Pregnancy and Post Partum Training with Brianna Battles

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to the Barbell Therapy podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Brett Scott. With me here today is Brianna Battles. She's a strength and conditioning coach and she's the CEO and founder of Pregnancy and Post Partum Athleticism.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_00]: She also certifies coach and professionals and practitioners to do the same. She is also the host of the Practice Brave podcast talking all about this topic of training in being an athlete as a mom, as a two-be mom.

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_00]: 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] [SPEAKER_00]: 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 kind of go over today.

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And she also has walked the walk as an athlete. She's a competitive jujitsu purple belt. She lifts.

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: 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] [SPEAKER_01]: That's a very California sport.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So thank you for coming on today. So Brianna, what inspired you to start helping people in the postpartum world and population?

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so I mean I had been in strength conditioning my degrees in background are all in coaching and exercise phase.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I had coached a variety of settings from Clea Jethletics, a corporate wellness, a personal training.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_01]: 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] [SPEAKER_01]: Or at least a popular title, I guess.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And how to really traumatic birth in a hard time recovering close-partum that a lot of my belief systems were flipped upside down.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_01]: 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 and like I'm an athlete and I understand the human body.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_01]: 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] [SPEAKER_01]: And women's health through pregnancy through postpartum and then believing that you're still an athlete even when you become a mom like that season of life as an athlete doesn't have to end when you finish college at 22 or when you are 25.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And well now I'm going to be done whatever competing and whatever sport it might be that you know we want to keep women training throughout their lifetime.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_01]: And that just became really apparent to me this was 11 years ago 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] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, basically only 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] [SPEAKER_00]: 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] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's really important and of you most people don't have.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: 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.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: 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] [SPEAKER_00]: Later on in life when you know your kids or teenagers and stuff.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_00]: 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.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: 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] [SPEAKER_01]: 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 change and it is hard like these seasons.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_01]: 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] [SPEAKER_01]: 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 it's it is actually pretty temporary and there's just again these endless opportunities.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_01]: To redefine what being an athlete looks like for you like I have found so many different sports and hobbies and done so many different things after becoming a mom.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: But it doesn't and I think there's also a lot to be said for.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't have to be like this high performance thing it can be you have a baby and you.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_01]: 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 you can sit in part of your lifestyle and your routine.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And then you can build upon that more as they 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] [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely and.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I think one of the big things too that's still hard and we're getting better at it as an industry but.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: There's so many resources available yet they're so contradictory and probably overwhelming especially to someone that that's putting a new person into this world so.

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: 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 practitioner saying only do this don't do that blah blah blah.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And then you have the other extreme of people are doing snatches with you know at 37 weeks pregnant in a bar going pretty close to their belly and squatting heavy in all this so.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: 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] [SPEAKER_00]: 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.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_01]: 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] [SPEAKER_01]: And then like you said there's this extreme end of this spectrum where we have like crossfitters or people qualifying for the Olympics and they're.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_01]: And then there's a couple 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] [SPEAKER_01]: 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] [SPEAKER_01]: You'll tell me what to do with my body you don't get me like I am fit I was doing this before I can keep doing this now so there's almost like this attitude of exemption and ego has to exist in sports performance like you need to have an ego.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And you also have to learn how to leverage that ego and I call that like leveraging your athlete brain knowing that some like it's a 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] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's not just if you can do something it's if you should right now well how do we to say for that so for the most part you have to look at.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Like actually being informed it's not just about is it safe for mom and baby because like safe is kind of relative and most things and of course there's a lot of different like there are contra indications right and if you're doctor or you have a specific medical contraification.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay for the most part exercise during pregnancy is safe like we don't need to be convinced of that we know this we have plenty of research that advocates for.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_01]: the safety of exercise and encouraging women of the benefits for both the baby and the mom to train during pregnancy we don't need to be convinced of that.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: What is significantly lacking in the research and what I have poured the last decade into is connecting the dots between.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Corn pelvic health their psychology and their long term athletic performance we have to be really informed of those three areas because that is what is oftentimes dismissed when understanding when should I stop doing this when should I start doing that.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_01]: How long can I keep doing this for is this okay is it not okay well we have to understand like the belief systems and motivations behind it are they trying to get back to something.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: At three months postpartum because they're super depressed really anxious want to feel like themselves again want to get their body back and so they're being driven through those psychological factors and considerations.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay we have to address that before we address any performance considerations okay well let's also look at their core and pelvic health their physiology that has been.

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Truly impacted by their body changing through through pregnancy and then through labor delivery and then this the postpartum physiological process we have to address that because women.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Very fit women are still experiencing in continents pelvic organ prolapse a diocese is recti things that can impact their body image their just basic function and quality of life.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And also they're athletic performance and these are symptoms that are not really talked about specifically as it relates to fitness during pregnancy and postpartum.

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we have to look at the performance considerations so how long can I keep running for how heavy should I lift things like that these questions that people have don't live over 15 pounds whatever that like even means.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And so we have to say like how are my training choices now going to affect my long term athletic performance basically my doing too much too soon before my body is ready for it.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_01]: We like to forget all things progressive overload especially postpartum and we really like to assume that you know pregnancy we can just keep maintaining instead of maybe actually as my body changes significantly I should probably kind of de-load aspects of my training that's not to say stop it it's just like being willing to make some of those adjustments.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's why there's you know the mental considerations too where we don't have we're not being led through ego we're being led through being really informed about the state of readiness of our body during pregnancy and postpartum.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: On that psychological side of things when you say you women want to fight back and say you can't tell what to do I'm a motivated athlete this in that.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_00]: How does a practitioner need to have that conversation with them that is actually productive and puts them on the right path instead of screw this guy or this you know practitioner whatever he doesn't know what he's talking about he doesn't understand me.

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, this is on say conversation I have frequently I work with professional athletes you have see fighters and.

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Olympians and people who have like hardcore deadlines of you know what they need to do by a specific timeline and so what I find is that you can't tell an athlete what to do or what not to do they have to come to those kind of conclusions.

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_01]: By being really informed and then we as coaches and as practitioners also have to embrace their autonomy like we can't be so attached to their choices and their outcomes.

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But it is our job to guide and inform if we are in their corner so to speak.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_01]: So what I like to do is share the process of if you want to compete you want to do this triathlon you want to get back into the octagon you want to compete at the Olympics.

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's look at what your body is going to experience and they kind of reverse engineer that process this is why I was suggest that you probably should discontinue running.

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_01]: For right now this is why I think that you should hang out around these loads or change the volume of your training the loads the intensity whatever it might be stop doing this maybe start introducing more of that like so that there's a game plan in place.

