Pregnancy and Post-Partum Training with Brianna Battles

[00:00:02] Welcome back to the Barbell Therapy podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Brett Scott. With me here today is Brianna Battles.

[00:00:09] She's a strength and conditioning coach and she's the CEO and founder of Pregnancy and Post-Partum Athleticism.

[00:00:15] She also certifies coach and professionals and practitioners to do the same. She is also the host of the practice brave podcast,

[00:00:22] talking all about this topic of training in being an athlete as a mom, as a two-be-mom.

[00:00:31] She's got quite a bit of interesting topics and kind of goes in depth with a lot of these different things.

[00:00:37] So if you like what she has to say today, go ahead and give that a listen if you want to kind of dive deeper in some of these topics we're going to

[00:00:44] kind of go over today and she also has walked the walk as an athlete. She's a competitive jujitsu purple belt. She lifts.

[00:00:53] She's been a cross-fitter, a power lifter. She's done triathlons and she was also a D1 water polo athlete swimmer through college.

[00:01:05] Yeah, that's a very California sport.

[00:01:07] Yeah, so thank you for coming on today. So Brianna, what inspired you to start helping people in the post-partum world and population?

[00:01:20] Yeah, so I mean, I had been in strength conditioning. My degrees in background are all in coaching and exercise phase.

[00:01:26] And then I had coached a variety of settings from Clea Jethletics, the corporate wellness, the personal training.

[00:01:33] And so I thought I had a really solid foundation of understanding but it wasn't until I became a mom myself and was a pregnant athlete before that was like a thing.

[00:01:42] Or at least a popular title, I guess.

[00:01:48] And how to really traumatic birth and a hard time recovering postpartum that a lot of my belief systems were flipped upside down.

[00:01:56] What I thought it meant to be this kind of thinking that my fitness and my knowledge but, you know, kind of make me exempt from struggling in a lot of different ways from birth to just how I felt postpartum to how my body felt like I'm an athlete and I understand the human body.

[00:02:14] And yet there's just still so much that was not taught, that was unknown and that things that just weren't connected from the realm of athletic performance.

[00:02:27] And women's health through pregnancy, through postpartum and then believing that you're still an athlete even when you become a mom.

[00:02:34] Like that season of life as an athlete doesn't have to end when you finish college at 22 or when you are 25 and well now I'm going to be done whatever competing and whatever sport it might be.

[00:02:46] That, you know, we want to keep women training throughout their lifetime and that just became really apparent to me this was 11 years ago.

[00:02:55] And through a lot of my own personal struggles, I just had more professional incentive to figure it out and ultimately become who I needed.

[00:03:02] Yeah, basically when you just said there too, I saw a recent post you put up on your Instagram where you said the best part of being an athlete mom is showing your kids that the glory days don't have to be over.

[00:03:15] And that there are endless opportunities to evolve experience new rewarding seasons and athleticism doesn't have to stop when motherhood begins.

[00:03:25] And I think that's really important and of you most people don't have.

[00:03:31] I've seen so many people that, you know, take their health fairly seriously and are doing some of the right things and then parenthood comes and they just they stop caring about themselves and stop taking care of themselves because they feel like all they need to do is put it into their kids but it's like.

[00:03:49] Later on in life when you know your kids are teenagers and stuff.

[00:03:55] I would still want to, I'm not a parent yet but I would still want to be able to throw down with my kids and and you know beat them up a little bit and like a playful way so.

[00:04:06] Is there something there that people need to kind of change their viewpoint on about taking care of themselves and still continuing to train and exercise.

[00:04:15] Yeah, I think it's I think a lot of people believe that will now my body has changed my routine has changed my like life and my responsibility to have changed and it is hard.

[00:04:26] Like these seasons do set you back in some ways and it can be hard to find like a new home of status like not just within your body but of like what your life looks like and you know I tell everyone all the different athletes I work with like you're not going to.

[00:04:42] It's going to be really hard in the early seasons of motherhood to compete and perform at a high level but that doesn't mean that that is a forever season.

[00:04:53] It's it is actually pretty temporary and there's just again these endless opportunities to redefine what being an athlete looks like for you like.

[00:05:01] I have found so many different sports and hobbies and done so many different things after becoming a mom.

[00:05:08] But it doesn't and I think there's also a lot to be said for it doesn't have to be like this high performance thing it can be you have a baby and you.

[00:05:18] Try your best to rehab your body you try your best to be as active as possible and build a foundation of like movement and make exercise the consistent part of your life style in your routine.

[00:05:27] And then you can build upon that more as I get a little bit older and then maybe pursue more performance based sports and things but it doesn't have to be over even if it's a little bit different.

[00:05:38] Absolutely and.

[00:05:40] I think one of the big things too that's still hard and and we're getting better at it as an industry, but.

[00:05:47] There's so many resources available yet they're so contradictory and probably overwhelming.

[00:05:53] Especially to someone that's putting a new person into this world so.

[00:05:59] You know you see some people that it's like well I just had a baby I'm just going to do these fluff little workouts or practitioners saying only do this don't do that blah blah blah and then you have the other extreme of people are doing snatches with.

[00:06:16] You know at 37 weeks pregnant in a bar going pretty close to their belly and squatting heavy in all this so.

[00:06:26] And it's so easy to be persuaded by one person or one influencer where everyone is so different and everyone has such different abilities and everyone has a different timeline and training history so.

[00:06:38] Right. What is the piece of advice you'd give someone to know where the the line is that they need to draw for themselves.

[00:06:45] Yeah, you know and I think it's hard because a lot of the messaging we have is like kind of fear based in like a lot of fear mongering do this don't do that so then you know there's like the conservative end of this spectrum.

[00:06:54] And then like you said there's this extreme end of this spectrum where we have like crossfitters or people well fighting for the Olympics and their.

[00:07:00] And then there's a couple of months postpartum or they you know we're doing this ultra marathon at whatever a few weeks through their pregnant or they are postpartum or whatever like we do see.

[00:07:10] Glorification culture too so we there are fear mongering culture or we have glorification culture and I think that for a lot of female athletes in particular we're obviously going to gravitate more towards the glorification culture.

[00:07:20] And I like to tell you how we do so.

[00:07:22] You know you don't get me like I am fit I was doing this before I can keep doing this now.

[00:07:29] So there's almost like this attitude of exemption and ego has to exist in sports and performance like you need to have an ego.

[00:07:36] And you also have to learn how to leverage that ego and I call that like leveraging your athlete brain knowing that.

[00:07:43] Some like it's really be informed to know how you're training is not just supporting your body now but how it's going to support you long term.

[00:07:50] So it's not just if you can do something,

[00:07:52] it's if you should right now.

[00:07:54] Well how do we to say for that?

[00:07:56] So for the most part,

[00:07:57] you have to look at like actually being informed.

[00:08:01] It's not just about is it safe for mom and baby

[00:08:05] because like safe is kind of relative

[00:08:07] and most things and of course there's a lot

[00:08:10] in different like there are contraindications, right?

[00:08:12] And if you're doctorate you have a specific medical

[00:08:15] contraindication, okay.

[00:08:17] For the most part, exercise during pregnancy is safe.

[00:08:21] Like we don't need to be convinced of that.

[00:08:23] We know this, we have plenty of research that advocates

[00:08:27] for the safety of exercise and encouraging women

[00:08:31] of the benefits for both the baby and the mom

[00:08:34] to train during pregnancy.

[00:08:35] We don't need to be convinced of that.

[00:08:37] What is significantly lacking in the research

[00:08:39] and what I have poured the last decade into

[00:08:42] is connecting the dots between corn pelvic health,

[00:08:45] their psychology and their long term athletic performance.

[00:08:48] We have to be really informed of those three areas

[00:08:52] because that is what is oftentimes dismissed

[00:08:54] when understanding when should I stop doing this?

[00:08:57] When should I start doing that?

[00:09:00] How long can I keep doing this for?

[00:09:02] Is this okay, is it not okay?

[00:09:04] Well we have to understand like the belief systems

[00:09:06] and motivations behind it.

[00:09:07] Are they trying to get back to something

[00:09:09] at three months postpartum

[00:09:10] because they are super depressed, really anxious,

[00:09:13] want to feel like themselves again,

[00:09:14] want to get their body back

[00:09:15] and so they're being driven through those psychological factors

[00:09:18] and considerations.

[00:09:20] Okay, we have to address that

[00:09:21] before we address any performance considerations.

[00:09:24] Okay, let's also look at their core and pelvic health,

[00:09:26] their physiology that has been truly impacted

[00:09:30] by their body changing through pregnancy

[00:09:32] and then through labor delivery

[00:09:33] and then the postpartum physiological process.

[00:09:36] We have to address that because women very fit women

[00:09:39] are still experiencing incontinence,

[00:09:42] pelvic organ prolapse, a dyes-assist recti,

[00:09:44] things that can impact their body image,

[00:09:48] their basic function and quality of life

[00:09:51] and also their athletic performance.

[00:09:54] And these are symptoms that are not really talked about

[00:09:57] specifically as it relates to fitness during pregnancy

[00:10:01] and postpartum.

[00:10:02] And then we have to look at the performance considerations

[00:10:05] so how long can I keep running for?

[00:10:08] How heavy should I lift things like that?

[00:10:09] These questions that people have

[00:10:11] don't lift over 15 pounds,

[00:10:13] whatever that even means.

[00:10:15] And so we have to say like how are my training choices now

[00:10:18] going to affect my long-term athletic performance?

[00:10:20] Basically, my doing too much too soon

[00:10:22] before my body's ready for it.

[00:10:24] We'd like to forget all things progressive overload,

[00:10:26] especially postpartum

[00:10:28] and we really like to assume that, you know,

[00:10:30] pregnancy, we can just keep maintaining

[00:10:32] instead of maybe actually as my body changes significantly,

[00:10:36] I should probably kind of de-load aspects of my training.

[00:10:40] That's not to say stop it.

[00:10:41] It's just like being willing

[00:10:42] to make some of those adjustments.

