Under Construction: women empowering women via WhatsApp

People’s fitness journeys differ, as do levels of commitment and consistency. A group of women has found a way of motivating each other, using a WhatsApp group.

Here’s an article by one of them, pop-up gym entrepreneur Khethiwe Mlangeni: WhatsApp is a mobile messaging app that can be a distraction or a source of motivation. On April 22, 2018, I found myself in a WhatsApp group called Under Construction. My daughter, Nandi, was only four weeks old at the time – post my C-section – and I felt nowhere ready to start exercising again. I had planned to give birth naturally so I could quickly get back into my exercise routine, but things didn’t go as planned.

My previous pregnancy was in 2006 and I had given birth via an elective C-section. Twelve years later, I thought I was a good candidate to have a VBAC birth. If you have had a C-section, you can have what is commonly called a vaginal birth after caesarean section (VBAC – pronounced veeback). In my case, in week 38 of my pregnancy, VBAC was no longer an option because my uterus had grown and stretched my abdominal muscles in such a way that it made it impossible.

The group description for the Under Construction WhatsApp group read: “Because when a group of women come together, great things happen”.

When I read that, I rolled my eyes. A side message came through from the group admin: “Don’t exit, I know you’re not ready, just mute for now”. So I did, for one year. I’d had a pleasant pregnancy. I’d exercised, I’d eaten well and my energy levels were high. It was the postpartum journey I was struggling with.

I was in a lot of pain and it felt like the six-week waiting period was taking forever. I felt stuck. I could not drive and my only form of exercise was walking around the house. Our staircase has 20 steps – and to make sure I got in some steps I would put Nandi down in her cot upstairs and monitor her through the baby monitor downstairs.

As painful as this was in the beginning, it forced me to move up and down. A few days later, curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to know what was happening at Under Construction. What I saw blew me away. Here was a group of women doing what I love: exercising. At that time, I was two weeks away from my six-week check-up to get the thumbs up from my gynaecologist for me to return to exercise.

The group had one rule and that was: “No pic, no proof”. After every activity you have to take a picture and post it. It was that simple. I started enjoying what I saw and a week later, un-muted them. They were early risers and the WhatsApp notifications started coming in from 6am.

Under Construction is a combination of ordinary folks who are not “fit-fluencers” but women who wear many hats. The group is made up of doctors, accountants, career women, entrepreneurs, executives and moms. Their morning posts got me excited about exercising again. I was inspired by how they motivated each other, praised each other’s workouts and even worked out together.

The variety I saw helped me put together what I refer to as my “fit schedule”. These women run, box, swim, ride, walk and do aerobics and every session is shared. By week six of my postpartum journey I had already put together a plan on how I was going to get back into shape.

What added value is the sharing of meal ideas because we all know the success of a fitness journey is the combination of exercise and balanced eating. Once a month, the group admin arranges a Friday meet up after work where they look at the calendar and decide on a race that everyone will sign up for. The favourite to date is the Soweto Marathon, which takes place on the first Sunday of November each year.

These monthly meet ups play an important role because it’s a time to catch up and discuss life’s challenges and celebrations. My advice to you is to take some time and go through your WhatsApp groups. Do they serve your purpose, or are they filled with spam that wastes your valuable time?

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