Battles in the Postpartum Athlete
Congratulations! You've hatched! 🎉 🐣 But now what?
Before you became pregnant and had your baby, did you:
💥 Like to push yourself to red line?
💥 Like to race yourself or others against the clock?
💥 Call squatting under a 50, 60, 70kg barbell quite normal?
Then, regardless of your modesty, you are in fact every bit the athlete.
And you STILL are. Identifying as an athlete doesn't mean you have to be smashing it in the gym every day. It's there, in your blood. It doesn't just switch off like that the moment you are 'with child' and then give birth.
🏋🏼 You have a different mindset, you're competitive and determined
🏋🏼 You're used to feeling very physically capable
🏋🏼 You take pride in your fitness and physical achievements, which you have spent a long time to cultivate
If you're lucky, you managed to get some workouts in for the better parts of your pregnancy - the sweat and the endorphin rush was mostly accessible. But what happens now? It goes quiet, there are a few programs out there but who's really listening?
🤱🏼 The sleep deprivation is real. You're up all night, and drunk-drowsy all day.
🤱🏼 You're on an emotional rollercoaster with ever-shifting hormones.
🤱🏼 You're navigating other people's opinions: your gym buddies might be wondering when you're getting back to classes
🤱🏼 You might want to return to exercise but struggle organising the idea in your mind now that someone else is demanding the majority of your time - how on earth to make the time for it, how to enjoy it?
🤱🏼 You might been feeling anxious about fitness in general, feeling that you 'should' be getting back into it, concerns about losses in fitness, the amount of work to be done
I want you to know you're NOT ALONE. There's a community of similar athletic mums out there. YOU ARE HEARD, AND YOU'RE DOING AN INCREDIBLE JOB. You only need to hang out on one of our social pages to see they're there. 😍
So today, hold your head up high and know you're in good company. And if you ever need to talk to anyone all you need to do is type.
Share this with someone you know who is a postpartum athlete, perhaps she needs to hear this and know she's not alone x
Brought to you by Hatch Athletic Postpartum Plan:
Getting strong mamas back to the barbell 🏋️♀️
Pregnancy & postpartum functional fitness & community
Physio-led courses & programming