[00:10:44] So that's why there's, you know,

[00:10:46] the mental considerations too

[00:10:47] where we don't have,

[00:10:49] we're not being led through ego,

[00:10:50] we're being led through being really informed

[00:10:52] about the state of readiness of our body

[00:10:55] during pregnancy and postpartum.

[00:10:58] On that psychological side of things,

[00:11:02] when you say, you know,

[00:11:04] women want to fight back and say,

[00:11:06] you can't tell what to do

[00:11:06] and when motivated athlete this and that.

[00:11:11] How does a practitioner need to have that conversation with them

[00:11:15] that is actually productive

[00:11:17] and puts them on the right path instead of screw this guy

[00:11:22] or this, you know, practitioner, whatever.

[00:11:24] He doesn't always talk about,

[00:11:25] he doesn't understand me.

[00:11:27] Yeah, this is on state conversation.

[00:11:29] I have frequently worked with professional athletes,

[00:11:31] you have sea fighters and Olympians

[00:11:34] and people who have like hardcore deadlines

[00:11:36] of what they need to do by a specific timeline.

[00:11:41] And so what I find is that you can't tell an athlete

[00:11:43] what to do or what not to do.

[00:11:44] They have to come to those kind of conclusions

[00:11:46] by being really informed and then we as coaches

[00:11:49] and as practitioners also have to embrace their autonomy.

[00:11:53] Like, we can't be so attached to their choices

[00:11:55] and their outcomes but it is our job to guide and inform

[00:11:59] if we are in their corner, so to speak.

[00:12:01] So what I like to do is share the process

[00:12:04] of if you want to compete, you want to do this triathlon.

[00:12:08] You want to get back into the octagon,

[00:12:10] you want to compete at the Olympics.

[00:12:12] Like let's look at what your body is going to experience

[00:12:15] and they kind of reverse engineer that process.

[00:12:17] This is why I was suggest

[00:12:19] that you probably should discontinue running for right now.

[00:12:22] This is why I think that you should hang out

[00:12:25] around these loads or change the volume

[00:12:27] of your training, the loads, the intensity, whatever it might be.

[00:12:30] Stop doing this, maybe start introducing more of that.

[00:12:33] Like so that there's a game-plad in place

[00:12:35] and a solid reason behind it, not based in fear of mongering

[00:12:40] but based in performance.

[00:12:42] You have to speak the language of performance

[00:12:43] to athletes that are committed to that.

[00:12:48] Yeah, one thing I'll say too

[00:12:49] that I've experienced in one of my mentors

[00:12:51] as taught me is so many people go out there

[00:12:56] and they're told just stop doing this, stop doing that.

[00:12:59] You can't do this where the sweet sauce is just saying,

[00:13:05] for right now, let's do this instead of this.

[00:13:09] Yeah, you gotta get options, not limitations.

[00:13:12] That's like a huge part of coaching

[00:13:14] is like the language that we use.

[00:13:17] Yeah, so I think for those out there

[00:13:19] it's really important that we were fighting

[00:13:21] the right practitioners for ourselves

[00:13:24] that aren't always or never type person

[00:13:29] or they speak in absolute.

[00:13:31] So you need to find someone that does have options

[00:13:33] because, and that's part of why we have this podcast.

[00:13:36] There's so many different options out there for people

[00:13:37] that people just don't know about

[00:13:39] and they go to one person, they get one option

[00:13:43] and it's not for them and then they just feel stuck.

[00:13:47] Yeah, especially like I think with a lot of some

[00:13:50] of the different symptoms that women experience,

[00:13:53] well I have in continents I pee when I squat heavy

[00:13:55] or when I do double-enders and so a lot of doctors,

[00:14:02] a lot of physical therapists will say,

[00:14:04] well you just need to stop squatting that load

[00:14:06] and you need to stop doing double-enders

[00:14:09] and they're told to stop activity

[00:14:12] and that's not going to help anybody in any way.

[00:14:15] They're either gonna keep doing it

[00:14:17] or they're gonna be, it just I don't know,

[00:14:20] can we swear on this podcast?

[00:14:22] Yes.

[00:14:23] Okay, so it's like, and then it just mind-fucks them.

[00:14:25] So then every single time they load up the barbell

[00:14:27] they're gonna be like, oh my god,

[00:14:29] am I gonna pee myself

[00:14:30] and then that chills their performance.

[00:14:31] So like I think especially with women's health issues

[00:14:34] we've created a weird taboo around something

[00:14:37] that is actually like really prevalent in women's sports

[00:14:41] and this is not just a mom thing.

[00:14:44] This is like teenage gymnasts that we're working with.

[00:14:47] These are our college basketball players,

[00:14:50] our high impact, high pressure, high tension athletes.

[00:14:54] These are our ultra marathoners.

[00:14:56] These are so many different women

[00:14:58] that struggle with their different public health considerations

[00:15:00] that we've never looked at it really through the scope

[00:15:02] of performance but we have to be able to speak that language

[00:15:06] and also tell them like, there are options here.

[00:15:08] You don't have to stop squatting heavy.

[00:15:09] You don't have to stop doing double-enders

[00:15:11] but like why don't we change the approach to these things

[00:15:13] or scale back a little bit, build up a new strategy

[00:15:15] and make improvements.

[00:15:17] And you know sometimes it is pregnancy

[00:15:19] and postpartum and birth method

[00:15:21] that kind of exposes some of these vulnerabilities

[00:15:24] and symptoms but it is not limited

[00:15:26] to just like mom life at all.

[00:15:30] Yeah absolutely.

[00:15:31] And in that same breath,

[00:15:32] not that this has anything to do with pregnancy

[00:15:35] and postpartum but just in the scope of the same parallel

[00:15:39] in the medical model,

[00:15:41] I had a patient come in the other day.

[00:15:42] She's a 50-year-old woman

[00:15:45] and she's been having some elbow pain

[00:15:49] just like tennis elbow pain is what she kind of,

[00:15:51] where she pointed.

[00:15:53] And she had gone toward her primary care for it

[00:15:56] and her primary care

[00:15:58] and it hurt her while she was lifting

[00:16:00] a little bit of a starting to bother her more and more.

[00:16:02] So she went to her PCP and her PCP told her

[00:16:05] she should just stop lifting all together

[00:16:08] and that women over the age of 50

[00:16:12] just aren't meant to lift.

[00:16:14] Which is why we have so much evidence

[00:16:16] of the contrary, you know?

[00:16:19] And after doing a valuation

[00:16:21] it was the most simple textbook 10 anopathy I've ever seen.

[00:16:26] Like I couldn't have been a simpler case.

[00:16:28] And the other catch here was she didn't even heard it lifting.

[00:16:32] She'd whacked her arm on a door in a bruised

[00:16:36] and she had like just some acute swelling of the area

[00:16:40] that was sensitizing the tendon.

[00:16:43] And so she came back to me for a second,

[00:16:45] visit last week and she's like, you know,

[00:16:47] it feels so much better and I don't know why

[00:16:49] in this and then I was like, well,

[00:16:51] we validated you that it's okay

[00:16:52] to have a little bit of pain

[00:16:54] that danger is not damaged,

[00:16:55] you're not making it worse

[00:16:57] and that things can get better

[00:17:01] just from a psychological standpoint

[00:17:03] of not being in this place where you think

[00:17:06] something bad is happening or by you doing this thing

[00:17:09] you really love that you're causing damage yourself

[00:17:11] because you're not.

[00:17:13] Right, yeah, those hacking some of their belief systems

[00:17:15] and changing their belief systems

[00:17:16] because they on both extremes, right?

[00:17:20] And the world that I work in is like really limited belief

[00:17:22] systems and fear around their body changing

[00:17:26] what they can do, what their symptoms are,

[00:17:29] what that must mean for their like life diagnosis

[00:17:33] or that they're on the other end of that

[00:17:36] is that they're invincible and that nothing,

[00:17:39] they don't have to make adjustments

[00:17:40] that they're kind of exempt from some

[00:17:43] of the guidance that exists for a good reason.

[00:17:46] It's to value not just their athletic performance,

[00:17:49] but ultimately their quality of life

[00:17:51] like how your body functions and feels outside of the gym

[00:17:55] when you're 50, 60, 70, when you're in parameda pause

[00:17:58] and now you have four moments,

[00:18:00] you know also influencing that system,

[00:18:02] like there's just so many factors that play it

[00:18:04] that we really have to look into and understand

[00:18:06] like what's the angle we can take

[00:18:08] to really help people feel more informed

[00:18:10] and also get a feel for what they currently believe

[00:18:14] and what they know.

[00:18:16] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:18:18] And so when we're talking about some of these highly motivated

[00:18:20] athletes that are kind of fighting against their current

[00:18:24] state of being,

[00:18:27] where do we start with them because it's like

[00:18:29] and I don't know if everyone realizes it,

[00:18:33] but your life has just been thrown completely upside down

[00:18:36] of you have hormonal changes,

[00:18:39] you have changes to your joints because of your hormones,

[00:18:42] you have pressure management related issues

[00:18:45] because yeah, your abdominal walls expanded drastically.

[00:18:52] So we can't manage and create force

[00:18:54] through our core as much.

[00:18:56] We have schedule changes with feeding

[00:18:58] and a baby waking up,

[00:18:59] there's new stressors of providing for someone else.

[00:19:04] But yet some of these women do seem so motivated

[00:19:07] to fight against that new change in their life.

[00:19:14] So how many of these women feel capable

[00:19:17] and mentally are working through these things

[00:19:21] but physically aren't there yet

[00:19:24] and what is your advice to those women

[00:19:26] that might be in that category?

[00:19:28] Yeah, I mean, I think that's honestly

[00:19:30] the majority of so many female athletes

[00:19:32] is we want to assume the best and not just because

[00:19:36] of an ego but because that's what,

[00:19:39] like we know that movement helps us feel good

[00:19:41] and we're looking for that dopamine hit

[00:19:44] because we are deprived of dopamine.

[00:19:47] When you're not sleeping,

[00:19:48] when you feel like your body looks like shit

[00:19:50] and like your self-esteem is trash,

[00:19:52] you want to feel like yourself again.

