March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, which means it’s a great time to learn about this painful and often overlooked condition. Endometriosis affects an estimated 1 in 10 women, yet diagnosis often takes years due to a lack of awareness and understanding. As a personal trainer, you may have clients who suffer from endometriosis or who are struggling to get a diagnosis.

What is Endometriosis?

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus, causing pain and other symptoms. These symptoms can include painful periods, chronic pelvic pain, pain during sex, and infertility. Because endometriosis can affect so many areas of the body, it can be difficult to diagnose and treat.

Here are some tips to help you support your clients:

• Listen to your clients. Many women with endometriosis struggle to have their pain taken seriously by healthcare professionals. As a personal trainer, you can provide a safe space for your clients to talk about their symptoms and concerns. Take their pain seriously and be willing to make adjustments to their workout program as needed.
• Modify workouts as needed. Endometriosis can cause chronic pain, fatigue, and other symptoms that can make it difficult to exercise. Be prepared to modify workouts to accommodate your clients’ needs. For example, you may need to reduce the intensity of a workout or provide alternative exercises that are less strenuous.
• Encourage gentle exercise. While high-intensity workouts can be beneficial for some people with endometriosis, others may find that gentler forms of exercise are more helpful. Yoga, Pilates, and swimming are all good options for clients with endometriosis. These exercises can help improve flexibility, reduce stress, and ease pain.
• Be aware of medication side effects. Some women with endometriosis take medication to manage their symptoms. Be aware of any side effects that your clients may be experiencing, such as fatigue, dizziness, or nausea. Modify workouts as needed to accommodate these side effects.
• Advocate for your clients. If your clients are struggling to get a diagnosis or are not receiving the care they need, be willing to advocate for them. Encourage them to seek a second opinion if necessary and offer to help them find a doctor who specializes in endometriosis.

Your role in endometriosis

In summary, endometriosis is a common yet often overlooked condition that can cause chronic pain and other symptoms. As a personal trainer, you can play an important role in supporting clients with endometriosis. By listening to your clients, modifying workouts as needed, encouraging gentle exercise, being aware of medication side effects, and advocating for your clients, you can help them manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.

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We all have our stories about COVID. If / when we caught it. How the whole pandemic disrupted our lives. For some people, they recovered like any other virus. For other people, the post-virus affects are still troubling. I am one of those people.

I got COVID 6 months ago. My initial symptoms were like bad flu. However, for many months I experienced fatigue and headaches. The fatigue has reduced, but I continue to suffer from headaches. Every single day it is like waking up with a mild hangover. The irony is that I stopped drinking when I contracted COVID. On other days the headaches feel like tight rubber bands around sections of my brain that make it difficult to concentrate or even stay upright. These days make me emotional, and I often get teary when people ask me how I am feeling.

 Every time I proclaim that my health has turned a corner, the universe does not believe I have fully learnt my lesson about fatigue, health and stress. And I am forced to cancel everything and retreat to my bedroom. But, slowly, I am learning what my body is capable of and have patience with my recovery.

However, this blog is not just about my health. It is about opportunities that lie waiting for fitness professionals. I write education for fitness professionals, but I am/was a member of several fitness places. Because, you know, like you, I like working out. It has been fascinating how I have been treated post-COVID. 

When I realised I wasn’t snapping back post-COVID, I put my gym membership on hold. I put my reason down as suffering from Long COVID. And then eventually, that time frame expired, and I cancelled my membership altogether. This was the same for my cardio tennis and yoga. Although I shared why I was cancelling my membership, no one reached out to see how I was going. That’s ok. We all live busy lives. I am just one member.

However, in January, they were in touch. Why don’t I rejoin and restart my membership? I replied that I was interested in rejoining. However, I was still experiencing symptoms of Long COVID, and exercise triggered my fatigue and headaches. I was invited to come in and have a meeting.

