Archive for the 'Pelvic Floor' Category
Return to running after baby – by team member: Kate Rita
I have been an avid fitness runner for 14 years. During both of my pregnancies I stopped running the first time because I was overcautious, and the second time because it caused bleeding at 14 weeks. We runners tend to be hyperactive A-type personalities who are a bit obsessive about the sport. We can’t wait to get back to running after baby!
Recovering from my first pregnancy I hit the streets again after 6 weeks. I remember my hips killing me but I trained through it. I shudder to think of the state of my postnatal body returning to the sport before it was ready, but still I trained up to my first half marathon at 3 years postpartum.
Exercise during pregnancy?? No guff!!
A friend forwarded this post to me last month from the Globe and Mail called Pregnant? It’s a good time to start exercising. Yah…no guff Sherlock.
I guess I am a bit tired of reading articles from larger publications just regurgitating the same-ole same-ole information that has been out for years about how moving as opposed to being sedentary, can be beneficial during pregnancy. Well that doesn’t seem like such a huge reach to me. Aren’t the benefits quite clear when you’re not pregnant? So then it only makes sense that if you are growing a human being inside you, exercise is even more important, no?? Call me crazy. Read the rest of this entry »
In the home stretch….
So I saw my awesome pregnant client for the last time on Tuesday before she delivers. It honestly feels like yesterday when I wrote the post about My “Dream” Client and here she is….just weeks away from giving birth. But what a wonderful journey it has been!
If you recall, her name is Sandra (or at least that is her alias) and she is expecting her third child to add to her two boys, 2 and 4 years. Wow!!! Is all I can say but then again, (apparently) 3 is the new 2 and this pregnancy didn’t stop her.
We trained twice a week focusing on overall strength and modifying when necessary but we also paid special attention to her core and her pelvic floor. After baby number 2 she was left with a stage 2 uterine prolapse and had no idea!! Being a chiropractor herself and very open to alternative therapies, she became almost “obsessed” with her pelvic floor (she would giggle). With all of her schooling in anatomy and the skeletal system, she was shocked to find out what having a baby can leave you with postpartum. As a result, she asked, listened and absorbed anything and everything she could when it came to her core function.
To run or not to run…during pregnancy
Now this is certainly a topic that can get people talking! It can really get some women riled up especially those who LOVE to run. And with the “guidelines” being so out of date in regards to exercising during pregnancy, what’s a girl to do?
Well although the most recent (out dated) exercise guidelines were updated in 2003 by the Ontario Society of Gynaecologists of Ontario and the Society of Exercise Physiology, there is still not a clear understanding of whether running during pregnancy is safe or not. However, upon more thorough reading, it does state that less bouncing like “running and jogging” is recommended due to loose ligaments and instability.
But try telling that to a marathon runner. Read the rest of this entry »
Hypopresive training….the weirdest but coolest thing in a long time.
Fitness, exercise and training has come along way from Jane Fonda and the 20 Minute Workout. We now have Kettlebells, BOSU balls, bootcamps and INSANITY!! Things are constantly moving and changing to keep us intrigued, motivated and push us that little bit more so we don’t stop.
But if you look at the trends and the way we train, there seems to be the constant need to propel us to “where no man has ever gone” and for what?? Depending on what your goals are, the women I work with don’t need to do 100 squats or burpees to help them function in their every day life.
What I do know is (most) pregnant women and new moms needs are simple; the need to feel whole, strong and in control of their bodies again. With the onset of diastasis recti, low back pain, hip pain, incontinence and POP (pelvic organ prolapse), it’s pretty hard to feel like “yourself”.
But like I said, things are a changing and so my eyes have been opened once again. Hypopresive training. What the what??? That’s exactly what I thought the first time I had heard of it but my curiosity definitely got the best of me. Read the rest of this entry »
What your mother never told you….
Or your aunt, sister, doctor, friends; not anyone!!
How many times have I met a new mom just to hear her say “why didn’t anyone tell me?” or “how come nobody checked?”. I honestly can’t tell you how many times but all I say in response is: “this is why I am here. To tell you the sh*t” nobody tells you”. Lucky me.
I spoke at a Mommy Connections group today about all the “things” that seem to slip people’s minds when they talk about being a new mom. You know; the tummy, extra skin, stretch marks, aches, pains and “down there”. And although some moms in the group looked like deers in head lights, I am sure there was a sigh of relief as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Symphysis pubis dysfunction…..say what????
Sounds scary doesn’t it? Well it can be for some. So scary that some are even forced to use a wheel chair and your pregnant! This happened to a close friend of mine during her second pregnancy.
So what is this Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction anyway???
Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) is a condition where your pubic bone becomes too unstable during pregnancy and postpartum. Remember that lovely hormone relaxin that makes every joint, ligament and connective tissue loosy goosy in preparation for labour and delivery? Well…sometimes that relaxin goes a bit overboard and starts to go gung-ho on the pelvis. Read the rest of this entry »
My pelvic floor in all it’s glory
Sounds a bit crude, I know, but this is something that has been kept behind closed doors too long and we NEED to talk about it!!
When I say “pelvic floor”, people typically tend to think about your vagina muscles and pretty much, stop there. They also figure that if they don’t have “issues” like leaking, then there is no use in focusing on them. Some moms even believe that if they have not had a vaginal delivery, that their pelvic floor muscles haven’t been affected! Helloooooo …. don’t you think that supporting a growing uterus for 9 months would have an affect? If pregnancy impacts other parts of your body….well you get the picture.
Your pelvic floor muscles (PFM) have a much bigger job than you think. The PFM act as a sling from the front of your pelvis to the bottom of your spine into your sacrum, so not only is it supposed to support your bladder, uterus and rectum, but your pelvis and spine too – Who knew??!! So if this is true, PFM “dysfunction” can present as incontinence, pressure, hip pain, back pain and pain during intercourse. Read the rest of this entry »
