Friday Q&A: Fitness For Busy Mums with Shakira Akabusi

0:02Made by Mamas starts in just a moment, but first, what do your kids think you actually do all day? Over on Secret Mum Club, Safina and Emma have discovered what one listener's four-year-old thinks she does all day, and the review is absolutely brutal. Kids really do have a way with words. Search for Secret Mum Club and get the episode in your queue.

0:26Hi, this is Monica Reinagle of Nutrition Diva. Today's show is sponsored by Nature Raised Farms. Grocery shopping can be a little overwhelming, especially if you're reading labels. And in my opinion, chicken shouldn't be complicated, which is why I appreciate Nature Raised Farms. It's chicken that's just chicken. And their lightly breaded chicken nuggets are free from gluten, dairy, and soy. Look for nature-raised farms on your next grocery trip and feel more confident about your choices. That refresh you've been putting off until the right deal came along? It's here! Wayfair's Black Friday in July sale is happening now, so you can finally get the style you've been waiting for for less.

1:07Get up to 80 % off area rugs and up to 60 % off outdoor and bedroom furniture. Shop Wayfair's huge selection of styles and find the piece to fit your style, budget, and space. Plus, free shipping. Black Friday in July ends July 27th. Shop today at Wayfair.com.

1:28Hello and welcome to Made by Mamas, the podcast. I'm Zoe Hardman. And I'm Georgia Dayton. And this is your parenting safe space where no conversation is off limits. With five kids between G and I, we have seen a lot.

1:41Georgia Dayton: We really have. Each week, we'll be joined by some famous faces and experts and we'll chat about the brands and products that have saved us along the way. In short, we're the parenting podcast for you. Before we get started, hit subscribe or follow so you're the first to know when each episode lands. And they're on Tuesdays and Fridays. And it really helps if you leave a rating and a review. You can also find us on Instagram. We're on at Made by Mummers. But for now, George, should we get into it? Hello and welcome to Friday's episode of the podcast. Today's guest has just admitted that she has never been stung by a wasp.

2:14So that's how I'm going to start the podcast today. No, seriously, we wanted to bring you a Q &A today all around women's fitness and focusing on kind of perimenopause, postnatal fitness, menopause and everything else in between. She is an absolute expert in her field. She's got her own YouTube channel, which is called Strong Like Mum. She has featured on BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5. She's covering all the channels. It's Shakira Akabusi. Yes. Look at you. Thanks for having me.

2:42Georgia Dayton: Thank you so much because normally we're like, oh, how's your morning been? But, you know, you came with a mobile pharmacy. I did. Tell me to us about that. I know. I think it's just like habit from having four kids. Right. I was like, I am going to have everything always across the board. And the things I've used most, like as a mum, is like antihistamines. Yeah. Sorry. I don't know. Brands? No, no. We're good. Okay. So, peritone, yes. So, antihistamines and like sting cream, sting reducing. that's what I've used most as a mum even more than like the cow pole and so I was like I'm not being caught unawares I've never been stung by a wasp myself and I was like I am prepared for battle if that wasp comes my way you've got it's not gonna take me down I can't believe you haven't been stung by I feel like we need to bring a wasp in and just go through the experience oh my gosh have you got a fear of wasps uh yeah I have like if I'm outside I'm all right yeah um but yeah indoors gosh I was I went to church the other day and there was the biggest hornet I've it was like a horse flying through the room it was so big and I I had to step out of church and it's like this little alcove door and I was like kneeling and doing all my prayers outside of the church with the door open because I was like I am not in there I'm not going down not during a Sunday service no no no no that was just got no chance against you Shakira before we get into the chat today We obviously met during a very fun 24 hours away at Legs Bayou.

