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28th August 2010: Interviewed by The Mail on Sunday

September 2, 2010 – 11:32 pm

Needless to say it was a family outing and I was surrounded by the kids when the mobile rang. It was The Mail on Sunday asking me for an interview regarding post natal recovery following a C-section, with specific reference to Samantha Cameron, the prime minster’s wife. Following wild flapping of my hands to shoo away the boys I finally managed to concentate to a certain extent on what was being asked of me.

Ever cautious when it comes to the media I amswered the questions very carefully: yes, one has to wait 8-10 weeks before exercising following a C-section and, of course, every person’s recovery is different and should be treated so. What kind of exercises post-delivery? Well, pelvic floor exercises, of course! I would say that, wouldn’t I? And so the conversation progressed remarkably smoothly with my youngest son only interrupting on three occasions. Yes, three occasions, but it was better than the previous time when The Daily Mail interviewed me and the boys made so much noise that I couldn’t even hear the questions being asked…

I can only suppose that it lends a certain authenticity to what I have to say….

By Jo | Posted in In the media | Comments (0)

Summer BuggyBabies is Over!

September 2, 2010 – 11:17 pm

Summer BuggyBabies 2010So we’ve all been keeping fit and healthy over the summer holidays… with our babies AND older siblings in tow!
Here’s a lovely photo of the “Survivors”!
Now it’s time to get back to the coalface

By Jo | Posted in Postnatal fitness | Comments (0)

Get back your Zest for life with postnatal fitness

September 2, 2010 – 11:11 pm

Jo Helcke Zest Article Sep10

By Jo | Posted in In the media | Comments (0)

Do more for your pelvic floor!

August 15, 2010 – 10:06 pm

I admit that it’s not the most glamorous of topics, and I bet that if it’s a question of sculpted legs versus toned pelvic floor, the legs are a more attractive proposition! Admittedly we can’t actually see or show off our beautifully toned pelvic floor (unlike a shapely pair of calves!) but having said that, we can certainly feel the consequences of a weak and de-conditioned pelvic floor… Having to cross one’s legs when coughing, sneezing or even laughing, really isn’t much fun. Discovering that you can’t have an impromptu race with your son without leaking, or show your daughter how to skip without dashing to the loo, is less than pleasant. And without wishing to get too personal, a weak pelvic floor does affect sexual intercourse in a less than positive way. To make matters worse, if the pelvic floor is weak during the child bearing years, it can only get worse as one reaches the menopause, with its accompanying hormonal changes.
So we all need to do more for our pelvic floor… and here’s how:
The pelvic floor is a muscle like any other in our body and, as such, is made up of two types of muscle fibre – fast and slow twitch – which need to be targeted using different sorts of exercise. Your slow twitch muscle fibres are essentially for endurance: the pelvic floor is busy all day, every day, holding up all your internal organs a bit like the bottom of a shopping bag! This requires strength and stamina and the following exercise will help:
You can do this standing, sitting or lying down but you might well notice that it’s harder to do in some positions than others. To engage the pelvic floor you have to consciously relax bigger, stronger muscles such as the glutes (your bottom!) and the abdominals. Now you have to imagine that your pelvic floor is a lift going up a few levels in a building (here’s the embarrassing bit!): have a go at pulling up around the back passage as if you were trying to stop yourself from passing wind. Done? Now keep hold of that and also pull up at the front as if you were stopping yourself from having a wee. Good, you’ve reached the first floor of your building. Now you need to pull up a little further to reach the second floor. If you’ve got a third floor – you might not yet have the strength to reach a third level – then take your pelvic floor up there. Quick check: are you holding your breath? If so, don’t! Are you tensing up your shoulders or your bottom? Relax! Now go slowly back down to the ground floor: remember that you’re not leaping off the top of a three storey building but smoothly and slowly descending in your lift…
Now you need to target the fast twitch muscle fibres in your pelvic floor. These are the ones that stop embarrassing accidents when you suddenly have a fit of sneezing or when you decide to test your son’s trampoline. As with the previous exercise, you need to pull up at the back and the front but this time you are simply pulling in and up for a second and then releasing in quick succession and repeatedly. I say “simply” but when you have a go, just check that you are not tensing up your backside, legs, abdominals, neck, facial muscles… or conducting an eyebrow-raising exercise!
So there you have it: two very important exercises that should be incorporated into every woman’s daily routine. “How often”, I hear you ask? You need to be doing a few sets of each exercise about three times a day. If you have a little baby, you can do the exercises whilst you are feeding but once you wean you’re going to have to think of some other trigger to remind you to do your pelvic floor exercises: a Post-It on the TV screen or on the fridge door, are options that spring to mind.
Last but most certainly not least, I have a slightly bitter pill for you to swallow: once you have exercised your way to a strong, toned pelvic floor, you can’t just stop doing your daily quota of exercises because the muscle will simply regress to its former state. You need to carry on… for ever after.

