Kate Rita- Personal Trainer and Diastasis Expert

So I am making baby food for my 6 month old son. We started solids about 2 weeks ago and he is doing great with them. Just like with Jenny, I skipped the typical rice cereal first food trend and went straight for high nutrition fruits and veggies. So far Seth has had banana, applesauce, pear, blackberries, prunes, s weet potato, butternut squash, carrots, & avocado. I am going to introduce grains next, and have decided to start with Quinoa and Amaranth, two of my favorite grains. Here is a great page I found when researching these grains as first baby foods: The Littlest Foodie. What is Quinoa or the Amaranth nutritionally? The main feature is their high proportion of protein up to 18% against 10-14% of classic cereals. Their proteins have high proportions of essential amino acids that the body does not produce, such as cysteine, lysine and methionine. Both wheat and rice are low in essential amino acids…the contrary to the quinoa or the amaranth oops! According to FAO and WH...

So for the past few months I have been training for a half marathon- this was a very steady and gradual approach to training- slow twitch, endurance, postpartum recovery. The Ab Rehab program was extremely congruent with this type of training and I have made some excellent progress. In the past few months I have progressed from a diastasis recti of top 3, middle 4, lower 4, naval 31", waist 29" to 1, 3, 3, naval 29", waist 26". I am happy with this! Now that my goal is reached it is time to overload. In order to progress in my fitness it is time to shake it up. I have been using plyometric exercises- upper and lower body as well as jumping on/over step ups, jumping rope, heavy bag workouts, stationary cycle for steady cardio, more running and core work on the mat. It's been a great change and I can already see improvements in my explosive form and energy. I can already feel the difference when I am running. So my ab rehab exercises have become a component of m...

I just completed my Can-Fit-Pro Pre/Postnatal Fitness Specialist certification at Ryerson College. I scored 90% on theory and 100% on the practical. I am now officially PTS, PFS and I am thrilled! A Certified Pre & Post Natal Fitness Specialist Provides: Current information about the necessary precautions for pre & post natal fitness Practical advice with setting fitness goals for currently active and newly active pregnant women Practical modifications for exercise intensity and exercise techniques A specialized approach to exercise and activity while pregnant Pre & Post Natal fitness information, activity choices and individualized program design   Here are some reasons WHY you need a certified Pre/Postnatal Specialist as a trainer: I know the absolute contraindications and relative contraindications to exercising while pregnant. I know warning signs and symptoms and WHEN to STOP exercising and consult your Dr. I have a comprehensive practical underst...

I just completed the Mississauga Half Marathon on May 16th, 5 months postpartum. What a great race! I ran as I had trained and intended to run- RPE 14 (moderate effort), relaxed and smiling with a strong finish. My time was 02:05:59, a perfect 6 minute/km, which I know is my "happy" speed :) I am very pleased with my performance and proud of myself for achieving such an amazing postpartum goal. What is YOUR postpartum goal? What is YOUR fitness goal? There are NO excuses! Just get it done! My goal for this summer is to continue fitness running with my kids- Jenny on her bike and Seth in the stroller. It will be a great activity to keep us active and busy during the summer vacation- running to a playground, having a picnic/play, then riding home. I would like to work up to 10K distances with the kids. Fitness IS a family affair and the more we can do together, the more successful we will be! I ran a 8K recovery run last night with my dog, who sadly  at 11 years old is ...

April 27th I begin what I call Week 5 of my program. It has taken me 8 weeks to get this far. I am now performing 1000 contractions per day (10 sets of 100 5th-6th) and 2 sets of 10 headlifts 3x/day. I get through this week at about 75% of completion- not enough to warrant progression. I take my dedicated rest day on May 5th and try to begin Week 5-2 (repeat 1) on May 6th. I get 2/3 way through the day and dang it I sprain my toe which is a total derailing distraction with the ice pack on my elevated foot- my race aspirations in the balance (my half marathon is on May 16th!) This puts a nice wrench in my focus over the next few days which results not only in poor completion %'s of the exercises but also in being totally now buggered with the splint and SO sick of wearing the dang thing. Today is May 11th and I am trying to figure out how to get back on track with my program. Updating this blog today has been a great document of the progress I have made and a motivating reminder ...

Because I am finding the Tupler 6 week program completely unrealistic for myself, I am experimenting with some modifications that may make the program more manageable for myself and my clients. I feel the Tupler progression is too fast to maintain and progress effectively. It would be great if we could all "check-out" of our lives for 6 weeks of dedicated ab rehab, but since that isn't feasible I have to restructure the exercise progression in a way that can be worked into a regular life routine. Based on my own experiences this is the program revision: (the set #'s correspond to AM, early PM and evening PM sessions) Week 1: 10 Elevators 3/4/3 Contractions 3rd-5th 5 sets of 100 2/1/2 Week 2: 10 Elevators 3/4/3 Contractions 4th-5th 5 sets of 100 2/1/2 Week 3: 10 Elevators 3/4/3 Contractions 5th-6th 5 sets of 100 2/1/2 Week 4: Contractions 5th-6th 10 sets of 100 3/4/3 double splinted Week 5: Contractions 5th-6th 10 sets of 100 3/4/3 double splinted, Headlifts 1 s...

April 6th- I am scheduled to begin Week #4 of the Ab Rehab Program. Headlifts begin. I am so excited to get started on a new exercise; I have worked really hard for the past 3 weeks to build the strength and body awareness to progress to the back-lying exercise. I am cheerleader optimistic. Ever overkeen I book in a last minute 1-on-1 training session with Samantha to review the headlift execution. I am feeling pretty confident in the exercise. I recheck my diastasis and measure upper 3 middle 3 lower 4, with stronger connective tissue. Progress! I have closed 1 finger width at center. My naval measurement is 29" (down 2" from 31") and my waist is down 1" to 27". Not bad for 3 weeks! So week #4 looks like this: No more Elevators 10 sets of 100 contractions 5th to 6th (1000 per day now!) Headlifts 3 sets of 10, 3 x day Cake right? Absolutely not. I average 3 sets of 10 headlifts PER DAY, I miss a couple of sets of contractions and the splint is startin...