4:10And Shakira was leading the most fantastic fitness class. Sometimes when you go on those events, you kind of do a few lunges and a few squats. You think, well, this one, she was beasting us in the gym. But also just super dynamic. And you clearly love what you do. Just tell us a little bit about you, your background and how you came to do what you do. Yeah. So I specialize in pre and postnatal exercise and perimenopause. So supporting women with their health, focusing a lot. these days focusing a lot on sort of the pelvic floor pelvic floor recovery and how to re-engage with exercise after pregnancy and how to just feel good about yourself feel comfortable in your body get more energy all of that you know um exercise has been huge for me not just for physical health but actually for my mental well-being and I suffered after my first pregnancy with extreme anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder and I never thought I was going to get better and actually movement and exercise was a huge part of my recovery so I'm really really passionate about it and it's one of those things where it I think the way that it's sometimes portrayed on the media or in social media it can be feel really intimidating for a lot of people but actually we all have a body and it's our human instinct to move and it is for everyone at every age if you are in your 60s or 70s and you've never exercised before it is still something that you need to be doing you should pick up so um really passionate about the topic during my first pregnancy I remember so many people telling me like okay you love health and fitness but now you're pregnant you're never going to run as fast you're never going to feel confident in your body anymore that's annoying someone said that well because it's a huge part of who I was I was like wait wait so I can't be who I am and actually I found the opposite and for many women it's the opposite for many women pregnancy is one of the first times that they start thinking about exercise or their pelvic floor and actually we can build such a strong foundation I've been able to achieve you know sporting achievements and successes that I didn't achieve pre-pregnancy that I now have as a mum of four so you know anything is possible and I love that you are in the fitness space as a mum of four because it's so easy to look at you know fitness people on Instagram and online and they

6:20Georgia Dayton: haven't got children they might not have like nine to five jobs yeah and you think well you're obviously no shit you can fit it in do you know what I mean like I got eight hours to do it yeah all right but it's so inspiring when you know someone who is you know working was a working mom has four children and you're showing us how it's done I think it's yeah it's you in a whole new sphere thank you very much I think um again you know the way I do fitness and health that's the way I do it and it isn't that it's the same for everybody like I'm always very cautious of anything or anyone that is like, this is how it's done.

6:57This is how I do it. And I love to share my experience and I share my expertise. But really the crucial thing about exercise as a mum is, is getting to know your body, getting to know your emotional triggers, getting to know what exercise you enjoy, what feels sustainable. There's so, it's nuanced for everyone, which is why it makes it difficult to give general advice, but there is general advice you can give, but it's you know it's less about sort of me being like follow this program and you're going to do it it's more about giving women the information and the tools to design it for themselves and and let's talk about this because you obviously grew up with you know I mean look he's he's fitness royalty Chris Acabusi come on sprinter extraordinaire MBE I mean what was that like growing up with a dad like him yeah amazing but both of my parents to be honest super inspiring my dad obviously an olympic athlete as you said my mom is a rehabilitation specialist she was started as a pt and went into injury and recovery so both really inspiring the biggest gift that both of my parents gave me and in particular looking at my dad as an olympic athlete is that fitness was a part of our everyday yes and that for some people is the biggest hurdle yeah of course yeah How do I fit it in?

8:17Or it becomes something on the to do list where they're like, I've got to work out. I've had a long day. I haven't slept very well. My baby's unwell. How am I going to fit this in? Whereas for me, it's just always been a part of life. So I've never had to overcome that sort of intimidating feeling or that struggle with enjoying it. And thankfully, I've built a career on helping women to overcome that because I think that's really important. Tell me, were you doing kind of sprint sessions in the garden growing up? I've got visions of you, of Chris going, right, go. Do you know what? No, I actually didn't.

8:52We did do a lot of obstacle courses. Yes, okay. Yeah, but no, do you know what was amazing, which I don't think I, well, I definitely didn't appreciate at the time, but now I look back and I think, wow, that's cool, is that we would, with my dad's training, he would spend six months of the year in California in the winter months to train over there. And we would spend those months like at the track with all the athletes and the kids were like in the sandpit where they do the long jump or you know so we were just around and it's so funny to think oh my gosh I grew up with the GB Olympic team but it didn't register as a kid I was just like oh it's Uncle Roger oh it's you know Derek Redmond yeah yeah yeah exactly you know so it's funny it wasn't it was never and to be honest I was too young you know my dad was doing his Olympics his his athletics and when he was doing record breaks I was too young so it didn't really register to me at that age it's very cool though that i'm crushing hard on you right now