Great! They might have some ideas on how to best support my exercise goals. And I was excited about my meeting and sat down to explain my exercise history and my health limitations, and what did they think was the best option for me. Personal training was recommended. Great idea! I asked if they had a personal trainer who had an experience of working with someone with fatigue or Long COVID. 

The answer was that the personal trainer would know how to work with me and purchase a training package. But, knowing what is covered in Certificate IV in Fitness, I thought the risk to my health was too significant. The leap of confidence for me was just too great. And I declined.

There is a good chance that you have or have had a client with these symptoms.

The fear of returning to exercise is real. And so is the sting of my communities of exercise ignoring me because I have not been well enough to attend. I am very motivated to exercise. However, what if exercise was a chore, to begin with?

There are some straightforward strategies that you can use to keep a connection with clients. And I am going to share 5 of them via my latest free training.

Click the button below to register.

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Don’t discount the daily walk

A daily walk provides enormous health benefits – but can be overlooked in the rush to start ambitious exercise regimes. No one has ever finished a walk and said, “Well that was a waste of time!” Following on our series of one small change – read on to find out how you can incorporate a walk into your routine.

Just start with walking to the gym instead

An elderly relative of mine has a number of health issues, with diabetes being the most concerning. She is largely inactive and very overweight and both of these factors are compounding over time. She also fully understands that she can reverse all of the negative effects if she started an exercise program.

After yet another consultation with her GP, she concluded that she was going to join the gym.

Her doctor looked at her and said “Hold the gym membership. Start with just walking to the gym instead.”

Undoubtedly an appropriately prescribed exercise program would provide enormous health benefits for her. However, often grand gestures of throwing oneself into a gym program can be short-lived. A new program or even a modified program can bring discomfort, right through to pain that can impact the desire to return.

And in my experience, it takes an enormous amount of willpower, support from family and disposable income to commit to a gym program when you have decades of inactivity under your belt.

Now my elderly relative may be an extreme example to you. However, I often see the same attitude in different settings. For example: Why walk, when the benefits of running are so much more?

The humble walk has become passé in our instagramable culture of fitness. But I am here to tell you that this is an activity that should not be overlooked. And if you are a runner – keep running. If this activity brings you joy – then this is your activity.

I am not a runner.

I have tried to be a runner several times in my life. I really wanted to identify as a runner and enjoy the benefits of running can bring – burning extra calories and the ultimate… the elusive running high. But no matter how many times I have committed, running has never brought me joy. Even with a double bra, my breasts are like unwanted guests on the ride and I don’t like the heavy impact of my body as it hits the pavement.

And that is ok. I have discovered other activities that activate the cardiovascular system that does bring me joy (read this blog to learn more). Activities where I am not focused on being a runner – but am running to get a ball or get my heart rate up on my bike.

But I do love a walk.

And particularly a walk in nature. Even when I am in the city, I find the river or the park for my walk destination. Or some of my best walking routes traverse all the beautiful front gardens in my neighbourhood. It is my favourite kind of catch-up date with friends – both local and from afar. But equally, I am very happy to walk on my own. I am very happy to be alone with my own thoughts, however more often I listen to a book or a podcast. Audible is one of my favourite apps and I have daily podcasts that when they land, I just can’t wait to get my trainers on and head out to listen to them. Much like Pavlov’s dogs, there is now a physical response to an audible trigger.

Track or not to track your steps

If you are a competitive person or like to track your activity – sure 10,000 steps is a great daily goal. Especially if this is a motivator for you. But remember, the concept of 10,000 steps per day came from a Japanese company that built a campaign to launch their step-tracker off the momentum of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Recent research has shown that 7,000 could be optimal (as there are not many more health benefits between 7,000 and 10,000 steps). And this research, published in 2019 – specifically for older women (mean age of 72) – put the number down to just 4,000 steps per day.

