One of the best ways a mom can take care of herself is through fitness. Getting fit gives you the energy to create more #Mompowerment moments to treasure with your family.
Here are two moms who inspire us to shift our fitness journey into high gear.
Pregnant and Fit
Meet Rachelle Q. Love. She is a fashion stylist, writer, CrossFit L-1 trainer, and indoor cycling instructor. She signed up for a 10-class package with CrossFit MNL and hasn’t stopped since. Today she’s in her third trimester of her twin pregnancy, and she hasn’t stopped exercising. She and her husband are excited to share their passion for fitness with their little ones as early as they can.
“Being pregnant doesn’t have to keep us from our fitness or daily routines. If anything, we really need to keep our strength and stamina up in preparation for the last few weeks of pregnancy, birthing, after-birth recovery, and caring for our babies! Working out really takes away the lethargy and sluggishness (even headaches), and gives a boost of energy and endorphins.” – Rachelle Love
Making Time to be Fit
Sheila Po-Co is a flight attendant for Philippine Airlines, and mom to three girls, Saffi, Shania, and Sarita. Her fitness journey started 9 months after her 3rd pregnancy when she couldn’t find date night clothes that fit well. Today, she’s become her kids’ role model for a fit and healthy lifestyle. She is intentional in setting time each week for fun and positive play such as swimming, running, and biking.
“The choice of being a fit or an unfit parent is all up to us. We all have our reasons for not exercising. If you want it, you will find time. We need to set a good example for our kids. Of course, we want to make sure they grow up fit and healthy, and they need you to be their role model.” – Sheila Po-Co
Here are Rachel and Sheila’s tips on upping your fitness game.
Rachelle’s Tips:
1. As long as you are healthy and have your doctor’s consent, I encourage you to keep moving! At 9 to 11 weeks in, I was still able to keep intensity to my workouts. As my pregnancy progressed, I’ve also learned to modify and scale accordingly. Now that I’m in my third trimester, it’s gotten more challenging. My belly with twins at 28 weeks is about as big as a full-term singleton pregnancy! It has become a lot harder to stay motivated but I want to stay as fit and healthy as I can be to bring the twins to full term (our biggest prayer) and take care of them once they are born.
2. Being pregnant doesn’t have to keep us from our fitness or daily routines. There’s so much information on prenatal exercises and I’ve been learning from a lot of CrossFit athletes who stayed active during their pregnancies. Bottomline is, if you have a normal and healthy pregnancy, the higher the chances that you can keep doing what you were doing (fitness-wise) before getting pregnant. Every pregnancy is different, so know your body and get the go signal from your doctor.
3. It’s different when you’re pregnant, so listen to your body. When my body asks for rest, I nap. Or I skip the weights and go for a swim instead. What I’ve learned from training is that we should really know what our bodies need, whether it be an active recovery or rest day or a little push to keep moving.
Sheila’s Tips
1. You’ve got to make time to exercise. It is never easy being a mom, trying to juggle a full-time job, and squeezing in a good work out. It all boils down to time management and knowing your priorities.
2. Include cardiovascular and strength training in your workout. Cardio such as running, helps lower the risk of heart disease. However, strength training which is often overlooked by many ladies is equally needed for healthy weight maintenance. Strength training exercises strengthen specific parts of your body such as legs, arms, back, abs. It also helps you stay strong and active as you age.
3. Don’t play favorites! Before, I hated doing any back exercises until my trainer told me that I cannot do selective workouts. If you want to make progress, you have to work every muscle group in your body. If you have certain exercises that you don’t like then find other alternatives.
4. Don’t be guilty when you don’t feel like working out. Whether you’re a pro or a beginner we all have our days when we don’t feel like working out. What do I do? I just eat smart and healthy and give my body the rest and recovery it deserves.
Taking care of your health is a #Mompowerment move we should all prioritize. Let’s learn from the tips of these two moms and see what fitness routine could work for you. No matter where you are on your fitness journey, the results will be well worth it!