9:52Georgia Dayton: right i mean we've had loads of questions we've had so many um oh this is not one i would expect to read out but i'm gonna should the sauna be factored in regularly for extra benefits the sauna yeah like there is no one way to do exercise some people are really into doing either saunas or ice baths you know research can be conflicting and lots of it is sort of evidence based from people's experiences um if you're into that again i don't know this woman is she pregnant is she postnatal depends what your fitness goals are whether or not it's going to have benefits i wouldn't say because i think it's the thing like i mean i remember saunas like years and years and years ago and now all of a sudden like i've got mates who are like i go to the sauna for 15 minutes every day and I'm like okay do you do you yeah what are your reasons for doing it oh I I mean how long have you got I mean for me it helps me uh detox I feel like I'm sort of sweating out all of my sins but I've had too many drinks that week um I sleep better I love the heat um it gives me time to focus and be really I'm really disciplined with it so I'll do just 10 minutes I'll just get to stay in there so it's yeah it's a form of um definitely self-care for me what okay so it's Self-care.

11:03But when you went for it in the first place, were you like, oh, this is something that's going to help me detox? Because some people will be like, well, you can drink water. If you drink the adequate amounts of hydration, you can flush your system in that way. Exercise is going to give you similar benefits. Of course, you're using it alongside exercise, which is great. But what was the driver? It's a self-care thing. It's a self-care thing. So steam, sauna, I do a plunge and I sit in the jacuzzi and I try and do it three times a week at Fox Hills. And I love it. I love it. And I feel like when I've done it, I've really nurtured and nourished my body.

11:31yeah I wasn't giving myself that space before amazing and you know I think a big part as well of someone was asking me recently how do you start exercise when you don't have um when you don't have the motivation or how do you build that in and part of it is it actually starts with those little self-care habits whether it is I'm going to drink a glass of water every morning when I wake up or I'm going to start saunering because I'm going to flush out my toxins whatever the association you have with it when you feel like you're fueling your body with a little moment of health it becomes easier and in fact you have that desire to want to build on it yeah it all

12:05Georgia Dayton: plays into it like each other doesn't it because I feel like if I'm exercising regularly I'm then eating better yeah even if I haven't told myself I am it just happens yeah I might be resting more or sleeping better like it all just kind of works yeah doesn't it we'll be right back after this short break.

12:28Hi, this is Monica Reinagle of Nutrition Diva. Today's show is sponsored by Nature Raised Farms. Grocery shopping can be a little overwhelming, especially if you're reading labels. And in my opinion, chicken shouldn't be complicated, which is why I appreciate Nature Raised Farms. It's chicken that's just chicken. And their lightly breaded chicken nuggets are free from gluten, dairy, and soy. Look for nature-raised farms on your next grocery trip and feel more confident about your choices. That refresh you've been putting off until the right deal came along? It's here! Wayfair's Black Friday in July sale is happening now so you can finally get the style you've been waiting for for less.

13:09Get up to 80 % off area rugs and up to 60 % off outdoor and bedroom furniture. Shop Wayfair's huge selection of styles and find the piece to fit your style, budget, and space. Plus free shipping Black Friday in July Ends July 27th Shop today at Wayfair.com This week on Help I Sexted My Boss Next World Cup will be 40 And you can't be a 40 year old wearing football tops And that nearly broke me I mean I think as a 36 year old it's pretty tragic No I've not done a Jolly Joke of the Week I'm going to do William's Jolly Joke of the Week Excuse me You absolutely cannot go to your ex To have your wisdom teeth taken out when you did that.

13:50I completely and utterly disagree. No. No, I am sorry. I'm sorry. No, no, no, no. Listen and watch wherever you get your podcasts.

14:02Welcome back to this episode of Made by Mamas. Now, where were we? Someone else here has put postpartum fitness when energy and time is scarce. Do you have any tips, please? Yes, yes, tons. Oh my gosh, okay. What would be the best general advice? Compound exercises. Again, if you're further along postpartum and you're looking to sort of increase the intensity of your workouts, I would say compound exercise is a really fantastic way to get in a lot of work in a short period of time. What do you mean by compound exercise? So exercises that work a lot of muscle groups at one time. So squats, lunges, as opposed to focusing on like one muscle like tricep extensions, you know, something like that.

