Why Pre and Post-Natal Women should exercise

It is well known that exercising and eating healthily during pregnancy has profound benefits both tangible and hidden for both the mother and baby.

10 good reasons to exercise for Pre and Post-Natal Women

1. Exercises such as Pelvic Tilts can offer relief from back pain experienced during pregnancy.
2. Lowered risk of gestational diabetes.
3. Ladies who exercise throughout pregnancy and also resume exercise post birth (once ready) report better moods than their sedentary peers.
4. Increased energy and vitality.
5. Less likely to need intervention during delivery such as forceps and c-section and labour may be less drawn out.
6. Exercising and activating the core muscles (especially the Pelvic floor muscles) can help with delivery and are crucial to avoid stress incontinence post birth. 
7. A structured exercise session can provide a little fun 'me time' for the post-natal mother that can help alleviate stress and fatigue. Happy mother = happy baby!
8. Exercise can be a wonderful sleep aid helping those to sleep more soundly.
9. Targeted exercises can help with abdominal recovery and those recovering from a c-section.
10.  Post-Natal exercise can help speed recovery from delivery, improves muscle tone, aids relaxation, reduced stress and anxiety and may help to initiate fat burning too!

There are so many reasons to incorporate exercise into your daily routine and that applies to all however, those that are Pre or Post-Natal can really reap the benefits and experience significant beneficial changes.   

If you would like to start Pre or Post-Natal exercise and would like to see a qualified Pre and Post-Natal Instructor who is also a Personal Trainer and Pilates instructor, please see our homepage or contact us for more details. Many thanks Red Hot Personal Training. 

Check out this recent article to hit the headlines: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4712712/Exercising-pregnancy-safe-babies.html

How to make your dream body a reality

Many people use this time of year to make New Years resolutions and dream about changing their bodies for the better.  Is this one of your resolutions this new year?

Picturing in your mind what you would like to acheive is fantastic but here are a few ways that can help you actually get there.

How committed are you to change? 

Your dream body will not be made overnight so understanding that you will need to commit to make exercise a part of your daily life and improving your diet so you consistently eat well are key to success. This is ultimately what we must strive for.

What do you need to focus on to get there?

Choosing an exercise programme designed for your individual body and personal goals in conjunction with a healthy diet will definitely improve your fitness, body shape and confidence not to mention enhance your mood and stamina. This is where a personal trainer can be invaluable and help you take away the guess work of what to do and when and motivate you to achieve your best.   

If you’re truly serious about your fitness goals make a commitment to yourself to do what it takes to make that happen. Keeping a diary of your exercise, increasing your daily vegetable intake and water consumption can have a big impact.

Remind yourself why you want to make the change

Do you want to be able to keep up with your small children in the park without getting out of breath, wear that size 10 bikini, be confident to stand up and present your work to a room full of people, sleep better? 

These are all achievable with the help of regular exercise and a healthy diet. Get excited about your goals and the final results, but make no mistake, if you don’t consistently exercise and support your training with a healthy diet, those results will never exist outside of your imagination and you’ll never find out how amazing it feels to have achieved them.

Always remind yourself of your goals and just go for it!

Journey to Becoming a Runner

A little nervous and anticipating what was to come, Debbie lined up against almost 400 others at the start line of Horshams 5k ParkRun.  Not once had she imagined herself running this distance.

Just six weeks ago Debbie started training with Red Hot Personal Training (RHPT) with the aim of becoming fitter and to achieve inch loss.  At first we focused on incorporating strength training and small bursts of running to increase her aerobic capacity, burn fat and increase muscle tone.  Her positive enthusiasm and the way that she embraced the training, nutrition and lifestyle changes given by RHPT have not only seen her loose weight (fat loss/inch loss) but also the ability of achieving so much more than she thought possible.

"Just one minute, that is all you need to run for" is what Debbie became familiar hearing on our training sessions.  That quickly increased to three minute bursts after just a few weeks with Debbie starting to notice her improvements.

It is so important to set yourself training goals and we thought that a 5K ParkRun would be perfect for Debbie as she was really enjoying running and showed excellent improvement as the weeks progressed.

The minutes ticked by during the first Kilometre of the 5k ParkRun and Debbie showed little signs of slowing.  We paced the run so she would not start too fast and then burn out and we tackled the slight inclines of the terrain using mental methods allowing her to drive upwards with ease.

As a Personal Trainer, I am always delighted and in awe when my clients achieve a personal goal, like the nurturing of a baby bird that learns how to use its wings and fly for the first time.

Crossing the finish line Debbie asked if we had achieved it in under 45-50 minutes (a goal time we had set) "Oh yes I said, you have smashed it and did it in 38 minutes and 40 seconds!"

Well done Debbie, I am so proud of you! 

If you were inspired by Debbie and would like to try a ParkRun just visit http://www.parkrun.org.uk and if you need any help with the training please get in touch with us here at RHPT. 

Summer fitness with the kids!

Due to the positive feedback we received from our 'get fit with the kids at the park' video clip last summer, we thought that we would share it again this summer holiday so if you have not seen it before or want to see it again just click on the video below and why not be inspired to 'get fit with your kids'!