When I meet Stephanie Mwaura, 38, in an event on What the Forties by Johnie Walker, she introduces herself as a women’s only personal trainer and fitness coach. I’m intrigued by her push for women to invest in fitness in the same way they invest in their other self-care.
We arrange for an in-depth interview at Karura Forest, where she is in her element. I am eager to know how and when she began training women and what pushed her to focus solely on my gender.
She not only provides practical answers but also snaps at the society for expecting a woman to bounce back immediately after giving birth.
“It is a toll order!” she says. “While the media has glorified bouncing back, I am not an advocate of losing baby fat before its time. The first year of a baby is fully dependent on the mother for its entire nutrition. So, the health of that mother is at risk if she is under eating or busy losing weight.”
They say, the energy expended by a mother who is pregnant per day is equivalent to a mjengo (mason) guy working 12 hours a day for five straight days. “Secondly, all her calcium stores are being depleted because of developing the bones, the brain, the nervous system of a baby. So, month one to three, she’s losing a lot of nutrients. Even iron. She’s now... the blood circulation of her body and the small baby.”
Then she delivers her baby and the nursing journey begins. If she chooses to breastfeed exclusively her body will be feeding another human being day and night for at least six months. And as if that were not enough, she is expected to run a home, take care of her body and get back to work.
“So, you see, to expect this woman to bounce back almost immediately is a really big ask.”
True enough. But when is the recommended time to start?
In the first year of postpartum, my biggest encouragement to mothers is to use fitness as a way of keeping their mental health intact.
Leave the baby and take a walk just to have your me time.
Also, while at it, do not over eat one thing. Eat as many food varieties as possible and do not take 20 litres of uji (porridge). Do not snack too much in between as well. Get the foods that are filling for longer. Sweet potatoes, arrow roots, cassava and tea instead of bread and tea.
You mentioned training women, which category do you focus on?
Those who are in the pre- and postpartum season, but also those who want to get strong and lose fat.
What made you decide to only train women?
Before completing a year as a fitness trainer at a gym in Westlands, I got pregnant and no one seemed to know what fitness routines were suitable for pregnant women. That was a light bulb moment for me.
And I thought, okay, maybe I need to use myself as a guinea pig. Also, while running errands in Nairobi, I came across a magazine being sold on the streets and when I read the fitness section, I felt it was tone deaf. I wrote to the editor and secured a contract. So, I set out to understand the female body and fitness a little better.
I felt there was a gap in the way women were being trained and that is why most women do not stay long enough. For instance, it’s a week before your period, you are in a foul mood, bloated, angry, hungry, your face is breaking out and your trainer tells you to suck it up. That becomes the end of your fitness journey.
The other thing I noticed was that a lot of women were not seeing results. For example, most women who are trained by men don’t know what to do when they have their period. They have no idea what and how to eat.
He has put you on a calorie deficit, for example. But the week before your period, you’re supposed to eat your carbohydrates. Your body needs them for hormone balance. So now your period starts becoming irregular and you feel that your fitness regime is affecting you.
So, that too got me interested. I used myself to learn. How do I feel that day? What if I allow myself not to diet on the period week? What if I go hard on ovulation week? Because then your energy is fantastic. You can do anything. Go to the gym, meet a friend for a walk, or go to a dance class. Your body can handle it that day.
Stephanie Mwaura says she trains women before and after childbirth.
Photo credit: Pool
How has your journey as a trainer been?
I’ve always been a sporty child. I’ve done every sport except football and basketball. Why? Because I used to find basketball very aggressive and then I thought football was too long. But my main sport was swimming, which I started when I was nine months old.
My dad made sure we all learnt to swim. Once you can walk, you can swim. However, I did not study sports initially, I did my Bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management at Kenyatta University. But I combined it with some sports units, including swimming. As soon as I graduated in 2009, the university hired me as a coach.
In 2010, during an aerobics class, someone asked me if I’m a trainer and I said no, but I felt I should explore that space since I was already coaching.
I went back to school and pursued a diploma in fitness and nutrition coaching. By 2011, I had niched myself into fitness and reduced my swimming coaching.
Why the complete shift?
I’m passionate about swimming and coaching, but not necessarily the two together. I still swim. I stopped coaching swimming. I cannot take my swimming coaching any further than teaching you how to swim, freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly, compete, increase your speed, then that’s it.
So, I felt that as a fitness coach, I could train swimmers, mothers, people who have had an injury, an accident for rehabilitation, senior citizens, basically anybody. So, fitness offered me a lot more growth.
Since 2011, that’s quite a long time. How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect your training business?
Yes. In fact, 2020 was the busiest year of my life. Because people were training to keep their heads together. They were training to keep the weight off because now we are not going to work. Some even paid me just to interact and talk to me.
Back to pregnant women. What kind of exercise should you do when you are pregnant?
If your pregnancy is high-risk and the doctor recommends bed rest, that’s okay. But if you are not, which is about 95 percent of us, you should be up and about.
Like, walking, going to buy your own fruits, carrying your own shopping, queuing in the bank, it’s not dangerous for a pregnant woman. I think they take advantage of that.
The other thing is that a lot of us are so inactive before we get pregnant, and then once you are pregnant it becomes an uphill task. You have never walked a mile in your life, so when you are told by your trainer that you need to walk for a better pregnancy, it becomes difficult.
If you are working out now, before you get pregnant, your unborn child will benefit well into adulthood.
The easiest place to begin is by walking. 10,000 steps is a good benchmark, but it may be too high for many of us. So, you can increase your steps by 4,000 from where you are now by using track fitness markers.
Take the stairs as much as you can. Park far away from the mall so that you can walk. Carry your shopping rather than putting it in a trolley.
What are the don’ts of working out while pregnant?
The only things we stop doing during pregnancy are activities that could cause you to fall or lose your balance, because that could be dangerous. So, anything that makes you unstable; jumping exercises, cycling, skipping if you did not do any of these before you were pregnant.
Also, core exercises - those that have you lying on your back, sit-ups are counterproductive because your tummy is getting bigger. The rule of the thumb is that if you weren’t a fitness junkie before you got pregnant, you cannot become one now when you’re pregnant. This is because your body might not handle it well as it’s already overworking when developing the baby.
What are the misconceptions about women’s fitness?
That it is instant and it will give you the body you see in a magazine. Secondly, that fitness is hard. Women do harder things in life than men. Also, women do not want to invest in it. Their beauty products are more expensive than their trainer, but they cannot afford to train.
What are the challenges in training women?
Women have too many stakeholders in their health journey. They start training and then they lose weight then come to me and say, “Mzee amesema nimekonda sana (My husband says I’m too slender),” so they quit.
Another challenge is that women fall for fads and quick fixes and by the time you find a good trainer, you have lost time. Last but not least, women have a lot of invisible work that they do that inhibit them from working out.
As we plan to invest in fitness just as we do our beauty products and clothes…how much do you charge?
From Sh2,000 for a consultation to Sh30,000 per month if I do in-person sessions more than once or three times a week. A postpartum programme goes for Sh7,500 and runs for six weeks, which rehabilitates the pelvic floor, retrains and strengthens the core.
