So long Trolley-Dolly Big Kahunas! Gym-tastic #1

 

As those of you who have journeyed on my blog thus far will know one of my topics of discussion is to be my road to fitness heaven following the birth of our gorgeous third child – Bubs.

Having hit the 12 week marker following my C-section I was given the all clear to start exercising again. I was so grateful to be told this having had a pretty tough time of it during the pregnancy (see post SPD).

We joined the gym literally just up the road from our house – so convenient, any further and I probably wouldn’t have bothered! We’ve plumped for Off Peak because in reality I’m not going to be getting there at the weekends especially when Hubs is working a shift and the Twins are about, also I can’t see either of us getting there before 8am or after 4pm…at the moment. The bonus of this off-peak membership too means that at the weekend when the children are all at home, I won’t be thinking ‘I should get to the gym today’ because ….I’m not allowed!!  Plus those rest days are always so well received!

 

Our gym is part of the local Golf Club…not once has a golfer bid me ‘Good Morning’ as I park up and walk across the car park clad in leggings and work out top. Clearly, I am not in their league! I am not ‘one of them’. Ho Hum!!!! Not to worry! I know that I am going into my own zone; to blitz my body for the next 45mins to 1 hour. Maybe they are in their own zone too…about to woop the ass of their fellow golf ‘buddy’!

So my first day in the gym felt fantastic! Only 2 other people in there! Admittedly my performance wasn’t great but I used this first session as a ‘get the lay of the land’ job; suss out the machines and work out my own programme, also see how my body would respond. Tapping back into my skills as a gym and fitness instructor felt wonderful – I’d forgotten how much I missed this!

The gym is small and some of the machines are very close to each other. Just know that if you hop onto the treadmill next-door…

1. We are now in a race situation (sorry – competitive stream and all that!)
2. I will not be engaging in small talk, I am here to work my arse off; to sweat; to puff; to lift weights that are of benefit to my body. In my opinion, if you have the breath left to talk about last night’s EastEnders…you are not working hard enough!

It is safe to say that Hubs and I, in joining this gym have significantly lowered the average age of clientele by a substantial 40 years! There are quite an array of members who I have seen so far; all of retirement age, using minimal weight on for example, the Lat Pull Down. Wearing chinos on the bike. Chatting whilst doing sit ups and plank to their instructor, who bless him is fighting a losing battle of trying to get his client to shut up and concentrate!

Dear Lat Pull Down Man,

You are meant to put that little peg into the selected weight of your choice and then proceed to use the apparatus to work your Latissimus Dorsi. Higher Reps at lower weights will maintain toning of your muscles. Lower Reps at higher weights will help to build your muscles. Sitting there hogging the machine for 15 minutes whilst you do a mere 3 set of 10 reps with no weight really is not doing anything for you.

Please discuss your fitness programme with the Gym Staff (so that I may then be able to get on the flippin’ machine and be finished in 5 mins!)

Yours

Aloha Mummy

 

I jest but it does irk me! I have a limited window of time to get my workout done before Bubs needs feeding again – I need my work out to be as effective as possible. Plus when I return home I literally tag-team Hubs and then he can get to the gym!

One slight issue I have noted since returning to fitness post-Bubs is, what I like to call, The Kahuna Calamity. I have never been one to sport a chest. Size 8 all my life (apart from the post baby moments) and a dancer I have barely made it up to a 34B. Whilst producing milk for the 3 babies I have hit the dizzying heights of a 36C!!! So, so, so weird! My gorgeous friend Sparkle Mum even changed my name in her phone to ‘Trolley Dolly Big Kahuna’ after I joked about needing a hostess trolley to rest them on if they got any larger! I literally have to adjust my balance, and getting through a doorway is not without its hazards! Turn too quickly and that bad boy gets well and truly smacked into the door frame. Yowwwwch! I have now invested in the mother of all sports bars – extreme support! It feels so awful to me to be on the treadmill of the stair climber and have the extra one second behind time, bounce on my chest. Think of it if you will, as the Corporal Jones of the boobed lady. I step, boob bounce. I stop, boob bounce. It’s not nice and even though as a teenage I wished for a buxom chest…now, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s not for me and the sooner I shift this weight the better.

The other issue I have is the ‘empty bump’ I am still sporting since Bubs’ birth. It is reducing well – I’ve been taking weekly photographs to prove to myself that my shape is changing. It’s odd but this time around I am in no hurry for it to go. This is my last physical reference on my body to the fact that I grew a human. My baby bump has been through a lot and created something incredibly precious. I am more than thankful to my baby bump. However, when trying to outstrip the fellow treadmiller it feels rather unpleasant to have it wobbling about. I have therefore invested in some support underwear to combat this and it has boosted my confidence and I believe my performance too. It is actually the support wear I bought to help post C-section for JoJo Maman Bebe. It certainly helps me to remember to engage my core and on post work out stretching ( I long for my flexibility!) particularly my hamstring stretches as it helps contain the bump so I can actually reach my toes!!

I have now been back at the gym for 4 weeks. I am noticing a difference, not from weighing as I hate that, but from clothes and how they fit.  I am now back into pre-baby clothes and able to tighten my belt too!  It’s all small steps in the right direction.

On days when I can’t get to the gym I have invested in a skipping rope, been given a wonderful postnatal Yoga DVD and incredibly been donated an Out N About Nipper Sport Buggy so that Bubs and I can get out in the fresh air together! I love this buggy!

Today I did my first Plank…not hugely successful compared to my previous records – 4 mins plank was my all-time best! Today I managed a mere 2 sets of 30 seconds. 10 years on my body is 10 years older (obvs!) than it was after the Twins were born…I must remember this!

But, as I say, it’s early days. Things will happen and by going slow and steady I will achieve my wishes, safely. I will embrace my empty bump for the time it remains with me and I will thank it daily for my beautiful children which it has housed. My mantra :-

‘This is Me.

This is Me, getting myself healthy. This is Me Being the best I can be for my children. This is me building myself for the future. This is Me creating a career to be around my children.

This is Me.’

Farewell Trolley Dolly Big Kahunas!

The Aloha Mummy 🌸