Kate Rita- Personal Trainer and Diastasis Expert

Don't throw the towel in on your day too quickly! Today I woke up, Day 4, cardio planned, feeling less than great. I had a bellyache and felt grumpy and altogether unwell. I am tired from the past 3 days of working out, but I know that tomorrow is a rest day because of my busy schedule, so it's either bust out the cardio or take 2 rest days in a row. I manage to get motivated to climb on the stationary cycle with no aspiration other than loosening up and getting SOMETHING done. 50 minutes later I completed a great cardio sweat session, clocked some minutes for the week and set myself up for a well deserved rest day tomorrow. Oh ya, and my belly ache was gone; and I wasn't grumpy anymore :) Go figure.

Today is Day 3 and I planned an upper body focused high rep intermediate exercise workout. I was conceptualizing a hybrid set reps/time challenge of 2 workouts I did in the past week. In planning I grossly overestimated reps, planning 6 rounds of 5 exercises, 20 reps/set. Because 2 exercises were offset, the total reps per round = 140. After Round 1 I was 10:00 in realizing that with rest I was likely facing a 90 minute difficult strength workout. Ya no chance. I shaved it down to 4 rounds, hoping to complete 3, which I did. Here are my exercises and times: Breakdance PU (Knee to Elbow w/crab twist) 20 reps x 3 2:27/2:30/2:25 = 7:30 60 reps Side Lying Tricep Pushup 20 reps/side x 3 2:03/2:25/2:00 = 6:30 120 reps Reverse Pull Up 20 reps x 3 2:00/2:00/1:36 = 5:30 60 reps 1 Arm Press Up 20 reps/side 2:00/1:30/1:30 = 5:00 120 reps Star Lunge Jumps 20 reps 2:45/2:45/2:30 = 8:00 60 reps Total = 420 reps 35:00 Then the baby woke up and another set was out of the question anyway. Not b...

I started this AM with a 4:00 Pre-Breakfast workout: 15:5 x 12, 2 exercises High Knees and Mountain Climbers Max reps = 364 reps in 4:00 wow. Then I proceeded to a time challenge, 40 reps x 5 exercises, some of which are new to me so extra fun! Jump Star Raises x 40 7:45, + 2 x 10 = 1:30 x 2 = 3:00, Total 60 reps 10:45 James Bond Lunge x 20/side x 2 = 6:00, Total 80 reps 6:00 Side Crunch x 20/side x 2 = 5:00, Total 80 reps 5:00 Breakdance PU x 20 x 2 = 6:00, Total 40 reps 6:00 Squat Jump Total 40 reps 3:35 Total 664 reps in 35:00. In the bag!

Here is a picture from today, compared with a picture last November. It has been a long road back to recovery, but I am extremely happy with the results that all my hard work has earned me! I HAVE surpassed my prepregnancy fitness level and so can YOU!

Here are some more nutritional and simple foods that are quick to cook. These are regular staples around here:   Grilled Salmon <20:00 to cook from frozen. A great first meat for babies, and a delicious nutritious food for family members of all ages!Just be VERY careful of little bones!   Pan Fried/Blackened Tofu. <10:00 to pan fry. A great source of protein and a baby/toddler friendly finger food!    Beautiful Steamed Sweet Potato cubes & Green Beans. Again, excellent nutritious baby/toddler finger friendly food. Approx 15:00 to steam.

  My week's Strength & Plyo Challenges. On in between days I rest and/or do cardio.

Here are some notes on stretching that are important to consider when doing your flexibility programs. Remember that Can Fit Pro recommends stretching 4-7 days/week- more than cardio and strength. Your muscles need to be stretched and lengthened every da y to avoid shortening and the discomfort and impairment of the resulting limited range of motion. Dynamic Stretching: This is stretching that takes a body part through a range of motion. It involves gentle movement which typically mimicks the activities you are preparing for. This is ideal for a warm up program. The body is not yet warm and so can be less flexible to static positions. I always recommend beginning with a full body head-to-toe, followed by any additional stretches to target key areas. This is a great routine for a wake up stretch. It is important to be aware of form with dynamic stretching. Do not swing the body through movements, but rather try to lift it through the range of motion with slow, gentle and smooth pr...

