Lately I’ve been very, very thankful for the ability to move my body. I’ve been working really hard to regain some skills that I was very able to do pre-pregnancy. My handstands are getting longer; I’m SO close to doing a full-unassisted pull up; I did some pole vault drills with the kids at practice the other day; and today, for the first time since before getting pregnant with Landon, I did a bridge and kick over. It might sound funny, but I am very happy and excited about this one!!
I've heard many moms say “I’ll never be able to do ____ after kids” like they’re doomed, and so they never actually try. Whenever I hear statements like this, I always think, “If you don’t try, you’ll never know,” right? Our bodies are so SO adaptable and capable in many ways. I mean, it literally grew a human (maybe multiple) and then birthed it (them)! If that’s not adaptable and capable, I don’t know what is. Don’t doubt it before you try it; chances are, your mind is holding you back more than your physical body.
Multiple people have said to me something along the lines of, “You’re so lucky you were able to stay active and workout throughout your pregnancy,” and, “You’re so lucky that you’re where you’re at in your postpartum body and fitness journey.” My first thought is, "Don't compare yourself to me." I know that some of them aren’t saying it out of jealousy, instead they’re just genuinely impressed an/or being complementary. But while much of this ability and so called “luck” truly goes to God (which I’m very, VERY thankful for the ability to move my body), not all of it was pure “luck” that has gotten me here. Being where I’m at is from discipline both during and after pregnancy.
Another (less common) thing I've heard moms say is,“I’m not going to try get back into shape until after having kids.” My heart breaks a little when I hear this being said. I can’t help but think, “Why wouldn’t you start now? Do you really want to be that far behind when you finally do start? And don’t you want your kiddos to see you moving your body in healthy ways NOW?” I know that finding the time and the motivation can be difficult and challenging with little ones. But, at the end of the day, you have to MAKE the time. I remember Erik telling me this prior to even being married, everyone has to make the time, especially as a mom. And that doesn't mean magically add 30 minutes to our 24 hour day, that's impossible. That means choosing to prioritize movement/exercise if it's truly that important to you, and sometimes that means sacrificing a clean house (usually that means a sink full of dishes for me). But it’s SO worth it when you realize you’re ABLE: able to run around with the kiddos, play at the park with them, hike and bike with them, etc. It’s SO worth it when we see them copy us as we workout and stretch. It makes my heart so full, and I can imagine it would make your heart feel similar.
When it comes down to it, we all have a choice. And my choice was to stay active despite morning sickness, vomiting, sciatic pain and the many other discomforts that accompanied me during pregnancy. My choice was to continue moving my body despite the fact that I was no longer seeing progress in my fitness and felt my body gradually becoming less able to do the things I was once doing. My choice was to get back to it— starting with sloooow, slow walks the day I got back from the hospital. My choice was to do the breath work, core work, and pelvic floor work early on so that I could work to regain strength to be able to strength train again. My choice was to sign up for a 10k to get myself to work back into running early on, knowing if didn’t sign up for a race (and one longer than a 5k) I wouldn’t be as disciplined with myself. Of the many, many choices we have in life, these were some of my choices when it comes to movement.
When I got pregnant with Landon, I had just ran my first half marathon and was in the best endurance shape of my life. I was also strength training, so I’d like to say I was stronger than ever too, but I don’t know that that is truly the case. But nonetheless, I was in great shape. So naturally I just continued to run as long as I could during pregnancy and gradually shifted only walking and to lighter strength training and mobility workouts the further I got into my pregnancy. I will admit, over the past year, I have had a lot of anxious thoughts about getting pregnant again and not being where I was at the beginning of Landon’s pregnancy. But the truth is, this is something that has motivated me to move my body and workout postpartum.
Another super helpful motivator in my life is my husband. I am very grateful that he is into health/fitness and taking care of his body because it is much easier to do things/incorporate things in your life when those around you are doing them too. He was SO good at getting me out walking daily during those first few weeks postpartum. And he was so encouraging and supportive to help me find the time to train for my 10k.
As I go into my half marathon training next week and as I've slowly regained certain skills I hadn’t done since before Landon’s pregnancy, I feel much more at ease with where I’m at physically again. And that is something I’m so happy to celebrate and give thanks for. When I feel these feelings of joy, accomplishment and gratitude for movement, I often want this for others. I especially want my friends and those around me to want this too, sometimes I want it for them a little too much. Maybe this is due to wanting to have more people in my circle to meet up to walk, run, hike, etc. with; but I do genuinely want to share these feelings with others. However, it cannot be me who wants it for them, they must want it for themselves. The choice is theirs- I can’t force them to want this, but I’m happy to encourage them and cheer them on if they do.
I don’t say any of this to shame anyone. I’m not saying or claiming that we can get our bodies back to pre-pregnancy (or high school shape if you’ve yet to have kiddos). What I'm trying to make note of is this: if we move and train our bodies and work to rebuild our muscles and regain optimal range of motion, we can do SO much more than we may have thought. You’ll probably surprise yourself, just like I have! <3
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