Another great workout today. I’m so happy to be moving that I’m honestly ok with using light weight. It’s actually helping me refine my movement patterns which will be super helpful as I’m able to increase my weight.

We did 4 rounds of the following circuit –

Feet elevated banded hip bridges 15 reps, TRX row to fly 10 reps and double kettlebell front squats 12 reps with 10# kettlebells.

Next we did 3 rounds of elevated single arm chest press 12 reps with a 12# dumbbell, kettlebell split squats 10 reps each side with 10# kettlebells and box reference dead bugs 10 reps each side.

Last circuit was Romanian deadlifts 12 reps with 10# kettlebells, TRX rear delt pulls 12 reps and cable torso rotation 10 reps each side.

I’m thinking I may be a little sore tomorrow and I’m perfectly fine with that.

Today’s workout. Got to add in a couple more exercises today! For lower body we did body weight squats, low box step ups, abduction and adduction (outer and inner thigh machines). Three sets of 10 reps on each exercise.

We super setted each leg exercise with an upper body exercise – Db lateral raises, cable straight arm pull downs, machine rows and bicep curls. Three sets of 10 on each exercise.

So thankful to be feeling human again and to be a mover again! That just leaves specialist I guess. Let’s see what 2020 brings…..

Happy Monday! Hope you all get to move today! My current workout schedule for the week consists of cardio and core/pelvic floor work on MWF and total body strength training on TTHS.

Today I did 25 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill. I warm up with some banded leg work before I do cardio because I feel better that way. Increased my incline gradually over the 25 minutes. Six is the highest I’ve done post surgery but hoping to keep increasing that as I get stronger.

Fat burning begins after 11 minutes of continuous movement so if fat burning is your goal with cardio just be aware of that. I definitely have my fair share of fat burning to do but cardio also helps strengthen my legs and glutes. As you’ve probably noticed by now I’m a big fan of strong!

Just a final share. I listened to a podcast this morning with Real Talk with the Pelvic Docs and Sarah Brown, a Personal Thought coach. It was so helpful! The bite of encouragement I came away with is to become a champion at starting over. I love that. I’m gonna be that. Every dang day!

Where do I start? When I first learned that I needed to undergo pelvic reconstructive surgery and wouldn’t be allowed to workout for eight weeks, I was a little devastated. I started searching online for info about weight training after prolapse surgery and everything I found was dismal. The conventional wisdom was that I could never do a sit up again and never lift more than 30 pounds. Even more devastating. So I reached out to a few people I follow on IG to see if any of them had any experience in rehabbing someone after prolapse surgery. Of the three people I reached out to only one, @thephysiofix responded. She told me it wasn’t her area of expertise but she knew a girl I should contact in Scottsdale – @the.vaginadoc. – a pelvic floor physical therapist. Who knew there was such a thing?!

So I shot her a message on IG and in no time she responded. After asking me a couple of questions she responded with six IG voice messages. I was so impressed and so grateful! On November 7, two weeks after my surgery, we had a one hour Zoom chat and I knew I had found my person!

On January 9, I traveled to Scottsdale, AZ and spent an entire day with Jocelyn Connolly, the.vaginadoc. She had the day totally planned as you can see from the pic. After all the assessments and a pelvic anatomy lesson we began working on movements to strengthen my deep core muscles and my pelvic floor. I learned a ton! I’m so grateful for her expertise and professionalism and for her willingness to say “let’s try it” instead of immediately saying “no”.

So together, we are writing our own research. Documenting my progress in the gym here for others who may find themselves in my position to benefit from. She has motivated me to continue my learning in pelvic floor rehab and has become my friend. I’m calling our colab a win win for real!

Got a great workout in on Saturday. I had my immersion day with @the.vaginadoc last week – much more info on that coming – and she cleared me to add a few things to my repertoire.

Here’s what Corey had for me.

20# kettlebell deadlifts for 10 reps, dumb bell bench press with 12# dbs for 12 reps – 4 rounds of this

Front foot elevated split squats 10 each leg, front raises with 5# dbs for 10 reps, cable single arm rear delt pulls 12 reps each side with 20#, 30 second plank on forearms – 4 rounds

Db stiff deadlifts w 10# dbs for 12 reps, cable lat pull downs 12 reps with 45#, kneeling straight arm torso rotation with 5# plate 10 reps each side – 3 rounds

It felt so good to add a little weight on my lower body exercises this week! My new norm and my path back to strong will be slow and steady, gradually scaling my weight increases as it feels right to my body.