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_01]: And a solid reason behind it not based in fear of mongering but based in performance you have to speak the language of performance to athletes that are committed to that.

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah one thing I'll say to that I've experienced in one of my mentors is top me is so many so many people go out there and they're told just stop doing us stop doing that you can't do this where the the sweet sauce is just saying.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_01]: For right now let's do this instead of this yeah you got to get options not limitations that's like a huge or of coaching is like the language that we use.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah so I think for those out there it's really important that we were fighting the right practitioners for ourselves that that aren't a.

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Always are never type person or they speak in absolute you need to find someone that does have options because.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's part of why we have this podcast there's so many different options out there for people that people just don't know about and they go to one person they get one one option.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not for them and then they just feel stuck.

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah especially like I think with you know a lot of some some of the different symptoms that women experience well I have in continents I pee when I squat heavy or when I do double wonders and so a lot of.

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Doctors a lot of physical therapists will say well you just need to stop squatting that load and you need to stop doing double wonders and they're told to stop activity.

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's not going to help anybody in any way they're either going to keep doing it or they're going to be.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_01]: It just I don't know can we swear on this podcast yes, okay so it's like and then it just mind fucks them so then every single time they load up the barbell like they're going to be like oh my god i'm making a like me myself and then that chills their performance so like.

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I think especially with women's health issues we've created a weird taboo around something that is actually like.

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Really prevalent in women's sports and this is not just a mom thing this is like teenage gymnasts that we're working with these are our college basketball players are high impact high pressure high tension athletes these are our ultra marathoners.

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_01]: These are so many different women that struggle with their different public health considerations that we've never looked at it really through the scope of performance.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_01]: But we have to be able to speak that language and also tell them like.

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_01]: There are options here you don't just stop squatting heavy you don't have to stop doing double wonders but like why don't we change the approach to these things or scale back a little bit.

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Build up a new strategy and make improvements and you know sometimes it is pregnancy and postpartum and.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Of course method that kind of exposes some of these vulnerabilities and symptoms but it is not limited to just like mom life.

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely and in that same breath not that this has anything to do with pregnancy and postpartum but just in the in the scope of the same parallel in the medical model I had a patient come in the other day she's a 50 year old woman and she's been having some elbow pain.

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Just like tennis elbow pain is what she kind of where she pointed and she had gone toward her primary care for it and her primary care.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And it hurt her while she was lifting a little bit of starting to bother her more and more.

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So she went to her PCP and her PCP told her she should just stop lifting all together and that's women over the age of 50 just aren't meant to lift.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Which is why we have so much evidence to the contrary you know and after doing a valuation it was the most simple textbook 10 anopathy I ever I've ever seen like I couldn't have been a simpler case.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And the other the other catch here was she didn't even heard it lifting she'd whack her arm on a door and it bruised and she had like just some some acute swelling of the area that was sensitizing the tendon.

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And so she came back to me for a second visit last week and she's like you know it feels so much better and I don't know why in the senan I was like well we validated you that it's okay to have a little bit of pain that danger is not damaged you're not making it worse.

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And that things can get better just from a psychological standpoint of not being in this place where you think something bad is happening or by you doing this thing you really love that you're causing damage yourself because you're not.

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it is hacking some of their belief systems and changing their belief systems because they on both extremes right in the world that I work in is like really limited belief systems and fear around their body changing what they can do what they can't do what their symptoms are what that must mean for their like life diagnosis or you know that they're on the other end of that is that they're invincible.

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And that nothing they don't have to make adjustments that they're you know kind of exempt from some of the guidance that exists for a good reason.

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_01]: You know it's it's to value not just their athletic performance but ultimately their quality of life like how your body functions and feels.

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Outside of the gym when you're 50 60 70 when you're in Perry Metapaz and now you have hormones you know also influencing that system like there's just so many factors that play that we really have to look into and understand like.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: What's the angle we can take to really help people feel more informed and also get a feel for like what they currently believe and what they know.

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely and so when we're talking about some of these highly motivated athletes that are kind of fighting against their current state of being.

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Where do we start with them because it's like and I don't know if everyone realizes it but.

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Your your life has just been thrown completely upside down of you have hormonal changes you have changes to your joints because of your hormones you have pressure management related issues because yeah you're abdominal walls you know expanded drastically.

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_00]: So we can't manage and create force through our core as much.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_00]: We have schedule changes with feeding and a baby waking up there's new stressors of providing for someone else.

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_00]: But yet some of these women do seem so motivated to to fight against that new change in their life so.

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_00]: How many of these women feel capable and mentally are working through these things.

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_00]: But physically aren't there yet and what is your advice to those those women that might be in that that category.

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, I think that's honestly the majority of so many female athletes as we want to assume the best and not just because of an ego but because.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what like we know that movement helps us feel good and we're looking for that dopamine hit because we are deprived of dopamine when you're not sleeping when you feel like your body looks like shit and like your soul.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Self esteem is trash you want to feel like yourself again.

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_01]: So you are motivated by more than just performance like you just want to feel like yourself again.

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think it is validating we have to as coaches and practitioners like validate that like it's normal to feel that way it's normal to be like incentivized to do more than maybe what you're ready for.

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_01]: But the fastest way to feel like yourself again and if actually feel good long term is to give yourself a lot of grace and patience with the process like slowly building back brick by brick progressively overloading rehabbing and then moving into fitness and then moving into more performance based.

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Like approach so to speak and making them understand just like what particular phase they are in you're in your first three months postpartum right now like the focus is just on activating to this new life to rehabbing your body getting a little bit stronger getting a little bit more movement doing what you can it might not be as many days a week as you want it might not be for as long as you want it to be like all or something absolutely counts.

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And then you know as your body changes more you just acclimate a little bit more you can start adding pieces maybe that's an extra day maybe it's a little bit more low and maybe that's a little bit more intensity whatever it might be.

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_01]: But you're just slowly kind of building and I think so much of it comes back to managing expectations it's it's validating like I get that you want to do a lot right now I get that you want to feel like yourself right now and also the fastest way to get there is to be very patient and strategic with your process and let them know like this is.

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Just the phase that you're in and you're working towards this and you're going to get little winds along the way.

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_01]: A promise and those little W's are going to be is so good and you want those you don't want the setbacks because the setbacks sometimes kind of happen anyway like with oh your baby isn't sleeping so now you're like you're missing that workout or this happened or that like you're going to have setbacks no matter what but let's not make them like performance and body related setbacks at least in the ways that are within our control.

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely and then.

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_00]: What is the biggest mistake you see women making in this realm of coming back to athleticism postpartum.

