Page 30 - RADC 2023

Return to fitness
Major Serena Darke
Fitness. Yes, being physically fit is a requirement of personnel in the Armed Forces, however, it is important for more than just this reason, undertaking regular exercise has a positive impact on both our general and mental health. This is why it is key to maintain, or return to, a good level of fitness. This article will focus on my attempt to return to fitness after having children, with advice for women in a similar situation.
For those of you who know me, it is clear that I have never been the strongest nor
the fastest (taking most of the 13 minutes
to complete the run in the historic PFA). However, you also know that I am really keen on group PT and spent a lot of my twenties trying to keep fit with various clubs including Parafit, Gym Box and Crossfit. Then children hit! The young naïve me always thought ‘why are military personnel not keeping fit in their own time?.’ Well, after child one I definitely had a good answer and by child two I could see that having the energy to do any fitness at all, even in work time, was commendable.
Some women are fabulous and are able to continue with their normal fitness routine throughout their pregnancies, however, morning sickness put a stop to that for
me. With the first I was able to keep up with doing yoga, pilates and low intensity strength sessions, however, with child two my fitness involved running around after child one during various COVID lockdowns. Pregnancy puts a massive strain on a women’s body, there are anatomical and physiological changes that affect every
organ system in the body. For most women experiencing an uncomplicated pregnancy, these changes resolve after pregnancy with minimal residual effects but this can take time. So, it is not surprising that it is not easy for many of us to try to maintain fitness pre and post-partum. And taking into account the massive change in lifestyle following
the birth of a child, creating a new training regime is not often top of the pile of things to do!
Between child one and two I did make
a good attempt to return to an acceptable level of fitness but this predominantly involved running, as I could do this in my own time with the baby in a buggy. Like most of us in clinical care, once I returned to work, I was reluctant to take time out of the clinical diary. I knew the units I covered had had periods over my maternity leave when care was not regularly available, so
I felt that my fitness was not the priority. I did try to address the deficit when posting to Sandhurst, scheduling regular sessions immediately after clinics, and this was going well, I really enjoyed training alongside my civilian team and I felt progress was being made. However, COVID hit followed by pregnancy number two.
After the C-section required to deliver number two, I did try to seek help quite early on with a self-referral to the physio after the advice I got from a civilian GP was don’t do any core – clearly core is used for everything so I had no idea what to do. The physio was great at building me up slowly with a lot of mat-based work over maternity leave, however once it became more CV based and required longer sessions I could not factor this in whilst being at home with the kids. It wasn’t really until I posted to Abingdon, with my second child being 18 months old, that I really looked into getting back on track. This was spurred on with the realisation that the fitness requirements for military personnel had changed (see my other bulletin article – obviously an ex-editor trying to minimise the pain for my successor in article gathering). I approached the local ERI, Sgt Ward, asking for a build-up training programme for tabbing. She was keen
to help but advised that any programme should be tailored to my needs and physical ability, so, we conducted a functional test on my current strength and fitness level. Not going to lie, it was appalling, not the CV which was acceptable, but I had no strength in my lower limbs, I was not even able to single leg press 15Kg with my right leg!!
No tabbing for me at that point. We came up with a training programme and I set to work. However, it quickly came to light that with only 2/3 sessions a week I was not making significant progress. So, I changed my diary to incorporate 5 sessions a week
and the gains have been substantial. Not just physically but mentally as well. I feel so much better about me. I’m not at the level where I was pre children, although I do hope this is on the cards, but I feel I can attempt an SCR and not be ashamed by my results which was something that I definitely had hanging over my head for a long time.
Before handing over to the professional I just wanted to highlight what this experience has shown me. Help is out there but with RADC personnel more often than not working within a DPHC facility or HQ job, as opposed to a regiment, we have to seek this out. It is key that we raise any concerns early with our CoC so that they can signpost us to help and look to factor training into the diary. We all have many demands on our time, family and work, but it is important to look after our own wellbeing too. And finally, not to fear the return to fitness but take it each step at a time.
Sgt (SI) Laura Ward RAPTC
“Mens sana in corpore sano” is a latin phrase, usually translated as “a healthy mind in a healthy body” and is the Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC) motto. It is something we as a Corps
are incredibly proud of, we thrive to
uphold this motto in all that we do. I am currently employed as a RAPTC Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor (ERI) at Primary Care Rehabilitation Facility (PCRF) Abingdon. Here I am responsible for providing defence exercise rehabilitation provisions to a multitude of capbadges and I managed and treat minor and moderate musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) under
the guidance of a Medical Officer (MO) or Chartered Physiotherapist.
28 RADC BULLETIN 2023
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