Regardless of the number of steps, the humble walk delivers many benefits. It is mostly free (investing in some good walking shoes is important), needs no equipment and can be squeezed into any timetable. All these factors mean that it is easy to form a habit of walking. And remember it is not any one walk that will give you benefit – it is the compounding interest of a daily/several times per week – where you reap the rewards.

And as I say to my husband, when he is complaining about how stressed he is feeling: No one ever got back from a walk and said – “Well, that was a waste of time.”

Going for a walk just makes you feel good. I think it is a combination of movement, fresh air and changing visual environment that can put your worries away or in perspective.

So perhaps if you are reading this and find yourself in an activity slump and are thinking you should reactivate your gym membership (or just use it because you are paying for it anyway) for a big change in your life… why not just start with getting some fresh air and discovering your neighbourhood.

Or if you are already in a committed exercise routine, perhaps you can add walking into your timetable. And give it the recognition it deserves as an activity.

And if you are already walking regularly – check out my latest REEL on my best 3 tips on how you can add a bit of spice and variation.

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If you would like a FREE copy of Active Pelvic Practice meditation — be sure to read to the end!

I started out in the fitness industry, like many Fit Pro’s did, running group classes. mishfit mothers™️ was my signature group exercise program. Women could bring their bubs and kids and for many mums, this was their preferred option rather than put them into childcare. Most of the time the babies and toddlers played nice. But there were times it was very chaotic and I would often teach the classess with one baby on my hip!

On joining the program all women were encouraged to visit their local pelvic health physiotherapist and have an assessment. This meant that I was better able to train them, because then we both understood where each client’s pelvic floor was at. mishfit mothers™️ followed a 10 week exercise program that slowly built on both cardiovascular and  muscular strength.

Most group exercise classes do this, right? But this program was a little diffferent.

Let me explain why

My clients had common (and some not so common) issues addressed in a supportive environment.

Every woman started with an assessment form that covered:

• their birth — was there any trauma, including epistimolgy
• a physical diastasis check (the splitting of the abdominal muscles),
• questions about incontinence (both fecal and urinary),
• questions about prolapse (and information about this condition if it was an unknown term)
• questions around periods
• questions around physical pain — especially pelvic and lower back
• questions around mental health questions. What support were they getting at home? How was their sleep? How were they feeling about their body right now?
• many open ended questions that allowed them to share as much as they were comfortable with

This gave me the opportunity to provide health promotion, the resources that are available (that aren’t always know about) that support women. I had a band of Allied Health partners (dietitians, physiotherapists, mental health specialists, naturapaths) that I was able to confidently refer them to,  because I had personally vetted their services. This important initial conversation also created a safe environment where they could come back for trusted information and non-judgemental support.

Most women formed strong bonds within the group as they navigated motherhood together while working out 2 – 3 times per week. And when the wheels fell off the bus, as inevitably they do for both children and the mumma’s, we were all there to step in with a tissue, listen, laugh and support.

mishfit® Personal Training won many awards because matching physical training with education worked.

Delivering this program week after week, year after year

 was how I learnt my craft.

I have put my fingers into the soft belly flesh of literally hundreds of women to check for diastasis. This is an essential post-birth assessment (though usually overlooked), as diastasis can really affect the ability to contract the core muscless effectively and may affect continence, lower back pain and even the look of the postnatal belly.

I have listened to numerous birthing stories, watched these babies turn into toddlers and then go off to school.

Following up with the women’s health phsyiotherapist after each client’s assessment greatly deepened my knowledge of pelvic floor issues and how to accomodate them as part of our exercise programs.

And still to this day I remind women that this is an absolutely essential first step to understand exactly what is happening for them when they experience incontinence, prolapse, painful sex or other pelvic concerns. Pelvic health is a large and complex area and I can never presume to know better than the experts.

I am a teacher, but I have a huge passion for learning. Over time I worked out exactly what the messages women needed to hear to empower them to make wise exercise decisions for their body at that time. I was able to craft them succinctly. And to ensure that all women received all of the knowledge I had to impart, I scheduled the messages into the 10 week program.