[00:19:54] So you are motivated by more than just performance.

[00:19:56] Like you just want to feel like yourself again.

[00:19:59] So I think it is validating,

[00:20:01] we have to as coaches and practitioners.

[00:20:03] Like validate that like it's normal to feel that way.

[00:20:07] It's normal to be incentivized

[00:20:08] to do more than maybe what you're ready for

[00:20:11] but the fastest way to feel like yourself again

[00:20:13] and if actually feel good long term

[00:20:16] is to give yourself a lot of grace and patience

[00:20:19] with the process.

[00:20:20] Like slowly building back brick by brick

[00:20:23] progressively overloading rehabbing

[00:20:25] and then moving into fitness

[00:20:26] and then moving into more performance based

[00:20:31] like approach so to speak

[00:20:33] and making them understand just like what particular phase

[00:20:36] they are in.

[00:20:37] You're in your first three months postpartum right now.

[00:20:40] Like the focus is just on activating

[00:20:42] to this new life,

[00:20:43] to rehabbing your body,

[00:20:45] getting a little bit stronger,

[00:20:46] getting a little bit more movement,

[00:20:47] doing what you can, it might not be.

[00:20:49] As many days a week as you want.

[00:20:50] It might not be for as long as you want it to be

[00:20:53] all or something absolutely counts.

[00:20:56] And then as your body changes more,

[00:20:59] you just acclimate a little bit more.

[00:21:00] You can start adding pieces.

[00:21:02] Maybe that's an extra day,

[00:21:03] maybe it's a little bit more low

[00:21:04] and maybe that's a little bit more intensity.

[00:21:06] Whatever it might be,

[00:21:07] but you're just slowly kind of building

[00:21:09] and I think so much of it comes back

[00:21:11] to managing expectations.

[00:21:13] It's validating like I get that you want to do a lot right now.

[00:21:16] I get that you want to feel like yourself right now

[00:21:17] and also the fastest way to get there

[00:21:21] is to be very patient and strategic with your process

[00:21:24] and let them know like this is just the phase

[00:21:26] that you're in

[00:21:27] and you're working towards this

[00:21:28] and you're gonna get little winds along the way,

[00:21:31] a promise.

[00:21:32] And those little W's are gonna be so good

[00:21:35] and you want those,

[00:21:36] you don't want the setbacks

[00:21:37] because the setbacks sometimes kind of happen anyway.

[00:21:39] Like with oh,

[00:21:40] your baby isn't sleeping.

[00:21:41] So now you're like you're missing that workout

[00:21:43] or this happened or that,

[00:21:44] like you're gonna have setbacks no matter what,

[00:21:47] but let's not make them like performance

[00:21:48] and body related setbacks.

[00:21:50] At least in the ways that are within our control.

[00:21:54] Absolutely, and then

[00:21:58] what is the biggest mistake you see women making

[00:22:02] than this realm of coming back to athleticism

[00:22:05] postpartum?

[00:22:07] Yeah, I will keep this focus

[00:22:09] like mostly on like athlete moms

[00:22:12] is the doing too much to send,

[00:22:14] is they just they are really dismissive

[00:22:16] of how much their body has changed.

[00:22:19] And yes, there are exceptions to this sentiment.

[00:22:23] There are absolutely our exceptions

[00:22:25] and one thing I try to tell my athletes is like

[00:22:27] if you train like you're not the exception

[00:22:29] you have a very good chance of becoming it.

[00:22:31] Like you do.

[00:22:32] Like if you can go with that mindset

[00:22:36] through your pregnancy,

[00:22:37] through your postpartum rehab,

[00:22:38] through this like rebuilding process

[00:22:40] that you are not the exception,

[00:22:42] you truly have a very good chance of becoming it.

[00:22:45] And again, there's so many variables

[00:22:46] during these seasons that we don't have control of.

[00:22:48] Like we don't have control of maybe different

[00:22:51] pregnancy complications or of labor and delivery

[00:22:54] and how that goes like how long you push for,

[00:22:55] how am I?

[00:22:56] Like if you have birth trauma, birth injuries

[00:22:59] what your birth method was like

[00:23:01] we don't really have a lot of control over those variables.

[00:23:04] So we have to just reassess and adapt, reassess and adapt

[00:23:07] and athletes know how to do that.

[00:23:09] We like we logically came to grips with that

[00:23:13] a long, long time ago

[00:23:14] and yet I think it's really easy to look at

[00:23:19] becoming a mom as like what this doesn't count.

[00:23:21] Like this isn't the same,

[00:23:23] but in a lot of ways it is like this is a season of different.

[00:23:27] So seasons gonna require a different training approach

[00:23:29] and a really strategic game plan.

[00:23:32] Just like you would if you're like,

[00:23:34] training for a specific event that is six months out

[00:23:38] then you know like you're training leading into it

[00:23:41] it's going to slowly progress over time

[00:23:42] but what you're doing at five months

[00:23:45] and isn't gonna look like what you're doing

[00:23:47] in your first month in towards training for that event.

[00:23:49] And we can bring like more like normalized

[00:23:53] out a little bit more instead of normalizing glorification

[00:23:56] of this person did this at a few months postpartum

[00:23:59] or qualified for the cross-sick games,

[00:24:01] went to the Olympics that all these things

[00:24:03] like which the media loves to glorify social media loves

[00:24:05] to glorify and that is what people seek

[00:24:08] as inspiration and even comparison

[00:24:11] and new moms already struggle with comparison.

[00:24:15] They already struggle with that.

[00:24:17] So then we need to put an athlete spin on that.

[00:24:19] It makes it even worse.

[00:24:20] So I think if we can make the general messaging of like

[00:24:24] your body has been through a lot,

[00:24:27] we have to acknowledge that it's been through a lot

[00:24:29] and let's take care of it so that you're not just feeling good now

[00:24:33] but you're gonna get to the other side someday

[00:24:35] and I want you to feel good on the other side.

[00:24:37] I don't want you to be doubting your capabilities

[00:24:39] when you get into the barbell

[00:24:40] when you go to your cross-sick class, when you compete,

[00:24:42] when you do all these things,

[00:24:44] you wanna feel like, man, I'm good and I know I'm good.

[00:24:49] Yeah, do you have some type of framework or guidelines

[00:24:55] for how people should test themselves

[00:24:58] to get to that level that they can tolerate well

[00:25:02] and be making progress and not doing too much

[00:25:05] or backtracking?

[00:25:09] Like, yes and no.

[00:25:10] I mean, I think it's the same as any kind of like

[00:25:13] what practitioners would do, right?

[00:25:15] Like, red light, okay, no pain, not cool, can't do.

[00:25:20] Green, good to go, yellow, cautious,

[00:25:22] you know, yes, there's that.

[00:25:24] I think the framework that I like to use with my athletes,

[00:25:28] especially if I can get to them during pregnancy

[00:25:31] is taking a baseline of these five factors

[00:25:34] and really understanding these tendencies about themselves.

[00:25:38] I call it like the P&P principle.

[00:25:42] And that was just something that I use

[00:25:44] in my certification that helps coaches,

[00:25:47] like what are we actually looking for with our athletes

[00:25:49] and then how can we make small adjustments

[00:25:51] within these things, within these players,

[00:25:54] I call them to just kind of like adapt their training

[00:25:59] to then mitigate, mitigate, mitigate,

[00:26:02] I'm like, what word did I just make up?

[00:26:04] Mitigate stem stems but also takes the new count

[00:26:07] performance.

[00:26:08] So anyway, the P&P principle, I have breath.

[00:26:10] How are they breathing?

[00:26:11] Whether they're natural like breathing tendencies

[00:26:13] where do they send a lot of their breath?

[00:26:15] Okay, can they coordinate their, you know, diaphragm,

[00:26:19] pelvic floor actually relaxing

[00:26:20] and then did that co-contraction of the diaphragm

[00:26:23] traveling back up with exhale

[00:26:24] and then re-coiling, what is their breath tendencies?

[00:26:27] And let's also look at pressure.

[00:26:29] Where do they send their pressure if they are barbell athletes

[00:26:32] a lot of times it'll be open in the midline

[00:26:34] or down, bearing down into the pelvic floor?

[00:26:37] Okay, well, like especially during pregnancy

[00:26:39] where this whole system is really impacted by a baby.

[00:26:44] Why don't we learn it to distribute the breath higher and wider

[00:26:46] so like I like the cube breathe in your lips?

[00:26:48] So we're looking at like their pressure management strategies.

[00:26:51] Then we're looking at their tension.

[00:26:52] Where do they hold a lot of tension at?

[00:26:54] A lot of female athletes grip their abs.

[00:26:56] We've been taught to suck in our stomach like our whole lives.

[00:26:59] We grip our glutes and there's a lot of tension held there

[00:27:02] and they don't even realize that they're doing it.

[00:27:04] So our back pain, pregnant clients, yeah, so many of them

[00:27:08] because they're like ripping and squeezing their butt pretty chronically.

[00:27:11] And if they're ripping their glutes like that,

[00:27:13] that tells me that they have a really hypertonic pelvic floor

[00:27:15] and if they have really hypertonic pelvic floor

[00:27:17] I know they're more predisposed to pelvic floor symptoms.

[00:27:20] So these are just dots that I connect, right?

[00:27:22] And then we're looking at their positions

[00:27:25] and not like getting lost in alignment land.

[00:27:28] I don't really know your stance on that,

[00:27:29] but like I don't think that like we don't have to be hyper focused

[00:27:34] on perfect posture or anything like that.

[00:27:36] But just bringing more awareness to their movement patterns

[00:27:39] and their form and if they're constantly

[00:27:41] when they're dead lifting, coming up and really thrusting forward like this.

[00:27:45] Okay, well now that's sending more tension and pressure to the midline

[00:27:48] and that's putting the pelvic floor in a position

[00:27:50] to not absorb force and produce force as well

[00:27:53] so that they're going to be a little bit more symptomatic

[00:27:54] or with their squats or with their dead lifts

[00:27:56] or with their running.

[00:27:57] So we're kind of troubleshooting their positions within movement.

