'This app is the one thing that got me back to exercise after having children — here's why you should try it'
It’s fair to say that fitness is not something that has been front and centre of my mind over the past few years. Since 2021, I’ve been in a cycle of growing, birthing and feeding humans (two of them, to be precise), which has only just come to a close as I have recently weaned my youngest from breastfeeding. And so while I haven’t been hitting any PBs or regularly making time to prioritise exercise, my body has certainly been exerting itself in numerous different ways.
Nonetheless, as someone who has spent the majority of my adult life leaning on exercise as a way to keep my mind calm, and enjoying building fitness and strength, neither is my body something I’ve completely disregarded over these years. But, as with most things in mothering, everything has been in fits, starts and phases, flexing around the two little people upon whose axis I spin.
After my first was born, it was relatively easy to return to exercise. I was lucky in that I had an uncomplicated birth, and found an amazing mother and baby CrossFit class that we went to two to three times a week. Given that we only had one child to balance, finding time to complete Couch to 5K when my son was six months old wasn’t quite the juggle that I now find myself in with two small ones.
But one thing I’ve learned since having my second child is that the effect of two pregnancies close together is cumulative. This time around, a return to exercise has been much more complex; not least because of all the moving parts involved in being able to carve out the time. I suffered with pelvic girdle pain (PGP) quite badly in my second pregnancy (something that started in the first), which peaked in the postpartum period, causing quite serious lower back pain.
This, plus sleep deprivation, breastfeeding struggles and weight gain have made a return to regular exercise feel like an almost insurmountable obstacle. But, after a few false starts (some classes I simply was not ready for) and easing my way back into movement with some postpartum pilates, I feel ready to try again. Slowly, slowly.
That being said, thought two big impediments remain:
Finding time to fit this into my life with two small kids
Fairly extreme self-consciousness postpartum around my new body makes the idea of hitting up a gym, well, terrifying.
Step in FIIT, an app (free for Women's Health Collective members) designed to bring the gym to your living room, where you can choose not only when you exercise but where and how. And — most importantly for me — in the privacy of my own home. I signed up for a couple of weeks to see whether its flexibility would suit my requirements and help to get me moving more regularly again.
Week one
Well, I certainly overestimated my abilities. I managed to download FIIT to our TV downstairs and handily used my children's squidgy play mat to cushion myself. I felt pretty overwhelmed, if I’m honest, with so many workouts and instructors to choose from, but then I remembered that my old trainer from when I lived in London, Laura ‘Biceps’ Hoggins, is a FIIT instructor, so I went and found her workouts. My son was napping, which put a time limit on my exercise so I selected a 25-minute bodyweight routine and got cracking.
The time pressure kept me focused, and I’m not going to lie — the fact I knew the trainer IRL helped a lot, but I got through it (albeit skipping a few of the harder bits) and felt accomplished. I did, however, think I should perhaps take it a bit easier the next time, as the workout was very humbling and made me realise that recovery this time round may be a little slower.
I had hoped to complete four workouts the first week but as they say, the best laid plans often go awry. Teething, children being sick and sleep deprivation slashed that target to two and a half completed workouts, but I felt better for it. I also enjoyed doing some of the stretching sequences in the evening before bed, as muscle stiffness from carrying and holding small people is definitely a problem for me at the moment.
All in all, I felt pretty proud of myself, and the fact I didn’t have to faff around getting ready to go out, and that I didn’t even need to look in any way presentable was a huge bonus.
Week two
Honestly, week two did not happen directly after week one, as my toddler isn’t sleeping well and we went into survival mode for a few days. But the low-pressure nature of the FIIT app and the fact I can do it in my bedroom after the kids are down meant that I was able to squeeze in a few workouts that would otherwise have been impossible.
In the gap between sessions, it suddenly dawned on me to search for some postnatal specific workouts. The results were pretty amazing! I was soon deep into a series of postnatal Pilates, which I managed to do for three days in a row.
I also discovered a postnatal cardio series that I really enjoyed doing one morning, while the baby slept and someone else took over caring for my toddler. I love how the workouts are tailored to where I am at the moment, and that I can select the duration based on how much time I have.
Verdict
Before having kids I religiously went to exercise classes and scheduled my life around them, but unfortunately with two small ones in tow, I am now majorly inhibited. Keen to start running and aware that unless I do this alongside regular strength training I could do myself some damage, for me, FIIT came at the perfect time. I am only new to the platform but already have some favourite instructors (heeeey Lulu Adams) and it is so nice to have a series of workouts that have been tailored for the specific period of life I’m in and that I can access at my own pace.
As anyone who has small children knows, time to yourself is precious, and the importance of filling up your cup is huge. For me, FIIT helped to remind me that although I may be in a season of limited freedom, I can still find ways to start rebuilding my strength that are manageable and require little planning. In periods of low sleep, there are gentle yoga routines I can follow to help me to get back into my body. Overall, for this very tired mum who finds herself back at the bottom of a ladder to build back to pre-baby strength, FIIT is a really accessible (and dare I say fun?) way to do it!
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