14:43So looking at those whole body exercises. but if you are specifically talking postnatal um sorry was her question motivation yeah when

14:52Georgia Dayton: energy and time is scarce yeah what's like a good way in i guess okay so um you need to be building up that core support and that core strength that becomes imperative even if you can only do three times 10 minutes a week in those initial days or three times 15 minutes maybe working on building that core support and that doesn't just mean the pelvic floor yes we want to make sure that we're targeting the pelvic floor either strengthening or releasing tension depending on we can get more into that maybe in a little bit um but so so looking at rehabilitating the pelvic floor but getting the whole core to work together i meet so many postnatal women who are who come to me and they're like i'm doing all my pelvic floor exercises and i'm still leaking or you know this that and the other because it's not just about the pelvic floor and so many things can impact how your pelvic floor functions like your glutes like your upper upper back posture um your breathing mechanics and that is what you need to look at um and i'm very conscious of sort of not overwhelming people with the expertise and actually delivering take-homes so i would say looking at your pelvic floor yes looking at your glutes at glute activation becomes such a huge part and again if you only have 10 minutes and you're going to do some you know single led step ups or maybe you're doing some lunges or squats a really important part it might be that you're doing fire hydrants or glute kickbacks in the initial initial stages that all becomes really important and looking at your breathing and getting that coordination right because particularly for postnatal women how we breathe not only will it impact sort of our core function with our pelvic floor and how our pelvic floor works but if if we don't have the right coordination with our breathing we can place more pressure onto the pelvic floor so we want to make sure that we're getting our breath connected back in with our pelvic floor brilliant great it's amazing um very large bracket size 22 i'm stressed i'm tired i'm time poor i'm overwhelmed where do i begin that is not even a difficult question because i think she's answered her own question in the way that she sounds incredibly stressed and actually the body's stress response is to cling to body fat so if she has a fat loss goal then i would recommend the first step is taking your stress levels down so actually well again i don't know i was going to say the last thing i'd recommend is that she do high intensity to exercise, you know, starts really focusing more on her exercise.

17:32Movement is important. So if she's not able to move at all, then yes, it's important that you build in, even if it's a walk or if you are able to do a few body weight exercises, if you have the space or the time, really important. But the first thing I would do in that instance is reduce her stress levels. Because if you have chronic levels of cortisol in your body, you're going to really struggle to sort of access that

17:57Georgia Dayton: fat burning process right how would you start to reduce your stress levels so breathing exercises is one um you know um what's the word for not logistics but really simple things like looking at your your commitments in your diary like really making sure that you have your priorities of what you need to make sure that you're doing and taking out any additional stuff that is just creating that overwhelm breathing exercises really important stretching the body like the mind um doesn't really know the difference between good stress and negative stress so if you're like running miles it takes that as the same stress as when you are sitting at your desk frantically writing emails so it is about across the board bringing your stress levels down i had no idea about the cortisol levels impacting the way that the body hangs on to like because I've been so stressed recently super stressed and I've been aware of that but I've also noticed that my stomach just feels firstly really sore really tight really bloated but also just clinging on to fat yeah that it never did before and I feel that's that's like a bit of a light switch moment for me yeah and to be honest I actually had really similar like I'm suddenly at a stage where I'm like wow nothing fits I mean I'm entering perimenopause I know there will be changes in in sort of how my body um feels but my my stress isn't too bad but my sleep is really bad I was I was actually speaking to someone about this just now and I was saying I wake up super early I always have I love early mornings but I'm now not getting to bed until like midnight and so I'm sleeping five hours and it's just it's really not enough and I can feel that I am at that constant and and it's not stress like I feel stressed yeah but I can feel that my body is in stress do you get a bit of anxiety do you get that do you get hot palpitations or do you get I'm actually really good with anxiety because of my history with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder I have really good management techniques to bring my anxiety down so my anxiety is actually pretty good it's in check but I can just feel that my body is in stress so I actually have days where I could exercise and I don't because I'm like what I need today is complete rest yeah that's great yeah where should we go uh oh yeah okay are there any is there any benefit to training according to my menstrual cycle and if so how best to utilize yeah the research on this is uh not conflicting what's the word that I'm looking for.