[00:28:01] And then looking at movement as the last player,

[00:28:03] being able to connect all of these dots and saying,

[00:28:06] okay, in the particular movement or sport that they're doing

[00:28:08] but they want to do what players influence at the most

[00:28:12] is it how they manage pressure if they're a lifter?

[00:28:15] Is it how they're managing tension

[00:28:17] if they do like more dynamic sports?

[00:28:20] Like what are we looking at?

[00:28:21] What are their symptoms?

[00:28:21] What are they really predisposed to?

[00:28:24] Or what do they need to be more aware of

[00:28:25] in their very specific sport and how can we hack that

[00:28:29] during pregnancy to then set them up

[00:28:31] for a better postpartum return to?

[00:28:33] Honestly, just basic fitness and then performance.

[00:28:39] Yeah, well, so another side of that too is

[00:28:43] do you see a lot of women that have,

[00:28:45] I mean, we're seeing more and more gut health issues these days

[00:28:47] anyways but do a lot of women experience

[00:28:53] digestive and irritable bowel syndrome type symptoms

[00:28:55] post pregnancy?

[00:28:57] Yeah, and I think a lot of it, of course,

[00:29:00] is like there's a hormonal front

[00:29:02] but then our macros are super out of whack.

[00:29:06] They're not tracking them or they're like,

[00:29:07] not a really good balance to getting enough fat

[00:29:10] to getting enough carbs because our brain

[00:29:13] are like I'm fat and I need to eat less.

[00:29:18] That is what the other is really hard to counter that

[00:29:21] as an athlete, even if you're like yes,

[00:29:23] body positivity cool but also like I am 50 pounds heavier

[00:29:27] than I want to be.

[00:29:28] I'm 40 pounds or I'm really soft

[00:29:29] and I'm not used to feeling like this.

[00:29:31] And it is a mind-fuck to feel so gross in your body

[00:29:36] when you're postpartum.

[00:29:37] So you are incentivized whether you want to be or not,

[00:29:40] whether you have a history of eating disorder

[00:29:42] and body image struggles or not.

[00:29:44] Postpartum is you are so vulnerable

[00:29:48] to going towards disorder, eating beliefs,

[00:29:53] feelings and like motivations, right?

[00:29:55] Like because you're just wanting to eat less

[00:29:58] and you're motivated to even if you've done a lot of work,

[00:30:01] even if you know better.

[00:30:02] Like so many of us actually know better.

[00:30:04] And yet you see your body,

[00:30:07] you don't like what it looks like.

[00:30:08] You don't want it to look like that any longer

[00:30:10] and it's just easy to want to eat less

[00:30:13] and so then they'll close the circle on this.

[00:30:16] Yeah, like their digestive health is shock

[00:30:18] because they're not getting enough calories.

[00:30:20] If they're breastfeeding,

[00:30:21] they're burning a lot of calories or metabolism is crazy

[00:30:25] and they're trying to heal.

[00:30:26] So I mean their tissues need like good macro nutrients.

[00:30:30] They need to balance macro nutrients in order to heal

[00:30:33] and re-build, yet a lot of postpartum athletes

[00:30:38] are really deficient because they are depriving themselves

[00:30:40] of calories in general.

[00:30:43] Yeah, it's just interesting to hear

[00:30:45] because I had had a parasitic infection.

[00:30:49] I had some digestive issues will call it for a while

[00:30:52] and I ended up with a diastasis myself

[00:30:58] and my abdomen and I think it was just related to

[00:31:02] my pelvic floor was doing a lot of work

[00:31:04] to hold things in and became probably hypertonic, I assume.

[00:31:09] And it became a pressure management issue for me

[00:31:11] and I had a pelvic floor therapy therapist look at it

[00:31:14] and she's like, yeah you're putting your air

[00:31:16] in all the wrong places

[00:31:17] and even me knowing or supposed to be knowing

[00:31:20] what I'm doing and I can coach it to others

[00:31:22] is like I didn't know how to coach myself through it.

[00:31:26] So it's a really common knowledge or common sense

[00:31:30] and then when you're just,

[00:31:31] you've not experienced digestive health issues

[00:31:35] like that before so you're in the trenches

[00:31:37] of learning it yourself and similarly to someone in pregnancy

[00:31:41] they have if their body has experienced this change before.

[00:31:45] Even if it has, maybe it's different this time

[00:31:48] or postpartum, that's the real mind fuck.

[00:31:50] Like everything is different.

[00:31:52] It looks different, it feels different.

[00:31:54] You're recovering from in a lot of ways an injury

[00:31:57] even if it was an uncomplicated birth

[00:31:59] like it's still a baby big hand in your body

[00:32:01] is a really big deal.

[00:32:03] Well how is that not a big deal?

[00:32:06] Yeah and so on that pressure management side of things

[00:32:12] like some people are still like,

[00:32:14] oh you need to do keels, it's like no, keagles can be the answer

[00:32:18] but they're not always the answer.

[00:32:19] They can make a lot of things worse.

[00:32:22] So, and for us and for me to learn here too,

[00:32:27] what are the big things you're trying to teach people

[00:32:29] especially postpartum on corrective breathing strategies,

[00:32:34] bracing strategies, what things do we need to talk about there?

[00:32:39] The other thing I'll say too on my stance

[00:32:41] on this whole like,

[00:32:44] there's the whole stance of like posture doesn't matter,

[00:32:46] positioning doesn't matter,

[00:32:47] biomechanics don't matter.

[00:32:49] It all comes down to great exposure.

[00:32:51] It's like there is a time in place where yes,

[00:32:55] the best posture is the next posture

[00:32:58] and I have a friend, he's a male pelvic health therapist

[00:33:02] and he was very much on this like pain science camp

[00:33:04] for a long time until he became a male pelvic health therapist

[00:33:09] and this is a good lesson for everyone out there

[00:33:11] because there's so much shit that PT's,

[00:33:13] Cairo's whatever we'll tell you like,

[00:33:15] oh position, all this stuff doesn't matter.

[00:33:18] So to see him go from this like all pain science

[00:33:21] that's all in your head,

[00:33:22] I'm not gonna do manual therapy.

[00:33:24] It's all about training and great exposure and load.

[00:33:29] Those principles are true, however,

[00:33:32] he came to me a couple of years ago now

[00:33:34] and he was like, yeah you know what I was wrong?

[00:33:36] He's like this stuff doesn't matter,

[00:33:37] he's like because when you're breathing

[00:33:40] and how you brace affects if you pee,

[00:33:42] your pants are not, that's important for people.

[00:33:46] Yeah, and like you said for men

[00:33:48] for women like not just during part-in-scene postpart

[00:33:51] and like this is, it is just our anatomy.

[00:33:54] This is physics at play so like we do,

[00:33:58] we have to, especially when you're adding load

[00:33:59] or you're adding force absorption

[00:34:02] like force production, like we have to be able

[00:34:05] to connect some of these dots

[00:34:06] and use something that is better

[00:34:08] under something that giggles for example

[00:34:10] like we can use form for a position

[00:34:12] to reinforce what we're wanting to see, right?

[00:34:15] Like we can use things like that

[00:34:16] and make it a little bit easier

[00:34:18] to solicit the change that we want.

[00:34:20] We can kind of troubleshoot from the outside

[00:34:22] in which I think is key for coaches and practitioners,

[00:34:26] like that's what we should be focusing on

[00:34:28] as being able to troubleshoot

[00:34:29] up from the outside and their performance first.

[00:34:32] Mm-hmm.

[00:34:33] And so when we're looking at you know

[00:34:35] putting someone under load

[00:34:38] and getting them back to kettlebell squats

[00:34:40] or barbell squats or whatever it might be,

[00:34:43] what are the biggest or are there

[00:34:47] is there an umbrella answer for some of this

[00:34:50] of what things should these athletes be thinking

[00:34:54] about for internal and external cues?

[00:34:58] Well I like I said before

[00:34:59] I think it's taking inventory of like

[00:35:01] how do you typically manage pressure?

[00:35:03] Like a lot of female athletes,

[00:35:04] especially with pelvic floor symptoms

[00:35:06] are bearing down in their pelvic floor

[00:35:08] so there's kind of like they can see that set pressure

[00:35:11] and you can see it go down into like this lower abdomen

[00:35:14] and pelvic floor and you might even see

[00:35:15] their butt position change

[00:35:17] when they brace for their lift.

[00:35:20] Or you see them, especially if they have a diet basis,

[00:35:22] they're likely somebody who's out here

[00:35:26] into the chest, into that midline

[00:35:27] and then that sort of you know

[00:35:30] that's adding pressure to this midline

[00:35:32] that's trying to heal and improve.

[00:35:35] So again the QI really, really love

[00:35:36] that has been so helpful

[00:35:38] for a lot of female athletes that I've worked with

[00:35:40] is to breathe into your lats or breathe into your ribs

[00:35:42] that I feel like lats allow people

[00:35:45] like more almost like even if it's just a mental thing

[00:35:48] like more range of motion to just go here.

[00:35:51] That way I'm breathing my pressure and air wide.

[00:35:54] I still have a good vowel style but if I need to like breath hold

[00:35:56] but now I'm out here

[00:35:59] instead of like down or out.

[00:36:02] So that Q, in general is like if you're going to

[00:36:06] like your inhale send that inhale high and wide

[00:36:08] to your lats if you're like dead lifting for example

[00:36:11] I like the Q, breathe into your scabs

[00:36:14] because it kind of does the same thing

[00:36:15] cause breathing into your lats when you're like

[00:36:17] bent over like this is kind of like

[00:36:19] that's a hard, it's hard to create that

[00:36:21] but if you think breathe into your scabs

[00:36:23] okay well then like now I did the same thing.

