs of mums – expectant, new or otherwise – is in the way we get you there.

You tell us you want No More Mummy Tummy, more energy, a strong pelvic floor & no back ache. You want to be a lean, shapely, energetic & sexy mummy, not a size zero but not flabby either. No problem, we can help!

If you’d like a free, no obligation at your home, just fill out the form on the right & I’ll get right back to you to arrange it.

What are your pregnancy or postnatal experiences of  gyms, instrcuctors or classes? Did you feel in safe hands? Did they ‘get it’??

Filed Under: Blogging On..., Exercise for Mums, Exercise for Pregnancy Tagged With: postnatal personal trainer, postnatal personal training, pregnancy personal trainer, pregnancy personal training

Lessons From A Personal Training Client

February 8, 2010 By Wendy Powell 4 Comments

I had coffee today with a friend who is also an old postnatal personal training client (well she’s not old. But then she’s not really postnatal anymore either). We sat right at the back of the coffee shop facing out so we could people-watch with impunity. Actually that’s mummy-&-baby-watch.

Since our postnatal personal training days Sue has adopted all sorts of Wendy-isms… She infuriates her poor husband with ‘But Wendy says…’ whenever he dares to offer some opinion on the virtues of a food or exercise regime, she mutters ‘nobody ever got fat eating brazil nuts’ to herself as she chomps on her omega-filled snacks, & always stands up straight, mindful of  the dreaded ‘buggy bottom’ when she’s pushing one of her 3 lovely kids around.

Sue is a typical client & a typical mum. She never has any time. We met during her lunch-break from the office, & by the time I’ve posted this she will have collected, fed, watered, cuddled & played & put her brood to bed.

But her attitude to exercise is now so positive. If she looks in the mirror & feels a little wobbly, she’ll tell herself  ‘Well, it’s not going to go away by me staring at it’ & will do a set of lunges, squats or press ups on the bedroom floor. Even if she’s only got 5 minutes, she knows that the only way most of us mums manage to exercise on most days, is to just fit it in when we can.

So today’s quote is from my dear friend Sue, who looked over at the other mums & quipped, ‘Well we’ve all got time to sit here having a coffee haven’t we? So we can find time to burn off some bloody fat’.

Charmingly put Sue. As always. X

Filed Under: Blogging On..., Exercise for Mums Tagged With: postnatal personal training

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

November 26, 2009 By Wendy Powell Leave a Comment

Every mum who attends one of my No More 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.

SQUAT

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!

PRESS UPS

Straight away, do 15 PRESS-UPS. Don’t be scared – from your knees is fine! Keep your shoulders over your hands & lower your face to just in front of your fingertips. Breathe in on the way down, exhale, engage Transverse Abdominus (see previous post about core activation) & push up.

LUNGES

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.

PLANK

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!

Filed Under: Blogging On..., Exercise for Mums Tagged With: Exercise for Mums, postnatal personal training

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

November 15, 2009 By Wendy Powell Leave a Comment

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 can get to London for the MuTu  Masterclass , a whole world of strong mid sections, no back ache & bikini’s could be waiting for you!!

Filed Under: Blogging On..., Diastasis Recti, Exercise for Mums Tagged With: Exercise for Mums, mummy tummy, postnatal personal training

My Credentials… For Your Reassurance!

September 29, 2009 By Wendy Powell Leave a Comment

Time for a little reassurance…

I am the founder of No More Excuses Pregnancy and Postnatal Personal Training, established in 2002. I have extensive personal training experience in this specialist area, top level qualifications and industry credentials, & my team & I have worked with hundreds of pregnant women & new mums.

My own qualifications include the Premier Diploma in Personal Training, ‘Fit to Deliver’ (highly respected pre & post natal accredited training) qualifications, as well as numerous other personal training certification. I am a member of The Federation of Antenatal Educators (FEDANT), the British medical profession’s chosen source of qualified therapists & private midwives, as well as the Guild of Pregnancy & Postnatal Instructors (PNEX).

I am also a busy mum of two children under four & so understand first-hand the realities of pregnancy, childbirth & postnatal recovery! I’m told I am an aspirational role model to my clients in a ‘realistic’ way, showing that a mother of two pushing 40 can have a flat tummy & toned figure, without being obsessive or looking like a body builder!

I now oversee a team of approved & highly qualified trainers in London & Surrey. Clients of No More Excuses claim increased fitness, confidence & energy as a result of their programmes. We have an established track record & proven results in reducing pain & discomfort during & after pregnancy, of even debilitating conditions such as severe SPD.

I am occasionally asked to write articles or contribute to editorial… for the NCT, national magazines & specialist press. I have published a number of online articles (e-Zine expert author http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Wendy_Powell), am the ‘official expert’ answering pre/postnatal exercise questions on live Q&A webchats on www.babyexpert.com, & have a pretty decent following on Twitter.

I liaise frequently with Physios & other therapists, as well as Midwives, antenatal teachers & doctors, to ensure that even those women in high risk categories or with particular health issues can benefit from safe, effective exercise. For professional recommendations, see my Linked-In profile

Filed Under: Blogging On... Tagged With: postnatal personal trainer, postnatal personal training, pregnancy personal trainer, pregnancy personal training, wendy powell

Postnatal Personal Training in SW London

September 29, 2009 By Wendy Powell Leave a Comment

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!

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Filed Under: Blogging On..., Exercise for Mums Tagged With: Exercise for Mums, postnatal personal trainer, postnatal personal training