Fit Brit Collective

Prenatal and postnatal fitness specialist, SW London personal trainer

  • Services
    • Personal training
    • Bumps & babies
  • Online Training
  • Blog
  • About
    • Our mission
    • Meet Brit
    • Press
    • FBC shop
  • Contact

STRENGTH STARTS WITHIN

FBC is a community committed to building whole-person strength through exercise
Meet Brit Learn more

JOIN THE COLLECTIVE

Subscribe to the FBC newsletter and get a free introductory guide on how to build strength from the inside out

BUMP, BABY AND BEYOND

I specialise in helping women respect, challenge and connect with their bodies during pregnancy and parenthood
"I’ve had private training and Matt and I have had 2-to-1 training with Brit and I think she’s absolutely amazing! I really enjoy our classes together and feel strong and energetic after them. She has also led classes for Deliciously Ella events and always creates such a great energy."

Ella Woodward, Deliciously Ella

MIND, BODY, BUMP

A month-by-month guide to you and your baby, with strength training workouts, mental health support and recipes packed with pre-natal benefits

RECENT POSTS

  • Mind, Body, Bump: An Account of my Second Trimester with Twins
    Mind, Body, Bump: An Account of my Second Trimester with Twins
  • The best exercise for mental health
    The best exercise for mental health
  • Mind, Body, Bump: An Account of my First Trimester with Twins
    Mind, Body, Bump: An Account of my First Trimester with Twins

FBC ONLINE

Join an online course with members’ only workouts to help you WORK OUT TO WORK IN
Learn more

FOLLOW ME

@FITBRITCOLLECTIVE
RETURN TO IMPACT (PARTICULARLY WHEN STUCK INDOORS RETURN TO IMPACT (PARTICULARLY WHEN STUCK INDOORS BECAUSE OF LOCKDOWN OR SMALL BABIES)

This was me at 2 months postpartum. We were in complete lockdown in Dubai. We could go out to exercise, but it was bloody hot, so only very early or late, when I was likely to be too busy nursing my twins. The aerobic step became my saviour. An accessible way to progress towards mid-term exercise goals... like lifting and running without leaking or dying! The circumstances forced me to get inventive while working safely towards a postpartum recovery. The many HIIT workouts available over Zoom/IG/YouTube/etc weren’t appropriate for me. But it can be hard to know where to start, especially when it’s even harder to reach out to professionals who can help.

These are the 5 steps I encourage all new mums to work through BEFORE SUSTAINING IMPACT EXERCISE, like running (usually no earlier than 12 weeks postpartum, and then very gradually). And some options to work through them using only a step and minimal space. Pay attention to sensations at every stage. Rather than fearing a sensation of heaviness or light leaking, recognise it as a helpful indication of where your limit is and work on mastering the preceding step first.

For more on a safe, fear-free return to impact exercise after a (pandemic) baby, @wellness_ed & @helenkeeblephysio  recently did a helpful IG Live on returning to running, as did @clarebournephysio & @physiomumuk last year.
THIS NYE feels different than others, doesn’t it THIS NYE feels different than others, doesn’t it? Like you’re joining the ‘strolling OUT of 2020 camp’, focused on leaving behind what didn’t work for you in a true 12 month test of stamina, among other challenges universal yet intimately personal. Or you’re committing to the ‘strolling into 2021 camp’, focused on bringing new intentions or practices into the continued unknown.

Thing is, neither reflection nor intention prepared me for 2020 - not its intensity, its mundanity, its storms, its joys, its constant adaptation. No ritual paved the way for feelings of utter incompetence juxtaposed with moments like this one earlier today, when I felt calm and capable (hello supermum myth! @mothers.wellness.toolkit you nailed it 👌🏼). Exercise 💯 remained my outlet for excess (sadness, anger, frustration, doubt, anything that just felt ‘excess’), but even that was less prescriptive this year than years previous.

I thought about this as I considered the relevance of a new year, and I’ve decided that I’m just going to keep strolling and see where it takes me. Maybe you’re in that camp too. The one where it’s too noisy to reflect in any serious way, and you’re controlling just enough variables to survive the days - even find some happiness in them - but not quite enough to make tangible plans. Yet.

The best strolls take us a little off-course, so remaining open to getting lost, found, lost and found again is as worthy a resolution as any ✌🏽.

#goodbye2020 #newyear2021 #twinmum #pandemicmum #fitnessforlife #twingo #fitformotherhood #postnatalfitness #thejuggleisreal #mumof3 #mumofgirls #justkeepswimming #justkeepstrolling #strollwithme
9 MONTHS IN, 9 MONTHS OUT... on paper the maths se 9 MONTHS IN, 9 MONTHS OUT... on paper the maths seems simple enough, but does this “bounce back” equation hold up IRL? As usual with pre & post natal matters, the answer isn’t black and white!

It’s TRUE because...

1. Every postpartum body requires and thrives on movement to heal and grow.

2. Everybody has the potential to participate in the activities they love within and by the end of that 9 month period.

3. The following outline is more or less adaptable and beneficial for every body - with more or less time in each phase: 3 months of rehab > 3 months of prehab > 3 months rebuilding (I’ll break this down further in my next post).

It’s FALSE because...

1. Some elements of physical appearance or performance are forever altered. Hips are broader. Posture needs more frequent consideration and correction. Energy levels shift and fatigue threshold is typically lower. What suited your body once may not suit these changed circumstances.

2. What is also forever altered is intuition of your body’s signals, limitations and potential. Pregnancy, childbirth and the (extended) fourth trimester provide intimate knowledge of our hips, core, spine. This knowledge can be rocket fuel for future training success, and indeed an understanding we are lucky to carry with us.

3. What is also forever changed is your purpose and motivation. Traditional concerns and goals may well come into consideration, but they are galvanised by the need and desire to lift your kids, move with your kids and model an active lifestyle for your kids.

So while our bodies are unlikely to “bounce” back in time by 18-20 months, we can very well learn to bounce again... safely and joyfully into bodies that are better educated, stress-tested and pre-habilitated for a new season of life.

#9monthsin9monthsout #postnatalfitness #prenatalfitness #mindbodybump #fitformotherhood #motherkind #whatstronglookslike #twinmum #3babies #onebody #onebodyforlife #postpartumbody
You have so many babies! Babies? 𝚃̶𝚑̶𝚎 You have so many babies! 
Babies? 𝚃̶𝚑̶𝚎̶𝚛̶𝚎̶’̶𝚜̶ ̶𝚗̶𝚘̶ ̶𝚋̶𝚊̶𝚋̶𝚒̶𝚎̶𝚜̶!̶They’re snow babies!

Emerging slowly (ever so slowly) from the sad, sleepy, saccharine smog of 2020 simply to write some bad jokes and revel in the joy of future humiliation.

#twinbabies #eatyourheartout #icouldeatthem #snowbabies #firstchristmas #holidaze #identicaltwins #twingirls #twinmum #mumsindubai #expatmum #twinning
LOAD MORE

As seen in

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • linkedin

Fit Brit Collective © 2021 · Swank WordPress Theme By PDCD