[00:36:25] I send that pressure high and wide away from the pelvic floor

[00:36:28] and away from just like out into the midline

[00:36:32] and then when we're not training at high loads

[00:36:34] because we don't need a vowel style

[00:36:35] for every single lift that we're doing

[00:36:37] which so many people have that ingrained

[00:36:40] to breath hold and to brace it to create a lot of tension

[00:36:43] even totally right but if you have a history

[00:36:45] of being a power lifter like of course we do right

[00:36:48] but I mean like we have females who have those same tendencies

[00:36:54] and now they get pregnant and they're just a high pressure

[00:36:57] high tension machine and that is not serving

[00:36:59] their function or their performance

[00:37:03] so we have to like that's why it's taking inventory

[00:37:05] like what is their baseline tendency?

[00:37:07] What sport are they coming from?

[00:37:09] What do they do?

[00:37:10] Like what does ingrained in their head

[00:37:11] how do we help them make some adjustments?

[00:37:14] So again if we're talking about squatting

[00:37:16] we don't have to vowel style but for everything

[00:37:18] but maybe we're going to be like a inhale down

[00:37:21] and an exhale coming out of the bottom of that squat

[00:37:24] that's gonna again create that co-contraction

[00:37:27] of that core system so that as you are moving

[00:37:31] out of the bottom of the squat

[00:37:33] where there's that sticking point

[00:37:34] where there are a lot of people experiencing symptoms like peen

[00:37:37] well now that exhale that creates that co-contraction

[00:37:41] of the pelvic floor so now there's more support

[00:37:42] at the bottom of the core system

[00:37:45] so and things like that little things

[00:37:47] where we can manipulate breathing to support provide more support

[00:37:52] to the core canister but also just like

[00:37:54] where we're sending that pressure

[00:37:56] and then if they're a high tension person

[00:37:58] again I'm just using squats

[00:37:59] so it's like an easier I can do that from this view

[00:38:03] you know if they're really high tension

[00:38:06] then we don't need to be creating a lot of tension

[00:38:08] against the barbell or pulling it down hard

[00:38:10] into our back again you're not squatting

[00:38:13] for one rep max right now like you're squatting

[00:38:16] to like maintain some levels of strength

[00:38:20] which doesn't have to be like all force output

[00:38:22] it doesn't have to be max capacity

[00:38:24] you should be able to squat

[00:38:26] without like looking phased by your squat

[00:38:30] you know and I think that's a good way to like check yourself too

[00:38:33] is like how heavy should I be lifting

[00:38:35] or how much tension in my journey

[00:38:37] how much pressure my journey like

[00:38:39] especially when you're pregnant

[00:38:40] when you're rebuilding postpartum

[00:38:42] or when you're just someone who's maybe years postpartum

[00:38:45] but you're managing different core and pelvic floor symptoms

[00:38:47] you don't have to be lifting it loads

[00:38:49] where you're so phased by how much tension you're trying to produce

[00:38:51] or by how much pressure you're trying to produce

[00:38:54] to lift that load like scale back a little bit

[00:38:57] introduce some new strategies

[00:38:58] excel in some of those sticking points

[00:39:00] like they call it like excel in the hard part of the lift

[00:39:02] like if it's a deadlift okay like any help

[00:39:04] and then excel as you're pulling off the floor

[00:39:07] that's not what we have been taught traditionally right

[00:39:10] that's not what we've been taught

[00:39:12] but again it can really improve performance and function

[00:39:15] so it's timing the time and place

[00:39:17] and then building upon your readiness

[00:39:19] that's not to say that you won't

[00:39:20] fall south of like you normally do again

[00:39:23] it's just is that serving you right now?

[00:39:25] I don't know you have to figure that out for yourself

[00:39:27] and be willing to try new things

[00:39:29] yeah absolutely

[00:39:31] and for people that are just listening

[00:39:33] you can watch Brianna on

[00:39:35] well we'll put the video on Spotify

[00:39:38] but we'll put this on YouTube too so you can see everything

[00:39:41] that she can't sit around around here

[00:39:44] yeah she's dancing all around back here so

[00:39:48] so that like the

[00:39:50] and so

[00:39:51] I don't know how many non pregnant or postpartum athletes

[00:39:55] you coach but are these typically issues

[00:39:57] you'll see with regular athletes too

[00:39:59] of their bearing down too much

[00:40:01] probably like okay

[00:40:03] so we're using this general

[00:40:05] this is all humans and I didn't realize that

[00:40:08] until I started working with this population

[00:40:11] really sort of understand like

[00:40:12] especially women's physiology and hot works

[00:40:15] but we can work with men

[00:40:17] I work with people that have not had babies

[00:40:20] and still have symptoms

[00:40:21] and then just like honestly watching

[00:40:24] like young

[00:40:26] like pre-teen athletes like watching how they move to

[00:40:30] and just like you can get an idea of like some of these tendencies

[00:40:33] that are reinforced through sport

[00:40:34] like think about a gymnast

[00:40:35] they are

[00:40:36] I was just gonna say

[00:40:37] all ribcage

[00:40:39] all like squeezing their glutes

[00:40:40] everything right like that is

[00:40:43] a recipe for a lifetime of being

[00:40:45] to learn how to downtrain that system

[00:40:47] because they are gonna live like hypertonic

[00:40:49] essentially

[00:40:50] forever saying with dancers

[00:40:53] dancers and gymnasts

[00:40:54] especially like I don't know if I've watched

[00:40:56] that but like when they come to me

[00:40:57] and they're like 30 and they're like so

[00:40:58] I spent like 20 years as a dancer of gymnast

[00:41:00] I'm like

[00:41:01] I know exactly what I'm getting here

[00:41:03] I know exactly

[00:41:04] you know

[00:41:05] but

[00:41:06] but I think it's just watching some of that

[00:41:08] and like as

[00:41:10] parents, as coaches

[00:41:12] especially like little girls like

[00:41:14] we just have to be aware that like our

[00:41:15] anatomy is different

[00:41:16] like it just is

[00:41:17] it just is and

[00:41:19] we have to be aware of like some of the things

[00:41:21] that they make

[00:41:21] experience and then how their bodies change

[00:41:23] and a lot of the

[00:41:25] research that we have is like ACLs

[00:41:28] and body dysmorphia

[00:41:29] and like whatever like that's what we have for women

[00:41:31] like we

[00:41:33] have different anatomy

[00:41:34] we're pursuing sports and performance at a very high level

[00:41:37] and we just need more people

[00:41:38] and coaches that like get it

[00:41:39] and just get it and can like help us work with our body

[00:41:42] with our anatomy

[00:41:43] with different things that may come up

[00:41:45] across puberty

[00:41:47] across

[00:41:48] you know competing in college

[00:41:49] in our 20s, 30s

[00:41:51] pregnancy, postpartum, period menopause, menopause and beyond

[00:41:54] like we're in the game

[00:41:55] we just gotta like have people that know how to work with it

[00:41:59] Yeah absolutely

[00:42:01] and

[00:42:02] as far as like the

[00:42:04] you know doing core exercises versus general exercise

[00:42:07] and all that goes of you know some people have these very specific approaches

[00:42:11] yet like managing a little back pain

[00:42:14] like I have some opinions on this too

[00:42:17] but like with managing a little back pain

[00:42:19] there's plenty of research that says

[00:42:22] that you know any general plan is just as good as like targeted

[00:42:27] core strengthening or stability work

[00:42:29] and what not

[00:42:31] what is your view on this for

[00:42:34] postpartum and pregnant women?

[00:42:37] I think a lot of people want to say these are the five exercises you should do

[00:42:41] during pregnancy to prevent x, y and z

[00:42:43] and same with postpartum. These are the 10 exercises that you should do

[00:42:46] multiple times a week in order to heal your diet basis

[00:42:49] and all of that is marketing. There's no such thing as safe or unsafe

[00:42:51] exercises there's just levels of readiness

[00:42:53] and what's appropriate for that person and their brain

[00:42:56] and their interests and all of that

[00:42:58] so I'm not a fan of like specific exercises

[00:43:01] I think that if we take like the pain paper

[00:43:04] once we're talking about where we're looking at their breath, their pressure management,

[00:43:07] their tension, their overall positioning and then how they're connecting to their movement

[00:43:12] that is actually what will help their core and their pelvic floor the most

[00:43:16] through pregnancy and postpartum apply to the kind of movement that they're already doing

[00:43:21] CrossFit lifting

[00:43:23] running to good soup whatever it might be. We're taking inventory of these things

[00:43:28] and we can make improvements. With that said, I do think that

[00:43:32] as far as building like the neuromuscular connection to that system

[00:43:36] we're so disconnected we don't understand that for women it's been really taboo

[00:43:40] to even talk about anything like that

[00:43:42] that we don't have a high level of understanding of our bodies

[00:43:46] and frankly most women don't even know what incontinence or pull-ups are

[00:43:51] much about their anatomy in general until they're having a baby come out of it

[00:43:56] so we have to do a better job of like creating connection there and I think that we can use

[00:44:01] certain exercises maybe that are like more rehabilitative say something like

[00:44:06] heel slides or whatever it might be like that can be helpful for their brain to be like

[00:44:12] okay when I inhale here and then I exhale okay I feel like kind of fuel my abs pulling in

[00:44:18] or I can feel pressure out in the my midline and you know and I'm going to add this

[00:44:22] movement to it like I'm lifting my knee and I'm extending it out I can feel my abs working

[00:44:27] and coordinating that with my breath that can feel really good and can be an educational

[00:44:32] like pathway for them to understand how to then implement that into their squats

[00:44:37] into their dead lives into their lunges and to whatever kind of movement it is that they're doing

[00:44:43] so what's your thoughts on things like you know dead bugs and like that nice I'm sorry

[00:44:49] if that was like I just I can't stand it for postpartum because it's a really complex

[00:44:55] exercise it is a hard movement and when your core is shot and it's had a baby sitting inside of it

[00:45:01] for like nine months like now adding something that takes a lot of control and stability even for like

[00:45:07] those for you you know what I mean like this it is not it is something that is like

[00:45:12] slapped on every postpartum program and I just I get like so irritated because it's it's just

[00:45:18] looked at as being some great exercise but again that's marketing it doesn't have a lot to do

[00:45:24] with like readiness for the postpartum body I just want to you know I have no emotional

[00:45:29] connection to dead bugs so I don't have to get it happen okay I do like them for like gymnasts

