Hi, I’m Martina
My Why
When, I started as a personal trainer in my 20s, I didn’t have kids but I was getting lots of female clients that did. They started telling me they couldn’t do certain exercises or they would rush off to the toilet before burpees or jumping jacks in group classes. I realised that most women who started training after kids needed help with their core and pelvic floor. Coaches didn’t know how to help and often women suffered in silence before quietly quitting the activities they loved.
I started Fit Mná because I wanted to help women get back to exercise after having kids. But I also knew that I had limited knowledge. The pelvic floor wasn’t really covered in my personal trainer cert. So I started doing courses from industry leaders so I could learn more. I then started Mam and baby classes, where the focus was on rehabbing your pelvic floor and getting strong again, so mams to get back to the activities they love!
My Approach
Over the past 8 years I have learned that if you want results that actually stick (hell, if you want results at all), you absolutely must build a solid foundation with breathing and movement before you add in strength and impact. It’s not sexy, but it is science, and it sticks. When you build a half-arsed foundation, you get a half-arsed result. All too often, women who keep leaking despite trying all the things are simply missing a complete foundation. They’ve been told that more kegels are the answer, but the reality is, you cannot train the pelvic floor or core in isolation. Period. This is a hill I’ll die on.
I take a whole-body approach because that is what mimics the demands of real life, and that is how our body works: as a complete unit.
I remain fascinated by how these biomechanical relationships impact the pelvic floor, and my ultimate goal is to take everything I continue to learn and empower you so that you can get on with life instead of constantly worrying about your pelvic floor.
My own experience
After having my first child, Conor, I was leaking quite a bit. I was going to pelvic floor physio, but I wasn’t really working on my breathing or how I was actually moving (remember that foundation I spoke about earlier?!). I was still running and exercising, and had constantly tight glutes and loads of back pain. I eventually got assessed by a movement coach and realised that doing lots of glute activations before my runs had left me with a really tight posterior pelvic floor, and that's why I was constantly leaking. So I went back to basics. I looked at my breathing and where I was struggling. I worked on strengthening some parts so other parts could relax. Without changing a single thing about my running, my symptoms improved.
This is how I coach now, not just focusing on one piece of the puzzle but looking at how you move from your feet up. I’ve been in your shoes. Literally. Please believe me when I say that you don’t need to suffer in silence. There is so much that we can do.
My Passion + My Hope
I'm a total nerd. I love science, and the new research on training during pregnancy and postpartum just excites me so much. More and more women are wanting to stay active throughout all stages of their life, but most are having problems with their pelvic floor. I know that this keeps women on the sidelines. It keeps them from doing things that they love. We know from research that not being active as we age has more negative health consequences.
My hope is to pass on my knowledge to my daughter about her core and her pelvic floor, because hopefully someday she will go through pregnancy and postpartum. She won't be sitting up at 2:00am in the morning googling symptoms and worrying, "Is this normal?" or "How to stop leaking?" She'll hopefully have a little bit more awareness.
My Honest Words
It might not be what you want to hear, and I know it can be deflating, but there is no quick fix with leaking. Before I knew better, I totally thought a few trips to the pelvic physio and I’d be “cured”. The reality is, you have to put the time and effort into managing core and pelvic floor pressure, learning new movement patterns, getting strong, and working on alignment. There is no shortcut. The workouts in my program are all less than 30 minutes, but they still require you to put in the work. It is the only way you'll get better.
And, like any good thing in life, it will continue to need a bit of maintenance. Just like your regular manicure, hair appointment, acupuncture, you need to look after your pelvic floor with the same care. I know this is shit, and you just want to pull on your runners and head out the door. But a bit of time spent refreshing the foundation will keep everything running smoothly. It is a conscious effort, but it is so, so worth it.