23W Spotlight: Meg de Melo
By Dee
Introducing one of our incredible 23W Mums… Meg!
Meg has been a part of our community for a while now, and she is truly an inspiration!! In her 3rd trimester, with her 2nd baby, she has been able to continue to exercise regular, avoid debilitating pelvic girdle pain (which she suffered from in her first pregnancy) and feel energised.Â
Sever pelvic girdle pain is a common occurrence amongst pregnant women and it can make or break the ‘vibe’ while growing a human. When Meg joined us, her initial goal was to re-build her strength, recover her pelvic floor and start lifting heavy. Now that she is expecting her next baby, this time around her body feels so different, she feels stronger and motivated to keep caring for her body.Â
We asked Meg a few questions about her pregnancy journey and how we have worked together to help her have an empowered and active pregnancy. Read on to see what she has to say!
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How long have you been a member at 23W, and what made you start up with us?Â
I’ve been with 23W for around 18months. I’ve always done some kind of exercise whether at the gym, crossfit, PT sessions. I really enjoy lifting weights and I wanted to keep the weight flighting element of training, a friend suggested to give 23W ago.
What is your biggest accomplishment to date?Â
Being able to keep training throughout my current pregnancy. For my first pregnancy I had to stop around 18weeks because of pelvic girdle pain.
Now that you are pregnant, how have your goals changed?Â
My goals have been about keeping moving and staying strong, whilst also listening to my body and not focusing just on how heavy I’m lifting.
How is this pregnancy different from your first, and what can you attribute to that?Â
This pregnancy has been massively different. Like I said, my last pregnancy I had awful pelvic girdle pain, which resulted in me having to stop training. I was basically in pain throughout the whole pregnancy.
This time round I started with Pelvic girdle pain around 16weeks, but I knew what it was and listened to by body. Ange set me up with an individual program for me to work on, to not aggravate it further. And after about a month, my pelvic girdle pain was gone and I’ve been pain free ever since! Being able to train has had a massive impact on my physical and mental health – strong mumma, strong baby!
Do you have any advice for new or expecting mums?Â
Listen to your body, don’t ignore niggles or pain and don’t be so hard on yourself! Motherhood is a crazy ride. We need to be better at being kind to ourselves.
What do you love most about 23W?Â
I love how thought out the program is. Ive been the strongest I’ve ever been at this gym, and that’s because of the program that’s delivered.
What’s it like working with the 23W coaches and the rest of the community?Â
Coaches are amazing and so supportive… I love being around so many other strong women!Â
Anything else to add?
Before even getting pregnant the best thing you can do for yourself is to become as strong as possible beforehand. For my first pregnancy I was only doing PT once a week and although she pushed me hard, once a week isn’t enough to get your body strong. I think this is the main reason I’ve been able to continue to train, because I had a good 18months of strength training behind me. 🙂
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Our founder
Ange Drake is an personal trainer, women’s empowerment coach and fitness blogger in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. She is the director of one of the few womens’ only strength training gyms in Melbourne, 23W. Ange helps women to learn how to use strength based training, nutritional strategies and a positive mindset to transform their bodies, relationship with food and mind.
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