At Gymnazo, we treat and handle a lot of movement dysfunctions that fly under the radar. As a pioneer in the emerging Movement Industry (bridging the gap between Physical Therapy and Fitness), we don’t just want our members to improve their fitness, we want them to live pain free lives while enjoying a socially active lifestyle! So we try to continually raise the bar on our education and understanding of every musculo-skeletal dysfunction that our members could possibly have. We are motivated to stay on the cutting edge of movement science so that we can better treat anyone who walks through our doors.

I want to talk about one of the most common dysfunctions among women, that we’ve recently become more aware of called Pelvic Core Neuromuscular System (PCNS) Dysfunction. What on earth is the PCNS? Well, it’s composed of four complex body systems:

1. Respiratory Diaphragm
2. Abdominal Muscles
3. The Back and Hip Muscles
4. The Pelvic Floor Muscles

This system of muscles work together to, essentially, hold all the organs in your abdomen and pelvic bowl where they’re supposed to be. It is also critical to neuromuscular support, bladder and bowel control, sexual function, and core mobility/stability.  When a woman experience PCNS Dysfunction, it can present with symptoms such as:

• leaking urine with coughing/sneezing/laughing/jumping/running
• Strong urge to go to the bathroom often during the day; more than 8 times in 24 hours.
• Waking up more than 1x/night to use the bathroom
• Pelvic/groin pain
• Pain with sexual activity
• Muscle spasms in pelvis
• Pelvic pain

One of the most common causes of PCNS Dysfunction is childbirth. The more children you have, the higher likelihood of developing PCNS Dysfunction. Too many moms in our community are living with pain or inconveniences that they believe are just a normal consequence of having a baby. I’ve been informed, on many occasions, that I can look forward to peeing my pants when *insert any activity* from the time I have kids until I die. That’s gunna be a “No” from me. I’m not buying it! As someone who continually wants to help our athletes reach new heights in their fitness, having a roadblock like this infuriates me. I’m hoping to bring to light that discomfort and pain should not be considered “normal” and that there are ways to relieve symptoms and restore function to the PCNS.

Another big hormonal change that our bodies go through that is another common cause of PCNS Dysfunction is menopause. We see a lot of women that are perimenopausal, menopausal, and postmenopausal experiencing the same symptoms.

If you identify with any of the above symptoms, you’re not alone! Some fun research:

• After delivery, 35% of new moms experience stress urinary incontinence (leaking urine when abdominal pressure increases; running, jumping, sneezing, etc).
• More than 50% of women have a diastasis rectus abdominis (splitting of the abdominal wall, before, during, or after pregnancy)
• 20% of first time moms show severe pelvic floor muscle injury after a normal pregnancy/delivery
• 25% of women with pregnancy related pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy remain in pain after delivery.

Below is a list of everything that can happen for women post-delivery if they are passive in their recovery:

• Pain and discomfort in the pelvic floor
• Back/ Knee/ Hip pain and other body aches
• Incontinence
• Avoidance of sexual activity (due to pain)
• Discomfort with exercise
• “Pooching” or “Doming” of the stomach

• Loss of a functional tensional network in the core (Diastasis Recti). This is a separation of the rectus abdominis muscles. The split occurs at the meeting point of all the muscle groups of the abdominis (Transversalis, internal and external obliques, and the Rectus Abdominis). So essentially, they all are compromised. This lack of protection and stability affects the whole body both aesthetically and functionally

Sadly, in our industry there is a massive gap in understanding of how to help moms of any age rebuild their bodies’ function. Often we see trainers target sit-ups or traditional abdominal muscle building exercises as if there are not structural differences between men and women. For one, our pelvis greatly differ than the male pelvis. We have a wider, shallower, and anteriorly rotated pelvis designed for…wait for it….childbirth. This means that there are critical differences between the Male and Female Chain Reaction. This dysfunction hides behind the common title of “pelvic core issues” but most practitioners and trainers are ignorant to what is ultimately impacting women. It’s not just the muscle and connective tissues that need restoration in the pelvic girdle, but the nerves too! Common exercises administered to only focus on the tissues without retraining the nervous system is equivalent to training for the run and bike legs of a triathlon race but not the swimming leg. You’re not going to get the full result by ignoring a core component of the dysfunction.

Thanks to the incredible educator and Female PCNS specialist Christina Christie, I recently completed a course that focuses entirely on Female Chain Reaction through the Gray Institute. Since diving into the content and science, it’s easy to see why this type of dysfunction is not being trained correctly in our industry. What makes PCNS so tough to treat without an Applied Functional Science background is that it incorporates so much more than just the core. Unless trainers have a comprehensive understanding of the biomechanics of the body, and how each of our moving parts interacts with the other, it is impossible to treat PCNS Dysfunction properly.