By Jo | Posted in Pelvic floor | Comments (1)

Wendy’s Birth Story

August 15, 2010 – 10:02 pm

Apologies for the delay in updating you but you will see from the below that life has been slightly challenging over the last few weeks.

I did eventually go into labour albeit late but on the first day I decided to leave the emails and relax on the sofa, should have tried it sooner! Unfortunately my plan for a water birth at the local midwife unit was refused from my waters breaking and we ended up in hospital with the midwives taking several hours to persuade me to be induced, I confess to being a difficult patient. Eventually induction with epidural lead to my worst fears of unsuccessful forceps and then emergency caesarian under GA as the little man was proving stubborn like his mother – Austin John Hunt was born 15th July at 1.20pm weighing 7lbs 2oz.

All was well for 24 hours until the complication of some blood clots making their way to my lungs preventing me from breathing, I have to say the care I received was excellent and my optimistic diagnosis of a bit of wind due to lack of food was proved wrong. After lots of drugs with some much needed oxygen and a blood transfusion I was eventually discharged on day 12. You would think this would be enough excitement for one birth but not me. Within a few hours of getting home I proceeded to lose more blood than was replaced post op and 999 was required for an ambulance back to hospital. After an antidote to the drugs that were causing my blood loss and more intensive monitoring we were discharged on day 16.

It appears the post op complications are going to be life changing for many months to come i.e 7 months of drugs to start with and some very attractive socks. I think the most important thing is I’m still around to tell the tale as I have to say there were several times when I thought Craig would be a single parent, not a good thought . Austin is growing like a weed and is 9lbs already, he appears very happy as long as food and cuddles are available when he requests them. He’s not that keen on taking his clothes off and can pee several meters to protest!

I’ve decided I’ve become a real mum today when on our first day out meeting other mums and babies I decided that Austin was easily the best looking child in the room and thank goodness I’d not given birth to any of the other babies.

I’ll not bombard you with photos but will stay in touch as time permits.

Best wishes

Wendy

By Jo | Posted in Birth stories | Comments (0)

FitMum Summer Camp 2010… day 3

August 11, 2010 – 2:10 pm

It’s day three of the 2010 FitMum Summer Camp and the weather – touch wood – has so far been kind to us.

On Monday we headed up into the hills, an impressive group of mums, babies, buggies, older siblings and – not to be forgotten, of course – Blue, our super-athlete babysitter. It was a lower body workout so – yes, you guessed – lots of lunges and squats and dead lifts (all stuff I LOVE!) up in a beautiful quiet clearing. We rounded the workout off with a well-deserved cuppa in the Broombriggs picnic field whilst the babies had a kick-about on picnic rugs and the older children romped around the field building dens.

Day two got the heart rate up with a cardio buggy workout, including such delights as bungee walking up a steep path in the woods – if you’re wondering what on earth bungee walking is, then you’d better come along next term and find out ;) – and a short sharp session of jabs, upper cuts and hooks… is your mind still boggling?

So now it’s day 3 and we’ve just got back from an 8km walk in the most beautiful surroundings with lovely weather included in the package – I ordered it specially! Broombriggs Hill is 237m high so you all did really well to get to the top with your increasingly heavy babies strapped to you! It was worth it: the view from the top, where we had our tea and coffee break is stunning. I’ve taken a couple of photos but whilst I might have mastered the art of writing a blog for my website I haven’t, unfortunately, got the hang of attaching a photo – I’ll put them up on Facebook n the meantime….

By Jo | Posted in Fitmum Summer Camp 2010 | Comments (0)

The Mumpreneur Conference Awards

August 8, 2010 – 10:23 pm

It doesn’t take much to guess from the title that “The Mumpreneur Awards” focuses on highlighting the achievements of mothers who run businesses. Towards the end of July (2010) I went to an inspiring talk by Amanda, who runs the Mumpreneur Awards, on entering competitions for business awards… I decided to give it a go and, okay, I haven’t hit jackpot (yet!) but Zest4lifeUk did make it through to the semi-finals. Bearing in mind that this is a national award and that it is open to businesses in any sector, I think that’s not bad at all (though I might say so myself!).

Ultimately, what makes Zest4lifeUk so great is all you wonderful mums who come along to my classes – I love hearing about your lives, your achievements, your worries, your kids, your ideas for future careers. In fact, something quite noticeable to me is the number of you who’s minds are whirring away creatively thinking about new ways of earning a living now that you are mums and that you want to combine career and motherhood.

What an amazing group of mums you all are!

