Think Like An Athlete- changing views on fat

So my girls are counting the dogs boobies and reviewing what colour they are. Great, they are both very curious and have realized SAMMY the dog is a girl and daddy is a boy. I have just been informed the dog is licking herself as well. I indicated this is OK, this is how she cleans herself, just don't you do it. I have been through this before when Kasia peed out in the yard because Sammy did.

BUSY MOM FITNESS- Body Image and Changing Views on Fat

So we reviewed important reasons to exercise over the past two posts. Reason 1- fix pregnancy posture, 2 gain strength and speed recovery to care for your children, others relieve stress, deal with/prevent depression. When you start an exercise session set a mini goal for yourself that session, like today I am going to try and add 5 seconds to my plank. This is important in two ways a) it automatically makes your fitness program progressive and we need constant progression to yield results and b) It shifts the focus of your workout from negative to positive. You are not focused on losing weight that session (that we all know is impossible to achieve in one day although we all hope it's possible) and a positive challenge to add something to your routine.

Fitness is an achievement earned over time, not in one or two sessions. Look at the long term effects and benefits. If you have just had a baby you will not be ready to jump on the horse and run a 10km race, right?. Your body needs to heal and become progressively stronger to get a lasting result. In actual fact you probably could or may be capable of running a 10km in early post partum, but is this wise. NO WAY, you will never get a lasting result to get to your true strength potential. You will run a 10km and most likely your fitness will plateau and then deteriorate due to overtraining and imbalances. You will never get the lasting fitness result you desire. I see the result of improper programming in my industry on a daily basis.

So what is proper programming for a new mom that will take you to your ultimate fitness and fat loss quest. Start with the furious 5 and work through the 3 progressive stages. Start the free beginner fitness/fat loss program and progress to the 4 week program. All of this is at your finger tips by signing up for my newsletter at the side of the blog. This program is incremental, progressive, and focuses on functional strength which is needed for lasting fitness results and fat loss.

Athletes rehab starts very slow and is progressive, they have professionals advising them of long term results. "Yes today your can run 50 metres in 15 seconds and will be able to get to 8 seconds by continuing what you are doing, this is an ok result. If you take a step back and perform 2-4 weeks of post rehab or muscle balancing exercise your potential will be to run a 50 metre in 6 seconds. " This is the same as fat loss, you can drop 10 pounds by jogging with your stroller, but if you fix your pregnancy posture, balance your muscles and embark on a high intensity resistance training program you have potential to drop a lasting 20 lb.

I will tell you from experience as an athlete, this is how an athlete tackles learning and mastering a new skill and how they approach their fitness routine. Start slow, methodical and when the basics are mastered results are exponential. Lets do a comparison-

Athletes have bad posture from playing sports
Athletes have traumatic stress injuries from falls, hits ect.
Athletes have overuse injuries from repetitive moves

Moms have traumatic stress injuries from delivery
Moms have overuse injuries from repetitive moves
Moms have bad posture from pregnancy

Wow mom, you are an athlete and motherhood is your sport. Understanding that being able to plank for 20 seconds longer will allow you to hold your baby for 1 hour longer before your low back gets tired is incentive enough. Think of the result of each exercise in your program- will this allow me to do something better in my daily mom life. Exercise should enhance your life, not burden it.

If you tell an athlete that by performing 20 seconds more on their front plank will allow them to return to their sport quicker or jump higher without back pain they will do it- because that is their incentive, their mindset and their reason for performing exercises.

You have more incentive to perform better in your daily life than just jumping higher or running faster. Your job is important, life shaping and multi dimensional. You need endless endurance, strength and positive energy. Don't focus on negative like feeling fat, it will impact your life and your children's lives. Focus on the positives like being strong, trying a new exercise, and managing stress. There is no harder and more important job or sport in the world than being a mother. You yield life.

The end

sincerely ,

Jacqueline (mother and athlete)

Stretching and Muscular Imbalance for Mom

A few things first, I got this email for Julie Tupler

Jacqueline, It would be great if you could post to your readers that they are doing a show on diastasis recti on Sept 15th and my dvd, splint and tupler technique will be featured. Thanks so much.. Julie Best Julie Tupler, RN DiastasisRehab...Closing the Gap with the Tupler Technique www.DiastasisRehab.com.

So if anyone is available the show will be on TV, 9am NYC time on a show called The Doctors, so tune in and support Julie and find out about her methods.

My Busy Mom Workout today- today I did a post rehab session for about 20 minutes then trained my next client and completed my workout with a few strength exercises. I have been trying to focus more on stretching lately and performing core exercises and postural exercises with opposing muscle group stretches between. I feel this is working, which leads me into WHYI am doing this. I have a brutal muscle imbalance in my lower body from delivering my first child. She was stuck for a while and while she was being delivered my and psoas muscles were torn on the right side of my body. I am "forever" working on my right leg to maintain fitness. So my stretching routine is all part of a bigger plan to increase my right leg strength. I am doing a lot of unilateral training that causes tightness so I have to stay on top of this to get a lasting gain. Fitness is not just a fly by night 4 week trial, it is a way of life and doing the right exercises for longevity and lasting results is very important and often overlooked. People are so worried about doing what is trendy the basics get left behind.