Every session was bookended with partner stretching and a pelvic floor meditation. We never skipped this part. I watched the women lie down, visibly relax and take this precious 10 minutes to re-center. for many women it was also the only time they dedicated to strengthening their pelvic floor (in isolation). We all know pelvic floor exercises should be practised daily… but how many days has it been since you last thought about them?

The role of hormones have an enormous influence on our physical body and how it responds to exercise. Exercise raises cortisol and that is not necessarily a bad thing, as that is how we get stronger. However too much cortisol can impact on sleeping habits, weight gain and overall wellness. What I saw on the faces of the women who lay down, closed their eyes and went within, backed the research that including a short meditation in an exercise session was incredibly beneficial.

I wanted to create a resource that women could use on the days that they were not working out with me. And so I partnered with a beautiful meditation teacher — Sara Brooke from The Space in Between to create two meditations:

1. A meditation. Just like the one I had honed at the exercise class. But I also wanted to embed powerful messages. Sara knows all the science around the crafting of a meditation, the power of music and the appropriate tempo and tone of voice to allow the mind to accept these messages.
2. An active practice. The research makes very clear that pelvic floor exercises in isolation (i.e. when you are not moving, and completely focused just on these muscles) strengthen the pelvic floor and positively impact incontinence and prolapse symptoms. However, we need to condition our pelvic floor to switch on when we are lifting heavy washing, putting our toddler into the car seat, running after said toddler and of course when we work out. This active practice programs the brain to think about switching on your pelvic floor when you lift, move suddenly, cough or sneeze, until it becomes your habit.

Together we physically created the CD’s with barcodes (remember those things!) and also put it up on iTunes. WOW, another professional learning curve! I charged $35 for the double CD and sold plenty.

Here is what others have said about Active Pelvic Practice — the Gift of Inner Strength:

“This CD set is a brilliant tool, not only for better health but for improved wellbeing. A stroke of genius to combine positive affirmations and pelvic floor exercises. Talk about efficient multi-tasking!”

Claire McFee, Author of Organize Your Health and Wellbeing Naturally

“As a Women’s Health Physiotherapist, and mother of two, I believe Active Pelvic Floor is a wonderful tool to help guide and motivate you in your pelvic floor exercises.”

Hillary Schwantzer, Inform Physiotherapy.

“Active Pelvic Practice has turned my life around. With a holistic approach to vitality and fitness this program has worked from the inside out. It has strengthened my pelvic floor and my confidence, in intimacy and in living a vital life.”

Thea Bates, beautiful client

Starting November 9th, my friend Deb Johnstone has put together a free online event with over 7 expert women in midlife (plus me!) to help women in middle life create the life they love.

I had a great time in the interview (pre-recorded), sharing my passion and three effective tricks to exercising safely. Deb asked each of the presenters to provide a free gift. I knew exactly what I would like to gift for women who join us — a copy of the Active Pelvic Practice meditation!

As CD’s are a bit of a relic, and to get it from iTunes will cost $35, I have re-released it as an MP4 file which is easy to access via your phone, plug into your ears and go! Go and reduce your cortisol, take time to relax and strengthen your pelvic floor!

If you would like to join me and Deb and seven other amazing speakers

And you will receive the Active Pelvic Practice Meditation for FREE – as my gift to you!

Please feel free to share.

If you’re a fitness professional or any other service provider for women and want to become an EVEolution™ partner CLICK HERE.

If you’re interested in learning more about EVEolution™ CLICK HERE.

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The playbook has changed in leadership. But it has taken a serious taste of nastiness to make us appreciate kindness. Soft skills, that many assume are naturally woven into the fabric of management, need to be placed on a platform of their own. Where they belong.

