While some women glide through pregnancy with grace, minimal discomfort and an epic glow around them, others may experience a little more difficultly in terms their body’s positive ability to adjust to the human growing inside of them! Every pregnancy can be completely different of course and it is very personal to each woman.
As an athlete for a living, the experience of carrying on with my job while pregnant has understandably been a journey in itself and every day there is something new to be learned in the process. There are days where I get up with gusto and shell out 3-5 hours of smooth exercise and other days where BBK (baby boy Kessler) completely guides the way and limits the amount of proper spunk happening in workouts. After all, he is the one who may be causing some pregnancy ‘niggles’ whether it’s lower back drama from the added weight we are towing around or perhaps where he decides to sit on the day which is typically very low and thus, right on the bladder! It’s key to let BBK run the show and just do what feels right in the moment. He is the primary focus so you adjust accordingly to what feels kosher for everyone involved.
As I hopefully prepare to birth an enriching human in a few short weeks, it has been paramount to keep that coveted muscle memory, work ethic and athleticism throughout the course of the 9+ months. It’s not only healthy for BBK to have his mom stay active, yet also important for me to do so as I look forward to getting back to my job on the race courses in 2018.
This brings me to a VERY important tool that has continued to be used in abundance (as it is in my normal non-pregnant world!) during this time. This daily tool that has been the valued and beyond important is: Recovery Pump Compression boots. There have been three marquee things in using RP that have helped me navigate through the waves of keeping afloat a fit and healthy pregnancy.
3 ESSENTIAL WAYS THAT RECOVERY PUMP HAS HELPED CALM ANY PREGNANCY NIGGLES:
1. ALLEVIATE LEG/CALF CRAMPING: This especially occurs in the second and third trimesters. For me, it occurs the most towards the end of a swim session. These cramps tend to arise from carrying around extra weight and can also be related to swelling from fluid built up in the legs.
I learned quickly to start the day with even a short 20-minute pocket of Recovery Pump time, pre-workouts (just like I do when I’m properly training and racing with more intensity), to help compress and relax the muscles in a noninvasive manner. Recovery Pump delivers an aggressive but very natural alternative to passive recovery for athletes – and for us pregnant women!
The system simulates localized "active recovery" (such as walking) in a more relaxed manner because the therapy is conducted at rest. As a result, while I’m doing this before my workouts on the day, the RP therapy is rapidly accelerating the body´s re-absorption of the elements causing potential cramping and fatigue in the muscles.
In addition, it is also effectively removing metabolic waste faster than any traditional mode of recovery or rest alone. As a result, my leg cramps are minimized and I can carry on with my workouts without worrying about if the legs are going to behave and/or cramp or whatnot - -there is enough to focus in on when you are towing a human along in your belly!
2. REDUCE SWELLING: The legs can especially swell in pregnancy as a result of our expanding uterus and the pressure it puts on our veins which ultimately impairs the return of blood to the heart. This swelling situation is absolutely a normal part of pregnancy that is also caused by the additional blood and fluid we accumulate through the process. In my opinion, it often feels similar to inflammation that we get as athletes especially after more intense workouts or races.
I have learned that this extra retention of fluid is needed to soften the body, which enables it to expand as the baby develops. Of course we do feel this expansion!
Putting my boots back on after my workouts (again, just like in training!) is imperative – even for a quick 15-minute punch. I genuinely chalk up the reason that I have had minimum swelling so far in pregnancy was by being extra diligent too about wearing my RP boots for a longer period of time in the evenings. While my husband and I are watching a show, I will put them on an hour or even two hours before going to bed. This not only helps the legs, body and mind relax - it also helps soothe everything in general for the next day.
3. NOURISH SORE MUSCLES:
As each pregnancy week passes, many new body sensations and challenges are understandably encountered and they continue to change even day by day. Muscle soreness from pregnancy is a common challenge as most pregnant women can attest!
A reason that we can understandably get more “sore” in our muscles is because we are indeed carrying more weight in a frontal distribution. Even as athletes, this still causes our muscles that we don't normally use as much – to feel the affects of this added weight and thus, they also get sore! Since most of weight gain is in our belly area too, it throws us off balance a bit (even when we walk let alone exercise) and muscles we didn’t even know existed in our legs, start talking to us!
Recovery Pump provides such paramount specific levels of compression and increases circulation at all levels of the venous system in our legs. This effectively speeds up our body’s own natural means of recovery that addresses muscle pain at its source.
While I relish in the hopeful possibility of being able to be a mom in the very near future, I have officially decided that EVERY pregnant women (an athlete or not!), especially those with any pregnancy ‘niggles,’ should invest in a RECOVERY PUMP.
You can be rest assured to put that much more ease and comfort into your daily regimen of what any potential pregnancy woes may bring!
- Meredith Brooks Kessler, Professional Triathlete & Mommy-to-be
@mbkessler
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