[00:45:40] and dancers and populations where or some of that just has no idea how to control thorax

[00:45:47] pelvis and stabilize that while moving the hips interdependently and just giving them a new

[00:45:54] sense of control but it's more about the control than like creating that anterior brace or

[00:46:00] yeah things like that great it's a great exercise of vent surely for the right person it's just

[00:46:07] not one that I'm gonna tell someone who's four weeks postpartum will go do some dead bugs like that's

[00:46:13] that's hard yet it it's slapped it slapped on like these programs and on social media as

[00:46:19] like this is what you should be doing and most people just blast pressure through their midline because

[00:46:25] again they're baby has stretched it all out and that's a movement where we're extending

[00:46:29] creating crossbody coordination that's just tough it's just tough sorry I'm just fighting with my

[00:46:43] that's fine sorry for the anthropra and everybody oh that's what the problem is okay

[00:47:04] anyways next question or so so other extra things that you think you know the gymnasts

[00:47:12] dancer population two needs to focus on when going into pregnancy or coming out of pregnancy

[00:47:20] well I think I know a lot of them yes I do and I just want to think about I want to say this

[00:47:28] I think that this is the generalization so I'll start by saying that I'll I find that a lot

[00:47:35] of the dancers and gymnasts I work with have a really hard time seeing their body change so dramatically

[00:47:41] so that's one that's a big one yeah and that's on that I don't think it can be overlooked

[00:47:46] and and night a lot of a lot of struggles that then translate into their training approach

[00:47:52] that translate into like their health and like they're overall like well being during that season

[00:47:57] I'm sorry with that yeah I've done I did a podcast with Dave Tillie I don't know if you're

[00:48:02] familiar with him he's a big gymnastics physical therapist and and we treat a lot of gymnasts as

[00:48:09] well and the psychology and culture of gymnastics and what it breeds and people not only is

[00:48:16] young girls it like I've had a girl come in one day that was 12 years old and I've never had such a

[00:48:23] stressed out patient and it was all because of sport and what she's being told and how she's

[00:48:28] being coached and I think for a lot of women leads to gymnasts are incredible athletes and they

[00:48:36] have this incredible mental side but it also has a big emotional component to I have these standards

[00:48:43] I'm being told I need to have for myself and I need to be I always need to be getting better

[00:48:51] there's I think it's hard in those sports even as you know maybe the culture and it has changed a bit

[00:48:56] there's still an underlying a bit there's still an underlying realm of like you're aiming for

[00:49:04] perfection what you look like how you perform and when perfection is the metric that you are being

[00:49:09] told to that is an uphill battle that might just troll you forever too unless like you do other

[00:49:16] work and you have support that helps you and so you know with a lot of my figure competitors dancers

[00:49:25] gymnasts anyone who's like used to aiming for perfect or they've been an athlete their whole life

[00:49:32] and they have a certain body fat percentage and certain things that they can do in the gym

[00:49:37] like they this is a really vulnerable season for them to see their body change a lot and then

[00:49:43] to have a be different postpartum to then maybe just managing like well it's not just about me anymore

[00:49:49] it's not about just my training goals like I have a baby I'm taking care of and my life and my

[00:49:53] routine has changed and you don't want to trade it but at the same time like it can be it's a

[00:49:58] it can be a mental battle figuring out like what is your new reality look like because it's a

[00:50:07] used to control if I do this then I'm going to get this result up rocks me on this timeline and

[00:50:13] motherhood comes around and it just slaps you across the face and makes you re-examine your whole

[00:50:18] approach to your identity and expression as an athlete and that is just heart so I think when

[00:50:25] we can acknowledge that that's like kind of the first step to finding out what can I do with that now

[00:50:31] but I think this hasn't really been talked about a whole lot because it is it can be embarrassing

[00:50:38] you know and people like they don't they don't want to feel like like a bad mom they don't want to

[00:50:43] feel like a bad mom and there's enough shitty messaging out there that women are navigating when

[00:50:48] they are going through pregnancy and becoming a mom we don't want to add to that but just I think

[00:50:55] bringing awareness to just being a hard identity shift yeah and so

[00:51:01] looping that into postpartum depression how common is that with women and say it is a lot more

[00:51:10] common than what the statistics tell us and I say that as people don't even know it

[00:51:16] self and I coach I've coached thousands of women thousands of women through these chapters

[00:51:24] it is rare to work with somebody who doesn't I mean it exists across the spectrum so I also say that

[00:51:32] there's postpartum depression and then there's just like underlying feelings of depression because

[00:51:36] it's such a transitional season of life there's so much change to adapt to with your lifestyle

[00:51:42] with your body with your routine with your different outlets that you normally had that are now

[00:51:47] paused or very different your participation looks different so there can be an underlying like

[00:51:54] grief attached to pregnancy and postpartum and so I would say that postpartum depression

[00:52:03] it kind of just yes it's very common whether it's called that or not it I think all women struggle

[00:52:10] they all struggle even if they love their baby and it's not to dismiss that at all it's just

[00:52:16] saying like this is a hard season it's hard because it is different and there you never really know

[00:52:22] you're going to get and there are so many variables that are outside of our control and like I said earlier

[00:52:26] athletes love control and motherhood does not allow for control and the more you try to control

[00:52:31] within motherhood the kind of crazier that you get and then it's like this it's a cycle that just

[00:52:37] re-spiral and it can be really really hard to acclimate and that for them to acclimate it just takes a

[00:52:46] little while so I think we also just have to say like how you're feeling right now like you were not crazy

[00:52:50] this is it is normal for you to feel this way and like here are ways that we can support you

[00:52:57] that you can be supported that you can get the thing you know the help that you need and again so much

[00:53:01] of it is just having like acknowledging conversations like this one that we're having now

[00:53:05] replete feels you're in herred and like okay I'm not crazy I'm not I shouldn't feel guilty for

[00:53:10] feeling this way other people feel this way too you know it's like it's that that could be healing

[00:53:14] in and of itself yeah and I'll add to that too my own story not that I've had a baby

[00:53:24] but last year in the past year I've had a lot of life changes so I left a relationship there was a child

[00:53:30] involved in that that was not mine but I was acting as a step parent I moved twice I bought a home

[00:53:39] I went from having a 55 minute commute each way to work to a one minute and 27 second minute commute

[00:53:47] which is great in certain ways and then I basically replaced myself as a PT to pursue my business

[00:53:55] ownership goals so I went from treating 37 hours a week plus coaching 20 athletes and managing

[00:54:01] two gyms and three PT clinics to only treating eight hours a week and I've been going a therapy

[00:54:08] for the past year because just like yeah I'm like okay there's lots of my past and things that

[00:54:13] I wanted to explore me a better app but I realized like I feel out of sync I don't like my discipline

[00:54:20] was gone my a lot of my like daily habits were gone I just something didn't feel right to me

[00:54:29] and my therapist so much like you have symptoms of adjustment disorder like most people can handle

[00:54:35] one maybe two big life stressors in a year and she's like you just did like five of them all at once

[00:54:42] and I didn't really realize at first it's like it's all this fun stuff I bought a home

[00:54:46] you know exciting but then like after all kind of settles in you're like okay well like I don't

[00:54:52] have to be up at six I am anymore to get to the gym for seven to see a client and I have more

[00:54:58] free time to think and do things but like I didn't even I didn't have the hormonal shifts

[00:55:04] the the stress of making sure I know what I'm doing but I don't think any parent really knows

[00:55:09] what they're doing for their their first point at least it's probably more of a guessing game so it's just

[00:55:15] I'm saying this just to validate that like what you're going through is probably someone that's just

[00:55:22] gone through all this is a major major life stress and like major life adjustment like you said like

[00:55:28] it's have all of those changes all at once and a lot of times like you know pregnancy is a change

[00:55:34] the labor and delivery process might not go exactly the way that they plan so like it's managing

[00:55:43] expectations and then having to adapt so quickly and then you're wanting to be this good

[00:55:47] parent but you're figuring out this new baby and what they need then you're not getting sleep so there

[00:55:52] are so many things that you're having to adjust to an adapt to and then fight against what your

[00:55:56] expectations were and it can again so hard because we want control we want to feel like we're doing

[00:56:03] the right thing that we're doing what's healthy and what's best for our baby but so much of it is

[00:56:10] like a trial by fire and it is really hard to just acclimate all of that so like of course

[00:56:17] it's depressing right because so many things are out of whack like your whole life has been flipped

[00:56:22] upside down and you know conversely it's also so beautiful and like you love this baby and you're

[00:56:29] so grateful for it and it's extremely complex I think there's just like kind of a lot of grief

[00:56:34] and love that coexist during that season of life and you can't you know women like we can't have

[00:56:40] so much pressure on ourselves to get back to who we were or to like perform this way or being the

[00:56:46] gym this many times or look a certain way like there has to be grace that's given because ultimately

[00:56:51] if you give yourself grace during these challenging seasons it will pay off in the long run your

[00:56:59] athleticism does not end when you become a mom even if it looks different and you're going to be

[00:57:02] in a season of different for a while except that and then no like you're not washed up it is not over

[00:57:09] like I am I have a six year old now and so I'm like a six year's postpartow I don't normally say

[00:57:15] about but like I am doing so much more now than I was than it don't feel older I don't feel worse

[00:57:21] I don't feel like my body sucks but we got my life has changed dramatically from when I was

[00:57:28] had an infant when I was breastfeeding when I bought it wasn't my own when my sleep wasn't my own

[00:57:33] like you can't have these rigid expectations on yourself when so much of your life is not within

[00:57:39] your control I have a lot more control over my life right now and my body and how I what I do with my

[00:57:44] time and you'll get there and it's not going to take six years I'm just trying to share that

[00:57:49] perspective of give yourself grace because your time is an athlete and what you want to do and

[00:57:54] how you want to spend your time and use your body that's not done it's not done it's just different right now

[00:58:00] how much of postpartum depression do you think is from a chemical or hormonal sense versus

[00:58:12] how much of it is just a disruption of someone's own view of who they are what they can do

