Need to get active

[Believing8nSanta]

Hi all,

I need some advise.

I have 2 children and haven't really exercised since giving birth to my second 3 years ago. I have some back problems and pelvic issues due to my pregnancies so usually opt for mild exercise. I started doing mutu for a while but then stopped. I felt OK with it but it was too boring at some point. In June I started yoga and i loved it but I actually feel worse after class - my body hurts and its not a muscle pain because I don't move enough it feels just like I did something wrong. It's a beginners class so I'm not sure how this can happen. While my teacher was off in the summer I visited some classes while I was on my holiday and these I felt great after ... weird thing was they were actually harder.

So now I really want to keep active to improve on my core strength and back and pelvis but I don't want to be in pain.

I did pilates years ago and I liked that as well but I think I like yoga more. :) I'm willing to try it again though.

What would you ladies advise?

Just to say I wfh and am generally not moving much apart from all of my childcare and house chores.

Thanks!

For back and pelvic issues I’d think Pilates would be better than yoga as it’s focused on building core strength.
walk everywhere you can, get out for a walk at lunchtime if you wfh, or even a swim if you’ve got a pool nearby. 30minutes of online weights when the kids are in bed too.

Definitely pilates as a start OP, and try to find a specilist teacher, rather than one who does pilates among other things. If you are willing to pay for online, look up clairelouisepilates - I do her classes, but she has a very large catalogue of videos on moovness, which wss 9.99 a month, lasr time I looked. She also does some zoom classes. Excellent teacher.

Yoga and Pilates are both great for improving core strength as well as flexibility. I’d find a teacher you like and go to real life classes, to ensure your form is correct. More than one class a week would help and practice at home.

I agree with walking more too. There’s a walking equivalent of the Couch to 5k app, think it might be NHS, which will motivate you to keep at it!

Agree with the walking and also if you have a bike get out on that at lunchtime.

I did a very loose thousand miles of exercise challenge last year, which I am doubt again this year with the aim of beating what I did last year. I found just wanting to fit some exercise in every day be that just going for a walk or something more intense was helpful.

The hardest part was working out how to fit it in so I started by grabbing every bit of me time and exercising, even if it was just walking a mile I wouldn't normally have done. That started to build the habit and more importantly the time to fit in something.

If you decide to do online, I like Lottie Murphy on YouTube for pilates.

Or there's a really good Pilates mat teacher on Patreon called Adam Walder, but if you haven't done pilates much before, agree that you would benefit from some classes.

Your yoga pain was prob from incorrect form.

I was on crutches with SPD that took months to settle after my second birth.

I went to an osteopath when it wasn't getting better and that caused a gear change that allowed me up up my exercise.

I started with walking, that built up to C25k when I could get a brisk pace going, and I ran a HM a year later which was the start of a habit.

I also used yoga and moved into strength work when I'd built up enough. I still do yoga from videos.

It needs a gentle approach, but if your body lets you it is worth pushing boundaries. Muscular/ stretching feeling is fine. DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) is a normal part of getting your muscles firing and building again, but other sharper pains need listening too. I still have to be careful about rolling my pelvis from plank to side plank as my pelvis is still sensitive and it's that shoot through the ligaments, but I'm fine 99% of the time and it's that specific range of movement that needs doing with care with a more supported adapted movement.

Try and get moving little and often. There's loads of 5-10 min videos on youtube in just about every style of exercise, or even just using the stairs, moving around the house to break up the sitting.

If you're WFH, have you got a proper ergonomic set up like you should have in an office? If you're making do with random furniture, that won't help your back.

This is a good programme couchtofitness.com/and completely free.

You can follow it through their website or they have a YouTube playlist.

It's set up like C25K so you do 3 workouts a week over 9 weeks,they get progressively harder, cover Cardio, LBT and Core and every workout shows adaptations for different physical abilities.