\r\n
<\/strong>\r\nI have been quiet on the blog for a few months due to various reasons, that I will explain in a post (or video) soon. It was my birthday exactly 2 weeks ago and as usual I treated myself to a lovely day of pampering, praying and planning. Every year in my birthday month I like to take time out to appreciate those who inspire me and that is why this year I am launching the Bethel Fit Mum Woman Crush Wednesday Series. In this series I will be interviewing and celebrating #fitmums who are motivating and inspiring many with their dedication to and love of fitness. I am pleased to start this segment off with someone that I truly admire and who has been an inspiration to me – Dr Dupe Oyewumi.\u00a0<\/strong> <\/br> <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\nQ: Tell us about yourself.<\/strong>\r\n
\r\nA: I was born in Ilorin, Nigeria, but moved to Canada when I was 9 months old. I was raised in Kingston, ON Canada. I now live in in Toronto, ON where I have been for the past 10 years, and this is where I completed my medical school and residency training. I currently work as an Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgeon. The three most important things in my life are (1) Family (2) Fitness and (3) Faith. \ud83d\ude42 <\/br>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n

\r\nQ: How and when did you get into fitness?<\/strong>\r\n
\r\nA: Being physically active has been apart of my life for as long as I can I remember. My career in sports started at an early age, thanks to being the youngest of 4 siblings who were all extremely active! I started playing competitive basketball and volleyball at age 8, as well as participated in track and field. I played all of these sports throughout high school. During my 4 years of undergraduate studies at Queen’s University, I was a member of the Varsity Track and Field Team and was the 2nd ranked Canadian university female sprinter in 2007. Once I\u00a0 moved to Toronto to start my medical degrees, I could no longer play varsity sports, but keeping fit and active has always been important to me. I continued my fitness love by joining a gym, as well as training for half marathons. In 2016 I became a personal fitness trainer at an amazing Toronto bootcamp called, Resilience Fitness.<\/br>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n

\r\nQ: What is your favorite type of exercise?<\/strong>\r\n
\r\nA: My favorite type of exercise is weight lifting\/strength training. I know many women are scared of “looking like a man” if they lift heavy weights, but boy are they wrong! Weight lifting has so many benefits including, keeping you toned, boosting your metabolism, strengthening your bones, and SO MUCH MORE!<\/br>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\nQ: How did pregnancy change\/affect your fitness regime in each trimester?<\/strong>\r\n

\r\nA: During the FIRST TRIMESTER I was very tired and nauseous. So although the TYPE of exercise did not change (i.e I continued my weight lifting, running, and high intensity interval training (HIIT) hit classes, the frequency in which I exercised went from 6 days per week to about 3-4 per week. I also had to give up hot yoga + Pilates to keep baby safe.<\/p>\r\n

\r\nDuring the 2ND TRIMESTER, I felt great and pretty much went back to my original exercise regimen of HIIT and weight lifting. I added a belly support band to help keep my core engaged and to (hopefully) limit a significant diastasis recti.\u00a0 I avoided all exercises that required me to lie on my stomach OR on my back for long periods of time. I continued to run, but reduced my heavy weight lifting + increased the # of reps per set to compensate. During the end of the 2nd trimester I stopped any jumping activities, such as jump squats, burpees, and box jumps — more out of precaution versus necessity. I also added prenatal yoga sessions to help with flexibility + hip opening, as well as starting doing monthly prenatal massages.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nNow as I am 1\/3 of the way into my the THIRD TRIMESTER, I have stopped running as of 30 weeks, and now do incline walks as an alternative. I continue to go to HIIT classes 3 times per week – but avoid ALL high impact activities & core exercises that requires a crunching motion or an excessive increase in intra-abdominal pressure. I have continued my weight training sessions to 2-3 times per week, and continue to do prenatal yoga.\r\n<\/p>\r\nQ: In what ways has being physically active helped you through your pregnancy?<\/strong>\r\n

\r\nA: Fitness and exercise have been apart of my entire life. So being physically active has helped me in many ways including: (1) Mentally – my fitness community is amazing and continuing to see them and socialize with them while we all exercise has been wonderful (2) Physically – My energy levels have been great, I have limited back soreness, and this has made pregnancy be a great experience\r\n<\/p>\r\nQ: What fitness advice would you give to someone who is pregnant or planning to get pregnant?<\/strong>\r\n

\r\nA: I would advise those who PLAN to get pregnant to start being physically active prior to getting pregnant. Pregnancy is not the best time to start a new fitness regimen, as it can cause added stress to your body. I would advised someone who is pregnant to be active in some way! Whether its is daily 30 minute walks, or continuing your past exercise regimen with appropriate modifications, DO IT. Being active will help ensure you stay FIT both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Lastly I would tell everyone that before they do any sort of activity, they MUST be cleared by the obstetrician to ensure that what you plan to do is safe for you and baby!\r\n<\/p>\r\nYou can follow Dr Dupe’s journey on Instagram @drdoops_fit<\/a><\/strong>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hello there; I have been quiet on the blog for a few months due to various reasons, that I will explain in a post (or video) soon. It was my birthday exactly 2 weeks ago and as usual I treated myself to a lovely day of pampering, praying and planning. Every year in my birthday … Read More about Bethel Fit Mum Woman Crush Wednesday Series – Dupe O<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3053"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3053"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3098,"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3053\/revisions\/3098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethelfitmum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}