[00:58:21] control over their life etc. yeah I don't know but I think it's just both I think there's like

[00:58:28] chemical and hormonal for sure because your your shit's out of whack but also like even if your

[00:58:34] hormones were perfect and you were sleeping and maybe you are a year postpartum now but like

[00:58:39] you're just you've had a hard time accompanying and adjusting and it's just been a really

[00:58:43] really hard like that's lifestyle that is like your life and sometimes there's not

[00:58:49] sometimes there's things that we can control and like to make it better and other times it is just

[00:58:53] a so it's a frustrating waiting game it's just a frustrating waiting game we're not trying to

[00:58:59] wish the way so I think that's why it's like figuring out well like what can I do then what what

[00:59:04] can I do do I have 15 minutes can I go on a walk can I do this can I do that like what's

[00:59:10] actually in my control or is it maybe it's not five days a week that I wanted to work out but can

[00:59:14] it be three can it be two like where can we find that something where we get that little like

[00:59:20] we're moving towards the light essentially like how can we find that and that can be really hard

[00:59:25] especially when you're when you're depressed yeah and so what other you know factors variables

[00:59:36] or viewpoints and maybe habits should people dealing with postpartum depression be looking at

[00:59:45] or looking towards doing yeah I think and this is hard because it's not accessible everybody but I think

[00:59:52] if you can meet with a therapist even prior to becoming pregnant or prior to having your baby

[00:59:59] I'm a mental health therapist I think that goes a really long way and then having that person that

[01:00:04] you can meet with it I don't know like every couple weeks even once a month just as a check in

[01:00:11] who is not attached to your life who is not in your your's not your partner not your mom not your

[01:00:17] sister not your friends on the internet or accounts that you follow that or whatever like

[01:00:21] somebody who knows you who gets you that you can like talk things out with until you kill it

[01:00:27] like that's how that's how I process things I'm until like I need to figure out how I feel about

[01:00:31] something I'm just going to talk it out until I kill it with my own brain it's with my therapist

[01:00:36] it's whatever it's with like my girlfriend but having that person who is removed from you

[01:00:41] I think is really really key and I know that's not an accessible answer to everybody if it is

[01:00:47] I think we're hopefully at an in an era where therapy doesn't have such a stigma attached to it anymore

[01:00:53] I used to think like and this was 11 years ago but I just was like I am strong like I am tough

[01:00:59] I'm fine. I don't need therapy. I am freaking fine. I just need to I need I need the long time

[01:01:04] and I need to work out that's like what I would say all the time and my sister who I've run

[01:01:08] like late has for doctorated psychology was like bitch you need to go do a therapist and I was like

[01:01:13] no you know so like I so I could post that I keep on my mirror is like I will not be committed to my own

[01:01:20] struggle like I just and like that's taken years and years and like a ton of different life events

[01:01:27] that have thrown me like way more than just motherhood like so much life experience that we have

[01:01:33] where it's like I will not be committed to my own struggle so for me that means really like acknowledging

[01:01:38] the need for take care of my mental health and everybody in my life benefits

[01:01:43] I like that sign I've never heard that before. Yeah you should have put that on your mirror too

[01:01:48] on a post that knows. Maybe yeah okay and so I guess another thing too so one of my things is

[01:01:58] being kind of a non-traditional physical therapists knowing and fully understanding there's a lot

[01:02:05] bad PT out there there's a lot of bad medical practice what and even people that are specializing

[01:02:14] as a physical as a doctor or physical therapy in the world of being specialized

[01:02:22] as a pelvic floor physical therapist. What common. What are the issues you see with

[01:02:34] physical therapists giving for advice to postpartum and pregnant women that are athletes

[01:02:41] that might not actually suit them. Maybe general advice for other people but wrong for this

[01:02:47] person that might be an exception to the normal way to do pelvic floor PT in rehab. Okay a

[01:02:55] couple things I think one thing that we still see is a lot of limitations don't do this because like

[01:03:03] clear vagina is fragile and like that's not it or just like do cables or if you have symptoms

[01:03:08] like stop doing all these things so again like fear, mongering don't lift over 15 pounds kind of

[01:03:14] advice I think that still is very prevalent and people like you and I still kind of live in an

[01:03:20] echo chamber where we're like yeah like we are surrounded by colleagues and people that are like

[01:03:24] really invested in improving the state of physical therapy and performance and yet like when I refer

[01:03:30] clients they're like well my PT told me I like shouldn't definitely more I should stop

[01:03:34] going across fetters just not doing that I'm like shit like still we're still there huh and then

[01:03:40] and then I had I had a real goviral a couple months ago and it was with my colleague

[01:03:47] Mendisha's a pelvic floor physical therapist here in Eagle Idaho and she was like I had permission

[01:03:54] from both her and her patient that who is actually works on my team um who is managing

[01:04:00] prolapse is a very high level athlete she has pelvic organ prolapse and there are certain

[01:04:05] movements at crossfit that really trigger symptoms and so she was like you know she went to Mendie

[01:04:11] and again had permission to film this and some Mendie did like a standing Eval so technically she had

[01:04:20] the draped thinging on and Mendie was like assessing her so had like an internal assessment happening

[01:04:29] but then Christina had like loaded up with barbells and was doing like the push press movement

[01:04:34] which is what was really aggravating her when she got across it was the catching and also like

[01:04:39] the force production of doing like push presses or jerks so Mendie was like feeling with the pelvic

[01:04:44] floor was doing with different strategies using this pain paper and it's full of like okay so

[01:04:48] we exhale here maybe we do a pelvic floor contraction here as your absorbing the force or whatever kind

[01:04:53] of playing around with different strategies so she could feel what was happening when Christina

[01:04:59] was actually doing that movement pattern and what her pelvic floor was doing and then

[01:05:03] okay let's shift this position forward a little bit was that better okay yeah that felt better

[01:05:07] your pelvic floor was able to absorb that force way better and I can literally feel that right here

[01:05:12] and you and it can give you this real time feedback well the internet got like we're like oh my god

[01:05:17] why can't physical therapists do a standing evil for me um a lot of them are were frustrated that

[01:05:25] you know this seems so practical we get not practiced and some physical therapists or some

[01:05:32] people were saying their PT literally told them no I won't evil use standing they're not symptomatic

[01:05:38] when they're just freaking flat on their back but the second we involve grabbing like that

[01:05:41] having changes fourings are going to shift things shift and move and so I don't know why

[01:05:46] some physical therapists are committed to their own struggle of not wanting to evolve their game

[01:05:51] of their practice of meeting their clients where they're at because most of the time

[01:05:56] we're not like how they present flat on their back on a table is not the reality of what

[01:06:01] they're experiencing whether it's ortho or you know pelvic health symptoms so I think it's like

[01:06:07] the willingness for PT's to get like really creative and crafty and tap into a coach brain

[01:06:13] that maybe is not common for them but I think when PT's can put on a coach at it's going to

[01:06:22] improve the results that their clients are that their patients get and it's going to improve

[01:06:29] the trust it's gonna improve the compliance it's going to improve a lot of things when they're

[01:06:33] really to like kind of get it in the trenches with them and evolve their game that real overall

[01:06:40] I mean it blew up it did so well and I think it brought awareness to both the PT population

[01:06:45] and also just the general women's population of like ask your PT to assess you standing this isn't

[01:06:51] crazy this is like basic and it doesn't have to be with with weights it can literally just be like

[01:06:57] okay you know what I'm like really symptomatic after I've been standing all day holding my baby like this

[01:07:01] okay why will let look like your glutes in your pelvic floor right now like what happens when

[01:07:06] you change your position what happens when you like exhale here what happens after we downtrain

[01:07:10] this pelvic floor with some breaths for a while now let's have you stand and feel that oh you feel better

[01:07:15] okay like it's just adding to your game and I think the willingness to do that instead of being

[01:07:20] committed to what you were taught in PT school 10 years or 20 years ago

[01:07:25] yeah I mean that that's um it's crazy because same thing for us too like in PT there's so many

[01:07:35] PT's that just look at well how do your hips move when they're sitting on the table when

[01:07:39] the moment you sit up and load is introduced to the spine the neurological system kicks on and

[01:07:46] says oh we have to stabilize now everything changes everything changes about the way we're

[01:07:51] bracing the tone of the muscle the strength of it like some people will depend on what's going on

[01:07:57] like you could have zero strength in your shoulder or your hips say when seated in a vertical position

[01:08:05] once we lie down and take pressure off of the spine if there's something going on with the spine

[01:08:11] or nerve root you can have all your strength back because that nerve isn't being impinged anymore

[01:08:16] so same with the pelvic floor it's all orthopedic still like right so uh I think like it shouldn't

[01:08:23] be treated as one one entity like that's the crazy thing if you're a pelvic floor PT you need

[01:08:30] to have the brain of it ortho brain of neuro like you have to have the brain of sports med like

[01:08:34] you've got to bring those tools in because it cannot be treated so um I don't know what the

[01:08:43] word I'm looking for is but just like through like one scope like you need a full body of scopes

[01:08:48] right like you really have to look at it beyond just the pelvic floor and yes there's a time

[01:08:52] for giggles but for the most part like use movement and to create that like help help them teach

[01:08:59] kagels should be more from like a neuro side of things so they're being they can find awareness

[01:09:03] of that system um there's so many different reasons why women may struggle to have familiarity

[01:09:09] with how their vagina functions. They haven't been taught that be there could be trauma see there's

[01:09:15] birth like there's just unfamiliar it's taboo still so women just don't know a lot about their bodies

[01:09:20] and there's a really big opportunity there for pelvic floor PT's to help teach them and then

[01:09:25] importantly empower them and use aspects of like ortho and sport to really like not make it weird.

