A Win for the Mom Bod

Categories: Stories Apr 07, 2016

"Having a kid totally ruined the upper half of my body” were the first words out of my mouth at my doctor’s appointment. The doctor, a mother herself, immediately started laughing and said “welcome to being a parent.”

I vaguely remember expressing concern about mild soreness in my shoulders and chest over a year earlier at my postpartum appointment. A routine check for lumps and bumps found nothing so they thought it was muscular. I was told to try switching sides more often while carrying my baby and sent on my way. The next few months were the sleep deprived blur that all new parents face. More often then not I would ignore the aching in my neck, shoulders and chest. I got back into working out and hoped that my body would adjust like the doctors had told me it would.

The pain was at its worst when toddlerhood approached. What parent can resist a sweet little face asking to be “carried up?” I was blessed with a child that slept through the night but now I was up at all hours trying to get comfortable. This was not a soreness anymore, it was truly worrisome. I made an appointment because something needed to change.

My doctor completely related to what I was telling her. She had heard the same story from countless parents and had experienced it herself. There is no real remedy for this type of fluctuating pain so I was given a list of options to try. They ranged from a massage and painkillers to physical therapy.  Exhausted, I expressed my concerns to some friends at Original Strength Institute. Dani suggested I incorporate simple resets from Original Strength into my everyday routine.

With an MRI in my near future I figured anything was worth a shot. Morning, noon and night I spent about five minutes rocking, nodding, rolling, crawling and doing windshield wipers. I believe the windshield wipers made a huge difference in how I was feeling. It became a routine that even my toddler began to take part in. The best part was that after about three weeks I was, and continue to be, pain free!

- Michelle Shields (OSi member)

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