This dysfunction wreaks havoc with our female members’ bodies and daily lives. They also may never be fully restored to that pre-baby life without proper techniques and training. As someone who has dedicated my professional career to helping our members maximize their body’s function, this topic and the scary statistics that come with it, motivate me to be part of the solution. There are countless women I know and train here at Gymnazo that could benefit from PCNS rehabilitation. If you’re experiencing PCNS Dysfunction and want to do something about it, we do, too.

Do you suffer from PCNS dysfunction? Take our quiz to evaluate your risk.

For more information about our Female Core Conversion sessions click here.

The post Pelvic Core Neuromuscular System (PCNS) Dysfunction appeared first on Local Gym | Fitness | Crossfit | Gymnazo, San Luis Obispo, CA.

2017 was an incredible year of growth for me. Most notably, our family grew from two to three, and Michael and I got upgraded to Dad and Mom. In all of the positive and sweet moments that created a memorable year, there certainly were some surprising changes as well.

Last year, I penned a blog series about working out throughout my pregnancy and the benefits that I experienced through that practice. All year, I’ve been intending to reprise the series with a blog post that was supposed to detail how I worked myself back into G3 workouts. In my head, I had envisioned a triumphant return to fitness. Instead, on my one year birth-anniversary, I’m writing a less triumphant, but hopefully more relatable blog post, admitting that I’m still recovering from birth.

Expectations can be a killjoy, or as someone wise once told me “expectations are just predetermined resentments.” Wow. That one still hits me. So in 2016, I expected my fit pregnancy to lay the groundwork for a quick, efficient birth and a record recovery. Not the case. My birth was a 30 hour saga, culminating in 3 hours of pushing and a painful recovery. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to feeling resentful that I still don’t feel like I have my body back. I had expected to be done with that and back to normal, especially as a gym owner.

But being a mom athlete has been incredibly humbling for me. Instead of feeling like I’m rocking in my workouts, I have experienced how hard it is to actually walk in the door:

1. Meeting my newest inner critic: the nagging voice I call “mom guilt”
2. Realizing that losing your baby weight doesn’t mean you have your body back
3. Struggling to fit in a workout between nap times
4. Difficulty justifying paying for a nanny so that I can engage in any kind of self-care
5. Trying to feel capable and positive while I take on even more responsibilities in the same 5 day work week
6. The even greater need to be kind to myself and update my personal standards to “good enough”

Then, once I’m in the door, my current physical function is nothing like it used to be. Here’s how I think of it:

I felt that I knew motherhood would challenge me emotionally and mentally as I battled sleep deprivation and tackled a huge learning curve, but I didn’t factor in the lasting impact it could have on me physically. Those of us who work out consistently, know that movement is a gift to your energy, mindset and overall well being. So to have this go away has been incredibly hard.

On the surface, it looks like I’ve “been back” since returning to work last May. But truth be told, I’m still finding my way back. It’s been frustrating to feel like just when I’ve hit my stride of 4-5 workouts a week, something tweaks on me and I then I find myself barely able to carry or lift my little growing girl for a couple of painful days.

When I’ve shared this with other mom friends, it seems like I’m not alone. Worse, it sounds like it’s widely accepted as a cost of motherhood and that it gets worse with each baby. I’ve been warned by numerous moms that eventually I won’t be able to do any box jumps or leaps without peeing a little. I love belonging to the “Mom squad” but I secretly wish I didn’t relate to the list of embarrassing postpartum symptoms that most women experience. Ultimately, it’s sad that so many women like me are dealing with this behind the scenes. It feels like it’s the dark side of motherhood.

A couple months ago, I started to see a pattern that was disheartening. If I went more than 3 days without intentional movement, I would start to get debilitating back pain and I couldn’t hold my daughter without wanting to cry. More than the physical impacts of this dysfunction, the mental burden has been the hardest. The worst part of pain is the blame that I place on how I got here. For me, pain is taxing and emotional. I feel embarrassed that I allowed it to get this bad and that I didn’t dedicate enough time to addressing it, thus making my problem someone else’s problem. I got tired of asking for modifications every time we had to do push ups, frontal plane leaps and other movements I knew would hurt me. I don’t like feeling like I’m taking the coach’s attention away from others. But more than that, I don’t want to be a mom who can’t pick up my daughter.

Long story short, after several cycles of this, I wanted to ask for help and make a change, and ultimately overcome this. I have started dedicating more time to self-care and really putting our services and team members to the test, doing a 3D Assessment, a number of exclusive sessions, targeted soft tissue work, as well as incorporating semi-private and Melt.Mold.Move into my weekly routine. It has been eye-opening.  I now have a daily personal maintenance routine that I do during my daughter’s first nap, to fend off pain. But what I really want is to heal from the inside out and to not have to dedicate an hour each day just to achieve maintenance. Is this possible?

