Antony Lo Coaching Consult

This week on “as the pendulum swings”

I did a strict L-sit pull up & GHD sit up to parallel.

….and it feels like all a dream.  

So, after a few minutes of freaking out accompanied with many coaching cues by Antony,  I performed a strict L-sit pull-up, a GHD sit up (to parallel and back up), and some hollow rocking. I performed all of these movements with decent stomach control.

I have not done an L-sit of any kind since I had my first son. I just couldn’t do them (or I THOUGHT I couldn’t do them), and I, of course, avoided the GHD.

Before I go any further into explaining what happened I just want to express my utmost gratitude for my PFPT, Nancy and my friend Katie, who is a fellow P&PA coach, PT, and CF-L2. They both came, held the phone, touched my body (ha ha), and I felt so supported during this scary yet exciting moment in my journey. The team around you in this is everything and, damn, this was amazing. 

I worked hard to find this team.

I worked hard talking my ego out of doing many movements at the gym.  

I worked hard allowing myself to sleep sometimes instead workout during the first 7 months postpartum.

I worked hard doing my PT exercises late at night after a long day with the kids.

I worked hard searching for answers. And I still am.

I worked hard thinking about about how I stood, picked up the kids, and moved throughout my day.

I worked hard talking myself out of being bitter, angry, and sad about my stomach.

I worked hard learning new breathing strategies and alignment while studying Julie Wiebe’s methodology.

I worked hard making my strategies become automatic.

I worked hard changing my mindset while remaining positive.

I worked hard learning to how activate my glutes in daily life and at the gym.

I worked hard creating a business to help other women while continuing to educate and learn from the best.

...And for that I deserve to do a GHD sit -up at almost 20 months postpartum. haha.

Let me explain what is going on here before I have a bunch of women getting on the GHD at 6 months postpartum. Everyone wants yes or no answers or a list of “safe” exercises, and it just isn’t that simple.

I have a hernia, which is suspect to be bigger than I thought.  My fascia is unresponsive and nothing is going to heal that until I have surgery; some of the coning you see is a result of this. While my movements might not be perfect, there still may be a lot of benefit in letting myself move without overthinking. It seems that have more control than I think I do and the coning isn’t even that bad for having sad fascia! All my hard work paid off thus far! I was better off than I thought I was!

A few weeks ago I did feel like something might be missing deep in my gut. However, I have been so traumatized by NOT following a beneficial order of operations after Chase that I was scared to change things up again, even after my progress came to a halt.  Maybe that 3rd plastic surgeon did have some merit to what he said about strengthening my rectus before surgery. This is why I am so glad I went to see so many doctors.  Even though that guy wasn’t MY guy, it helped me connect more dots.  Now when I go into surgery, the surgeon will be able to work with my muscles in their true form and strength. Additionally, I get to have fun incorporating movements back into my gym routine that I have missed so very much. I am finally gaining my confidence back in making decisions. 

The pendulum is always swinging. When I had Chase no one was talking about DR and now everyone is but they are all terrified, which isn’t good either.

For a while we had to fight to show the world that we could workout while pregnant and keep the baby safe, which then turned into a competition to see how much women could do while pregnant and how fast they could "bounce back" -- not a healthy mindset and not healthy for our bodies.

The answer is always somewhere in the middle followed by an “it depends.” I am finally pleased and satisfied with my order of operations and my progressions the second time around. So, now it is time for the pendulum to swing back a bit...and I’ll be swinging into a muscle up very soon! Stay tuned!!

www.lisa-ryan.com