I left New Zealand in the 1996, with the idea that I would do my OE (Overseas Experience) and return to live one day. I gave myself approximately three to five years. I lived in Japan for one, London for nearly five (where my daughter was born) and now I have lived in Melbourne for nearly twenty. And although I still work and travel under New Zealand citizenship, I have now lived overseas longer than I have ever lived in New Zealand. This time frame has meant that I was only of age to vote once in our elections.

Click here to read the rest of this article!

If you’re a fitness professional or any other service provider for women and want to become an EVEolution™ partner CLICK HERE.

If you’re interested in learning more about EVEolution™ CLICK HERE.

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Most women accumulate the risks of prolapse over time. Although just one may tip you over the edge, they are certainly not usually in isolation. Understand the 10 most significant risk factors for prolapse. Being fore warned is being fore armed.

49% of all post natal women will experience prolapse*

So if you have had children, you have one chance in two of this being you.

* Statistics from Continence Foundation of Australia

Often when women experience prolapse, they can pin point it to a single activity. Here are a couple of examples that have been given to me:

• straining to quickly do a poo
• lifting a heavy wheel barrow at a school working bee
• pulling down a broken garage door

For other women prolapse can’t be pinpointed to a specific activity, but was a feeling that something wasn’t quite right down there. Many women have described finding their prolapse in the shower while washing themselves. And the discovery can be quite a shock. For many women prolapse is not even a word or issue they are familiar with. And Dr. Google can be incredibly confronting.

If you are not 100% sure what prolapse (also called POP – Pelvic Organ Prolapse) – then I recommend this blog – Prolpase 101

It is easy to assume that your prolapse was caused by a single incident. Or an unfortunate by-product of childbirth. But the reality has a lot more layers. In fact, prolapse is more often a build up factors and with only one being the straw that breaks the camels back.

When we unpack all the details of how we move, work, breathe, deal with stress, how we birthed, our toileting habits and exercise history – a larger story unfolds.

It may have been the one movement that caused the prolapse, but rarely was is it the starting point.

Understanding your unique set of risk factors can really help you make informed daily and larger life decisions.

Here are my top 10 to be aware of!

1. Exercise Induced Incontinence. Exercise Induced Prolapse

Yes, it is a thing. And it is not limited to women. Men can also rectally prolapse, have incontinence and erection problems from pushing weights that are too heavy. Weight training is essential, especially for bone density as we age. But we need to lift to our weakest point. The pelvic floor is a muscle like any other – it can get weak with little use, tired from over use and increase in strength with correct training. We want to aim to build pelvic floor muscle mass, much the same way you would with other muscles. And just because you can’t flex it in the mirror, doesn’t mean it is not important.

High impact cardio exercise, trampolining and gymnastics top the list of exercise options with worst pelvic floor outcomes. There are lots of ways to modify to get the sweaty work out you might crave and remember that they may be off the table for now, but train right and they might be able to return to your exercise regime in the future.

To read more about how you can negate pressure on your pelvic floor – check out this blog – How to say NO! to your Personal Trainer.

My advice:
Find out if your trainer has certified education around pelvic floor. Women specific training, especially practical information around pelvic floor and exercise prescription is not covered in Certificate III or IV in Fitness. If they look blank at your question, this trainer is not for you. If they do not ask you about your pelvic floor as part of your initial assessmen, this trainer is not for you.

I have written a number of research based education courses to help Fitness Professionals better work with women. You can find them here!

2. Multiple births or birth trauma

If you are postnatal (and postnatal is not limited to having small children, but is your considered life stage until you either get pregnant again, or hit menopause) – then you are at risk of prolapse. The more children you have, and the older you are when you have them –  increases your risk.

Physical birth trama is something that may or may not be indentified right away and may include:

• perineal tears
• episiotomy (the incision made in the perineum during childbirth)
• pelvic floor muscle damage, including levator avulsion
• pelvic fractures
• pelvic organ prolapse (POP)

My advice:
If you already have a significant prolapse, or levator avulsion – explore your options to have a C-section instead of a vaginal birth. And for each and every birth take time post birth to heal.