It can be a difficult age when your baby has a few teeth and insists on feeding him/herself. There is a limited variety of fresh fruits that are suitable to be chopped and fed to a baby. Apples, pears, peaches, nectarines- these fruits can be too hard, even when steamed. My solution? Shred it! Shredded fruits and vegetables are easy finger foods for your baby. Carrots, cucumber, zucchini, apples, pears, beets.... you can add to the variety of fresh foods you can offer your baby. Consider it my tip of the day.

By making your workouts challenges you create mini goals to conquer in a 30-60 minute workout.  Keep a log sheet on hand and record your reps & sets. Whether you have a time goal, a rep/set goal, or both- this is a fun way to challenge yourself for a quick burn. Keeping yourself interested in your workouts is an important strategy for success over the long haul! These mini challenges work exceptionally well for me and I use this approach for 90% of my strength workouts.

I have been discussing family meal preparation with a client and I thought I would offer another example of how I prepare a single meal in various ways to meet the needs of my family members. Here is the first example I offered. I think this one is even simpler. Tonight's dinner took about 20 minutes to prepare in 3 different manners. I prepared: - chopped raw vegetables - brown rice - pan fried shrimp - steamed broccoli and spinach - a can of corn (cold) I prepare everything separately and then serve it up accordingly. Here are some of the prepped foods.  I cook everything very dry. We add sauce when we serve up, if at all.   Here is Seth's version (Age 11 months): I added some cold sweet potato I had steamed yesterday and kept in the fridge. I add things to his tray accordingly. Tonight he only ate 2 pieces of shrimp, and refused the spinach and the cucumber mostly. This waste is secondary- I keep offering the foods to define his palette. I gave him sh...

I have a client on a modified ab rehab program. She began with a large separation of 13 fingerwidths. In 10 weeks she had lost several inches and strengthened her connective tissue significantly, having lost 2 fingerwidths total, down to 11. For 2 weeks she had no closure. Staying motivated despite this, she worked hard for another 2 weeks and lost 3 full fingerwidths! Now down to only 8 she is well on her way to a 2 finger "across the board" measurement, which gives her the green light to do (supervised & splinted) planks, pushups and all the other fun upper body/core stuff. Stay motivated folks and take the small bits of progress as they come. Diligence and consistency is the key to closing your diastasis for good!

It takes approximately 2 weeks for deconditioning to begin. Try to keep a maximum of 14 days break during busy/stressful times when your workouts fall to the wayside; otherwise, you'll be working to recover strengths that you have already worked hard to achieve! Fortunately you have built " muscle memory " so recovery is faster than initial conditioning. Prenatally it is ESPECIALLY important to maintain conditioning with consistency. Without consistency, exercise prenatally becomes a risk.

  When you prepare meals to be served to meet individual preferences, leftovers are yummy and a  breeze! Here'a chana masala with quinoa and brown rice, leftover. The quinoa & rice can easily be reheated with soy milk, banana, berries, and topped with yogurt for a yummy hot cereal, ready in under 2 minutes. Or it an be eaten with the reheated masala, tossed into a cold salad with chopped vegetables and shrimp, or fried with meat & vegetables. How easy is that, with so many options in such quick time!  Here's a tip: When you cook make a little extra to have leftovers. Focus on the pasta/grain portion which can be used in a variety of cold salads, cereals and quick mixes. Be sure to store things separately. It's like pre-cooking or meal prep done with absolutely NO extra work!

