Prenatal Training
My passion for fitness during pregnancy
I was a prenatal/postpartum certified trainer long before I had kids of my own, but I can honestly say that I had not developed a true passion and an extensive interest for this particular field of training until after I had given birth to my two daughters. Once I had experienced two pregnancies of my own during which I had worked out up until the day(s) I gave birth, I became obsessed with the amazing effects of training during pregnancy. My list of pregnant clients became longer and longer, and I kept witnessing how fantastic all those women looked and FELT while growing their babies inside their bellies. I have intensified my research on the best and safest exercises for pregnant women and I simply love the overwhelmingly positive feedbacks. It is also extremely satisfying for me to debunk those myths surrounding prenatal exercise that claim working out during pregnancy may be harmful or may have negative side effects; As I keep seeing over and over again: The opposite is true! Working out makes pregnancy easier and more enjoyable, it creates a sense of well-being, it strengthens the body for the increasing front-heavy load (baby bump) and it ultimately prepares women for the long intense hours of labor and delivery. Wouldn’t you train and prepare for the most important marathon of your life? Exactly! With that being said, I look forward to sharing my favorite prenatal exercises, useful tips and tricks for active pregnant women and much more relating to the topic with you. Stay tuned!
POSTPARTUM TRAINING
Healing Your Body After Giving Birth
When I gave birth to my first daughter in 2014 everything went as I had imagined (which usually never happens, I am told- so I feel extra lucky). I had a natural, drug-free delivery in a beautiful birthing center in NYC, and my recovery from child birth was very smooth and rather easy. Since I had worked out throughout my whole pregnancy, it was a breeze getting back to working out again. I had no abdominal separation (diastasis recti), so I did not have to spend too much time sticking with strict core stabilizers and other exercises that would help me strengthen my pelvic floor. I did, however, have clients who had experienced abdominal separation either during pregnancy already or after giving birth. So I was always aware of the order of how things needed to be done: Strengthen the pelvic floor & core first, heal the diastasis recti, then move on to more vigorous exercises again. I will also never forget the very visual examples of severe diastasic recti I was shown during my postpartum certification course so I learned early on not to take this lightly and to always check for it.
After I had my second daughter in 2017 (who I also delivered naturally and drug-free) I noticed via self-check that I had some abdominal separation this time around (most women experience this after their second pregnancy because the tissue surrounding the abdominal area is already looser). When I went in for my 6-week Post-partum check-up, I asked the doctor if she could check me for diastasis and she answered that I probably have it and that there’s nothing really I could do. Ah! What! I could not believe my ears. The good news about this situation was that I KNEW there was actually PLENTY I could do in order to heal my abdominal separation and to strengthen my pelvic floor, but the bad news was that I knew so many women must feel hopeless and helpless hearing this kind of statement from their doctor! So I reached out to a local moms group full of women who had given birth right around the same time as me and I organized weekly pelvic floor strengthening workshops where I taught how to self-check for diastasic recti and how to do the most effective pelvic floor strengthening exercises and core stabilizers. These weekly meet-ups were so healing on so many levels- not only did we all get stronger physically in the process but we found comfort in the fact that we were not alone in this and that we were going through this vulnerable phase together.
Ever since then I have developed a huge passion for postpartum training during all its stages and I continue to educate myself on how to successfully heal and strengthen the body after giving birth.