I am a huge fan of unilateral training and have all of my clients performing it. PLEASE NOTE as a new mom if you are still releasing relaxin hormone in the for of prolactin from nursing and your pelvis is unsteady, shearing or has some pain do not perform UNILATERAL training yet (such as 1 leg squats, reverse lunges). They can further irritate your pelvis and set you back. Not everyone will suffer from this but just be aware when you start exercising as a new mom what should feel right.

MOM, FIX LOW BACK PAIN WITH FITNESS 5 Essential Exercises

Most moms suffer low back pain, wrist pain, neck/shoulder and upper back pain. Today I have a few suggestions to help busy moms manage low back pain using fitness. Please refer to last days post for wrist and forearm exercises.

MOM, Fix Low Back Pain with Fitness
Mom Fitness-Low Back Pain can be managed with a few key moves such as:


1. Front Plank
This is a great exercise for mom to help regain some tone in stretched out abdominal muscles. The front plank is a safe abdominal exercise for mothers who suffer rectis diastases. Start with 30 seconds and gradually work up to 2 minutes.




2. Side Plank


This exercise is great for your entire body, including shoulder stability. Hold for no more than 30 seconds on each side and stabilize your shoulder before you lift. Keep you body straight and lift your hip to the ceiling. Perform 2-3, 30 second side planks per side


3. Cook Hip Bridge


Gluts and hip flexors are addressed with this exercise. Pull your knee to your chest and perform a one legged glut bridge. 10/side




4. Bilateral Back Extension


Start on all 4's, tense your abdominals lift away your arm and opposite leg using your glut form you body without letting your pelvis shift. Work up to 10/side






5. Lateral Stability- this is often overlooked and specific for mom back back. Most moms push a hip out to one side and prop their baby on it- bad idea. Also your hips and pelvis are changing or have changed so you need to regain strength here. Try to old you child against your abdomen.

Use a resistance band under your feet and walk sideways keeping your feet straight ahead. 10-20 steps in each direction.



Some other moves that you will want to be doing to prevent, manage and alleviate low back pain are stretching your hip flexor muscles, using a foam roller to roll your spine and gluts and stretching your mid back thoracic spine.


I hope everyone had a great Canada Day. We had a great day around our house, all go with our backyard makeover. You see we are a home renovating kind of family. We have taken down our main wall on our main floor, ripped out and renovated our entire basement, tore our roof off and built a second storey on our house, built a deck and our latest project making a natural stone raised garden bed. This was by far the heaviest job we have done. We had 8 tonnes of stone delivered to our driveway this week. My husband and I just starred at it yesterday morning, hoping someone would arrive to help. We started lifting and moving, by the end of the first hour I could not carry any more of the wall blocks, they weight between 75-100lbs. Thanks god 2 strong friends turned up and the wall is complete. I was exhausted yesterday, but not sore today. My training had paid off, my numerous deadlifts and squats, pulls and pushes. It's not just about looks, it's about function.

How and what are you using your muscles for? As a mom you are definitely using them. You may be at the stage early after delivery and rebuilding your abdominals, you may be carrying the infant car seat or lifting a toddler. Really think about how you use your body everyday as a mom. Let me know what you find most physically challenging about dealing with your children, I would love to hear and will address some exercises to help you get through your day with a strong and healthy body.

Post Rehabilitation Workout

My Workout- Wall shoulder rotations with shoulder press 2 sets, isometric lunge with lat row 2 sets/leg, isometric lunge with chest press 2 sets/leg, side plank leg lift, up/up/down/down front plank, abdominal leg lower 1 leg at a time, crunch with one leg extended, band external shoulder rotation, lower trap palm to ceiling off stability ball, 3 sets of 20 kettle bell swings, push ups off stability ball.

The above workout is an example of a post rehab workout. During pregnancy your posture changes and some muscles become short and tight, others long and weak. The above exercises help stretch pectorals, strengthen rotator cuff and upper back muscles, strengthen abdominals (including transverse abdominus) and fix rectus diastases, strengthen hip flexors (out ot length) and gluteals, multifidi muscles in your back and lower trapezius to counteract hunching your shoulders. I stuck in the kettle bell swings because I can, I get a boost from them.

My husband is away for business again this week, so that means calling on the grandparents for help. I rely on their help in order to get the children to daycare in the morning with an early schedule. So far I haven't found a daycare that opens at 5:30am around my place yet, but I know every new mother is up. What a weird time of day, I may set a new first phone call edicate between new mom's, yes it is ok to call each other at 5:30am.