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I will keep this focus like mostly on like athlete moms is the doing too much to send is they just they are really dismissive of how much their body has changed and yes there are exceptions to this.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Sentiment they're absolutely are exceptions and one thing I try to tell my athletes is like if you train like you're not the exception you have a very good chance of becoming it.

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Like you do like if you can go with that mindset through your pregnancy through your postpartum rehab through this like rebuilding process that you are not the exception.

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_01]: You truly have a very good chance of becoming it and again there's so many variables during these seasons that we don't have control of like we don't have control of maybe different pregnancy complications or of labor and delivery and how that goes like how long you push for how many like if you have birth trauma birth injuries.

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_01]: What your birth method was like we don't really have a lot of control over those variables so we have to just reassess and adapt reassess and adapt and athletes know how to do that we like we logically came to grips with that a long long time ago and yet I think it's really easy to.

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Look at becoming a mom as like what this doesn't count like this isn't the same but in a lot of ways it is like this is a season of different.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_01]: So seasons going to require different training approach and a really strategic game plan just like you would if you're like.

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_01]: You know training for a specific event that is six months out then you know like you're training leading into it it's going to slowly progress over time but what you're doing it.

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_01]: You know five months and isn't gonna look like what you're doing in your first month in towards training for that event and we can.

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_01]: For me like more like normalized out a little bit more instead of normalizing glorification of this person did this at a few months postpartum or qualified for the cross-sick games went to the Olympics and all these things like which the media loves to glorify social media loves to glorify.

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And that is what people seek as inspiration and even comparison and new moms already struggle with comparison.

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_01]: They already struggle with that so then when you put an athlete spin on that it makes it even worse so I think if we can make the general messaging of like your body has been through a lot.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_01]: We have to acknowledge that it's been through a lot and let's take care of it so that you're not just feeling good now.

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_01]: But you're gonna get to the other side someday and I want you to feel good on the other side.

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't want you to be doubting your capabilities when you go under the barbell when you go to your cross-sick class when you compete when you do all these things you want to feel like man I'm like I'm good and I know I'm good.

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, do you have some type of framework or guidelines for how people should test themselves to get to that level that they can tolerate well and be making progress and not doing too much or backtracking.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Like yes and no I mean I think it's the same as any kind of like what practitioners would do right like red light okay no pain like not cool can't do green like good to go yellow cautious you know like yes there's that.

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I think the framework that I like to use with my athletes especially if I can get to them during pregnancy is taking a baseline of these five factors and really understanding these tendencies about themselves.

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I call it like the P&P principle and that was just something that I use in my certification that helps coaches like what are we actually looking for with our athletes and then how can we make small adjustments within these things.

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Within these players I call them to just kind of like adapt their training to thin midi guy.

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I was like what were did I just make a mitigate symptoms but also like takes the new count their performance so anyway the P&P principle I have breath how are they breathing whether natural like breathing tendencies where do they send a lot of their breath can they coordinate their.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean I have to have a pelvic floor actually relaxing and then that co-contraction of the diaphragm traveling back up with exhale and then recoiling what is their breath tendencies like and let's also look at pressure where do they send their pressure if they are barbell athlete a lot of times it'll be.

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Out in the mid line or down bearing down into the pelvic floor okay we'll like especially during pregnancy where this whole system is really impacted by a baby.

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Why don't we learn it to distribute the breath higher and wider so like I like the cube breathe in your last so we're looking at like their pressure management strategies then we're looking at their tension where do they hold a lot of tension at a lot of female athletes rip their abs we've been taught to second our stomach like our whole lives we grip our glutes and there's a lot of tension held there.

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_01]: And they don't even realize that they're doing it so our back pain.

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Pregnant clients yes so many of them because they're like ripping and squeezing their butt pretty chronically and if they're ripping their glutes like that that tells me that they have a really hypertonic pelvic floor and if they've really hypertonic pelvic floor I know they're more predisposed to pelvic floor symptoms.

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_01]: So these are just dots that I connect right and then we're looking at their positions and not like getting lost in alignment land which I don't really know your stance on that but like I don't think.

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_01]: That like we don't we don't have to be hyper focused on perfect posture or anything like that but just bringing more awareness to their movement patterns and their form and if they're constantly when they're dead lifting coming up and like really thrusting forward like this okay well now that sending more tension and pressure to the mid line.

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's putting the pelvic floor in a position to not absorb force and produce force as well so then they're going to be a little bit more symptomatic or with their squats or with their dead lifts or with their running so we're kind of troubleshooting their positions within movement.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And then looking at movement as the last player being able to connect all of these dots and saying okay in the particular movement or sport that they're doing but they want to do.

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_01]: What players influence at the most is it how they manage pressure if they're a lifter? Is it how they're managing tension if they do like more dynamic sports like what are we looking at what are their symptoms? What are they really predisposed to or what do they need to be more aware of in their in their very specific sport and how can we hack that during pregnancy to then set them up for a better postpartum return to.

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Honestly just basic fitness and then performance.

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah well so another side of that too is do you see a lot of women that have.

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean we're seeing more and more gut health issues these days anyways but do a lot of women experience.

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Digestive and irritable bowel syndrome type symptoms post pregnancy.

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah and I think a lot of it of course like there's a hormonal front but then like our our macros are super out of whack like they're not tracking them or there's like not a really good balance to like getting enough fat to getting like enough carbs because our brain.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Or like I'm fat and I need to eat less.

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Like that is that is what then there's the arch counter that as an athlete even if you're like yes body positivity cool but also like I am 50 pounds heavier than I want to be I'm 40 pounds or I'm really soft and I'm not used to feeling like this and it is a mind fuck to feel so.

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Gross in your body when you're postpartum so you are incentivized whether you want to be or not whether you have a history of eating disorder and body image struggles or not.

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Postpartum is you are so vulnerable to going towards disorder eating beliefs feelings and like motivations right like because you're just you're wanting to eat less and you're motivated to.

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Even if you've done a lot of work even if you know better right like so many of us actually no better and yet you see your body it you don't like what it looks like.

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't want it to look like that any longer and it's just easy to want to eat less and so then the like close a circle on this yeah like their digestive health is shock because they're not getting enough calories.

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_01]: If they're breastfeeding their burning a lot of calories or metabolism is is crazy and they're trying to heal so I mean their tissues need.

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Like good macro nutrients they need to balance a macro nutrients in order to heal and re-build yet a lot of postpartum athletes are really deficient because they are depriving themselves of calories in general.

[00:30:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's just interesting to hear because I had had a parasitic infection.