20:34Yeah, conflicting. No, yeah, but it's not conflicting. No, confusing or conflicting. It's absolutely nailed on. Can't find any words. No, nailed on. Yeah, as in like, because conflicting means that there are two different train of thoughts, but if it's absolutely, they've done the research and it's residue. They haven't done any. There is lots of research, but it's all like, conflicting. It depends what you're reading. Yeah, conflicting isn't really what I mean, but I'll explain. Okay, go on. Let me explain, because I obviously can't find the word. We're all perimenopausal in this room. What I mean by that is there is research around the menstrual cycle and there are suggestions that there are times in our cycle where we would benefit from certain types of exercise.

21:15However, women are achieving sporting goals throughout their cycle. And there is also research that suggests that it doesn't massively impact how we train. It might impact how our body recovers. It can impact our energy levels. so yes there is research around that it doesn't have to become the absolute everything and for women in perimenopause they're not going to be able to track their cycle anyway because it's all over the place potentially um but yes so for example around ovulation we have a small but noticeable rise in testosterone which could be make this a really good time to focus on strength training goals um which is fantastic sort of in that week of your menstrual cycle and that period just after you, oh, sorry, the time leading up to your menstrual cycle and the time during menses, you might be feeling like lower intensity exercises are going to suit you best, doing more breathing, floor work, Pilates, and then you'll start towards ovulation, get this increase in energy that can then last after ovulation as well.

22:18So yeah, there are some things going on and actually, again, research to show that during during the menstrual cycle it's good to keep moving it can help reduce the intensity of uterine contractions so yes there's research there but i was gonna say that i find if i exercise

22:34Georgia Dayton: i don't get as painful periods at all like if i'm just consistent with my exercise my periods are not as painful how are you with your exercise where are you with your exercise you don't really i'm quite good now i've got a pt and i go three times a week that's better than yeah but it's It's really interesting a bit. It's more now, it's not high intensity at all. It's like we do breathing for 10 minutes, like mobility work, and then we do strength training. Strength training, that's bad to say. And it really suits me so much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. But I was going to say, you know, if you're menstruating, should you be running or not?

23:15Georgia Dayton: You can. Because I used to feel so uncomfortable. Well, then. But then I'd feel really good after. Okay. So I didn't know. there's no hard and fast rule yeah I really I really train on how I feel and this is what I was saying at the beginning about I think the most important thing is getting to know your body yep and that can be difficult to do but I know how I'm feeling and also because I like exercise I never really worry about oh I can't be bothered it's if I don't want to exercise or I don't feel like it's the right thing it's not because I can't be bothered or I'm never gonna do it I'll do it when it's right.

23:51So I then, you know, I don't have a problem with not doing it. So I think whatever works for you. I've had days, what I find interesting, especially in perimenopause is that like how I feel about exercise, I can, I'll notice that without tracking my cycle and then it will be that time in my cycle. So I don't really track my period, but I'll be feeling a certain way. And then I'll be like, Oh, here's my period. Okay. That makes sense. You know? And, um, I've, So I've had times where I know that right towards the end of my period, still on my period, I will do a great run. Right towards it. I think I've got quite a short cycle.

24:27So I'll ovulate fairly quickly. So towards the end of my period, I'm like, this is going to be a good time to run. So I don't think it's. I love those days when you get that little extra kick in your eye. Yeah, when I'm like, oh, there it is. Yeah. Spicy. Yeah. And also I think there's something in the same way when an addict finally surrenders to go into rehab. bear with me i was like well you're taking the time bear with me when i finally surrender into just movement rather than killing myself in the gym which i've had to do more of late because of being in menopause there is a joy and a beauty in just being like i'm just gonna sit on the bike now and do 15k and i'm gonna do some stretches and that's me done rather than being like i've got to go through my whole routine which i used to do and suddenly i'm like oh i've done something today i've moved i've gone for a walk with murphy as opposed to being like i've got to go to this hit class I've got to kill myself for 40 minutes sometimes I just don't feel like that and I think sometimes we get so fixated on following this program we've got to do this we've got to takes the joy out of it like movement is joy and so yeah 100 people always ask I think because I work in fitness people think that I am a certain way so people be like what's your rest time how have you lifted today well I'm like yeah I have no idea I don't I don't train like that I got like I was in the gym this morning and I called my mom afterwards.

