Imagine this. You’re adjusting to life as a new mum, navigating your return to exercise post-pregnancy and getting to know your body again. And then, you find out you’re expecting another baby. It’s an experience YogaFokus trainer Sarah Smith knows all too well.
Juggling fitness and family can be hard enough, but caring for a newborn while in the throes of early pregnancy? Newborn tired, meet pregnancy tired. It’s a pretty unique experience, and one that will influence both your postpartum journey and exercising during pregnancy.
“The start of my pregnancies with both of my girls were really tough, I experienced nausea not just in the morning but most of the day from 6 to 13-15 weeks,” shares Sarah.
“The second time around was horrific, being pregnant whilst trying to look after a newborn and feeling nauseous was really hard.”
Her advice? Take your routine back to basics, listen to your body and try not to feel guilty for needing rest or not being able to work out.
“Frankie was conceived when Mila was just three months old, and I had only just begun my postpartum fitness journey to rebuild my strength and core whilst still breastfeeding full time,” Sarah says. “My second pregnancy I approached a little different to my first where I was able to lift a little more weight and earlier on in the pregnancy.”
While she definitely felt a lot stronger during her first pregnancy than in her second, that wasn’t the only major difference. Sarah was quick to accept that life with a newborn is forever in flux, and there are some days where you just have to take things as they come.
“At the start of my second pregnancy our routine was stripped right back, especially if I was at home solo whilst my husband was working. We managed to get in a short daily walk to our local coffee shop, grab a coffee and stroll back home,” Sarah shares.
“I would still aim to do 10-20 mins of movement on the days I felt I could stomach it, maybe twice a week. I really used this time to focus on my nutrition whilst I couldn’t exercise as much as I would have liked – making sure I was getting all the nutrients I needed to recover from my first pregnancy whilst growing a bump.”
For Sarah, making sure she was nourishing her body with healthy food choices helped support her energy levels during her breastfeeding journey and a changing body throughout pregnancy, but she knows that for some women, a balanced diet might be the furthest thing from your mind when all you can stomach is toast.
As is the case for many expectant mums, the first trimester is often a time when all plans (especially those involving structured exercise) go straight out the window. Luckily, Sarah’s symptoms had passed by 15 weeks so she was able to approach her second trimester with more energy, adding functional strength sessions designed to support her pregnant and postpartum body.
Her number one piece of advice? Remember this is just a moment in time, and if your workouts and your body don’t feel like they used to – that’s okay.
“The hardest part of training and maintaining routine during and after babies is that your routine is constantly changing,” Sarah says. “Understand that this isn’t a forever routine or feeling, be adaptable, and make choices that will nourish your mind, body, baby and bump during this time. As much as you can, focus on making positive and healthy choices that will help how you feel, move and recover.”
And remember – there will be times where you need to fill up your own cup, too.
“It’s great to have intentions to train when your baby is taking a nap, but sometimes you need to focus on self care and use that time to rest,” reminds Sarah.
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Sarah is here for every stage of your journey
From pregnancy to post-pregnancy, Sarah’s programs focus on strength, mobility, functional movements, stability and are fun and challenging whilst supporting what your body needs at each stage of the journey. If you’re a new mum or expecting, you can train with Sarah at home or in the gym. Try Pregnancy with Sarah or Post-Pregnancy with Sarah today.