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I had some like digestive issues will call it for a while and I ended up with a diastasis myself and my abdomen and I think it was just related to.

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_00]: My pelvic floor was doing a lot of work to to hold things in and became probably hypertonic I assume and it became a giant pressure management issue for me and I had a pelvic floor therapy therapist look at it and she's like.

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you're putting your air in all the wrong places and even me knowing or you know supposed to be knowing what I'm doing and I can coach it to others like I didn't know how to coach myself through it.

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's a really really common knowledge or common sense and then when you're just you've not experienced digestive health issues like that before so like you're in the trenches of learning yourself and.

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Similarly to someone in pregnancy like they have and their body has experienced this this change before even if it has like it's maybe it's different this time or postpartum like that's the real mind fuck like.

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Everything is different looks different it feels different you're recovering from in a lot of ways and injury even if it was a.

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Uncomplicated birth like it's still a baby big hand your bodies really big deal well how is that not a video.

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and so on that pressure management side of things.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Like some people are still like oh you need to do keels it's like no keagles can be the answer but they're not always the answer that can make a lot of things worse so.

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And for us and for me to learn here too.

[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_00]: What are the big things you're trying to teach people especially postpartum on.

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Corrective breathing strategies bracing strategies what things do we need to talk about there.

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing I'll say to on my stance on this whole like.

[00:32:44] [SPEAKER_00]: There's the whole stance of like posture doesn't matter positioning doesn't matter biomechanics don't matter it all comes down to great exposure.

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like there is a there is a time in place where yes that the best posture is the next posture.

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And I have a friend he's a male pelvic health therapist and he was very much on this like pain science camp for a long time until he became a male pelvic health therapist.

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And this is a good lesson for everyone out there because there's so much shit that PT's, Kyros whatever we'll tell you like oh position all the stuff doesn't matter.

[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So to see him go from this like all pain science that's all in your head I'm not going to do manual therapy like it's all about training and great exposure and load.

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Those principles are true however he came to me a couple years ago now and he was like yeah you know what I was wrong he's like this stuff doesn't matter he's like because when you're breathing and how you brace affects if you pee your pants or not that's important for people.

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah and like you said for men for women like not just during pregnancy and postpartum like this is it's just our anatomy this is this is physics at play so like we do we have to especially when you're adding load or you're adding.

[00:34:01] [SPEAKER_01]: For sub-sourption like force production like we have to be able to connect some of these dots and use something.

[00:34:08] [SPEAKER_01]: That is better under certain kgls for example like we can use form or position to reinforce what we're wanting to see right like we can use things like that makes it a little bit easier.

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_01]: To solicit the change that we want we can kind of troubleshoot from the outside in which I think is key for coaches and practitioners like that's what we should be focusing on is being able to help us shoot up from the outside in their performance first.

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And so when we're looking at you know putting someone under load and getting them back to kettlebell squats or barbell squats or whatever it might be.

[00:34:43] [SPEAKER_00]: What are the biggest or are there is there an umbrella answer for some of this of what things should these athletes be thinking about for internal and external cues.

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah well I like I said before I think it's taking inventory of like how do you typically manage pressure like a lot of female athletes especially public floor symptoms are bearing down in their public floor so there's kind of like.

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Like they can see that set pressure and you can see it go down into like this lower abdomen and public floor and you might even see their butt position change when they race for their for their lift.

[00:35:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Or you see them especially if they have a diet basis they're likely somebody who's.

[00:35:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Out here into the chest into that midline and then that sort of you know that's adding pressure to this midline that's trying to heal and improve so again the Q I really really love that has been so helpful.

[00:35:38] [SPEAKER_01]: For a lot of female athletes that I worked with is to breathe into your lats or breathe into your ribs but I feel like lats allow people like more almost like range even if it's just a mental thing like more range of motion to just go here.

[00:35:51] [SPEAKER_01]: That way I'm bringing my pressure and air wide I still have a good valve salvage if I need to like breath hold but now I'm out here.

[00:35:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Instead of like down or out.

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_01]: So that Q in general is like if you're going to like your inhale send that inhale high and wide to your lats if you're like dead looking for example I like the Q.

[00:36:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Breathe into your scabs because it kind of does the same thing because breathing into your lats when you're like bent over like this is kind of like it's hard it's hard to create that but if you think breathe into your scabs.

[00:36:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay well then like now I did the same thing I send that pressure high and wide away from the public floor and away from just like out into the midline.

[00:36:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And then when we're not training at high loads because we don't need a valve salvage for every single lift that we're doing which so many people have that ingrained to breath hold and to brace it to create a lot of tension even.

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Totally right but if you have a history of being a power lifter like of course we do right but I mean like.

[00:36:51] [SPEAKER_01]: We have females who have those same tendencies and now they get pregnant and they're just a high pressure high tension machine and that is not serving their function or their performance right so we have to like that's why taking inventory like what is their baseline tendency what sport are they coming from.

[00:37:09] [SPEAKER_01]: What do they do like what is ingrained their head how do we help them make some adjustments so again if we're talking about squatting we're not we don't have to have a valve salvage for everything but maybe we're going to be like a inhale down and a.

[00:37:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Exhale coming out of the bottom of that squat that's going to again create that co-contraction of that core system so that as you are moving out of the bottom of the squat where there's that sticking point where the lot of people experience symptoms like peeing.

[00:37:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Well now that exhale that creates that co-contraction of the pelvic floor so now there's more support at the bottom of the core system so.

[00:37:46] [SPEAKER_01]: And things like that little things where we can manipulate breathing to support provide more support to the core canister but also just like where we're sending that pressure and then if they're a high tension person again I'm just using squats that's like an easier I can do that from this view.

[00:38:03] [SPEAKER_01]: You know if they're really high tension that we don't need to be creating a lot of tension against the barbell or like pulling you down hard into our back again you're not squatting for one rep max right now like you're squatting to like.

[00:38:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Bain-tain some levels of strength which doesn't have to be like all force out but it doesn't have to be max capacity you should be able to squat without like looking phased by your squat.

[00:38:30] [SPEAKER_01]: You know and I think that's a good way to like check yourself too is like.

[00:38:34] [SPEAKER_01]: How heavy should I be lifting or how much tension my generating how much pressure my generating like.

[00:38:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Especially when you're pregnant when you're rebuilding postpartum or when you're just someone who's maybe years postpartum at your managing different core and pelvic floor symptoms.

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to be lifting at loads where you're so phased by how much tension you're trying to produce or by how much pressure you're trying to produce to lift that load like scale back a little bit.

[00:38:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Introduce some new strategies excel and some of those sticking points like that call like excel on the hard part of the lift like if it's a deadlift okay like any help.