25:43I was like, I was so slow today. Like I'm seeing people zipping around the gym, like they're doing this and then they're over there and they're doing this. And I'm on the same thing, just like taking my rest time. I'm not timing it. I'm probably there for a good three or four minutes where I'm like, I think I'm ready to go again. You know, so horses for courses. Some people love that. My husband needs those targets. It motivates me. He loves that. To me, I find that quite stressful and scary. and it will make me not want to do it. So I'm just going to do what works.

26:13Georgia Dayton: Do you think it's about finding things that you like? Because to like what you just said, Zoe, I used to think, I used to go to sort of like boot camp type of exercises and I would feel good after. Like I'm not slating it because I did, after I'd get a buzz. Yeah, amazing. But I would dread it, like absolutely dread it. And every moment in there I'd be like, oh, this is hideous. Yeah, when I got out, good. But that's not, that doesn't make me want to go. And whereas now I've like found a bit more of an in-between where I still feel good after. I maybe don't get as big a buzz, but it's more just I do it.

26:51Georgia Dayton: I don't dread it. Yeah. And I'm more consistent. Exactly. It's just a non-thing. A hundred percent. And it's not to say that you don't need to push boundaries. I don't want to sort of misconstrue that message because it's really important if you want to see progress. Yeah. that you progressively overload your workout. So it is going to feel hard at times. It's not saying don't ever push the boat. But it depends how you have slept, what is your day like, what has your nutrition been like, loads of things that are going to play into when will be the right times to push it and when it won't. And as I said, it comes to really knowing your own body when will be the right time.

27:29And you're so bang on. enjoying exercise is so important because otherwise it becomes a thing you don't want to do yeah and then you think about not wanting to do it and it perpetuates that mindset you've got to enjoy it and and there is no one way to exercise and in fact mixing up the type of exercise you do is the best thing you can do for your body so it definitely doesn't always have to

27:52Georgia Dayton: be that hit class that you're dreading we'll be right back after this short break

28:01Hi, this is Monica Reinagle of Nutrition Diva. Today's show is sponsored by Nature Raised Farms. Grocery shopping can be a little overwhelming, especially if you're reading labels. And in my opinion, chicken shouldn't be complicated, which is why I appreciate Nature Raised Farms. It's chicken that's just chicken. And their lightly breaded chicken nuggets are free from gluten, dairy, and soy. Look for nature-raised farms on your next grocery trip and feel more confident about your choices.

28:54Friday in July, ends July 27th. Shop today at Wayfair.com This week on Help, I Sexted My Boss. Next World Cup will be 40 and you can't be a 40 year old wearing football tops and that nearly broke me. I mean I think as a 36 year old it's pretty tragic. No, I've not done a Jolly Joke of the Week. I'm going to do William's Jolly Joke of the Week. Excuse me? You absolutely cannot go to your ex to have your wisdom teeth taken out when you did that. I completely and utterly disagree. No. No, I am sorry. I'm sorry. No, no, no, no. Listen and watch wherever you get your podcasts.

29:37Welcome back to this episode of Married by Mamas. Now, where were we?

29:41Georgia Dayton: Perimenopausal, what should I be doing? I love peloton rides too much. Help, thank you. Can you love them too much? I love them. The occasional long cycle. Yes, peloton, great. you know you want to enjoy your cycle rides fantastic strength training is absolutely key and in my opinion yeah should be non-negotiable for women particularly as we're going into perimenopause I think that message has definitely come through Dr. Stacey Sims has done so much work and campaigning in that space so we know that women are getting that message that strength training is really important so that doesn't mean that you are in the weight section squatting with the squat rack if that is too much for you.

