An "in between" song in my class today...we cool down with this...

Pitbull's Fireball is a favourite in my classes.... 20 weeks along and still dancing!

Week 20....I can still do burpees!

I never thought I could love burpees but now I do....why? Because I can still do them!

You know those exercises you love to hate and you do because you feel so great afterwards but a great sense of apprehension and dread comes over you like a cold blanket when you wake up and realise it's plyometrics today and it's all box jumps and jump squats and burpees? I don't get that anymore....all I wonder is, will I be able to do this? Am I at the point when I have to accept that I have to really cut back and modify my workouts? And each week, I answer myself, I hope not.

My gym membership has ran out, and I have decided to renew it in January. It's holiday season and we are out and about so much that I end up working out at home when I can anyway, the membership is a waste for now. Which means my resistance training has come down to kettle bells and dumbbells the latter of which I do high rep because I do not have heavy weights at home...

But I have had to start modifying. No lying crunches, mostly because I feel they would be a waste of time and promote abdominal separation anyway. I can still lie on my back comfortably.....yay! But do side planks and T stands for abs without the weights :-( booo . I also do standing ab exercises instead, without much of the crunching action. I can still do normal push ups but when I am doing more than total 30 reps in a workout, I end up using a step for the last few sets.


(Dear Santa, I would love to have a home gym for christmas, or a rowing machine, whichever comes first. )

The appetite monster has hit me hard and I have had to satisfy my sweet tooth more often. Which means more trips to the grocery store...thank goodness it's mango season otherwise my fruit budget would hit the roof. Hubby doesn't understand the amount of fruit I can eat in a day....I do most of the fruit shopping thank goodness, he has no idea how much fruit I really can eat :-P Living in a tropical country rocks! Farmers markets, good prices, and all year round fresh local produce means you never run out.

About half way through and I can bet I have been twice as active as I was in my first pregnancy already at this point! The plan is to keep going as long as my body allows me to.

Have an active holiday!

And by request....here are two videos, 17 weeks pregnant, leading private zumba class

All the ladies of the group "Operation Lose that Pot Belly" :-) Here's a little Operation losing that pot belly at work. Everyone is at ease in my class, the instructor has the biggest belly of all!

Keep active!

You are now 17 weeks pregnant....

I wish I was past half way. People say...enjoy the journey, but I like the one woman I met with a one month old baby at a play ground where I had taken my toddler out to play....she was honest....she said....I don't envy you in this journey....that's honesty for you! Pregnancy can be a trial, but the results are so worth it...just like doing legs twice a week. The chicken walk is so worth it.

So, my inbox this week has a few e-mails reminding me I am 17 weeks along....I do also subscribe to pregnancy news, I'm not all sweat and buff you know! And I spoke to my mother this morning. I told her I wanted to come over for a cup of tea after my workout....because my next class was late in the afternoon...her first response? You're still having class?

Has it been that long? 15 weeks...little Ninja and I are doing well...I even felt the first kicks!

Yes...I did! And they were not "flutters". It seems baby Ninja wanted to interrupt date night and came right up to the surface where my husband felt his/her movements last week (14 weeks! That's early!) It was right after a gym session so maybe baby was feeling good with all the happy hormones running through our systems.

Talking about the gym, and working out, how are you doing? I'm really showing now, and I have begun to get a few stares at the gym. I am trying to keep as active as possible, because I know this is good for baby and I and some of you might know this...I really want to have a VBAC this time round (vaginal birth after C Section). My first born was born via emergency C section. We almost lost her, without the C Section we probably would.

However, Kenyan hospitals and some mothers increasingly prefer C sections over natural births for a variety of reasons ranging from scheduling, fear of pain and the monetary aspects for the obstetricians involved. Whatever the reason, talking from experience, the recovery from a C section can be difficult. It is a major operation, after which, you are expected to take care of your baby and your family while you recover. So this time, I would like to avoid this if I can. And one way of working towards that, is keeping active.

So what's my regimen like?

I teach 5 -6 cardio classes a week. I am not lacking in cardio. When I do make it to the gym, I restrict my cardio to the warm up stage and concentrate on weights.

