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

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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towards the treadmill with instructions to ‘only walk’ & to ‘make sure you keep your heart rate below 140BPM’ (this is outdated & inadequate advice BTW).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’??

Is Your Pregnancy or Postnatal Personal Trainer Any Good?

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How are you supposed to know if your pregnancy or postnatal personal trainer in London or Surrey actually knows what they’re doing?!?

Are you a mum who uses a ‘general’ personal trainer, boot-camp or gym instructor who may be giving  you inappropriate or ineffective advice?

I have just completed another few days of back-to-back Mummy Tummy Masterclasses, & have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my knowledge so that pregnant women & mums can exercise more safely & effectively.

But the women I meet on these sessions (some of whom have, or have had, personal trainers) are often surprised to hear that certain exercises will make diastasis recti (split abdominals) WORSE… but these exercises have been included in their personal training or gym programme.

Does your pregnancy or postnatal personal trainer encourage you to spend long workouts on cardio machines (treadmill, bike, cross trainer) at steady speeds? Does your pregnancy or postnatal personal training programme really address the postural shifts of pregnancy & mothering? Are you wasting your time with small muscle group exercise like bicep curls?

If so, you’re not getting the best advice & won’t get the results you’re after! I shall cover qualifications & credentials in a different post, but why not do a quick check on your programme to make sure that what you’re doing (& what you’re paying for!) with your pregnancy or postnatal personal trainer or gym instructor is actually going to WORK.

  • Forget the fat burning zone! IE long sessions of steady cardio. The most effective way to lose postnatal fat & build lean muscle mass is to INTERVAL TRAIN. You need to be constantly surprising & working your body by changing intensity, speed & duration of your workout.
  • Pregnancy & mothering (feeding, lifting… & cuddling!) put us in a permanently hunched posture, shortening & tightening the muscles of the chest & front of the shoulders, whilst stretching & weakening the upper back. Strengthening exercises should concentrate more on working the upper back (IE rowing, or pulling type movements), than the chest (pushing movements). Aim for a ratio of 3:1 upper back work: chest. The upper back needs strengthening & the front needs stretching to ‘even you out’. Push-ups are great exercises, but need to balanced with upright rows, pull ups & the dumb waiter.

For the Dumb Waiter, keep shoulder blades relaxed & down, then move hands out to the side, keeping elbows in & squeezing shoulder blades together.

pregnancy exercise dumbwaiter 1

Dumb Waiter position 1

Pregnancy Exercise: Dumb Waiter 2

Dumb Waiter position 2

  • Any crunch, sit-up or jack-knife movement will make diastasis recti (the gaping of the abdominal muscles experienced by up to two thirds of pregnant women) WORSE. Core work is absolutely vital during pregnancy & afterwards, & should concentrate on activation of the TVA & pelvicfloor muscles. You need to work the rectus muscles (the split ones) in a linear, not gaping direction. A plank is great, a crunch is not!
  • For maximum efficiency, core strength & stability concentrate on large muscle group exercises using body weight. Examples are squats, lunges, pull-ups or planks. Or use multi-tasking exercises such as squats with a shoulder press or upright row with a resistance band. Standing there doing a bicep curl is boring, inefficient & won’t burn any fat!
  • Your CORE should be involved in all these exercises, not just the specifically abdominal exercises. Again, multi-task your exercises, it’s what we’re supposed to be good at, & it’s realistic for busy mums!
  • Are you getting expert instruction on dealing with your  symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) or back ache caused by postural & hormonal changes or imbalances?

For general safe pregnancy exercise guidelines see here, but if you’d like anything clarified or explained further, please just leave a comment here or contact me – I want to DE-mystify pregnancy & postnatal personal training & exercise so please let me know what you’d like more on!

No More Excuses Pregnancy & Postnatal Personal Trainers… IN THE PRESS!

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Babyexpert.com

To read Wendy’s live webchat Q&A on Babyexpert.com Click Here

Practical Parenting Magazine

To read, “Don’t be Myth-Informed” Click Here

Parenting & Pregnancy Magazine

To read “Your Pregnancy Party Survival Guide” Click Here

Primary Times Magazine

To read “Eating Healthily During Pregnancy, What To Choose and What To Lose” Click Here

Pregnancy & Birth Magazine

To read “Happy Pregnany Christmas!” Click Here

Baby Hampshire

To read “Exercising Safely During Pregnancy” Click Here

UltraFit

To read “Exercise + Pregnancy” Click Here

To read “Eating For Two” Click Here

To read “Birth & Beyond” Click Here

Baby Surrey Magazine

To read “Keep Fit: Exercising Safely During Pregnancy” Click Here

NCT Special Delivery Magazine

To read “Pregnancy & Early Days” Click Here

Being an 'Expert' & Defining Boundaries

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I really enjoyed hosting a pregnancy / postnatal exercise & nutrition live Q&A on babyexpert.com today! Questions included pelvic floor & post c -section tummy worries (‘is it EVER coming back?!’), as well as PCOS pre-conception fitness concerns & pregnancy weight control with diabetes.

Other experts asked to host chats on babyexpert.com include Zita West, the fertility guru, & so I was flattered to be in such great company! But it also got me thinking about the term ‘expert’, how it is used so sparingly (especially on the web) & the responsibility that goes with that label.

Womens’ pregnancy & postnatal exercise concerns often simply do not seem to be answered succinctly by the ubiquitous pregnancy ‘bibles’ (mine was Yehudi Gordon which I swore by!… what was yours?), or even by doctors & midwives. This is perfectly reasonable since none of these are specifically focussed on that subject matter. Your doctor & midwife are of course utterly fundamental to your wellbeing & safety during pregnancy & birth, but they’re not necessarily up to date or experts in the latest exercise research.

As a pregnancy personal trainer, I need to be very clear about my boundaries. My team & I NEVER cross the line into giving medical or obstetric advice. We’re not childbirth or parenting experts, we’re not antenatal teachers or trained counsellors.

I do know quite a lot about childbirth (especially when it goes off childbirth plan :-0), a little (very little!) about parenting, a fair amount about breastfeeding (my wisdom here goes thus : stick it out for 3 weeks & it stops hurting) & hopefully am pretty experienced & knowledgeable when dealing with the hormonal rollercoaster of pregnancy & motherhood…

…My point being, I know about as much, & as little,  as every other mother out there.

I am very clear however about my ‘expert’ status.

My expertise is in physical exercise throughout pregnancy & beyond – for fitness, strength, fat loss, flexibility, core & postural restoration, as well as alleviating pain & discomfort. I have a sound technical knowledge of, and & can advise on, optimum nutrition for pregnancy, breastfeeding & postnatal weight control.

General guidelines are a good starting point, but fears about exercise causing miscarriage;  ‘how much weight gain is too much?’;  ‘how long will it take to lose it?’; ‘how hard, how often & for how long should I exercise?’; exercise to make pregnancy, SPD & back ache more comfortable & controlling weight gain in pregnancy are all clearly still big concerns.

These are the questions I can answer.

I think you want straight talking, facts & strategies that work…  NOT generic, vague advice, unrealistic  regimes or value judgements. Am I on the right track? Do the answers like those given on the webchat today & on this blog help? I hope so – but please let me know either way!!

My Credentials… For Your Reassurance!

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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

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