[01:09:34] Yeah absolutely um and in the limitation thing too was huge of if you you know and everyone wants

[01:09:42] to go the insurance route and just find the closest you know practice sometimes and for some

[01:09:48] people that's okay but if you are a high level athlete you need to find someone specific for you

[01:09:53] that can can understand you and not only understand you but understand why you're different

[01:10:00] from the rest of the population in that you know I have a girl that's um she's a hundred 45

[01:10:09] pounds maybe and she deadlifts 440. She yeah she's top top medalist in uh USA powerlifting but

[01:10:20] that goes to say like if someone gave her a 15 pound weight limit after pregnancy like

[01:10:27] she's probably on average four times stronger than everyone else. So why are we giving her the

[01:10:34] same blanket statement when her muscles have more integrity her ligaments her tendons her bracing

[01:10:39] her awareness is all at a higher level than most people's right so with athletes I think it's just

[01:10:47] saying like you are the exception in powerlifting you are very very strong and now you know

[01:10:56] not just her but like any powerlifting or crosshair and now you're pregnant so like we just have a

[01:11:01] new body to work with that's not to say that you're not strong it's not like can you still lift

[01:11:05] something it does it serve you right now and what does that actually look like how can we figure

[01:11:10] all like what does serve you and like what factors are we taking into consideration because 300 pounds

[01:11:14] might not be heavy for you from like a muscular perspective from a strength output perspective but

[01:11:20] like that's still 300 pounds against a changing core and pelvic floor and gravity that your

[01:11:25] your then you're repetitively lifting so again it's not a question of your performance and your

[01:11:30] ability it's more of a question of like is this serving your body right now and we don't know

[01:11:34] we have to we have to figure that out and then change some of those strategies are you are you

[01:11:38] are you are you are you are you are you are you using a vowel okay like let's try something different

[01:11:41] like what is your you're set up look like because a lot of power lifters I had to preach

[01:11:45] to the choir here but you have a very particular set up stance who who tension and then like you

[01:11:51] deadlift like so like can we like bring that down a little bit like can we just change approach

[01:11:56] in some aspects and that's not to say stop dead lifting sub squatting now we need to keep women

[01:12:01] in the game through all of their life seasons but like how they participate like let's adapt

[01:12:07] that a little bit without it being like his black and white do this do not do that you know

[01:12:11] need to uh so what do you say too it sounds like this is kind of come up a few times almost like

[01:12:18] because yeah it's especially power power lifting more than weight lifting you can't really

[01:12:23] train a brace in weight lifting is it happens so fast it's kind of there it's not and it's something

[01:12:28] we have to train on the back end but like for power lifting anyone the trying to just lift heavy

[01:12:33] would you say there's almost an extra emphasis on trying to brace less hard?

[01:12:39] yes okay cool yeah I think that's a good that is a good um it's like the gateway drug you know

[01:12:46] like they've been experiencing a little bit and then we can keep hacking it from there like just

[01:12:50] little little ways like yeah don't brace as hard cool okay now let's add an exhale here cool

[01:12:55] alright let's like bring your pressure up a little bit cool like let's like less grippy at the

[01:13:00] top of your deadlift or less like you know here at the top of your squat like then we can start

[01:13:07] like making adjustments from there in ways that are really practical that they understand that's

[01:13:11] going to serve their body now and long term and I would argue that this is not just pregnancy

[01:13:16] imposed part of them this is all female athletes because all of us have a whole at the base of our

[01:13:20] core we all are really prone to pelvic floor symptoms um at a certain point in time that's why

[01:13:27] we have so many girls that pee when they do double-unders or at the sticking point of the squat

[01:13:32] or when the barbell's like right at that knee and you know they're in kind of like that

[01:13:36] call it the dog shit position where they're just like trying to grind through the movement like

[01:13:39] that's a lie I'm so glad I asked if I could swear on this podcast because it just

[01:13:44] lets me be a little bit more good but um like that that's why you know and it's that has nothing

[01:13:49] to do with babies that has everything to do with our anatomy and forces and physics so like let's

[01:13:55] we can find better strategies and it'll support your quality of life when you're 70

[01:14:00] and it'll support your performance now. Yeah absolutely so do you think too that um

[01:14:11] every female should be or not every female but any pregnant or postpartum woman should be going to

[01:14:18] pelvic floor PT. I think it can be a really beneficial tool and still a lot of people

[01:14:24] don't have access to that in a perfect world I would say at least at one time assessment during

[01:14:29] pregnancy just so you can have like eyes and hands on you so that you're getting feedback of like

[01:14:34] okay this is what you're doing with your breath or your pressure or your tension here's a few

[01:14:38] things to be aware of here's what you should be aware of like when you're going into um delivery

[01:14:43] because if you've just been taught to like breath hold and breathe that's not really great

[01:14:49] for your pelvic floor when you're trying to push a baby out so like let's come up with some

[01:14:52] strategies here so pelvic floor PT can be really great as a proactive person for them to meet

[01:14:57] at least one time maybe during the their third trimester of pregnancy and also that gives the PT

[01:15:03] context for how they they present postpartum to well I saw her doing her pregnancy I kind of

[01:15:13] when she wasn't doing what her symptoms were if she had any or maybe what she was just kind of

[01:15:17] naturally predisposed to cool PT has that in their head and then that also gives you as the patient

[01:15:24] you know knowing like who's on your team postpartum like who is part of your support team maybe it's

[01:15:29] your coach maybe it's a pelvic floor physical therapist mental health therapist but that PT can be on

[01:15:34] your team postpartum so I think having that person who has scope beyond your doctor telling you

[01:15:39] you're cleared and you're like cool okay and then you just go do whatever the hell you want to

[01:15:44] do that's not helpful for female athletes and a PT can be the person to help bridge that gap

[01:15:48] with your actual level of readiness and different like aspects of rehab that your that your body needs

[01:15:54] if you push for four hours for example like okay my brain is saying she has a very high risk

[01:16:00] of pelvic floor going prolapse whether she has it now or not we don't want her to go out

[01:16:05] run five miles because your doctor told her that she's cleared and she's really motivated to get

[01:16:09] her body back so how can we give her this info to make really informed choices about her

[01:16:14] understanding her body because right now her doctor said she's cleared the PT has the opportunity

[01:16:19] to say and your pelvic floor is literally injured right now it is injured and we need to help

[01:16:24] it feel better so that your body can feel better your symptoms can improve you won't create

[01:16:29] symptoms and you can perform better long-term so I think a PT is a huge player that we have to

[01:16:35] really encourage our athletes to see postpartum to at least get that assessment to get that

[01:16:41] insight and feedback that goes beyond your cleared absolutely yeah we see this in orthopedics too

[01:16:47] it's like they go to the doctor or the surgeon you know they had an ACL tear and it's like

[01:16:53] okay they sit on the table they test their quad strength and their hamstring strength

[01:16:57] in a seated position and like okay yep you're clear to go back to sport sometimes it's like

[01:17:02] because it's been nine months it's like what the fuck like we have a 70% discrepancy between

[01:17:07] right and left jump strength single leg stability range of motion psychological readiness all that

[01:17:14] like it's like it's the same conversation it's really the same kind of thing and it is so frustrating

[01:17:19] because people because I am not a medical doctor they're like I don't want to listen to you

[01:17:26] like right but I see the thing like I'm measuring and looking at all the factors that your

[01:17:32] doctor is not because that's just not their scope practice that's not their job that's my job

[01:17:36] and that is your job as a PT like that's where we have to like hope that doctors just refer to us

[01:17:42] for better context around their athletic readiness to return to sport or fitness or whatever it

[01:17:48] that's not the case and unfortunately the general population is just going to defer to what

[01:17:51] their doctor said and then they end up frustrated hurt or you know seeing us eventually

[01:17:58] and so for any listeners that are looking to work with you or someone you've certified where

[01:18:07] what is the name of the certification or are there certain things

[01:18:10] um accolade certifications credentials that people should look for especially as a

[01:18:18] as a you know pregnant or postpartum athlete that people should be looking for to be able to return

[01:18:24] to lifting and in doing the activities they want safely yeah well I got you covered there because

[01:18:30] I am like the person who works with pregnant postpartum athletes in a banana bird decade now

[01:18:35] so my website is the pregnant postpartum athlete.com and I have a lot of different resources there

[01:18:41] to help navigate training during pregnancy from like a from different free resources reading

[01:18:47] to a fitness program same with a postpartum program help bridge the gap between

[01:18:52] re-had and return to fitness and then my certification program is for coaches and practitioners

[01:18:58] and honestly anybody who wants to learn how to train during these seasons and potentially help

[01:19:03] others that's pregnancy and postpartum athleticism and that's it's all online itself pace it's

[01:19:09] evidence-based but has a significant practical approach because I'm a strength conditioning coach

[01:19:14] by trade I want to not just tell you theory I want to show you how to apply and make it really

[01:19:19] practical to the female athletes that we're seeing who are wanting to pursue athleticism as a

[01:19:25] mother like it does not end when mother had begins and I am a firm believer that we need the

[01:19:29] cool fitness and practitioner communities to get together and rally behind this so that's where

[01:19:34] you can find me in the Instagram I'm at Brianna dot battles or the brand page is at pregnant dot postpartum.

[01:19:41] athlete. I'm so happy I found someone out here on the world that has a longer website

[01:19:46] named than me. I will show you all the struggles real. Barbelpharipy. Yeah Barbelpharipyriformis.com

[01:19:57] because Barbelpharipy is being pirated for like $10,000 right now so I'm not going to put that

[01:20:03] in for a domain but yeah Brianna has a ton of awesome content on her Instagram page and I think

[01:20:11] for any of you listening it could definitely be something that could maybe shift your viewpoint

[01:20:16] a little bit on how you view yourself as a mom and things after so yeah someone is at my door

[01:20:25] late for a meeting anyways so I do go to I'll just drop off a package. So yeah anything else you

[01:20:34] have to add Brianna? Well thank you so much for having me and I'm just getting this conversation

[01:20:39] out there even more and appreciate it. Yeah and if any of you listeners have questions, comments

[01:20:45] concerns you want to have Brianna back on to talk about anything you know specifically a little

[01:20:51] more in depth we could definitely do that in the future and also in the meantime you can go check

[01:20:55] out her podcast where she has very in depth conversations on a lot of different topics related

[01:21:01] to being a postpartum athlete so definitely check her out so again thank you for coming on and yeah

[01:21:08] this is great great show thank you. Thank you.