Through working with CJ and Michael, I have learned that one of the main reasons I am taking so long to recover is that I am one of the many women who need to rebuild my Pelvic Core Neuromuscular System. When they finally told me that I had been struggling with a common post-birth dysfunction and put a name to it, I felt relief and hope. Relief that I wasn’t crazy, and hope that something that felt “broken” could actually be fixed! It’s like getting a diagnosis after you feel like you’ve been going solo for so long, purely on trial and error.

To summarize what’s been going on, Kaleena wrote an awesome blog that details what PCNS is and how awful it is when it is compromised or not working correctly. If you’d like to read it, check it out here. Suffice it to say that everything I was frustrated with was linked to this dysfunction, and I already started to see a huge shift once I started carving out time for exclusive or semi-private sessions. But I continue to be reminded that I’m not the only one dealing with this, and while our coaches can certainly get results for these members in one on one or semi-private settings, is there a way to bring a new program to the Group athletes?

As it turns out, the silver lining in all of this is that I’ve been able to use my personal struggle to be a catalyst for some really innovative programming, offering solutions to women like me. Michael, CJ and Kaleena have been pouring themselves over content and educating themselves on what is really going on in the female chain reaction. And the more they learn, the more they feel compelled to put together a program that addresses this for all the moms who still feel like they don’t have their bodies back.

The good news is that they are now building an entire program, Female Core Conversion, that is dedicated to helping females rebuild their pelvic core neuromuscular systems so that they can spend more time enjoying their families, painfree.

Do you suffer from PCNS dysfunction? Take our quiz to evaluate your risk.

The post Road to Recovery: Healing from Childbirth appeared first on Local Gym | Fitness | Crossfit | Gymnazo, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Follow the journey of a fitness facility owner during her 1st pregnancy

You know you’re in the third trimester when you can’t get into your sedan without groaning, you think twice about whether to walk downtown for brunch or drive, you’re rolling yourself off of the bed like a slug hoping your feet hit the floor before your face does, you can’t zip your winter jacket over your belly so you layer…. and the list goes on.

What I can say about the third trimester is that so far of all my trimesters, this was the only one that seemed less intense. To be more specific, there were less surprises for me. I still related all too well to 90% of the list of symptoms common to this trimester, but these were ones I expected all along.

I knew I’d get a waddle, I’d provide comic relief to my husband watching me try to get dressed in the morning, I’d get stuck at the grocery store trying to shimmy between the conveyor belt and my cart and get a ton of attention for being pregnant.

But so far, this has been the best trimester. It’s been the most rewarding because the changes in your body become more and more noticeable and people are kinder, acknowledging that you’re going through an incredible transformation.

You’re on the brink of a life changing experience, and there was a sense of awareness to embrace the small things because life was about to change. Even if for the better, Michael and I would be decades away from our simple life just the two of us. Suddenly working out together meant more, walking downtown to get brunch after sleeping in on a Sunday was sweeter, going to a movie on a whim was special and even just being able to sleep for seven straight hours was something we have been appreciating.

3rd Trimester Symptoms I Experienced:

This was the light at the end of the tunnel for me… I enjoyed the third trimester, even though it was not devoid of unpleasant symptoms. So looking back, the final twelve weeks (months 7-10 for those who still think like normal people, in months not weeks), here are the symptoms I experienced that impacted me.

Symptoms I experienced in my 3rd Trimester:

• Acid reflux- better known as throwing up in your mouth
• Heart burn almost around the clock. I felt like a fire breathing dragon with an annoying sensation that my esophagus was burning.
• Back pain, that actually got worse post Chiropractic visits, so I focused on what did help ease it: underbelly support band, sleeping with my U-shaped “boyfriend pillow” and avoiding sitting for more than 30 minutes.
• Frequent urination
• Curse of the cankles – my poor ankles, feet and calves were daily so swollen I could push on my skin and it would stay indented. The only way to ease this was actually to workout and get my circulation back on track.
• Braxton-Hicks, a contraction that stops you in your tracks and you can’t carry on a conversation without socially letting the person you’re speaking to know that you’ve suddenly started to focus on something else, much like a constipated toddler who suddenly looks fiercely focused on their bodily function.
• Reduced immune system
• Shortness of breath, even in a gentle stroll downtown
• Forgetfulness – Attack of Pregnancy Brain
• Cramping and whole body aches
• Diastasis (aka. Separation of your abdominal muscles, causing pain)

Thankfully I did not get too tired, experience any dramatic horror-like dreams, or have any complications during this trimester.

My Activity Level During the 3rd Trimester

Perhaps in part due to the holidays, but I did see a drop in my average workouts per week. I went back to an average of three workouts per week. I believe this was more because of the pressure I put on myself to finish all my projects before my maternity leave, than it was due to not feeling up to working out. The list of work related projects was daunting and I completed it at the beginning of my third trimester and started to work aggressively throughout it to bring it back down.

