Bec Petherick, mum of two (soon-to-be three) young children and owner of CrossFit Quarter Melville, talks about the magic of moving and shares some exciting news for local parents.
This is me today. Post workout at 36 weeks pregnant with two small kids but most of all happy, calm and feeling all the benefits of getting my body moving.
Rewind a few hours and I was feeling tired after a night of unbroken sleep, overwhelmed by the pile of washing in my laundry and was rationalising all the reasons why it would be easier not to go down to the gym today.
But post session it was another remind that exercise (or really any kind of movement), however you choose to do it, always makes you feel better.
Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually.
You really truly never regret a workout.
You could say I have an advantage that makes it easier to exercise, as I have a degree in Exercise & Health Science and am the owner of CrossFit Quarter Melville, a gym that has been operating in Melville for 8.5 years, but today I was just a member of that gym, in a class with some other members doing our best.
Sure exercise has always been an important part of my life, growing up playing every sport I could and following those passions into more serious pursuits as a triathlete and cyclist, but these days, with two small children (soon to be three under 3.5) and a business to run, exercise is such an important part of my day for so many reasons.
I remember being quite sick during my first pregnancy, tired and exhausted but still making an effort to get to the gym much to the confusion of my husband. Not only did I feel it was important to keep my body strong & healthy for what was to come but it was an hour of the day where I could simply switch off, focus on moving my body, breathing and being around some of my favourite people. Sure the intensity was scaled back and I just did what I could each time but I always felt better afterwards.
Then more importantly, fast forward to the time following the arrival of my first two babes and getting to the gym became critical “me” time. I took a fair bit of time off after the arrival of both babes to bask in that newborn delight and let my body recover but around the 3 month mark, I was ready to do something for me again.
Once again the effort to get to the gym in those first few months was almost overwhelming. I felt guilty for leaving to exercise, thinking “what if babe wants a feed” etc… and on more than one occasion almost turned around but once I was there I could enjoy the hour focusing on myself, thinking about nothing else than what I was doing and every single time I felt so much better afterwards.
I remember getting in the car to drive home so excited to be seeing the kids again, walking back through the door almost feeling like a different person – calmer, lighter and strangely enough energised.
The magic of movement is important for everyone but as mums who may struggle with time or feel guilty for doing something for them, it can be ten fold.
And perhaps for you it isn’t even movement (although I do think it is important for everyone) but I think we can all find that thing that can fill our cup, so we can pour into others.
In the 8.5 years we have been operating at CFQ, we have seen so many of our members become parents and navigate the juggle of home life, returning to work and trying to fit in time to exercise. It’s a balancing act that we’ve all struggled to figure out but one we think it important to figure out.
New conditioning class free trial (includes supervised play room!)
Recently, we introduced our new conditioning classes which run at 10am on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Theses classes are a hybrid version of our CrossFit program meaning that we have taking the complexity out of these sessions meaning that no previous experience is required. We know people associate “CrossFit” with being hard core but we truly believe our classes cater for everyone, everything you do is scalable and you bring the intensity to where you are at.
The main advantage for these classes though is that we also have a fully supervised play room for the kids to be watched and interact with others while you do your thing. Meaning that on days where it might be impossible to get out on your own, you can bring the kids with you. You get your exercise in and they get an opportunity to play with a whole room full of new toys and interact with others.
The class is taken by one of our super qualified coaches (between the 6 of us we have over 50 years’ experience and 13 kids) who are there to guide you along the way, with our goal of simply getting moving and aiming to get you smiling like me at the end of the session.
Then you can feel for yourself the magic of moving…
And if the gym is not for you, do yourself a favour and schedule in something that fills your cup. Trust me, everyone will win.
We encourage anyone interested to give it a try to come down for a free trial and see what you think. Just flick me a message at bec@crossfitquartermelville.com and we will get you sorted.
