The Cost of Fitness

A fit and healthy body is priceless. If you could buy a fit body for yourself, would you? How much would you pay? How much is it worth to you? Well every person can afford to be fit!

Today after a particularly difficult Day 6 workout I ask myself "Is it ever easy? Is it ever really NOT difficult?" And the answer is no. It takes tremendous effort to exercise- first we must overcome the mental obstacles and that alone is a lot of work! Once we are mentally motivated we still have to put our body through the motions with the physical effort. It is hard! There is a reason why I am sweating buckets with my HR in its max zone. It takes effort.

Think of that effort as my currency. That effort recruits my muscles causing them to grow, to respond quicker, to last longer. That effort is paying for my fit body; and that effort...well, it's "free" right? We all at least have the potential. We can create this currency with our own power. We use this effort to expend our calories, to work and invest in our muscles and our fit bodies, rather than storing the energy/effort as fat and depleting our physical staminas with lethargy and worse, apathy.

We must consciously channel our energy and harness our power to achieve!

On that note, today's workout was very difficult but I got through it. Day 6 consecutive, here it is:

*This is an appropriate workout for an intermediate to advanced fitness client who is no less than 6 months postpartum. If diastasis exists, no more than 6 fingerwidths total, must be able to perform headlift exercise, must be able to engage transverse in prone positions and must wear Tupler splint during exercise.

20 seconds work: 10 seconds rest x 8 rounds, maximum reps, 2 minutes rest between sets

5 Exercises:

Modified Push Ups 10/9/7/5/6/5/6/5 (good form!)

Squat Jump Twist 9/7/8/7/8/8/9/10

Running Reptile 14/13/13/6/8/9/10/10 (need to work on form!)

Scissor Jumps 14/13/14/16/13/14/14/15

Alternating Pushups 14/13/14/16/13/14/14/15 (shallow form)

10 minute warm up, rushed cool down (baby crying!)

Total time= 30 minutes

+ 5K walk

Total Day = 60+ minutes

What did your workout look like today?

Comments

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I get asked this question all the time! Here is my answer: Research has shown that 100% of pregnant women will develop some degree of diastasis recti. A diastasis is a lateral separation in the abdominal wall between the recti or “six pack”, due to a stretching of the midline connective tissue or “linea alba”. Although some diastasis will heal postpartum, in many cases a separation will remain without restorative exercise. Distention from DR will present as a doming in the midline. Women who heal a diastasis spontaneously or through restorative exercise may still find that their abdomens are distended, particularly after a meal and/or at the end of the day. If there is no diastasis, why is this? This abdominal distention does not occur in the midline, but rather across the entire abdominal wall. This is due to a weakened hypotonic TVA- transverse abdominis muscle. The TVA is the deepest anterior abdominal muscle, wrapping around the midsection like a girdle, with a left an

Stretches for Achy Hips!

Without rehabilitation, the postnatal body has a non optimal core. From Diastasis Recti to pelvic floor dysfunction, inhibited multifidus/lower back muscles (especially in the lumbar spine), thoracic immobility (tight ribs), and possibly abdominal adhesions from a C-Section incision- there are a multitude of maternal physiological impairments to consider. The body continues to perform by enlisting non optimal biomechanics to compensate for the lack of core strength. Compensatory strategies help to achieve the stability, strength and endurance that the core is not providing, but exacerbate deteriorating movements in a snowball effect. This is very evident in the pelvis. When the deep stabilizing core is unable to provide adequate pelvic stability control, the smaller muscles that are designed to help the core take on too much of the task. They become stuck, gripped, and can cause referred pain throughout the body. Knowing to stretch the common overused and v

Kate Rita- Personal Trainer and Diastasis Expert

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