The biggest change for me during the second trimester with my fitness is that I experienced diastasis, which is the separation of your abdominal muscles. This sounds perhaps a bit worse than it feelings, but I noticed that every time I did an exercise that was prone or pushed a heavy weight overhead, my stomach started to cone, pushing the weight of the baby to the middle of my stomach. It is pretty common in pregnancies, but I was disappointed because it made certain exercises particularly painful.

The hardest thing for me mentally in my fitness during this trimester was once again adjusting to a new mindset. I no longer felt that I could get a hard workout, I felt that I could get better circulation, feel my heart rate rise and move my tight muscles. But I noticed it was harder to break a sweat and any jumping, running, shuffle move was uncomfortable, as my stomach started to weigh heavy on my pelvic bone.

In the third trimester, similar to the first one, simply showing up for the workout was 50% of the “win” I gave myself. No one ever regrets a workout, and this was certainly the case with me.

#30weekspregnant

What I Noticed in my Workouts and Active Lifestyle

In the second trimester there were several notable changes to my overall activity level:

1. I had gained 27 pounds by the end of the third trimester, but during my whole pregnancy was still picking up the same vipr and handbell weights for any load bearing, lower extremity exercises. So it occurred to me that I wasn’t considering my extra weight gain in the weight I was picking up, which essentially served to almost double my weight during these exercises. I’ve concluded that my legs undoubtedly got stronger through this trimester.

2. It became almost painful to engage in core exercises, so I asked for modifications from our coaches to assist me in changing any prone (planking or on your hands/knees) exercises to upright and getting transverse (rotational) movement without causing abdominal pain.

3. I was more flexible! This was the one highlight of my fitness in the third trimester! The cool downs post workouts felt amazing and I could certainly get into deeper stretches than before. I had to be cautious to not push myself too deep into stretches, but stop when I felt any tension.

4. The hardest thing was acid reflux. There is nothing worse to me than throwing up in your mouth, swallowing and feeling heart burn, all while trying to workout hard and get a sweat going. It was just gross and I look forward to not having that in future post-partum workouts.

5. Upper body strength moves I could still lift decently heavy, so long as it was not overhead and or causing abdominal pain. I was thankful for that!

6. Locomotion drills (jogging, shuffling and skipping warm ups) were increasingly less comfortable and eventually I down tweaked my “runs” to “quick steps.” My stomach started to feel so heavy half the time I wanted to pick it up and carry it with me as I moved across the turf, but decided against it.

Overall 3rd Trimester Activity

The Third Trimester was more exciting than prior trimesters because you truly looked pregnant at this point and just moving felt so good and continued to be one of the best ways to reduce unpleasant symptoms. I truly do not know how women stop working out when they find out they are pregnant. Unless there are complications requiring this, I would encourage women to embrace movement, continue to move and prioritize themselves as their body goes through so many intense changes in a relatively short time.

The encouragement of those around me, from the coaching staff to my fellow athletes continued to be truly motivating to me.

Some of the kindest comments were:

• “You look fabulous! I’m so impressed you are still working out!”
• “You’re super mom!”
• “Your baby is going to come out so athletic!” (Not that I truly believed this, but it was a nice sentiment.)

The thing about fitness and making the choice to do something good for you that can feel uncomfortable in the moment is that is bonds you to your fellow athletes. Why is it that going through something hard is so strengthening? The relationships and bonds between my fellow athletes and me ultimately brought members with me through this pregnancy journey. My biggest takeaway is that when people around us know we’re going through something out of the usual, or our physical capabilities are hindered, it provides many opportunities for us to take time to encourage and lend positivity to the situation. I love that about the human spirit. When we know someone is going through something challenging, even if it’s exciting like a new baby, it surrounds you with love and encouragement. I’ve very thankful to have had such a supportive fitness community lifting me up during the last few months. It’s a powerful thing to feel a part of something so big.

My encouragement to those reading this who may be experiencing something less visible than being in your final months pregnant, is to open up and share what is going on with those around you. Let the community surround you too and it’s okay to appear weaker than usual as you go through something trying. There is power in those around us and opening yourself up to the love those around you have to share is pretty special.

As I close this blog series and await the arrival of my daughter, I’m blessed to know that she will be welcomed into such a positive and supportive community of men and women. It takes a village and Michael and I are very thankful for the village that engulfs us each day. Thank you to each one who partnered with me in workouts, who coached me, who encouraged me and who shared with me the anticipation of a new life entering this world. You all made the journey that started with many challenges turn out to be beautiful.

To continue reading more blogs in this series, click the links below.