For more information and support around birth trauma – be sure to check out Australasian Birth Trauma Association (ABTA).

3. Are you a bendy person?

Hyper-mobility of our joints and ligaments affects our whole body, including pelvic floor and all the fascia that holds up our internal organs (ie: bladder and uterus). If you can do any of the things in the image below (or take the beighton score here) your hyper-mobility will definitely impact on the ability of your pelvic floor to work with gravity and other strains on your pelvic floor.

My advice:
If this is you, be super observant and movement conservative just before you menstruate, or on the first few days of menstruation – with the added hormone of relaxin you may be able to become a human pretzel… but just don’t.

4. Tummy Grippers

This is very common with new mums. They have their babies and look down on their tummy in dismay. In order to minimise their pouch, they suck it in. This sucking in becomes their normal and after awhile, they hardly recognise that this is what they are doing. These same mums might go to pilates, with even more emphasis on “core” or told by their yoga instructor to “pull their belly button to spine.” But never reminded to relax their abdominals and obliques. To test if you are a tummy gripper, breathe deep and watch if only the shoulders move, and not the belly. 

Why does this matter?

Your breath initiates the movement between diaphragm and pelvic floor. Inhale and diaphragm descends and pelvic floor relaxes. Exhale and pelvic floor contracts. This is the correct symbiotic relationship between diaphragm and pelvic floor. No muscle should ever be ON or OFF all of the time, not if we want to move for optimal functionality and be pain free.

Gripping your abdominals and then adding extra intra-abdominal pressure eg: loaded movement,  your pelvic floor will wear the load.

My advice:
Channel your inner Homer Simpson… he never, ever cares about holding in his tummy. Give permission (at least once per day if you are a serial tummy gripper) to let your tummy be where it wants to be.

If you are doing intensive core workouts, make sure in the conclusion stretch you specifically allow your tummy muslces to relax.

If you are told to suck your belly to spine by your fitness professional / yoga teacher etc, IGNORE this cue and instead, draw in your pelvic floor and feel the your deep abdominal muscles (transversus abdominus) contract naturally.

And then take this opportunity to breathe deep. If you experience anxiety… this advice is especially important to you.

5. Constipation

Who talks about constipation? Exactly… and therein lies the issue! Straining over your stool (poo) creates massive pressure on your pelvic floor… and for many women who have never experienced constipation before – it can happen right after child birth, when your pelvic floor is already at risk!

If this is you… and you know that you don’t / can’t eat enough fibre, or perhaps it is  a part of your normal toileting behaviour… please, please, please don’t labour over your poo. There are plenty of cheap / easy / edible products that can soften your stool and improve your toileting behaviour. Plenty of water is a must.

Oh and check out this delightful video:

My advice: A stool for a stool!
You don’t have to purchase a squatty potty (in fact they don’t ship to Australia at the time of writing this), but you may already have a little stool that your kids use to reach the tap – keep this handy for your number 2’s!

6. Repetitive heavy lifting

This is different from your exercise routine. I want you to think about your life and the regular heavy lifting you might do.

This might include:

• lifting your toddler/s into the car
• gardening
• caring for another adult, that involves lifting
• basket of heavy washing
• carrying ALL your shopping bags in one trip from the car
• DIY around the house
• carrying heavy suitcases up and down stairs
• with your job ie: baker, nurse etc

What you need to remember is what is heavy for one person, may be light for someone else… so it is difficult to make hard and fast rules. But repetitive lifting (and many of these things listed above fall into that category) is what we want to be mindful of. As a mother it may be impossible to NOT do these activities, so learning how to lift correctly is key.

My advice:
Learn to squat using your butt, rather than your back.  Push from the ground using your legs and exhale, audibly, on the hardest part. The heavier the object the louder your exhale. The heavier the object, the more mindfulness on your pelvic floor contracting.