Today I was supposed to run at 9AM with my Sunday morning running buddy . With the daylight savings change I even gained an hour of rest yet still woke up at 7AM feeling out of sorts and slightly "off". I had a long day yesterday with an early 8AM training session and then a Core Expectations training team dinner. I didn't see my kids much and I just couldn't get into bustling around this morning, getting ready, waking my husband to watch the baby, hurry out, then work at 10AM. Sigh. So I messaged my running buddy and took a big fat day off. I played on the floor with my baby, put him back to bed, did a coffee run and woke my husband with a foot rub before heading out to work. Sometimes you just gotta' listen to your heart/gut and prioritize an emotional "workout". Turns out I am still sore anyway, so the 2 days of rest is not a bad thing :)

Since Feb/March, I have been working hard to close an 11 finger diastasis. I had to date assessed myself as currently Upper 0, Middle 1, Lower 2. I am still incorporating seated exercises and supine isometric pelvic tilts to my workout program. Yesterday I attended a dinner for my training team at Core Expectations . Samantha checked me because I trust her assessment skills and I wanted a second opinion. She measured me as a shallow 2 all the way down.  It interests me that 2 qualified trainers can come up with a slightly different measurement. Interestingly when I measured Sam I also came up with a slightly larger measurement than she had given herself. However when we measure a third party, we seem to have the same results. This begs the question of whether self assessments are inclined to be on the lower side for one reason or another. Perhaps it is anxiousness with our own progress, or perhaps it is due to the physics of the self assessment and the subtle difference in hand...

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about what it means to have a personal trainer. For some, it means having a coach in home or at a gym 2-3x week to help with workouts. For others, it means working with a trainer in home 1-4x month, just for guided creative progression and maintenance of proper form. For other more advanced athletes, it is a coach who provides a progressive program every 4-8 weeks and keeps you on track. So why have a a personal trainer? Here are the main reasons: Accountability: A trainer will keep you on track. You are accountable for the work (or lack therof) that you do. In order to progress the schedule must be followed.  Motivation: A trainer motivates you not only by standing over you through every set, but also through real life insight and dialogue- both from personal experience and client anecdotes. Empathy: A good trainer understands your challenges and supports you through with empathy that can help you overcome the challenges that you face. ...

Yesterday was Day 2, post cardio (7.5K run). As I was preparing for my ripping core workout, I mused over my appearance. Zuzana from Body Rock TV is always gorgeous- me, on the other hand, I am a mess when I workout: typically morning pre-shower, no makeup or better yet crusty leftovers from the day before, hair pulled back with a headband to keep it in place during the plyos, abdominal splint with tensor bandage wrapped over top from thorax to hips. O ya- sexy. Fortunately unlike Zuzana I am not working out for an audience- an argument for how the you-are-your-own-home-gym beats the gym entirely as well. Also fortunately I clean up reasonably well, and post workout with muscles pumped, I get purdy fast :) My workout was interesting and introspective. During plank I could feel my lats supporting my body weight, relieving my anterior delts which really helped with the upper body fatigue. I felt this especially during the Reptile exercise with the alternating side rotations. I set a PB ...

Some of you may be asking "What is sugar?" Are condiments "sugar"? What about gum or Diet Coke?   For the sake of this challenge sugar is sweets. However, I hope that this exercise brings us all more consciousness over the food choices we are making- therefore "sugar" may encompass a broader range of foods- deep fried, salty (chips), etc. I leave that up to you, and I look forward to your feedback.   My tip (hopefully helpful) #1- Every time you think sweet, drink a glass of water. Lastly, we are now up to 25 people participating in this challenge, and I am already scheming a new challenge for December to help us manage our fitness programs through the Christmas Season.  

Here is a challenge I put out on Facebook: OK People.... Halloween is upon us. 'Tis the season of wee chocolate bars and wee bags of chips, wee bags of cheezies, candy, and more chocolate. Many of us (ahem) have already dug into Halloween stash and have had to buy more. After Sunday there will not only be leftovers, but also piles of loot from our kids who rarely notice when it goes missing, little by little :) So I have a CHALLENGE to get us through. Are you WITH me? C'mon! Let's do a NO sugar for 30 days challenge. At the end I will meet all of you at Starbucks for a round of mochas and a celebration of our iron will :) 30 days begins on Sunday, so for the month of November we will be sugar free! The only sweeteners allowed are honey, maple syrup, and natural sugars in fresh food. No added sugar in coffee, no bon bons, ice cream, chocolate, donuts, cake, pie....... c'mon it's only 30 days! WHO IS WITH ME? We have 18 people on board, and it is Day ...