• Part 1: Introduction to How I Stayed Fit in My Pregnancy
• Part 2: How I Stayed Fit in My 2nd Trimester
• Part 3: How I Stayed Fit in My 3rd Trimester

The post Part 4: How I Stayed Fit In My Third Trimester appeared first on Local Gym | Fitness | Crossfit | Gymnazo, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Follow the journey of a fitness facility owner during her 1st pregnancy

The single best thing about the second trimester was that we were finally able to announce our pregnancy to our family, friends and ultimately the social media world. It was no longer our best kept secret, which meant I no longer had to suffer in silence.

I also was able to find out the gender of the baby in the 1st trimester so that was exciting for us, especially as my husband prior to learning the baby’s gender, claimed it was impossible for him to father a daughter because of the long lineage of men producing males in his family.

Karma of course comes full circle, and I’ll never forget how surprised we both were to learn we were having a little girl.

For all my reading up on “old wives tales” and online blogs, there seemed to be unison in claiming that the hormones of a little girl can more often mess with the mother’s hormones, causing more prolonged morning sickness and other unsavory symptoms. I was beyond relived to learn I was having a little girl, not only because I always wanted one, but because it seemed to justify for me why the first trimester had been so tough.

When things are hard for me I tend to divert to the use of humor to humanize what I’m going through, so our announcement employed humor to poke fun at both the horrors of morning sickness and our surprise at learning we’d be having the first baby girl on the Hughes’ side of the family in multiple generations.

Enter the second trimester. Once the cat was out of the bag and people knew we were expecting, I started to hear encouragements from my friends who were already moms. They all seemed to say, “Well I’m sorry the first trimester was so bad, but thank goodness you’re past all that in your second trimester. It’s smooth sailing now until the 3rd trimester.” Such hopeful words to look forward to experiencing.

I hoped through week 13…14…15…16…17…18…19…20… nothing.

It wasn’t until week 21 where I started to feel my weekly exchange of one symptom for another began to feel like an improvement.

So as I stated, I’ll treat my second trimester in two parts: Weeks 13-20 and Weeks 21-28.

2nd Trimester Symptoms I Experienced in Weeks 13-20:

• Morning sickness throughout this time frame.
• Belly started to hit the floor before my face when I did push ups
• Halfway through this trimester I cut out all jarring impact moves like jumping or running because it started to cause me pain in my low back.
• I had to pee in any cardio workout at every single break! The breaks were only 60 seconds and it would take me 90 seconds to use the bathroom, which frustrated me because I was missing my workouts. Eventually it got to be more manageable, because I stopped running and jumping around week 18.
• Unattractive swelling of ankles and feet, however, after working out the swelling would always go away.
• Leg cramps in the middle of the night. Poor Michael, waking up in the middle of the night to hearing me painfully trying to foam roll out a horrible leg cramp.
• Dizziness and light headedness
• Aches in the lower abdomen, marked by the expanding of my round ligaments as my rounding stomach started to grow. It felt like menstrual cramps in my stomach.
• Fatigue- I started to go back to bed for two more hours to feel like I could keep up with my personal standards of work output.

2nd Trimester Symptoms I Experienced in Weeks 21-28:

• Thankfully the morning sickness ended for me by Week 21!
• Experienced aches and pains in my round ligaments/abs whenever I did AbDolly exercises that placed my hands on an unstable surface and used my core to control my motion. I started to ask coaches to tweak the movement to give me a more stable surface and this worked well.
• Started to feel insecure with any overhead, Transverse or Frontal plane weighted reaches. Felt like I could strain my stomach ligaments if I wasn’t careful. I reduced weight and sometimes wouldn’t lift any weight overhead.
• Heartburn started around week 24 for me and made it very challenging to workout. It felt like my esophagus was burning whenever I inhaled, making cardio workouts particularly uncomfortable. I also experienced acid reflux and had to pause more to take breaths and drink a little water. This is the only symptom worse to me than nausea of the 1st trimester.
• Started to realize my “pregnancy brain” marked by inability to multi-task and chronic forgetfulness (even mid-sentence) made it hard to track in workouts.
• I noticed my first varicose vein, sad day.

The icing on the cake was circumstantial, but my second trimester culminated in a four day bought of food poisoning from Pluto’s in San Luis Obispo. I’d always heard being sick when pregnant it harder than typical and while food poisoning is never pleasant, this was decidedly worse. I’ll spare you the details.

My Activity Level During the 2ND Trimester

I was happy to see an increase in my workouts during the second trimester. During the first trimester I only worked out three times per week but throughout the second trimester I worked out on average four times per week.

The biggest change for me during the second trimester with my fitness is that I started to realize I needed to cut out the impact of G3/2 workouts and so by week 21 I had permanently chosen G1 as my fitness level, thankful for the little to no impact programmed into the workouts.