[00:39:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And then excel as you're pulling off the floor that's not what we have been taught traditionally right as not what we've been taught.

[00:39:12] [SPEAKER_01]: But again it can really improve performance and function so it's timing the time and place and then building upon your readiness that's not to say that you won't.

[00:39:20] [SPEAKER_01]: You also have a like you normally do again it's just is that serving you right now I don't know you have to figure that out for yourself and be willing to try new things.

[00:39:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah absolutely and for people that are just listening you can watch Brianna on what we'll put the video on Spotify.

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_00]: But we'll put this on YouTube too so you can see everything that you can't go around.

[00:39:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah she's dancing all around back here so.

[00:39:47] [SPEAKER_00]: So that like the and so.

[00:39:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how many non pregnant or postpartum athletes you coach but are these typically issues you'll see with regular athletes to of their bearing down too much.

[00:40:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Probably like like okay so we're using this general.

[00:40:05] [SPEAKER_01]: This is all humans and I didn't realize that until I started working with this population really sort of understand like especially women's physiology and how it works but we can work with men.

[00:40:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I work with people that have not had babies and still have symptoms and then just like honestly watching like young.

[00:40:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Like pre teen teen athletes like watching how they move to and just like you can get an idea of like some of these tendencies that are reinforced through sport like thinking about a gymnast they are just going to say.

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_01]: All rib cage all like squeezing their glutes everything right like that is.

[00:40:42] [SPEAKER_01]: A recipe for a lifetime of being to learn how to downtrain that system because they are going to live like hypertonic essentially forever saying with dancers dancers and units especially like I don't think watched up but like when they come to me and they're like 30 and they're like so I spent like 20 years as a dancer gym just I'm like I know exactly what I'm getting here.

[00:41:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I know exactly.

[00:41:05] [SPEAKER_00]: You know and but.

[00:41:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's just watching some of that and like as parents as coaches especially like little girls like we just have to be aware that like our anatomy is different like it just is it just is and we have to be aware of like some of the things that they make experience and then how their bodies change and a lot of the.

[00:41:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Research that we have is like ACLs and body dysmorphia and like whatever like that's what we have for women like we.

[00:41:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Have different anatomy were pursuing sports or performance at a very high level and we just need more people and coaches that like get it just get it and can like help us work with our body.

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_01]: With our anatomy with different things that may come up across puberty across.

[00:41:47] [SPEAKER_01]: You know competing in college in our 20s 30s pregnancy postpartum, very menopause menopause and beyond like we're in the game.

[00:41:55] [SPEAKER_01]: We just got to like have people that know how to work with it.

[00:41:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah absolutely and.

[00:42:02] [SPEAKER_00]: As far as like the you know doing core exercises versus general exercise and all that goes of you know some people have these very specific approaches yet like managing a little back pain like.

[00:42:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I have some opinions on this too, but like with managing a little back pain there's plenty of research that says.

[00:42:23] [SPEAKER_00]: That you know any general plan is just as good as like targeted core strengthening or stability work and what not.

[00:42:31] [SPEAKER_00]: What is your view on this for for postpartum and pregnant women.

[00:42:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I think a lot of people want to say these are the five exercises you should do during pregnancy to prevent x y and z and same with postpartum.

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_01]: These are the 10 exercises that you should do multiple times a week in order to heal your day faces and all of that is marketing there's no such thing as say for unsafe exercises.

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_01]: There's just levels of readiness and what's appropriate for that person and their brain and their interests and all of that.

[00:42:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm not a fan of like specific exercises.

[00:43:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that if we take like the pain, parents will say talk about where we're looking at their breath, their pressure management, their tension, their overall positioning and then how they're connecting to their movement.

[00:43:12] [SPEAKER_01]: That is actually what will help their core and their pelvic floor the most through pregnancy and postpartum apply to the kind of movement that they're already doing crossfit lifting.

[00:43:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Running to do so whatever it might be we're taking inventory of these things and we can make improvements with that said I do think that.

[00:43:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Is far as building like the enero muscular connection to that system.

[00:43:36] [SPEAKER_01]: We're so disconnected we don't understand that for women it's been really taboo to even talk about anything like that.

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_01]: That we don't have a high level of understanding of our bodies and frankly most women don't even know what incontinence or prolapse or much about their their anatomy in general until they're having a baby come out of it which is insane.

[00:43:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So we have to do a better job of like creating connection there and I think that we can use certain exercises maybe that are like more rehabilitative say something like like heal slides or whatever it might be.

[00:44:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Like that can be helpful for their brain to be like okay when I inhale here and then I exhale okay I feel kind of feeling my abs pulling in or I can feel pressure out in my midline and they know and I'm going to add this like movement to it like I'm lifting my knee and I'm extending it out.

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I can feel my abs working and coordinating that with my breath that can feel really good and can be an educational.

[00:44:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Like pathway for them to understand how to then implement that into their squats into their dead lives into their lunges into whatever kind of movement it is that they're doing.

[00:44:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So what's your thoughts on things like you know dead bugs and.

[00:44:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sorry if that was like I just I can't stand it for postpartum because it's a really complex exercise it is a hard movement and when your core is shot and it's had a baby sitting inside of it for like nine months.

[00:45:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Like now adding something that takes a lot of control and stability even for like those for you you know what I mean like this is not.

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_01]: It is something that is like slapped on every postpartum program and I just I get like so irritated because it's it's just looked at as being some great exercise but again that's.

[00:45:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Marketing it doesn't have a lot to do with like readiness for the postpartum body.

[00:45:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I just want to you know I have no emotional connection to dead bugs.

[00:45:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't have to get it.

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:45:33] [SPEAKER_01]: No.

[00:45:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I do like them for like gymnasts and dancers and populations where or some of that just has no idea how to control thorax and pelvis and stabilize that while moving the hips interdependently.

[00:45:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And just giving them a new sense of control but it's more about the control than like creating that anterior brace or things like that.

[00:46:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Great.

[00:46:02] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a great exercise of vent surely for the right person it's just not one that I'm going to tell someone who's four weeks postpartum will go do some dead bugs like that's.

[00:46:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Hard yet it it's slapped slapped on like these programs and on social media is like this is what you should be doing.

[00:46:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And most people just blast pressure through their midline because again their baby has stretched it all out and that's a movement where we're extending creating crossbody coordination.

[00:46:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's just tough it's just tough.

[00:46:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Sorry I'm just fighting with my my care because it's about to fall off the table.

[00:46:38] [SPEAKER_01]: It's okay I'm fighting with dead bugs over here so.

