HEALTHY POST-NATAL BODY: PETER LAP
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Peter lives with his wife, Wendy, and their four fur-babies, and has been an independent Personal Trainer for the past seven years. Having just launched his new venture HPNB, healthypostnatalbody.com, Peter wants to help as many women as possible regain their health after babies - especially those with Diastasis Recti. MADE talks to Peter to find out more…
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What’s your career background?
I used to have a “proper” job as a Project-Manager across various industries for 15+ years. I retrained as a Personal Trainer, starting at David Lloyd Newhaven about 10 years ago. For the past 5 years I have been specialising in Pre- and Post-natal exercise.
Where did the idea for HPNB come from?
It came from all the women I have spoken to and all the emails I received asking me if I could help resolve things like Diastasis Recti. The number of women who told me they didn’t have access to, or could not afford to work with a post-natal exercise specialist just seemed unacceptable to me.
How did you move from idea to actual business?
I will let you know when we start making money! Seriously though, I started by building a website. I needed to prove that there was a need out there. Once I accomplished that, everything just flowed from there.
What makes this business venture unique?
We don’t just offer a 12-week program. We have forums where you can ask ANY question you have and a post-natal expert will answer. We also operate an affordable subscription model which means we are not out of anybody’s price-range.
What’s been your proudest business moment so far?
Getting this off the ground. I built the original website myself in addition to running my personal training business. It took some late nights, some 80-100 hour working weeks, and it was a steep learning curve, but it’s amazing we got this done.
What’s been the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?
I would say the lack of awareness of women’s post-natal health issues. Most things like back-pain, bladder problems, Diastasis Recti etc. have always just been written off as “the new normal” and therefore nobody takes them seriously. I have trained GPs, surgeons and other healthcare professionals who were not aware, until recently, that these were all issues that could be resolved through exercise.
Why is this work so important to you?
Post-natal physical care is not high on the list of priorities but the lack of it has a severe impact on the well-being of women. It is baffling to me that millions of women give birth every year and yet this vital area of health and wellbeing is not easily accessible to those women. I have seen the impact a good post-natal recovery can have on the physical, and mental, state of my clients and I believe everybody should have access to this.
Who inspires you and why?
Anybody who tries to do good on a daily basis and manages to be kind whilst doing it.
Can you share your top tip for achieving a good work/life balance?
Realising that work is part of your life, the two are not separate from each-other. I am extremely lucky that I can now schedule my work to fit in around the other areas in my life that are important; my wife, friends and fluffies. To be fair, I worked very hard to make that happen.
I used to have a “proper” job as a Project-Manager across various industries for 15+ years. I retrained as a Personal Trainer, starting at David Lloyd Newhaven about 10 years ago. For the past 5 years I have been specialising in Pre- and Post-natal exercise.
Where did the idea for HPNB come from?
It came from all the women I have spoken to and all the emails I received asking me if I could help resolve things like Diastasis Recti. The number of women who told me they didn’t have access to, or could not afford to work with a post-natal exercise specialist just seemed unacceptable to me.
How did you move from idea to actual business?
I will let you know when we start making money! Seriously though, I started by building a website. I needed to prove that there was a need out there. Once I accomplished that, everything just flowed from there.
What makes this business venture unique?
We don’t just offer a 12-week program. We have forums where you can ask ANY question you have and a post-natal expert will answer. We also operate an affordable subscription model which means we are not out of anybody’s price-range.
What’s been your proudest business moment so far?
Getting this off the ground. I built the original website myself in addition to running my personal training business. It took some late nights, some 80-100 hour working weeks, and it was a steep learning curve, but it’s amazing we got this done.
What’s been the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?
I would say the lack of awareness of women’s post-natal health issues. Most things like back-pain, bladder problems, Diastasis Recti etc. have always just been written off as “the new normal” and therefore nobody takes them seriously. I have trained GPs, surgeons and other healthcare professionals who were not aware, until recently, that these were all issues that could be resolved through exercise.
Why is this work so important to you?
Post-natal physical care is not high on the list of priorities but the lack of it has a severe impact on the well-being of women. It is baffling to me that millions of women give birth every year and yet this vital area of health and wellbeing is not easily accessible to those women. I have seen the impact a good post-natal recovery can have on the physical, and mental, state of my clients and I believe everybody should have access to this.
Who inspires you and why?
Anybody who tries to do good on a daily basis and manages to be kind whilst doing it.
Can you share your top tip for achieving a good work/life balance?
Realising that work is part of your life, the two are not separate from each-other. I am extremely lucky that I can now schedule my work to fit in around the other areas in my life that are important; my wife, friends and fluffies. To be fair, I worked very hard to make that happen.