The hardest thing for me mentally in my fitness during this trimester was wrapping my head around my new definition of success. I had limited my movements, modified exercises I used to love and had to accept that I wasn’t trying to make fitness gains. My new normal was simply trying to stay moving and celebrate the benefits of activity. This was a head change that once I accepted made me more content in my fitness.

What I changed in my workouts and active lifestyle

In the second trimester there were several notable changes I made to my overall activity level:

1. I had gained 10 pounds by the end of the second trimester and most of it was in my growing belly, so my center of gravity started to throw my balance off. This also threw off my calorie burn and heart rate calculations on my heart rate monitor because I didn’t go in and weekly update my weight.
2. It became painful to engage in core exercises, so I transitioned from plank work and AdDolly rollouts to TRX leaning core work. It was certainly easier, but with the strain being placed on my abs in my stomach expansion, I started to just enjoy moving my core and paying attention to how my body was changing.
3. I was more injury prone, particularly in my hip flexors. I should have stuck to Gymnazo (a workout style I love and crave), but while away at our team retreat in September I tried out Barre Method. I’ve heard it said that you shouldn’t branch mid-pregnancy to a new style of workout your body is not used to and perhaps that was the difference. Sadly, the instructor promised me that isolated core work was safe for pregnancy, but I should have known better. I pulled my left hip flexor so badly it hurt to walk or put weight on my left leg for three weeks as I recovered. Thankfully I was still able to keep up with my G1 workouts because the coaches knew how to modify the workouts to not piss off or further injure my hip flexor.
4. I think I became overly concerned about re-injury, so I started to reduce the weight of any overhead press matrix, sometimes dropping the weight altogether. I needed to prove to myself as I was going through so many bodily changes that I was in touch with what movements I could do safely and what made me feel achy after the workout. Eventually by week 26 I was adding weight back on and feeling more confident moving weight.
5. Growing pressure on my bladder made it very hard to get through a workout and not miss 20% of it with bathroom breaks.
6. In the beginning of the second trimester nausea was still a tough symptom to stomach during the workouts, but as I said my last post, it seemed to subside within 15 minutes of the workout.
7. By the end of the second trimester I exchanged nausea for a much more intense heartburn than I’d experienced. This made cardio day particularly hard because the more I exerted myself the more it hurt to inhale and my esophagus felt like it was on fire. It also seemed linked to acid reflux, where I basically threw up in my mouth throughout the day and workout.

Overall 2nd Trimester Conclusions

Looking back I would say that I am thankful I’ve chosen fitness as a lifestyle and not a “if I feel up to it” type of activity. If I had had that mindset, the second trimester symptoms and impact on my activity would have likely made me pick a path of least resistance and not workout regularly. But like the first trimester, I honestly can’t imagine going through the second trimester without incorporating fitness. It was the healthy distraction I needed to keep going.

The best thing about the second trimester was that I no longer needed to give myself pep talks in my workouts, I was surrounded by fellow athletes who continually encouraged me.

Some of the kindest comments were:

• “I’m so inspired with how consistent your workouts are!”
• “Can I workout with you, being next to you still gives me a push to keep up.”
• “If I had known you could safely and consistently workout through pregnancy when I was pregnant I would have.”
• “You’re super mom already!”

It may seem corny to read these comments, but when you have heart burn, your hip flexor is sore and you are dizzy and you hear such encouragements it propels you forward. Never underestimate the power of positivity and encouragement. It got me through my second trimester and bonded me with my fellow G1 athletes. So thank you all for your kindness during a couple tough months.

To those reading this who are pregnant, my encouragement to you is to not let the symptoms you are wrestling with dictate to you whether or not you make it to the workout. Showing up is the first win. Don’t beat yourself up for a mind shift into enjoying your movement versus hitting your fitness goals. Each season in life challenges us to adjust to our changing environment and adapt. I suppose this is lesson pregnancy reminds you of, likely as a pre-motherhood training ground. Finally be kind to yourself. Don’t get on the guilt train, I hear it only gets worse as you progress through life as a mom. Don’t guilt yourself into fitness, give yourself the gift of fitness.

To continue reading more blogs in this series, click the links below.

• Part 1: Introduction to How I Stayed Fit in My Pregnancy
• Part 2: How I Stayed Fit in My 2nd Trimester
• Part 4: How I Stayed Fit in My 3rd Trimester

The post Part 3: How I Stayed Fit in My 2nd Trimester appeared first on Local Gym | Fitness | Crossfit | Gymnazo, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Follow the journey of a fitness facility owner during her 1st pregnancy

As a little girl I dreamed of being a mom one day. I even practiced how to sleep on my side so that one day when I was pregnant I wouldn’t struggle with falling asleep. I laugh at that now, as sleeping on my side has caused me much neck and shoulder pain, but that’s a different story. Perhaps to my Grandmother’s chagrin, who joked she may never live to see me married, I chose to cultivate my inner career woman and remained childless through my 20’s. A classic millennial, I was in no hurry to rush into motherhood.

