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12 DAYS OF FITMAS

Welcome to my 12 days of FITMAS challenge. I have put together 12 videos for you to try and do every day for 12 days followed by 6 tiny habits to help improve your health and wellbeing heading towards Christmas with the aim to keep some (perhaps not all) of them up into the new year!

Day 1 - Cold Shower Challenge - now this can be really hard as its freezing outside at the moment but you could start with your legs or your back or just go for it and submerge yourself for 30sec to 1min under the cold shower!

Day 2 - Veggie Challenge - this may be easy for some and not for others, but I challenge you to count the number of veg you eat in a day and see if you can push it up by another 3-5 portions. Perhaps just eating carrots as a snack is good enough for you but even better would be making a lovely veggie curry for example and load it up with aubergine, peppers, chickpeas, sweetcorn, broccoli to name a few. Choose your favourite ones.

Day 3 - Sleep and screen challenge - I challenge you to turn off your computer and TV screen by 9pm and either go soak in the bath tub or read a book you have always wanted to get stuck into. There will plenty of festive movie watching during the holidays so why not take a break and see how this affects your sleep! You might even surprise yourself as to how much better you sleep getting to bed early but also cutting out the light.

Day 4 - 20min Cardio Challenge - I challenge you to add a little more cardio into your life! Can you perhaps meet a friend and go for a 20min power walk, take a break from the screen and do one of my Weight HIIT workouts or jump into your Peloton Bike (if you are lucky enough to have one) and give yourself an extra blast of cardio fitness. This is so beneficial to keeping our heart healthy and promoting those all important endorphins we need to feel happy!

Day 5 - Meditation Challenge - Lets be honest! we all need this in our lives! So, why not try put a mindful soundtrack on (I like Alpha, Beta and Theta Meditation sounds on youtube) and its a lovely calming sound to relax to. Take 10-20min to make an effort to lie down and just focus on your breathing. If you need a more guided meditation you can always download one of the may apps out there but a popular one is Headspace.

Day 6 - Reduce Snacking Challenge - This is also another biggie in our lives. Its so easy to pass the fridge or cupboard and pick something yummy out and put it into our mouths without even thinking! So, I challenge you to only eat something that can be put onto a plate and eaten. So if you are rushing out the door (STOP!) don't eat on the run!

I hope you enjoy trying some of these or creating your own little tiny habit changes to see you through the festive season and into the new year ahead. Remember it does not have to be everything in one go, you could start with just being more active or improving your breakfast or reducing your caffeine intake by not having that extra cup of coffee! You choose and give something a go!

If you find yourself pregnant and not sure what you can and can’t do with regards to exercises, then starting Pilates is a great low impact, strengthening workout that will keep you strong during your pregnancy but also prepare you for the demands of labour and motherhood. 

Pilates involves a variety of movements that can be adapted to suit all stages of pregnancy. The movements are done in a controlled way and in a variety of positions such as standing, side lying, kneeling or on hands and knees. Although Pilates can adapt exercises to suit you, its important to listen to your body and stop if there is pain!

A specific prenatal Pilates class will ensure you work your whole body to build strength, and it will also help ensure you develop a more functional core connection by integrating breathe and pelvic floor through movement. This will better support your growing bump and also reduce the loading (from your growing bump) down in your pelvis. 

Aim to do atleast 2 sessions of building strength per week and give yourself a rest day between these two sessions. If you are new to Pilates, keep the intensity low and build moderately. Your breathing will be able to help you with this, if you can talk through an exercise you are not overexerting. If you can’t talk then you may be over working and need to slow down a little. 

Although Pilates is a fabulous exercise to start and continue through your pregnancy, there are a few things you should avoid; 

First Trimester (1-12 weeks)

This is where you are at the most risk of a miscarriage. Pilates is a safe exercise to perform but the intensity must be lighter to avoid increase in body temperature and heart rate. Elevating too much can increase risk of a miscarriage. Although your bump may not show, I would recommend reducing the amount of ‘crunch’ type exercises and focus on pelvic floor and a more integrated functional approach to core strength. 

Second Trimester (13-26 weeks)

  1. Avoid Flexion to help reduce increasing pressure on your abdominal midline which can increase chances of Diastasis Recti.
  2. Avoid lying on your back. We want to reduce the effects of supine hypotensive disorder (a compression of a main artery that returns blood back to the heart. This may cause you to feel faint or dizzy and reduce the oxygen supply to the baby. 
  3. Avoid lying on your stomach, this may just start to feel uncomfortable and be too much pressure on your growing belly. 

Third Trimester (27 weeks to birth)

During this trimester, your baby may an increased growth spurt and this can cause more of a dramatic posture change. Its important in pilates during this stage to focus on reducing the pressure of the lower back and doing more stretching and back strengthening exercises. 

Other considerations

  1. Always wear layers so that you can adjust your temperature to keep cool during your workouts! A baby cannot regulate their temperature so relies on you to control overheating!
  2. Stay hydrated during and after your workouts
  3. Avoid any contact/hitting sports such as Boxing, Kickboxing or Jujitsu.
  4. Always do a longer than usual warm up and cool down to avoid blood pooling and leg cramps!
  5. Activate your pelvic floor throughout all your movements to ensure you remain strong and supported in your pelvis. 
  6. Stop if you feel dizzy, nauseous, vaginal bleeding or leakage of amniotic fluid. 

I hope this helps to put you at ease that being active and healthy throughout your pregnancy is so important for mind and body. I hope you find doing Pilates regularly helps to support you and build strength and confidence throughout your pregnancy. 

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