[00:46:43] [SPEAKER_00]: That's fine.

[00:46:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Sorry for the anthropring everybody.

[00:46:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh that's what the problem is.

[00:47:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Anyways next questioner.

[00:47:08] [SPEAKER_00]: So so other extra things that you think you know the gymnast answer population two needs to focus on when going into pregnancy or coming out of pregnancy.

[00:47:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Well I think I know a lot of them.

[00:47:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes I do and I just want to think about I want to say this.

[00:47:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that this is a generalization so I'll start by saying that I'll find that a lot of the dancers and gym miss I work with have a really hard time seeing their body change so dramatically.

[00:47:42] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's one that's a big one and that's on that I don't think can be overlooked.

[00:47:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay and night a lot of a lot of struggles that then translate into their training approach that translate into like their health and like their overall like well being during that season.

[00:47:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So leave it out.

[00:47:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah I've done I did a podcast with Dave Tilley.

[00:48:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if you're familiar with him he's a big gymnastics physical therapist and we treat a lot of gym this as well.

[00:48:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And the psychology and culture of gymnastics and what it breeds in people not only is like young girls at like I've had a girl come in one day that was 12 years old and I've never had such a stressed out patient.

[00:48:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And it was all because of sport and much as being told and how she's being coached and I think that for a lot of women leads to.

[00:48:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Gymnister and credible athletes and they have this incredible mental side but it also has a big emotional component to.

[00:48:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I have these standards I'm being told I need to have for myself and I need to be.

[00:48:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I always need to be getting better.

[00:48:51] [SPEAKER_01]: There's I think it's hard in those sports even as you know maybe the culture and it has changed a bit there's still an underlying a bit there's still an underlying.

[00:49:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Realm of like you're aiming for perfection.

[00:49:05] [SPEAKER_01]: What you look like how you perform and when perfection is the metric that you are being held to that is an uphill battle that might just troll you forever too unless like you do other work and you have support that helps you.

[00:49:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And so you know with a lot of my.

[00:49:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Figure competitors dancers gymnasts anyone who's like used to aiming for perfect or they've been an athlete their whole life and they have a certain body fat percentage and certain things that they can do in the gym.

[00:49:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Like they this is a really vulnerable season for them to see their body change a lot and then to have a be different postpartum to then maybe just managing like well it's not just about.

[00:49:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Just my training goals like I have a baby I'm taking care of and Mike my life and my routine has changed and you don't want to trade it but at the same time like it can be it's a can be a mental battle.

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Figuring out like what is your new reality look like because it's a huge identity shift and athletes are used to control we are used to control if I do this then I'm going to get this result.

[00:50:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Approximately on this timeline and mother who comes around and it just slaps you across the face and makes you reexamine your whole approach to your identity and expression as an athlete and that is just heart so I think when we can acknowledge that.

[00:50:27] [SPEAKER_01]: That's like kind of the first step to finding out what can I do with that now but I think this hasn't really been talked about a whole lot.

[00:50:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Because it is it can be embarrassing you know and people like they don't they don't want to feel like.

[00:50:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Like a bad mom they don't want to feel like a bad mom and there's enough shitty messaging out there that women are navigating when they are going through pregnancy and becoming a mom we don't want to add to that but just I think.

[00:50:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Bringing awareness to just being a hard identity shift.

[00:51:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah and so looping that into postpartum depression.

[00:51:06] [SPEAKER_00]: How common is that with women?

[00:51:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd say it is a lot more common than what the statistics tell us and I say that as.

[00:51:14] [SPEAKER_00]: People don't even know it.

[00:51:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I quote.

[00:51:20] [SPEAKER_01]: If not all the same.

[00:51:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean coach through these chapters, it is rare to work with somebody who doesn't I mean exists across the spectrum so say that like there's postpartum depression and then there's just like underlying feelings of depression.

[00:51:36] [SPEAKER_01]: because it's such a transitional season of life. There's so much change to adapt to

[00:51:41] [SPEAKER_01]: with your lifestyle, with your body, with your routine, with your different outlets that you

[00:51:46] [SPEAKER_01]: normally had that are now paused or very different. Your participation looks different. So

[00:51:51] [SPEAKER_01]: there can be an underlying grief attached to pregnancy and postpartum. And so I would say that

[00:52:05] [SPEAKER_01]: it's very common whether it's called that or not. I think all women struggle. They all struggle

[00:52:12] [SPEAKER_01]: even if they love their baby and it's not to dismiss that at all. It's just saying like this is a

[00:52:17] [SPEAKER_01]: hard season. It's hard because it is different. And you never really know what you're going

[00:52:22] [SPEAKER_01]: to get and there are so many variables that are outside of our control. And like I said earlier,

[00:52:27] [SPEAKER_01]: athletes love control and motherhood does not allow for control. And the more you try to control

[00:52:31] [SPEAKER_01]: with anotherhood, the kind of crazier that you get. And then it's like this, it's a cycle that

[00:52:36] [SPEAKER_01]: just re-spiral and it can be really, really hard to acclimate and for them to acclimate, it just takes a

[00:52:46] [SPEAKER_01]: little while. So I think we also just have to say like how you're feeling right now like you were not crazy,

[00:52:51] [SPEAKER_01]: this is it is normal for you to feel this way and like here are ways that we can support you

[00:52:57] [SPEAKER_01]: that you can be supported that you can get the help that you need. And again, so much of

[00:53:01] [SPEAKER_01]: it is just having like acknowledging conversations like this one that we're having now.

[00:53:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Reputability feels, you know, you're in herred and like okay I'm not crazy. I'm not,

[00:53:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I shouldn't feel guilty for feeling this way. Other people feel this way too, you know? It's like

[00:53:13] [SPEAKER_00]: it's that that could be healing in and of itself. Yeah and I'll add to that too,

[00:53:19] [SPEAKER_00]: my own story, not that I've had a baby but last year in the past year I've had a lot of life

[00:53:30] [SPEAKER_00]: in that that was not mine but I was acting as a step parent. I moved twice, I bought a home,

[00:53:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I went from having a 55 minute commute each way to work to a one minute and 27 second minute commute

[00:53:47] [SPEAKER_00]: which is great in certain ways. And then I basically replaced myself as a PT to pursue my business

[00:53:55] [SPEAKER_00]: ownership goals. So I went from treating 37 hours a week plus coaching 20 athletes and managing

[00:54:01] [SPEAKER_00]: two gyms and three PT clinics to only treating eight hours a week. And I've been going a therapy

[00:54:08] [SPEAKER_00]: for the past year because just like yeah, I'm like okay there's lots of my past and things that