However, upon turning 30, motherhood seemed like the natural next role or milestone to embrace in my life journey. I’m the kind of person who creates plans and then contingency plans for all big decisions. So growing up I paid keen attention to stories my mom would tell about pregnancy. Since all five of hers were seemingly devoid of negative side affects, I was encouraged! I believed I hailed from a long line of pregnancy goddesses who would rather stay pregnant for the love of the miraculous journey than get back to normal. This was reinforced in the last 12 months when my little sister got pregnant with her first baby and continued the family tradition of having a great pregnancy experience.

It shouldn’t be any surprised that when I found out I was pregnant last May, I too believed I was destined for a glorious experience.

Perhaps it was glorious until on week 6 when like clockwork my pregnancy apps (Bump and Nurture) started to alert me that I may experience the first key symptom: morning sickness. The next day, I instantly started to feel what my prior life experiences could only chalk up to as an extreme 24/7 hangover, the kind where even glancing at a bottle of tequila would send you to the bathroom. I probably should stop reading these weekly warnings of crazy pregnancy symptoms because so far as if on a schedule, I have experienced every single symptom you could in your first trimester, except for two: weight gain and hyperemesis gravidarum or severe morning sickness that requires you to take medication to stop throwing up. Thankfully I have been spared that.

1st Trimester Symptoms I Experienced that Impacted My Workouts:

• 24/7 “morning” sickness from week 6-18 (well into my 2nd trimester)
• Constipation, the kind where you look like you’ve gained 10 pounds and are highly uncomfortable even walking
• Fatigue, resulting in needing 2 hours naps daily to feel like a human again
• Frequent urination (especially during cardio workouts)
• Heartburn and it’s lovely side kick acid reflux

My Activity Level During the 1 st Trimester

Throughout the first 12 weeks I averaged working out 3 times per week, which is a little less then normal, but I was happy it was consistent. In Gymnazo we have three levels of fitness training called G1, G2 and G3. G3 is our more elite program for fitness, requiring athletes to pass an assessment to participate.

I had primarily been working out at the G3 level pre-pregnancy and was interested to know whether I could keep it up. I ended up being able to stay in the G3 program the whole trimester. Thankfully because our coaches knew I was pregnant from weeks 8-12 they could give me modifications if I needed them to help me stay away from potentially risky movement patterns or weights that were too much for me.

Perhaps I’m most proud of the fact that I completed a Tough Mudder, while 7 weeks pregnant with acute morning sickness, in Tahoe where it was cold, windy and at high altitude. That was probably the hardest physical exertion I have done while pregnant.

Nutritional Impact of the 1st Trimester:

It may seem weird to discuss nutrition when the series is about fitness, but a key to staying fit in pregnancy has to do with your nutrition. So I thought I’d share my experience on that front as well.

My food aversions included:

• Truffle Oil
• Vegetables of every kind
• Salads became a four letter word to me the entire trimester
  Citrus
• A month of not wanting to touch anything sweet, from honey to chocolate to jam to fruit
• Coffee, I avoided because of the correlation between caffeine intake and increased risk of miscarriage.
• Healthy food portions, I ate like a pigeon

My food intake/cravings included:

• All carbs like pizza, pasta and I always wished for Mac-n-Cheese
• Beef jerky, so long as there was no syrup or brown sugar included. For about a month I ate a package a day.
• Cereal, mainly whole grain cereals to try to get some fiber
• Milk, I have always been a Whole Milk girl and was probably consuming 2 glasses per day

I think one of the elements of pregnancy that is hard not to obsess about is weight gain. In the 1st Trimester, I was curious if I would experience weight gain. But throughout the 1st Trimester I was only keep down about 800-1000 calories per day and so I lost 6 pounds overall at the end of the 1 st trimester.

What changed in my workouts and active lifestyle:

In the first trimester there were just three notable changes I made to my overall activity level:

1. I no longer did any sports or activities where the speed I gained was faster than my own limbs could take me. For example, I still would run wind sprints in cardio workouts, but I stopped wake boarding and tubing.

2. I reduced my weight when performing Olympic lifts by about 25-40%. I realized early on that I didn’t care about hitting new PR’s but that I cared more about burning calories, maintaining fitness and enjoying the range of motion I still had. It was a perspective shift.

3. Pre workout nutrition was critical, as I was not eating very much or often. I started to bring pre-workout Fluid Performance with me to each workout to help give me some electrolytes during my workouts. If I didn’t I would experience lightheadedness and dizziness.