The amount of lifting I do has gone down from 5 - 6 days to 3 - 4 days due to time, and also exhaustion. I feel more strained, tire easily and would like to preserve energy for my normal day to day activities as well. We have to remember, pregnancy places an additional strain on your body already, your heart is working faster because of more blood, your centre of gravity changes because of the increased frontal load, you have hormones affecting how your body functions, and the extra weight you carry also makes things a bit difficult.

So, if you meet me taking a jog, or lifting some weights, or swinging a kettle bell, and you ask me why? I will tell you it is because it is good for both baby and I. This is the best thing I can do to adapt to the changes my body is going through and prepare me for child birth. I have been told I am vain, that all I care about is looks. Vanity would not have led me to pregnancy....what with the stretch marks, boobs going down south, belly distortion, and amount of time it takes to get back to pre pregnancy body (if ever), vanity is not a part of pregnancy fitness.

Strong mommies make strong babies....

Stay active everyone!

Week 10. I am beginning to sound like a broken record already - My rules on dealing with pregnant and post -partum clients

I cannot wait for week 13, magic time is supposed to begin then. I am supposed to begin having loads of energy, stop feeling like even lifting my hand is a lot of work, and go on with business as usual. Until then, it will continue to be a battle everyday.

I have my first corporate client today. I postponed leg day to tomorrow because I want to conserve energy, I don't want to disappoint, I still bring it to my classes and I will bring it today. It's funny, I thought that this pregnancy would slow down my personal growth, the expansion of my career, but it hasn't. This week I have four new classes and I am adding more to my "arsenal". As soon as we have quorum, we are going to have a class for expectant moms, and another one for getting our sexy back after having our babies. We are unstoppable, we manufacture human beings and smile while doing it (most of the time anyway). This little moran baby inside me has reminded me how important it is to consider these groups while structuring fitness classes, and how their special needs need to be taken care off. So here's my consideration list for pregnant and post partum clients, why they are special, and why we need to treat them different.

1. No matter how civilised, hormones still affect us. Be sensitive to hormonal changes taking place within a woman's body. She is more likely to be irritated by touching, strange smells, noises that are not part of the class. Motivation methods cannot be drill sergent-like. Those are more likely to de motivate.
2. Beware that this group is full of sleep deprived, food craving creatures. Sleep is essential to any program, however, because of body changes, crying new borns and other siblings to take care of, mothers and mothers to be are usually running on low. Avoid sessions that go on for too long and or are on high intensity through out even with previously conditioned exercisers.
3. Although they are doing the most important job in the world, they are the most unappreciated and will suffer from a low self image and esteem because of their changing/changed bodies. Women need to feel beautiful even at 2 weeks over due, or a month after a CS with a CS overhang that looks impossible to defeat. Do not chide about size, make jokes that you expect them to laugh at, they won't. It will just show your ignorance. Be realistic in raising their expectations, do not tell blatant lies on how long it will take. Be gentle but be truthful.
4. Be creative - There's more to abs than crunches and planks. Especially post partum, core strength is nil, work on building this, the rest will come easy.
5. Focus on what makes their lives easy - For example, in early pregnancy, I try not to miss a back and leg day, this is because I need a strong back and strong lower body for what is coming. I never miss out on compound lifts because of core strength and have refused to give up running until I absolutely have to. For new mothers, focus on posture, a lot of back pain occurs because of bending over for household duties and wrong "form" breast feeding. Do your research, give advice on what to do at home to prevent aches and pains.

If all else fails, give me a call. I'm in the thick of things, after complaining for two minutes, I'll let you know how I try to deal with things as they happen.

Have a terrific week! Keep active!

Week 8 - Every workout feels like I'm starting from scratch

How difficult can it be to remain fit and active in the first trimester? The literature says that you should and are able to do what you have been doing before you got pregnant.

But they forgot to mention that your body constantly fights against you. I have been lucky, no morning sickness, but I feel as though I am fatigued all the time. Every workout is like the first week of working out when you have been in active for years. I have to drag myself. Afterwards I feel great, but starting has been an issue.

Food:

I have no crazy cravings. In fact, the only things I am eating more off, which is similar to my first pregnancy, is citrus fruits and pineapple. For some reason, these are the only things that seem to get rid of the funny taste in my mouth. I don't think this is bad, at least I'm getting a healthy dose of fibre and vitamins. My diet remains much the same. I am not yet eating in amounts that could be described as "for two". I will avoid that this time round (remind me in six months or so).


