After three months of relentless nappy changes, bottle cleaning and baby rocking, I managed to find a pocket of time to do something for me – huzzah
My all time favourite activity is swimming and I got back in the pool this week after a year of pregnancy and post natal recovery
Enter the first barrier….
Finding a swimming costume that fits me three months after having my second baby – eeeek
(I did have a maternity costume during my first pregnancy, but sadly that went see-through and had to be abandoned in the middle of a spa weekend – embarrassing)
So I squeezed myself into one of my old swimming costumes feeling mildly to moderately self-conscious and slightly concerned about popping out in the water accidentally
Anyhow, I managed to get in the water which was a blessed relief because it was 31° outside and the water was a lovely 26°
Bliss
Enter the second barrier
Now for context, I’ve been swimming 2 to 3 times a week since I was a kiddo, so I am very used to feeling at home in the water, confident in the water and strong in the water
It turns out having a year off swimming does make quite a difference to all of those things
After six lengths, my arms felt like lead and I could barely breathe, everything just felt disjointed and wrong
It wasn’t quite the experience that I was hoping for, and I did feel a bit disappointed after looking forward to this for so long!
But… I pulled up my big girl pants and decided that I could either focus on what didn’t feel quite right (just now) or I could focus on the things that did feel okay
It felt peaceful to be in the water again physically and mentally
I get almost immediate (temporary) relief from my chronic aches and pains when I float in the water so this is always been a huge draw for me (particularly over the last 10 years as the aches and pains have got worse)
I focused on my breathing and how the water felt on my skin
I didn’t count lengths, I didn’t track the time. I just swam as far as I could until my muscles started burning and then I stopped for a rest
It would have been so easy to give up after those six lengths because quite honestly at that point, I just thought I’d had enough
But a tiny reframe and an adjustment in expectation and I came out of the pool feeling happy, relaxed and peaceful
So if you have had a break from exercise for any reason … whether it’s from having a baby, from having an injury or whether it’s just because work and life got busy and you just got out of the habit of exercising
Just know that you can reframe things to change your expectations and you can build yourself up to where you want to be
We all have to start from somewhere!
It’s easy to give up from a place of frustration or disappointment
It’s much harder, but infinitely more rewarding and satisfying, to carry on even if it doesn’t feel quite how you expected it to
If you show up for yourself and keep going, even when it feels a bit hard, the results will start rolling in
Try to overcome that niggly voice in your head that might tell you you’re not fit enough or strong enough to keep going
Fitness and strength build over time and consistency
The first couple of times might feel kind of hard, but session by session, it all starts paying off – I promise!
I hope you can take something from this, and maybe get a bit inspired to keep calm and carry on <3
You got this
If you need any help or support, just drop me a line >> nicola@rossellfitness.co.uk