The irony about the 1 st trimester is that you can’t really tell anyone that you’re experiencing such a bizarre combination of symptoms. By week 8 my husband and I told our team of coaches, but my fellow athletes and workout partners did not know for the first 12 weeks. I don’t always like this about myself, but I always feel better when I can eternally process the challenges in my life with others. My husband, Michael, is a champ for being one of maybe four people I shared my frustrations with during the initial trimester. The rest I had to keep bottled up inside and when anyone asked me how I was doing, in the gym, I always tried to smile and say, “Great, how about you?”

Looking back I would say that I hardly adjusted my fitness during the first trimester, which surprised me because just looking at the list of ongoing symptoms I experienced was overwhelming. More than anything I learned how powerful your willpower can be to get through physical hurdles. Each day I had to remind myself why I wanted to workout, that it would be worth it later.

My most effective personal pep talks were:

• “One hour of fitness will buy you 2 hours of no nausea. It’s worth it!”
• “No one knows your pregnant, keep moving or they’ll start to wonder why you’re slowing down.”
• “You’ll never get to do this G3 workout ever again, and who knows how long it will be until you get back to this level of training, push it while you still can!”
• “You’re walking your talk, even if it’s harder than normal.”
• “You’re a gym owner, quitting this isn’t an option for you!”

Bottomline:

My encouragement to those in your first trimester is to keep going. Don’t stop what you had been doing before. If you’re like me you are dealing with terrible side effects, but the first 15 minutes of each workout is the worst. After that your body kicks in gear and mentally you’ve committed to it so you will push through.

Each workout is a success and gives you an hour to spend on yourself doing something beneficial for your pregnancy and your baby.

To continue reading more blogs in this series, click the links below.

• Part 1: Introduction to How I Stayed Fit in My Pregnancy
• Part 3: How I Stayed Fit in My 2nd Trimester
• Part 4: How I Stayed Fit in My 3rd Trimester

The post Part 2: How I Stayed Fit in My 1st Trimester appeared first on Local Gym | Fitness | Crossfit | Gymnazo, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Follow the journey of a fitness facility owner during her 1st pregnancy

What type of exercises are allowed during pregnancy? What is unsafe at which stage of your pregnancy?

In a recent study most women tend to stop exercising during pregnancy. This seems crazy to me, but after tuning into some of the blog topics that pregnancy apps have alerted me to, it was alarming to me how discouraging pregnancy bloggers were of exercise. The same study goes on to report that, “pregnant women tend to not receive exercise guidance from care providers.” So it would seem most women aren’t getting counseled by their care providers about how often and what type of exercise to do during pregnancy. I guess it’s no surprise then when most of the pregnant women I know turned to personal role models, family members and pregnancy apps/blogs for guidance.

Let me start off by saying, I am not a poster child for pregnancy. I’m not the kind of super fit athlete who just can eat anything and stay lean. Pre-pregnancy, I’ve had to be diligent to keep my body fat in the low 20th percentile. I am also not the type of woman who thrives on being pregnant, and glides around with an aura of peace, tranquility and radiance when pregnant (if ever). There is a chance once my baby makes her debut the oxytocin will wipe out the memory of how demanding and challenging my pregnancy journey has been, but until then, I can say I have not enjoyed being pregnant.

What I can say is that even through adjusting almost weekly to a “new normal” of symptoms you hope to avoid in your pregnancy, fitness has still remained a vital part of my lifestyle and sanity.

As someone who owns a fitness facility, it’s no secret I’m biased towards more activity than less. But I will say is that it’s always easier to tell someone else what to do than it is to walk the path yourself. So the purpose of this blog series is for me to give you the honest facts of what my personal journey has been, the good the bad and the ugly.

There is no doubt there are studies showing benefits of staying fit in your pregnancy. I’m a bit of a numbers geek, so check out these:

• Research shows moms staying fit tend to put on 7 less pounds than women who don’t workout
• You lower your risk of getting gestational diabetes by as much as 27 percent
• Moms who workout during pregnancy report more energy, less constipation, better sleep and more flexibility in their bodies
• 20 years olds studied who were exposed to exercise in utero performed better in sports than same age peers whose mothers did not exercise in pregnancy.

One final note I think is worthwhile, is that no two pregnancies are the same, even for the same woman. So to make unilateral assumptions in this blog series is unlikely to be helpful. My pregnancy is unlikely to be the same as yours. But since I have experienced every single symptom pregnancy blogs and apps warn about, perhaps parts of it may be relatable to you.

So if you are pregnant, considering becoming pregnant in the future or know someone who is, I hope this series is informative and valuable to you.

To continue reading more blogs in this series, click the links below.

• Part 2: How I Stayed Fit in My 1st Trimester
• Part 3: How I Stayed Fit in My 2nd Trimester
• Part 4: How I Stayed Fit in My 3rd Trimester

The post Introduction: How I Stayed Fit in My Pregnancy appeared first on Local Gym | Fitness | Crossfit | Gymnazo, San Luis Obispo, CA.