2020 is going to be a year full of learning beginning with being at peace learning to live in slow and steady mode. More conventional learning will be coming in the Fall but we’ll talk about that later.

Thanks for reading along! Happy Sunday!

Happy Tuesday! Got a good workout in today. Bodyweight squats, LIGHT horizontal leg presses (4 sets at 60#), light abduction machine (4 sets at 30#). Chest press machine (4 sets at 20#), cable lat pulls (4 sets at 30#), row machine with wide grip (4 sets at 30#), cable tricep pushdowns (4 sets at 30#), db bicep curls (3 sets with 8#), db lateral raises (3 sets with 8#), and db shoulder press (3 sets with 8#). Doing most upper body exercises seated when possible for pelvic floor support. Feeling pretty good but can definitely tell that my body has spent most of the past 11 weeks healing. The surgeon says my body will actually continue to heal for the next year. All the more reason to be kind to myself in the gym.

Thursday I’ll be meeting with my pelvic floor physical therapist for the first time. Super excited to spend an entire day with her! An immersion day! Looking forward to getting a good assessment of where I am physically and learning methods to help bullet proof my pelvic floor going forward. Lots more info coming after my time with her.

I guess I should add here that weight lifting is NOT what brought on my prolapse. The first questions the surgeon asked me when I met with her were – how many pregnancies have you had, what size were your babies, were forceps used in delivery, was suction used in delivery, did you have a large episiotomy? I had to answer yes to all of these questions along with one baby who was 8 lbs 12 ounces, which is large for my size. Her response was, “that’s the reason you’re here today”. I fully believe that had I not been strong I would’ve landed in the OR a lot sooner. Anyhow, with stage 3 prolapse, surgery had to be done.

I have a new appreciation for the complexity of the human body. For how wonderfully we are made. For our body’s ability to heal. I believe that movement is a gift from God; that we were MADE to move. I don’t intend to let this surgery keep me from moving – wisely. My motto has always been “live to play another day”. Stay tuned. Good things are in store!

No pic today. No workout today. I’m currently working out just three days a week – Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Trying to moderate a bit and not push myself too hard during this first month back in the gym. I woke up nice and sore in my glutes this morning after yesterday’s workout and that made me super happy! I’m not sure how it got there but movement is in my blood.

I am NOT a sitter. I hadn’t been out of the gym for eight weeks in the last fifteen years. My legs and glutes and low back were sore post surgery because of my lack of movement. I was sore from sitting! At my two week post op visit with my surgeon, she told me “nobody looks this good at two weeks post op”. I wanted to tell her that’s because most of her patients don’t lift heavy weight but I already knew her thoughts on heavy lifting for women. I was completely compliant with my restrictions for the entire eight weeks but the whole time I kept thinking about people who don’t ever work out. If I’m gonna be sore from sitting or sore from working out – I’ll take working out all day long! The benefit to my body and my mind from weight training can not be overstated.

The gym is my mental health as well as my physical health. I don’t drink. I don’t take antidepressants. I don’t smoke pot. Movement is my head medicine! I’m so thankful my hiatus was only eight weeks. So incredibly thankful for the gift of movement and challenging physical work. It’s somewhat humbling to be starting back with bodyweight movements but I’m already over that. Nowhere to go but up!

Got a great workout in today with Corey. Still going primarily with body weight on lower body until next Thursday when I have my immersion visit with the pelvic floor Physical Therapist in Scottsdale. (More info on that to come.)

Here are the deets from today.

Circuit 1 – Feet elevated hip bridges 15 reps, cable lat pull downs 45# 12 reps, and bottom leg supported side planks 30 seconds each side – 4 total rounds

Circuit 2 – 12 banded goblet squats with an 8# dumbbell, 12 cable rear delt pulls with 20#, 10 each side bird dogs with knees on a pad – 4 total rounds

Circuit 3 – banded lateral monster walks 15 reps out and 15 reps back, dumbbell chest press with 10 # dumbbell 12 reps each side, kneeling torso rotations with 5# plate 8 reps each side – 4 total rounds

Tonight I’m feeling those banded monster walks in my low back a little bit but a little soreness is to be expected. The band I used today was a Small glute loop by Bret Contreras. Such a great tool for glute development especially when you aren’t able to lift substantial weight.

I’m feeling stronger already! Doing light total body workouts similar to this one three times a week. Nowhere to go but up!