Castle Personal Training
Castle Personal Training is a Corstorphine, Edinburgh based company who specialise in weightloss/toning and Pre and Post Natal exercise.
No such things as a rest day
Hi guys,
Forget about doing this when you just became a mom.
As you probably know from previous blogs, I train a lot of new mommies. Pre- and post- natal training and weightloss is pretty much my thing at the moment. The Health Service in Scotland does not provide new mommies with the correct physical aftercare and a lot of my clients therefore come to me with issues such as Diastasis Recti and pelvic floor problems, even a few years after giving birth. Anyway, that’s not what this blog was going to be about.
It’s about a conversation I had with a Personal Trainer friend of mine. We had a disagreement on how hard to push our clients. Jeff is very much of the opinion that all his clients need to finish their sessions barely able to walk and covered in sweat, whereas I find some of my clients benefit more from a steady-steady approach. The reason for this is that Jeff and I train completely different clients. Jeff trains strong 20-40 year old athletes and I train people for weightloss and people who have, relatively, recently given birth. Obviously my clients’ bodies tend not to be as strong as the athletes’ that Jeff trains however the main reason Jeff can “destroy” his clients every session and I can’t has only to do with 1 thing;
Rest.
You don’t always have a choice.
See, rest is essential to your well-being. When you’re resting your body recovers from the daily strain. You can train hard for a few hours and then kick back, have a protein-shake, and relax for a few hours and your body will be fine. You might experience a bit of discomfort, stiffness etc., but you can go about your daily business without any hassle. What I explained to Jeff was that as a new mommy you don’t have this option. You don’t get to lie down for a few hours, kick back and stretch out nicely, whilst your body recovers. Instead, you’ll be feeding, and changing, and cooking, and running to the shops, and doing the house work, and maybe doing some emails, trying to catch up on a tiny bit of sleep whilst the baby gives you 30 minutes. You’ll be on your feet all day until everyone settles down in the evening. That’s what you get to sleep, and rest…and relax. Until your little one wakes up of course at 1AM of course and then you’re up again for an hour before getting a bit more sleep…and then getting up again at 3 😉
This means that you’re training should be amended to reflect this as well. It doesn’t mean you can’t train hard, it means you need to train effectively, efficiently and that your trainer needs to take your home situation into account.
That’s why you should make sure a trainer understands your home situation and has plenty fo experience with clients similar to you.
Take care of yourself,
Peter
Castle Personal Training 