Steph Claire Smith has a 2.5-million and growing fitness community with the brand she co-founded with her best friend Laura Henshaw, Keep It Cleaner (Kic). But a decade ago, Smith believed one big exercise myth — specifically about Pilates.
“It was a time where I unfortunately assumed that unless I was sweaty and puffy during a workout, it didn’t count,” she says. “First of all, any movement counts. But second of all, I totally underestimated Pilates. It is not easy.”
Smith says Pilates helped rebuild her relationship with exercise at the time. She loved how it made her feel. Fast forward to late 2020 and early 2021, when Smith was pregnant with her first child, a boy named Harvey, and just after she’d given birth, she was forced to take a break from exercise — and had to rebuild that relationship again.
“I could barely walk more than 1km and I had to take it at a very slow pace,” she says. “This was a lot for me as someone who uses movement as a form of self-care for my mental health. But I leaned into the rest, knowing it was necessary.
“The second I got clearance to move again, post-partum, I was motivated and excited. However, I also found out I had prolapse so I knew my journey back to exercise was going to be slower than I originally thought.”
Prolapse is a common condition where the bladder, uterus or bowel protrudes into the vagina, according to The Royal Women’s Hospital. Its biggest cause is pregnancy and birth, and it can cause symptoms like a sensation of a vaginal lump, constipation, difficulty emptying the bowel or bladder or problems having sex.
Fortunately, as Smith struggled to get back into exercise post-partum, she and Henshaw launched a pre- and post-natal Pilates offering in Kic. Researching for the product had given Smith an understanding of how important it is to return to exercise post-partum — and made her excited to do so.
“It helped me ease back into it, building back some really important core muscles but also building back up the habit of making time for movement,” she says.
“Whether you’re building back up a routine after rest from having a baby or being injured, it can be mentally be quite challenging when you have to ‘start from scratch’ and may have lost some of that strength or fitness you once had.”
By taking baby steps, Smith soon got back to where she was fitness-wise and now she’s stronger than she was pre-pregnancy. The experience of listening to her body and slowly building up her fitness was what led her and Henshaw to launch Kic Concierge, a service that’ll tailor a Pilates pack for you. Unveiled Monday, July 29, the classes are based on how much time you have, how you like to move and your fitness goals.
“If I asked you to picture a personalised plan, I’m sure your mind would think of a strict workout and diet routine tailored to your BMI, but with Kic, that couldn’t be further from the truth,” says Smith.
“To me, personalised means tuning inwards, leaning into what your body is craving and moving in a way that makes you actually feel good. If you choose an exercise you feel you should be doing, instead of listening to your body, this could lead to exhaustion or injury.”
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