Rosie founded Mamawell to provide women with the education and insight into their bodies in the pre and postpartum period, and the benefits that exercise can bring, both for strength and energy.
Rosie also connects with women of all lifestyles to help them find a way to use their bodies to optimise their lives – allowing them to take control, find strength and energy for whatever life throws at them.
Warm up:
The warmup is one of the most important bits of the workout, but so many people rush it or just leave it out, but it is important to:
- Mobilise the muscles that will be needed for the main workout
- Stabilise the joints that will be needed for the main workout
- Raise the heart-rate
- Raise the internal/external body temperature
- Prime some movements that we may weight/do quicker in the main workout
I try to include lots of movements in my warmup that use all PLANES of MOVEMENT. In daily life we are mostly stuck in the SAGITTAL plane (walking, sitting, pushing buggy, sleeping curled up) but we neglect the FRONTAL plane (opening out sideways mostly) and TRANSVERSE plane (twisting, opposites). SO important to include these movements as modern life has us very closed up.
Our warmup:
- Shoulder & chest opening and arm circles
- Walk outs to plank x10
- Walk outs with lunge x5
- Cat / cow spine activation
- Thoracic spine rotation *careful with twisting if going through IVF x10 L&R
- Opposite arm and leg stretching x5
- Foot taps & elbow to knee -x10
- Hip raises x10
- Hip raises with leg lift x5 L&R
- Lunge forward *leave out twist if going through IVF x5 L&R
Cardio
Cardio work is so good for our heart and circulation system. It raises our heart rate which really gets the blood pumping round the body and help us produce endorphins, which are the feel-good hormone that really make it all worthwhile! Short fast circuits like this will really test the whole body. If you’re going through IVF treatment you may want to reduce the intensity or do something like brisk walking for your cardio.
We did 30s working, 10-15s rest between each circuit.
- Running out to plank with jump
- Plank elbows, feet in & out, step up & down
- 4 punches, then dip
- Push up, the 8x mountain climbers
Take extra breaks should you need – and stop if you feel dizzy. Always consult with your doctor before undertaking a new fitness regime, particularly if you’re going through treatment.
Resistance training
Exercises that include resistance – either bodyweight, weights or resistance bands are great for building lean muscle which gives us both strength and tone. We did a circuit here with a 5kg weight – you can adapt the weight to suit you. We also did the whole circuit with just bodyweight, which was still a good burn but is lower intensity – better for when you’re going through treatment.
- Squats. We did double squats (2 pulses down) with our toes pointing outwards. Knees over toes, straight spine, engage the glutes at the top of the movement. X10
- Push ups – we did knees down. Use your back muscles to help you descend, strong push up. X10/12
- Lunge – one leg behind you, hips facing straight forward, back leg on the ball of the foot. Descend down into the lunge with your weight directly in-between the two legs. Come fully up with both legs straight. X10 each side.
- Single leg tilt – Start feet together, move one leg back and tilt body forward at the same time. Aim for a seesaw movement so upper body only goes forward the same amount that the leg lifts. Slightly bend supporting leg to really feel the hamstring engage as you come up. X6/8 on each side.
