Being happy to go back doesn’t mean it isn’t tough

Eight months after having a baby, I tentatively started back at the gym. Not reluctantly—honestly, I was excited to get back.

I exercised before pregnancy, kept exercising and lifting during pregnancy, and I’m genuinely happy to be back postpartum. But being happy to go back doesn’t mean it isn’t tough.

Let me be clear:

I do not bound into the gym full of motivation and joy. Regularly, I cycle there thinking, “I could just turn around, park myself in a café, and stare at a wall for 50 minutes instead.” Still, somehow, I keep showing up.

When I do, it’s not exactly glamorous. At the rowing machine, I hate the burning feeling in my lungs—the awful one that only cardio manages to provoke. Then there’s the fatigue in my arms during push-and-pull exercises, where I wonder: “Will I even make the 10th rep?” And then, “How will I possibly manage two more sets?!” Conditioning is meant to be nasty. No one ever smiles during conditioning.

Exercise, when it’s done with growth in mind, is a really uncomfortable place.

And yet…

Here’s the thing: the benefits show up everywhere else.

Lugging the baby and car seat, hauling groceries while balancing a squirming infant, getting up and down from the floor a hundred times a day—postpartum life is seriously taxing on the body.

Now I’m taking the same advice I give all my postpartum patients: after a certain point, the baby and car seat don’t count—your gym weights need to be heavier than your mom-life weights.

Resistance training isn’t just about today’s workout. It’s about investing in my future self. For women, strength training is one of the most powerful investments we can make. It helps maintain bone density, builds muscle, steadies energy levels, prevents injuries and supports us through the big hormonal transitions of life—pregnancy, early motherhood, perimenopause or beyond.

The other reason I keep going? Group classes. I’ve never managed to stick with the go-at-it-yourself gym memberships or yoga studios for long. But something about the accountability, the structure and the quiet solidarity of knowing everyone else is also silently cursing the instructor, keeps me showing up. I’ve been going to the Movement Studio for over three years now—even through pregnancy, right up to 35 weeks. Postpartum, it’s been the anchor I needed to feel strong again.

For me, resistance training is a game-changer.

I love what it gives me: resilience, stamina, and the confidence that future-me will be grateful for every uncomfortable rep.

Do I enjoy conditioning? Absolutely not. But it’s still preferable to doing weighted carries with a baby who refuses the buggy… and at least in the gym, I get to sit down between sets.