Shakira Akabusi is a women’s fitness expert, speaker, presenter and exercise coach, specialising in pre and post natal fitness, and founder of Strong Like Mum. 

In this episode we discuss: Shakira’s mission of smashing the stereotype of postnatal fitness, Shakira’s pillars of health during pregnancy, we examine the ‘bare minimum’ of recommended exercise* during pregnancy - all the way to optimising fitness during pregnancy, the ultimate core exercises to help your muscles pre-partum, whether you can train for an active labour, we go back to basics with the pelvic floor: what is it, how does it work, what happens when we don’t take care of it, and just how many pelvic floor exercises we should aim to do, we go through recovery postpartum and how to build your fitness again, the mental wellbeing side of pregnancy, and much more! 

*Example based on a medically non-complicated pregnancy

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/J0U_sWh8uz8

My Links: https://linktr.ee/emilyereilly

Find Shakira Online: 

Website: https://www.stronglikemum.com/what-we-do 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shakira.akabusi/?hl=en 

Book: http://amazon.co.uk/Strong-Like-Mum-Method-postnatal-ebook/dp/B09F8R9D12 

Timestamps: 

00:00 Shakira’s mission of smashing the stereotype of postnatal fitness 

03:00 where does this negative narrative come from? 

08:30 pillars of health during pregnancy - sleep, nutrition, physical health and exercise, rest

11:20 bare minimum of exercise in a ‘normal’ pregnancy 

13:25 ultimate core exercises 

15:00 optimum exercise routine for active women during pregnancy 

18:00 importance of posture in pregnancy 

20:50 can you train during pregnancy to facilitate labour? 

22:50 understanding the pelvic floor 

26:00 how to do pelvic floor exercises 

33:00 post partum fitness 

40:00 the mental well-being side of pre and post partum

44:00 ways exercise helps our mental health by distraction and allowing us to process 

46:30 main takeaways in Shakira’s work in women’s fitness 

Keywords

postnatal fitness, motherhood, women's health, pelvic floor, exercise, stereotypes, Strong Like Mom, research, empowerment, prenatal health, pelvic floor, postpartum fitness, mental wellbeing, exercise, empowerment, Kegel exercises, women's health, fitness guidance, motherhood, physical recovery