Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Will Jessica Ennis get back on track after having her baby?

The athletic world is watching Jessica Ennis as she prepares to give birth to her first child. The current Olympic heptathlon champion is due any day now and much of the talk around the impending arrival is not focussed on the normal things like will it be a boy or girl or how will she cope with being a mom for the first time. It’s all about will she be fit in time for Rio, to defend her title? Will she have the ability or indeed the interest to come back to such a gruelling, time-demanding sport? Only time will tell, but there’s one thing she will have that most women won’t – unlimited professional support and help to get her back to peak fitness should she want it.


There is much debate about when you should start exercising again post baby. Some women are afraid to get back into it too soon, in case they injure or overstretch themselves. This fear is fed by the over-conservative attitude of many doctors and other health professionals.  The figure of 6 weeks is frequently touted about, but in reality no one can put a time limit on it – its one of those things that is entirely dependent on the individual. How fit they were before they got pregnant, if they continued exercising right through and at what level , how the birth went and so on, will all play a part.  However, these factors are actually only of minor importance. What really determines when a woman gets back into exercise again is what support and encouragement she gets to do so.

Like many women, I struggled with baby blues after the life changing shock that is having your first child. I wondered would I ever get back on my bike again, let alone get back to competing at a decent level. Thankfully, what actually happened was I managed to get rolling again only two and a half weeks after the birth of Tori. I suddenly felt like myself, temporarily freed from the weight of responsibility that comes with becoming a parent. I came home from my first training session, which involved me pedaling gently around the track, energised and happy with the fuzzy brain that accompanies the sleep deprivation from a new baby gone.  All of this was enabled by one fundamental thing – a supportive encouraging partner and family that went out of their way to help out.

Its important to note his type of support doesn’t always happen naturally however, and indeed in most cases the partner may need some gentle encouragement. I found standing in the doorway as the hubby arrived home from work with bike in one hand, baby in other and a swift handover was the most efficient method of exit! I did get the odd panicky phone call when a nappy needed changing or the baby was crying but I assured him that the particular skills required to deal with either were not natural female instinct but a set process that could be performed successfully by either mom or dad! 

Bottom line is every new mother needs someone close to support them in getting back to fitness. No matter what professional help Jessica Ennis has, it will in some part boil down to her partner’s willingness to help out. We mightn’t all be aiming for Rio in 2016, but whatever level we are participating in sport we should be given the chance to strive to be our best.

Next week’s blog will be about where to actually find the time and how to fit everything in
J

Thursday, February 13, 2014

When did Figure replace Fit? Questioning the CrossFit Revolution

Becky Conzelman - USA Cyclist turned CrossFitter and mum of two!


Something occurred to me the other day as the hubby and I walked past the window of the local college gym. It was packed with students pumping iron. Mostly guys in their early 20s working on looking buff, the aim being to pack those Superdry T-shirts with as much muscle as possible. Chin ups, barbell rows and tricep dips seemed to be king, less popular were any leg exercises like squats or dead-lifts, the bread and butter of most athletes. My hubby’s only baffled comment as he looked on was “I didn’t even know where the gym was when I was in college!” and I had to agree – in fact I don’t think there was one.
Its not just guys. A new trend has emerged in women’s fitness. Something I read the other day on a women’s fitness website got me thinking about this change. Apparently “strong is the new skinny”. As more and more celebrities get into body sculpting and pumping iron, the masses follow. Much as I think lifting weights is great for women, it shouldn’t be something they do with the sole purpose of looking good. What happened to feeling good, like enjoying the buzz of endorphins you get from aerobic exercise? It’s concerning that women are getting into weights just to enhance their optics while cardiovascular and functional fitness, which is so much more important, seems to be taking a backseat.
This shift is epitomized by the recent phenomenon of CrossFit, a workout regime based on Olympic weight lifting and other strength exercises. It purports to be about getting fit, but when you scratch the surface what it’s really about is making your body look good. It’s not just CrossFit, but gyms everywhere who are fueling the craze. After all there is a lot more money to be made from people lifting weights in a gym then when they go for a run in the great outdoors at no cost.
I’m not sure if the CrossFit revolution is a symptom or the cause of this shift, but all of a sudden you can’t get a squat rack in the local gym for love or money. Olympic lifting is now considered the thing. Moves that were once a dark art practiced only by a minority of hardcore weightlifters, are now fodder for the masses. People can drop words like snatch and jerk into everyday conversations without getting shocked looks or being admonished for using foul language!

To satisfy my curiosity, I went to the CrossFit site to look at the open workouts. These are a series of routines that enable CrossFitters world-over to flex their muscles at each other. Each routine is made up of a number of different strength / weightlifting exercises, the aim being to complete as many reps as possible in a given time frame. As I watched an impressively muscled girl do push presses, dead lifts and box jumps over and over, I wondered why it didn’t sit quite well with me. After all, I did many of those exact moves as part of my routine in the gym. Then I realized what was – the driving force behind it was body sculpture.

 It made me think about my training and why I do it. What I do is functional training, every lift or plyometric exercise is about getting stronger. To go faster.  Simple as that. The stronger I am, the more power I can deliver into my bike to propel it forward. This is what I’m thinking about when I’m at the bottom of a squat in the gym trying to summon the strength to return to the start position. Each to their own, but I would like to go back to that gym and ask Superdry  guy,"what are you here for? To look good, to feel good or to be good at your sport?" I think I would know the answer.