So how has my workout regime looked like?

Tuesday - Legs and Shoulders - The very same that I have been doing. I avoided step ups because I wasn't feeling too good. However, I did walking lunges with a bar, single leg press....It was good. I wobbled home after.

Wednesday - Back and Triceps - This was a terrific workout. I had a class to teach wednesday so I had the added cardio of one hour zumba outside. I heat up easily now and I am taking copious amounts of water.

Thursday - I didn't make it to the gym but I did kick boxing and kettle bell training at home. This was a difficult workout. I strained on the plyo but I'm not ready to give that up yet.

Friday - A bit of cardio and chest and biceps. Yes I am still lying down on the bench. I will continue to do this until about 16 weeks when the pressure will be too much to bear.

Saturday - Awesome class. Thanks to everyone who turned up! My Mom came for Zumba....how cool is that?

Today - I want to do full body dumbbell strength today. It's family day and we are about to go out. So it all depends on time. I won't stress about it. Tomorrow is legs and I will probably get two workouts in as I choreograph some new stuff for my classes.

Take heart if you're tired all the time. It takes an enormous amount of will power to get up and running when your body is working against you. But you can do it.

Have an active Sunday!

Fitness, Kenyan Mama Style!

“Perhaps fitness is not a good career for a woman of reproductive age....” Said my Husband. I know he said it from a good place, he is my rock, he has been supportive of me since I decided to take fitness up full time. Leaving the sitting room to me in the evenings after our baby has fallen asleep so that I can choreograph my classes in peace, indulging my trips for events, enduring changes in diet, but you see, we did not foresee this happening so soon after I had begun. There were two lines on the stick. We were expecting another mini me. 

I am a mother of one. My new career was born out of losing weight and coming back to self after baby number one. I had done it through hard work, through a lot of research and studying, I had even taken up a course on personal training and sought certification in Zumba. It wasn’t about losing weight anymore, I wanted to spread this new happy place I had discovered, that we all have the power to transform ourselves, inside and out.

We moved to Nairobi from Nakuru in August. This was a new and exciting chapter for me. Once the house had come together, I set about knocking doors, marketing myself, teaching free classes....everything was beginning to come together. I was getting a schedule, enjoying my work, choreographing new classes all the time and loving it. 

But then my shoes started getting a little smaller....really! Tight and tighter. I didn’t know this could happen? (in retrospect my body reacted rather fast)....I seemed to be bloated all the time, and that ab definition? What Ab definition? 

The clincher? I went to a pool party and donned a small top to teach Zumba. We had fun. We shimmied, we danced, we had a terrific time. And we went home, tired, partied out. ....then the photos and the videos came out. My abs looked completely wrecked. I am a bit narcissistic you see, :-P I know how things are supposed to look with the hard work I put in, and they didn’t reflect it. It was time to pee on a stick. 

...that last line was for the dramatic effect...I walked into a hospital and took a pregnancy test...less dramatic....but I wanted to be sure. 

We are expecting another Mini Me. 

Yay! Yay. Yay?

How does this affect my work, my career, my own body image? It is important to be confident as a trainer, inspiring and motivating others is only done when you are in a good place yourself. 

So we talked, we mulled it over, my husband and I...and finally we decided....

This little baby is going to be a Maasai warrior at birth. 

Eh? 

Yes I said it! Mum’s going to be what she preaches everyday. That pregnancy is not a disease. That we can be active through out, that actually getting your legs off of the coffee table and getting them moving is beneficial to you, and your little one. My little baby is going to be born a Spartan, a Warrior, He/She is going to be born swinging a kettlebell ....ouch that might be painful...maybe just holding up a fist. 

So I started showing a little early...happens with subsequent pregnancies. I’m about 7 and a half weeks in. The doctor seemed amused when I told him my abs told me I was pregnant....he doesn’t understand ego....but he was sweet. 

So here I am....putting myself out there once again....putting my own tagline to the test. Fitness, Kenyan Mama Style! 

This is today, after an hour and a half of kick boxing and kettle bell training. 

Hello, I’m Miss Fit Kenya....and I’m expecting.