7. Smoking and /or seasonal hay fever / whooping cough / flu

It may seem odd to put these together, but all of these represent constant coughing, which in turn places ongoing stress onto your pelvic floor. We know smoking is bad for your lungs, however that persistent smokers cough, does no favours for your pelvic floor either.

Suffering from seasonal hay fever or catching a bad cold or worse, whooping cough can also play havoc.

My advice:
If you know you get hay fever, have the drugs on hand to deal with it. If you are opposed to taking medication, although it has been disproved, many people swear by ingesting a small bit of locally sourced honey each day for a few weeks  leading up to hay fever season.

For coughing fits: Sit down and use The Knack.  The knack is Make sure (like number 8 below) you take time to recover afterwards. Check out the video below how to do the knack!

Michelle Kenway – short video on how to do the “knack”

8. Vomiting

Vomiting, much like the list for number 7, represents enormous pressure on your pelvic floor. And although nobody likes to get a vomiting bug, it can happen to the best of us. And with young children attending day care, it can be difficult to escape when the vomit bug does the rounds.

I devoted a whole blog to this one here.

My advice:
Keep your distance from people who have had a vomiting bug and be sure to wash hands with soap before eating. After the vomiting has done it’s dash, make sure you allow time for your pelvic floor to recover – it will have just had a marathon work out and it may need extra time and care.

9. Your weight makes a difference

I am a big believer that healthy weight comes in all shapes and sizes, however, loosing just a few kilo’s can make a difference to your pelvic floor.

My advice:
Be mindful of how your weight affects your leakage. Notice any correlations and find the weight that works best for you and your body.

10. Age and menopause

Gravity and time affect us all. We see this in our skin, as a natural part of ageing. The saggy and thinning effect on the outside, is equally reflected on the inside. Add into the mix the hormone upheaval of menopause. For many women who managed the whole childbirth and lifting babies, menopause is the straw that breaks the camel’s back.  For the 50% of women who experience prolapse stistically, they are likely to do so during this changed hormone environment.

The main hormonal changes that come during menopause, is the decline of estrogen. Estrogen is responsible for elasticity and repair of our tissues. Estrogen decline is not only responsible for wrinkles, but also our loss of bone density. Weight training is essential for all older women to ensure strong bones for the later stages of life.

Also it should be noted, that if you mother or grandmother experienced prolapse, your chance is higher still.

My advice:
Absolutely include weight training for bone density and remember if you don’t move it, you loose it… but look at either getting training advice that is suitable for your age and stage of life, or learn to modify. Most of all, don’t forget to listen to your body!

Most fitness programs have been designed on men, by men, for men. They simply don’t accommodate the changing hormones in your life cycle of pregnancy, post-natal and menopause.

For Fitness Professionals, I have several online courses to help you train women who are peri-menopause / menopausal and post-menopausal safely and effectively – you can find them here

Leaking a little bit of wee (or poo) is actually your body telling you that it is struggling and needs some extra support, attention, care and love. However, getting back on the Kegel (pelvic floor contraction) band wagon may not be the answer either, and could make your incontinence worse! It is essential that you get the right diagnosis from a trained professional to work out exactly why you are leaking.

Other factors to trigger further investigation with a pelvic floor specialist:

• Do you have tampons that fall out or push out of place?
• Do have any heavy sensation around the vaginal area?
• Do you have painful sex or reduced sexual pleasure

If you are ticking quite a few things on this list, all is not lost. But do be more mindful. Learn the skills, or seek someone who can teach you the skills to move, walk, lift, breathe, and perform daily functions that work with your pelvic floor and intro-abdominal pressure.

My goal is to help women navigate exercise safely. Prolapse and other pelvic floor issues are NOT life threatening, but inactivity is!

I am creating a short course for women to help women work out safely – no matter what kind of exercise you do!

If you’re a fitness professional or any other service provider for women and want to become an EVEolution™ partner CLICK HERE.

If you’re interested in learning more about EVEolution™ CLICK HERE

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