Are You Fit To Be A Mum?

Recently, Clare co-wrote an article with THE Swim Ride Mum – Taryn is a physio that gets mums back into Triathalon! The topic was strength and conditioning for the “sport” of Mothering! Believe it or not, performing as a mum has much in common with an athlete!

1. They perform repetitive movements – think about a mum of three, and how often they would lift their children in and out of the car. Our athlete will perform repetitive movements, think of a swimmer. In both cases this will eventually impact their mobility if they are not moving in the opposite direction! A swimmer will head to the gym and perform movements that keep their joints balanced, but less than 2% of the Australian general population head to the gym, or do ANYTHING to counter their lifestyle movements. This is true for an office worker too. If they sit down all day, they need to lengthen their hips and spine in the opposite direction whenever they can!
2. They will injure their “weak bits” if consistently pushing them to match their “strong bits” (the most obvious example of this is pelvic floor). Think about what we teach at IntoYou, where you synchronise your deep core with exertion. 50% of mums are doing the opposite even when they think they’re doing it right. If we think of our mum of 3 lifting her kids in and out of the car with a bearing down of the pelvic floor instead of a lifting up, we can see how pelvic dysfunction might be something that sneaks up over time, rather than an acute injury. Likewise, an athlete with a weak or maligned rotator cuff would work to correct this before using it to throw an Olympic bar!
3. They need to “unwind” these movements to maintain their ability to move optimally. By unwinding i mean movement in the opposite direction. If their arms and shoulders are consistently rolling inwards with the tasks that they perform on a daily basis, then they also need to roll outwards to maintain optimum posture. See point 1!
4. They need scheduled recovery! Mums may not be working at max levels, but they are working a 6-14 hours days!! Like an athlete will schedule a day off, a session in the pool, or a massage, our mums need to do that too! This helps them mentally, physically, and emotionally from the constant demands of being the best mum possible.

You can read the full article here: https://swimridemum.com/mum-fitness/

As an example, in this video, i have to lunge down on to the floor, perform a few push ups, then lunge back up again. I am not thinking about the movement, nor am i thinking about “proper technique”. I am relying on my body to do what it does! If my muscles are not balanced, then ever time the joints will get pulled out of place if i keep moving the same way. For example, “tracking” of the patella, is often an imbalance between the strength Vs tightness in the muscles on either side of the knee cap. Training to correct this means that i can continuing lunging to give my children raspberries without wearing my knee out in a less-than-optimum position!

Keep training smart!