30:24So building up slowly, strength training can be bodyweight exercises. It can be using resistance bands. It then can be dumbbells. And then maybe you'll go into the gym and you'll feel more confident lifting the bar with no weights on it. And then maybe you're adding a little bit. So it's about progression, you know, but absolutely strength training, fundamental. And this is going to sound so boring, but please posture exercises, particularly as you age like I notice it even now I'm 38 but I notice that rounding of my shoulders in my posture and it's so important that we do continue to stretch out the chest chest and strengthen the upper back so we keep that posture because otherwise when you go to do all your other training it's going to be out of sync so we hear a lot about strength training not so much about posture I find the word sounds really boring yeah I'm like oh sort your posture out yeah what's like the cool version i don't know but we got to somehow make it mainstream because it's it's so key to being able to sustain fitness as you age i'm trying to think of something now yeah i don't know it's possible sexy straight something yeah sexy straight sexy straight yeah we'll come back to you on that give us a second we're tired i want to shake up my fitness routine finding my cardio a bit uninspiring any suggestions that's from sarah yes i mean i won't say strength training again but strength training um but also mixing up your fitness so for example I started jiu-jitsu three years ago never did a martial art before that sometimes people think that I'm just sort of again naturally into that world because I'm into fitness but actually that was so new did feel massively intimidating massively male dominated in this area of fitness but I have loved it and I love the challenge I like the coordination the memory there's so much about doing a martial art that is great so trying something completely new it can be swimming or horse riding or I have no idea tennis lessons tennis lessons golf if you're my husband but you know I mean so loads of things you can do mixing up your fitness the best thing yeah boxing I have been doing for the last 15 years.

32:43I absolutely love it. Well, and if she's, if she's, if she is running, I don't know where she lives, but hill runs or running on the beach, like loads of ways to up intensify your running. If you're into that kind of exercise, that will still sort of improve that strength training element of it. Yeah, love that.

33:03Georgia Dayton: Where should we go? Any exercise, any advice on exercises for bloating, assuming perimenopause related yeah so we talked about bloating this morning i got the bloat guys so again i don't know if she's noticing that at a certain time in her cycle perhaps if it happens when she's eating certain foods um i would say in that instant when you are actually right then and they're dealing with it movement that gets your circulation going that's going to help your digestive system um even breathing in the initial instance so we start to mash up massage the intestines um low impact exercises if that's feeling too much at the moment but then yeah any movement that starts to stimulate blood flow and get your your blood moving throughout your body that's going to help your metabolism yeah great um also i love for any anybody who's also bloater peppermint tablets that you can get from holland and barrett yeah the peppermint capsules they sort me out with 20 minutes and 20 minutes they get sorted oh yeah just just don't try and break the capsule and try and give it to your daughter because you don't really know how strong they are and they're the most disgusting horrible things in the world and then they burn their mouth yes don't do that i didn't do that it was just a friend that did it but um that would be really about someone who did that is it better to gym on an empty stomach and fuel after so the again stacy sims talks about this a lot for women no we need to be fueling before we go but also refueling after in my personal opinion so that that is kind of i know what the experts think in my personal opinion there are times where i have to exercise fasted because i like to exercise first thing in the morning.

34:56Yeah, I was gonna say that. Yeah. And I'm not only not ready to eat at 530 in the morning, but that is just how I am. So I will get up, don't really even have the time, then I will get up, go to the gym, workout first thing, come back, and then I'll do a good refuel afterwards. I have to specify, like, I am not a nutritionist. So there could be nutritionists who are like, Oh, you've got to do da da da. And yes, I know that the current guidance is that women should be fueling before we exercise to get more benefits from the workouts that we're doing. But if it doesn't work for you, then there is real life.

35:32What is absolutely non-negotiable is refueling after you exercise. Yeah, because otherwise what can happen? If you don't refuel, oh my gosh, well, you're not going to get the benefit. We need nutrients, specifically protein, in order to support that bone building, muscle building process in the body. so proteins are like bone bone building material so absolutely need to refuel and actually carbs get a bad bad rep but actually we do need carbohydrates as well if you want to access the fat burning system you need to have carbohydrates on board otherwise your body will enter a different type of um energy system so balanced diet very important but again i am not a registered nutritionist so I'm going to stay in my lane on this one.

