Happy Friday!

Here are your biweekly swimmer updates and what’s been going on these last two weeks.

Baby & Recovery Updates

As of today, baby Malia is 12 days old and she sure knows how to pack a punch when it comes to eating. Like a typical swimmer, she eats everything within reach. She is doing phenomenal and is a champ at eating and sleeping. She fits right into our family and we couldn’t have asked for a better baby girl. We are so thankful for her and her little personality.

I’m now 12 days out from my emergency c-section and things are looking pretty good. For those unaware, I had some complications with the delivery because Malia was still in breech when I went into labor early last Monday. That wasn’t the tough part. The tough part was that my epidural never fully set in before they began operating on me, despite the entire surgical team waiting for some time. I ended up feeling every cut they made on me - through my skin, muscles, and uterus. To make things worse, Malia was stuck in me and my OBs had difficulty locating her feet to pull her out safely. So, I felt them dig in me and yank through the incision in order to find her legs. When they finally pulled her out, they had to help her breathe while they put an oxygen mask on me and put me under to stitch me up. I’m so grateful my husband was present to hold and care for Malia when I couldn’t be there for her after her birth.

The next 36 hours were excruciating once all the anesthesia wore off. My son’s birthday was that following Wednesday, and I vowed to make it home before then so our family could be together to celebrate his birthday. Despite the pain associated with the incision and the complications of the procedure, I got out of bed, walked, and rehabbed myself enough for my OB to discharge me at 36 hours. My husband drove us all home and I climbed 1.5 flights of stairs to get to our bedroom.

Fast forward to 12 days later, I am walking, climbing stairs, running errands, completing (almost) the usual housework prior to delivery. Every day hurt a little less. Every day I did a little more.

You might be wondering how it’s possible that I am recovering as quickly as I am. The answer is training. As much as strength training and swimming consistently throughout my pregnancy helped with reducing my risks of developing gestational diabetes, back pain, and other prenatal conditions; there is an increasing amount of research that supports strength training aiding in postpartum recovery. I am thankful that I remained diligent in strength training and swimming throughout my pregnancy to prepare for unexpected circumstances like the one I experienced. I hope my birth story and the effects of prenatal strength and aerobic training gives you insight on how quickly the human body can recover when you train it properly.

For those looking to train and stay mobile safely during pregnancy, click below to get your pregnancy programs.

Tip For The Weekend

You hear me say this time and time again. Protein matters - a lot. Whether you’re an athlete, a weekend warrior, a recreational swimmer and lifter, or someone looking to improve their health and nutrition, protein matters.

Many believe that it’s the intense training that builds muscle. In reality, when you train, you are breaking down muscle thereby resulting in micro tears in your muscle fibers. In order to repair these muscle tears and build strength and hypertrophy, you need to consume protein. Protein is the building block (quite literally) to muscle repair and muscle protein synthesis AKA muscle building. Without consuming adequate amounts of protein, you will not be able to sufficiently repair and build muscle.

So how much protein should you be consuming? Ideally, you’d want to consume approximately 1g/lb body weight in protein. Is that a lot? Yes, considering most people under consume protein because the RDA is outdated for decades at this point. The days of 0.8g/kg bodyweight for protein is the bare minimum to avoid disease, not to optimize health, longevity, and especially performance.

So, what’s the main message here? Eat your protein if you want to live long, live healthy, and perform at your best whether you’re an athlete or working long shifts.

Looking for strength programs you can do on your own? Check these out.

As always, please give me feedback on Instagram. What did you enjoy reading? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just DM me on Instagram and mention “newsletter” in the DM!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Until next time,

Sandra

PS - I’ll be doing biweekly updates until we’re all settled into a routine. Once she’s settled in, get ready for some weekly tips and updates coming your way!

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