By Jo | Posted in Business Awards | Comments (2)

July 2010 Newsletter

July 22, 2010 – 3:00 pm

 

Hello to you all,

We’ve almost reached the end of this term’s courses – it’s been a great pleasure having you in my classes and I’ve had great fun helping you all get fitter. I hope you have too!

Evening out

To mark the end of classes, I’ve booked a canapés evening at the Old Bull’s Head (Woodhouse Eaves) on Wednesday 21st of July at 8pm. The last time we went for canapés we were all really impressed by the variety on offer as well as the quality, and at £6 a head it really was excellent value. Please do let me know as soon as possible if you’d like to come along.

Summer Fitness…. and the livin’ is easy!

Although I like the summer holidays, there’s one aspect that I find hard to deal with: keeping fit with the kids around. As the holidays progress I get ever more restless and by the time the kids are back at school, I’ve gained a few pounds which I then have to lose before the Christmas period… very annoying.

With this in mind, I’ve decided to offer a couple of summer fitness plans which will work you hard, help keep the weight off and be lots of fun.

A twice-weekly – Monday and Thursday – BuggyBabies/FitMum course where you can bring along school age children as well as your baby

With the class being twice a week, I shall be focusing on different parts of the body and different aspects of fitness in each class. We’ll stop to do the exercises in areas that are safe for your older child/ren. A student from Loughborough University, who does regular babysitting for me, will also be coming along to help with the older children! The dates are as follows:

Monday Thursday
19th July 22nd July
9th August 12th August
16th August 19th August
23rd August  

 

The idea is to keep our fitness levels up, have fun together and not worry about having to find someone to look after the kids. Weather permitting, I will bring along a picnic tea/coffee to have at the end of each class, so that whilst you relax, the older children can have a play outdoors.

The cost of the course is £50 and this includes:

-       8 energizing, outdoor exercise classes

-       A baby sitter who will come along to give a helping hand with the older children. N.B.  Ultimately, we must all keep a close eye on our own children and be responsible for them.

-       A picnic tea and coffee break at the end of each class

 

FitMum Summer Camp from 9th to 13th August

This will be lots of fun and really sociable too – I can’t wait! From Monday to Friday of the week beginning 9th of August I will be running a different type of outdoor mother-and-child exercise class on each day, so that you can get a full week’s worth of workouts. Examples of the types of classes are as follows:

-       A BackpackBabies trip

-       Outdoor cardio circuits

-       BuggyBabies for the lower body

-       BuggyBabies for the upper body

-       Pram ‘n’ Pilates

A two or three course evening meal at The Grey Lady in Newtown Linford on Wednesday 11th is also part of the FitMum Summer Camp and the owners have kindly offered the use of their private dining room. I had the arduous task (!) of testing The Grey Lady last night, just to make sure that it would meet your exacting standards and I can confirm that it will make for quite a special evening out: the food is good, the gardens are lovely and the private dining room is beautiful.   

Last but not least, I have negotiated some really fantastic offers with a small group of local businesses (mostly ones that I use and can recommend) for you to make the most of, as part of the Summer Camp. Please scroll down to see what these offers are. I will also be giving you a leaflet about each of the businesses, for you to have a look at.

The cost of the FitMum Summer Camp is £35 and the optional meal out is an extra £15 for two courses or £20 for 3 courses. For this you get:

-        5 consecutive days of energizing, outdoor fitness classes

-       Some wonderful special offers on businesses that I can genuinely recommend

-       A picnic tea and coffee break at the end of each class

-     The meal out I have priced separately so that you can choose whether or not to come along. Having the meal in our own private dining room is an added extra that I have negotiated for us all! 

Lots of lovely offers!

-       Salon to You is a mobile hair dressing service that I use and can thoroughly recommend. Karen comes to me and she does a really good job on my very grey hair! She’s a lovely person, is very flexible with her hours and her prices are extremely reasonable. Karen is offering you a 10% discount on any of her services if booked during September. She also does Hollywood Lashes which are amazing!

-       The Garden Room Beauty Treatments in Woodhouse Eaves is run by Joanne, who is one of the mothers at the school where my boys go. I’ve always been really pleased with what she has done for me, and her beauty room is very relaxing too. Joanne has put together a very enticing offer :

Aromatic Back Massage

File and Paint

Eyelash tint or Eyebrow shape

All for £30

-       Lime tree Day Nursery is opening its doors for the first time in September in Barrow. It will be jointly run by Kate Greenway – who comes along to BuggyBabies and is the owner of the after school club, Kiddy Crew – and Andrea Mardel who used to be the manager at St Clements Day Nursery in Woodhouse Eaves. They have put together a super offer for FitMum Summer Campers: 10% off the first month’s fees. Given that nursery fees are a considerable burden to most of us, this will be a very welcome offer.

