The human body is pretty fascinating. I still marvel at the things that it allows us to do and bad races have to always be put into perspective with a bit of ‘I ran 10 miles on my own two feet – that’s still pretty awesome’.
As I’ve learnt more about how the body adapts to the stresses of training to get stronger, I’ve wanted to learn more. So from starting as a Run Leader my journey has taken me to train as a Running Coach and a Personal Trainer.
Like anything in life, when it comes to learning, you get out what you put in. So I read a lot around the subjects – much more than was needed to pass the qualifications and assessments. Partly this was motivated by my own training – I want to know how to get stronger, faster and more resilient – and partly so that I can better answer my runners’ questions. They ask me a lot of questions, and if I don’t know the answer I’m honest about that, and I try to find it out for them or refer them on to someone who does.
There’s certain groups of people that I’m not able to work with, because my knowledge and training (and with that my insurance) doesn’t cover it. Pregnant and post-natal women were one of these groups until recently. As I work mainly with women (though I have a couple of clients who are dudes) that’s potentially a lot of clients who I’d have to hand over to another coach or PT for a year or more.
So a few months ago I booked onto a Pre and Post Natal Exercise course with Discovery to further my training. As one of only two people on the course who hadn’t either had a child or had one on the way, it was a steep learning curve.
It was interesting to hear other people’s experiences of pregnancy and exercising (or not) the misinformation they’d been given. And when the tutor gave me and another trainer a medicine ball to put up our tops and set us free in the gym to find out how that worked out for us, that was quite an eyeopener too.
Last month I found out I’d passed the exam and coursework and am now certified to work with pregnant and post-natal women. I already have a runner who’s getting back into training post-baby and it’s good to be able to help her progress. The human body really is fascinating and the more I’m learning about it, the more I’m appreciating that.
If you’re pregnant or have been recently, make sure your trainer is qualified and experienced in adapting exercise for clients like you.
Keep spreading the good word! I see too much dumb stuff on Facebook and elsewhere about how you shouldn’t exercise during pregnancy because it’s dangerous or whatever. And alright yeah, sure, you probably shouldn’t be deadlifting 500 pounds or doing heavy overhead press while you’re pregnant, but basic exercise? Not only is it not dangerous, but you SHOULD be doing it. Not just for you, but for the baby too.