[00:54:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to exploring a better app but I realized like I feel out of sync. I don't like my discipline

[00:54:20] [SPEAKER_00]: was gone. My a lot of my daily habits were gone. I just something didn't feel right to me and

[00:54:30] [SPEAKER_00]: my therapist so much like you have symptoms of adjustment disorder. Like most people can handle

[00:54:35] [SPEAKER_00]: 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] [SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't really realize it first since like it's all this fun stuff. I bought a home,

[00:54:46] [SPEAKER_00]: you know exciting but then like after all kind of settles in you're like okay well like I don't

[00:54:52] [SPEAKER_00]: have to be up at six a.m. anymore to get to the gym for seven to see a client and I have more

[00:54:58] [SPEAKER_00]: free time to think and do things with like I didn't even I didn't have the hormonal shifts,

[00:55:04] [SPEAKER_00]: the the stress of making sure I know what I'm doing but I don't think any parent really knows

[00:55:09] [SPEAKER_00]: what they're doing for their their first point at least. It's probably more of a guessing game so

[00:55:14] [SPEAKER_00]: just I'm saying this just to validate that like what you're going through is probably someone

[00:55:21] [SPEAKER_00]: that's just gone through all this is a major major life stress in like major life adjustment. Like

[00:55:27] [SPEAKER_01]: he said like it's have all of those changes all at once and a lot of times like you know

[00:55:33] [SPEAKER_01]: pregnancy has a change the labor and delivery process might not go exactly the way that they plan.

[00:55:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So like it's managing expectations and then having to adapt so quickly and then you're wanting

[00:55:47] [SPEAKER_01]: to be this good parent but you're figuring out this new baby and what they need that you're not

[00:55:50] [SPEAKER_01]: getting sleep. So there are so many things that you're having to adjust to an adapt to and then

[00:55:56] [SPEAKER_01]: fight against what your own expectations were and it can again so hard because we want control.

[00:56:02] [SPEAKER_01]: We want to feel like we're doing the right thing that we're doing what's healthy and what's best for

[00:56:07] [SPEAKER_01]: baby but so much of it is like a trial by fire and it is really hard to just acclimate to all

[00:56:15] [SPEAKER_01]: of that. So like of course it's depressing right? Because so many things are out of whack like your

[00:56:21] [SPEAKER_01]: whole life has been flipped upside down and you know conversely it's also so beautiful and like

[00:56:28] [SPEAKER_01]: you love this baby and you're so grateful for it and it's it's extremely complex I say there's just

[00:56:33] [SPEAKER_01]: kind of a lot of grief and love that coexist during that season of life and you can't you know

[00:56:39] [SPEAKER_01]: women like we can't have so much pressure on ourselves to get back to who we were or to like

[00:56:45] [SPEAKER_01]: perform this way or being the gym this many times or look a certain way like there has to be

[00:56:49] [SPEAKER_01]: grace that's given because ultimately if you give yourself grace during these challenging seasons

[00:56:55] [SPEAKER_01]: it will pay off in the long run your athleticism does not end when you become a mom even if it

[00:57:01] [SPEAKER_01]: looks different and you're gonna be in a season of different for a while except that and then no

[00:57:07] [SPEAKER_01]: like you're not washed up it is not over like I am I have a six year old now and so I'm like

[00:57:13] [SPEAKER_01]: a six year's postparta I don't really say that but like I am doing so much more now than I was

[00:57:19] [SPEAKER_01]: than and don't feel older I don't feel worse I don't feel like my body sucks but we got my life

[00:57:26] [SPEAKER_01]: changed dramatically from when I was in front when I was breastfeeding when I bought it wasn't

[00:57:31] [SPEAKER_01]: my own when my sleep wasn't my own like you can't have these rigid expectations on yourself

[00:57:37] [SPEAKER_01]: when so much of your life is not within your control I have a lot more control over my life right

[00:57:42] [SPEAKER_01]: now and my body and how I what I do with my time and you'll get there and it's not going to take

[00:57:47] [SPEAKER_01]: six years I'm just trying to share that as like perspective of give yourself grace because your

[00:57:52] [SPEAKER_01]: time is an athlete and what you want to do and how you want to spend your time and use your body

[00:57:56] [SPEAKER_00]: that's not done it's not done it's just different right now how much of postpartum depression do you

[00:58:05] [SPEAKER_00]: think is from a you know chemical or hormonal sense versus how much of it is just the disruption

[00:58:16] [SPEAKER_00]: of someone's own view of who they are what they can do control over their life etc.

[00:58:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah I don't know but I think it's just both I think there's like chemical and hormonal for

[00:58:29] [SPEAKER_01]: sure because your your shit's out of whack but also like even if your hormones were perfect

[00:58:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and you were sleeping and maybe you are a year postpartum now but like you're just you've had a hard

[00:58:41] [SPEAKER_01]: time accompanying and adjusting it's just been really really hard like that's lifestyle that is

[00:58:47] [SPEAKER_01]: like your life and sometimes there's not sometimes there's things that we can control and like to

[00:58:51] [SPEAKER_01]: make it better and other times it is just a so it's a frustrating waiting game it's just a frustrating

[00:58:58] [SPEAKER_01]: waiting game we're not trying to wish the way so I think that's why it's like figuring out well

[00:59:01] [SPEAKER_01]: like what can I do then what what can I do do I have 15 minutes can I go on a walk can I do this

[00:59:08] [SPEAKER_01]: can I do that like what's actually in my control or is it maybe it's not five days a week

[00:59:13] [SPEAKER_01]: that I wanted to work out but can it be three can it be two like where can we find that's

[00:59:18] [SPEAKER_01]: something where we get that little like we're moving towards the light essentially like how can we

[00:59:23] [SPEAKER_01]: find that and that can be really hard especially when you're when you're depressed yeah and and so

[00:59:30] [SPEAKER_00]: what other you know factors variables or viewpoints and maybe habits should people

[00:59:42] [SPEAKER_00]: dealing with plus part of depression be looking at or looking towards doing yeah I think and this is

[00:59:50] [SPEAKER_01]: hard because it's not accessible everybody but I think if you can meet with a therapist

[00:59:55] [SPEAKER_01]: even prior to becoming pregnant or prior to having your baby a mental health therapist

[01:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that goes a really long way and then having that person that you can meet with

[01:00:05] [SPEAKER_01]: it I don't know like every couple weeks even once a month just as a check in who is not attached

[01:00:12] [SPEAKER_01]: to your life who is not in your your's not your partner not your mom not your sister not your

[01:00:18] [SPEAKER_01]: friends on the internet or accounts that you follow that or whatever like somebody who knows you