36:20Georgia Dayton: Do you know what? I think this whole fasted workout thing is so confusing because I'm the same. Like quite often I don't have time to eat before I'm exercising but then I might have a coffee and that has got protein in it. It's got milk. You know, like it's something. I'm not like nothing. Empty stomach. What about banana? You can always grab a banana. Yeah, yeah. Teaspoon of peanut butter? I hate peanut butter but yeah. Oh my god. I'm leaving. I've been trying. Do you not like it? either i've just been trying to get myself to like bananas for seven years i was just eating a banana outside you don't like bananas and i've been trying for seven years i eat bananas i do not like them and i literally people must be like what's she doing it takes me like half an hour to eat half a banana but i'm just like because i know it's so good for me but you need me to go bite bite for bite with you that's what i do with kit i go come on we'll go bite for bite he has a bite i have a bite okay he's not into bananas either he's not into he doesn't like anything fruit or vegetable related though so you're not in the same campus here um Shakira what do you want every mum listening to this podcast to take away I think the most important thing to take away is that there's not one way to do something there's not one way to see results so we've talked about strength training we've talked about breathing we've talked about core exercise all really important if I take the pelvic floor for example which is such a key part of returning to exercise after pregnancy um it might be that for many women that they need to strengthen their pelvic floor yes yeah for some women they have an overly tight pelvic floor i am actually surprised by the amount of women that that applies to that i meet women will come to me like i said i'm doing all of my kegel exercises or i bought a pelvic floor trainer or this that and the other and i'm still leaking and this and that and actually it turns out they have a tight pelvic floor so if you are noticing pain during intercourse or pain when you insert a tampon pain in the lower back that can indicate an overactive pelvic floor if you clench your jaw curl your toes all of that so then we need to work on pelvic floor relaxation exercises because if you have a partially tense pelvic floor all the time you will also leak it's just it's going spasm yeah yeah well it's like this all the time yeah but also if you're if you imagine like your fist as your pelvic floor if it's constantly partially tight firstly it's it's completely useless.

38:33You can't pick anything up. You can't do anything with it, number one. And number two, it still has, and because it doesn't have the release, it then can't really work on the contraction and the activation. So you need to have a good inhale and release to get the strength and power through your core when you exhale. So I just use the pelvic floor as an example that there isn't one way to do something. You know, again, looking at the pelvic floor, the pelvic floor is connected from the soles of your feet all the way to either side of your jaw so we call this the deep front line and if you are noticing something with your pelvic floor it can come from anywhere along the deep front line it might mean that you you grind your jaw at night that will impact your pelvic floor if you've got flat feet it will impact your pelvic floor there's so many ways and I would encourage women to find either credible people online or speak to your medical support to to get the answers that you you need and unfortunately we are still in a place where women need to fight for the answers that they need um but part of what i'm trying to do is make that information more readily available okay thank you so much that's flown by hasn't it i hate that it's over thank you so much for having me is it all right for me to just make my youtube platform and i mention that because there are really short workouts on core rehabilitation postnatal recovery perimenopause that are short and designed to be able to do at home that will help you with your core and also strength training goals but thank you so much for having me it seems that my phone is going on it goes going on or is it a kegel machine we don't know she's working on a pelvic floor um shakira akabusi everyone thank you so much you didn't tell us what your youtube was called oh sorry gosh that would help wouldn't it the youtube is called strong like mom and you can find me on social media at shakira akabusi legend thanks Thanks, mate.

40:21Cheers.

40:31Hi, this is Monica Reinagle of Nutrition Diva. Today's show is sponsored by Nature Raised Farms. Grocery shopping can be a little overwhelming, especially if you're reading labels. And in my opinion, chicken shouldn't be complicated, which is why I appreciate Nature Raised Farms. It's chicken that's just chicken, and their lightly breaded chicken nuggets are free from gluten, dairy, and soy. Look for Nature Raised Farms on your next grocery trip and feel more confident about your choices. That refresh you've been putting off until the right deal came along? It's here! Wayfair's Black Friday in July sale is happening now, so you can finally get the style you've been waiting for for less.

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