-       Cycles of Change Acupuncture – based at the Loughborough Osteopathic Clinic – are offering Fitmum Summer Campers a £5 voucher off treatments during the month of August. I go to Elaine Glasius (who works at the clinic) for acupuncture every month and I find it extremely beneficial – she is also a health visitor which means that you can quiz her about all your baby worries! 

-       Paul White specialises specifically in deep tissue sports massage (just what you’re going to need at the end of the FitMum Summer Camp!) and he has suggested a truly fantastic introductory offer for you: £5 for a half hour sports

-       massage or £10 for a 60 minute sports massage. He is very good at getting rid of tension and knots in the back – highly recommended!.

-       The Balloon Lady: Mandy is another mum at my boys’ school and she runs quite an unusual business. She does the most incredible balloon decorations for birthday parties, weddings and any other events. Her balloon decorations really transform rooms and I’ve even see some of her balloon sculptures for parties – very wild and wacky! She’s offering a 10% reduction for all of you who join the Summer Camp.  

-       Phoenix Cards: Jo Tarratt (who does BuggyBabies) sells the beautiful range of Phoenix Cards. The catalogue has the most wonderful array, not only of cards, but also of wrapping paper, gift tags and children’s birthday party sets. Here’s Jo’s offer: if you decide to spend £10 or more your name will go into a draw and the FitMum Summer Camper who wins will receive a £15 Phoenix Cards voucher.    

 

 

 

 

By Jo | Posted in Newsletters | Comments (1)

Pregnancy and Fitness

July 22, 2010 – 2:42 pm

Pregnancy is a time when many of us stand back and reassess – often for the first time – our attitude towards having a healthy lifestyle. Whilst normally, we might feel only mildly guilty about our sedentary lifestyle, tendency to comfort eat, or penchant for one tipple too many, with pregnancy comes a sudden sense of responsibility.

Keeping fit and healthy in pregnancy can be quite a thorny issue, with the media focusing on celebrities shrinking to an unhealthy size zero within weeks of giving birth. Nevertheless, the advantages of moderate and appropriate exercise in pregnancy are numerous: the right sort of exercise can help alleviate backache, a common problem in pregnancy; you are more likely to make a speedy postnatal recovery; exercise will improve the quality of your sleep, increase circulation and enhance positive feelings about your changing body. Finally, keeping physically active promotes the release of endorphins, thus encouraging psychological well-being.

Not surprisingly, however, many women worry that exercise in pregnancy might somehow adversely affect their unborn baby and, as a result, they opt out of keeping fit. Don’t choose that option (unless you have specific medical problems that may affect your ability to exercise): just bear the following points in mind when exercising:

Make sure you always have a light snack a couple of hours before exercising, otherwise you might become hypoglycaemic. This would lead to you feeling faint due to low blood sugar levels.

The first trimester of pregnancy is a key stage for foetal development and during this period it is important not to overheat as the foetus has no way of regulating its body temperature. In short, stick to a moderate intensity when exercising. Also, consider the weather conditions: if it is hot and airless, it is probably best not to overdo the exercise.

During pregnancy women are more prone to backache and discomfort in the joints, due to the hormone relaxin. Excellent technique when exercising is, therefore, particularly important, and maintaining good posture at all times will help enormously and set you up for a more trouble-free post natal recovery.

Relaxin has the effect of loosening the joints in the body and making you more flexible. Do not exploit this increased mobility when doing post-workout stretches or in exercise classes that involve a lot of stretching, as this can cause irreversible instability of the joints, particularly in the pelvic area. It’s easy to adapt your stretches: just hold them for no more than 8-10 seconds.

During the second and third trimesters, impact exercise should gradually be phased out as it places an increased strain on the pelvic floor. Runners might not wish to hear this but I’ll say it anyway: power walking or aqua jogging are much more appropriate alternatives during these 6 months of pregnancy.

From the middle of the second trimester onwards, exercise lying on the back should be avoided, as should resistance exercises for the abdominals (sit-ups, reverse curls, full planks, side planks etc).

Finally, just remember that during pregnancy you should aim to maintain your fitness levels – this is not the time to be trying to increase your fitness. So bear these tips in mind, keep active, and you will be laying the foundations for a happy, healthy pregnancy.

By Jo | Posted in Pregnancy and Fitness | Comments (0)

Upcoming Courses

July 22, 2010 – 2:32 pm

Just to let you all know that next term’s courses are starting the week beginning Monday 6th of September.

Some of the classes – Pilates4All in particular – are beginning to fill up so do let me know if you’d like to join any of the classes.

BuggyBabies now runs on a Wednesday morning at 9.45am and a Wednesday afternoon at 1.30pm, rather than a Thursday morning (I now keep my Thursdays free for personal training).

Looking forward to seeing you in the Autumn term,

Jo x

By Jo | Posted in Course Dates | Comments (0)