[01:00:23] [SPEAKER_01]: who gets you that you can like talk things out with until you kill it like that's how that's how

[01:00:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I process things until I need to figure out how I feel about something I'm just going to

[01:00:32] [SPEAKER_01]: talk it out until I kill it with my own brain it's with my therapist it's whatever it's with

[01:00:37] [SPEAKER_01]: like my girlfriend but having that person who is removed from you I think is really really key and

[01:00:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I know that's not an accessible answer to everybody if it is I think we're hopefully at an in an

[01:00:49] [SPEAKER_01]: era where therapy doesn't have such a stigma attached to it anymore I used to think like and this

[01:00:55] [SPEAKER_01]: 11 years ago but I just was like I am strong like I am tough I'm fine I don't need therapy

[01:01:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I am freaking fine I just need to I need I need a long time and I need to work out that's like what

[01:01:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I would say all the time and my sister who I've run like late has redoccurated psychology was like

[01:01:10] [SPEAKER_01]: bitch you need to go do a therapist and I'm like no so like I still like opposed to I keep on my mirror

[01:01:18] [SPEAKER_01]: is like I will not be committed to my own struggle like I just and like that's taken years and years and

[01:01:25] [SPEAKER_01]: a ton of different life events that have thrown me like way more than just motherhood like so much

[01:01:31] [SPEAKER_01]: life experience that we have where it's like I will not be committed to my own struggle so for me that

[01:01:36] [SPEAKER_01]: means really like acknowledging the need for take care of my mental health and everybody in my life

[01:01:41] [SPEAKER_01]: benefits. I like that sign I've never heard that before. Yeah should you should put that on your

[01:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: ear too on a post that now maybe yeah okay and so I guess another thing too so one of my things

[01:01:57] [SPEAKER_00]: is being kind of a non-traditional physical therapists knowing and fully understanding there's

[01:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: a lot of bad PT out there there's a lot of bad medical practice what and even people that are

[01:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: in the world of being specialized as a pelvic floor physical therapist what common

[01:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: what are the issues you see with you know physical therapists giving for advice to

[01:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: postpartum and pregnant women that are athletes that might not actually suit them that's maybe

[01:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: general advice for other people but wrong for this person that might be an exception to the normal

[01:02:51] [SPEAKER_01]: way to do pelvic floor PT in rehab. Okay a couple things I think one thing that we still see

[01:03:00] [SPEAKER_01]: is a lot of limitations don't do this because like basically your vagina is fragile and like

[01:03:05] [SPEAKER_01]: fast not bad or just like do cables or if you have symptoms like stop doing all these things so

[01:03:14] [SPEAKER_01]: kind of advice I think that's still is very prevalent and people like you and I still kind of live

[01:03:20] [SPEAKER_01]: in an echo chamber where we're like yeah like we are surrounded by colleagues and people that are

[01:03:24] [SPEAKER_01]: like really invested in improving the state of physical therapy and performance and yet like when

[01:03:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I refer clients they're like well my PT told me I shouldn't definitely more I should stop going

[01:03:34] [SPEAKER_01]: across better it should stop doing that I'm like shit like still we're still there huh and then

[01:03:40] [SPEAKER_01]: and then I had I had a real goviral a couple months ago and it was with my colleague

[01:03:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Mindy She's a pelvic floor physical therapist here in Eagle Idaho and she was like I had permission

[01:03:54] [SPEAKER_01]: from both her and her patient that who is actually works on my team um who is managing

[01:04:00] [SPEAKER_01]: prolapse is a very high level athlete she has pelvic organ prolapse and there are certain movements

[01:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: across fit that really trigger symptoms and so she was like you know she went to Mindy and again

[01:04:12] [SPEAKER_01]: had permission to film this and so Mindy did like a standing eval so technically she had like the

[01:04:22] [SPEAKER_01]: draped thinging on and Mindy was like assessing her so had like an internal assessment happening but then

[01:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Christina has like loaded up with barbells and was doing like the push press movement which is what

[01:04:34] [SPEAKER_01]: was really aggravating her when she got across fit was the catching and also like the force

[01:04:40] [SPEAKER_01]: production of doing like push presses or jerks so Mindy was like feeling with the pelvic floor was

[01:04:44] [SPEAKER_01]: doing with different strategies using this pain paper and so when we exhale here maybe we do

[01:04:50] [SPEAKER_01]: pelvic floor contraction here as your absorbing the force or whatever kind of playing around

[01:04:54] [SPEAKER_01]: with different strategies so she could feel what was happening when Christina was actually doing

[01:05:00] [SPEAKER_01]: that movement pattern and what her pelvic floor was doing and then kid let's shift this position

[01:05:04] [SPEAKER_01]: forward a little bit was that better okay yeah that felt better your pelvic floor was able to

[01:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: absorb that force way better and I can literally feel that right here and you and it can give you

[01:05:13] [SPEAKER_01]: this real-time feedback well the internet got like we're like oh my god why can't physical therapist

[01:05:19] [SPEAKER_01]: do a standing eval for me um a lot of them are were frustrated that you know this seems so practical

[01:05:27] [SPEAKER_01]: to get not practiced and um some physical therapists or some people were saying their PT

[01:05:33] [SPEAKER_01]: literally told them no I won't e-value standing they're not symptomatic when they're just

[01:05:38] [SPEAKER_01]: freaking flat on their back but the second we involved grabbing like yeah everyone changes

[01:05:42] [SPEAKER_01]: organs are going to shift things shift and move and so I don't know why some physical therapists

[01:05:47] [SPEAKER_01]: are committed to their own struggle of not wanting to evolve their game of their practice of meeting

[01:05:52] [SPEAKER_01]: their clients where they're at because most of the time we're not like how they present flat on

[01:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: their back on a table is not the reality of what they're experiencing whether it's ortho or you know

[01:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: pelvic health symptoms so I think it's like the willingness for PT's to get like really creative

[01:06:10] [SPEAKER_01]: and crafty and tap into a coach brain that maybe is not common for them but I think when

[01:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: PT's can put on a coach hat it's going to improve the results that their clients are

[01:06:25] [SPEAKER_01]: that their patients get and it's going to improve um the trust it's gonna improve the compliance

[01:06:31] [SPEAKER_01]: it's going to improve a lot of things when they're willing to like kind of get it in the trenches

[01:06:35] [SPEAKER_01]: with them and evolve their game that real overall I mean it blew up it did so well and I think

[01:06:43] [SPEAKER_01]: it brought awareness to both the PT population and also just the general women's population of

[01:06:48] [SPEAKER_01]: like ask your PT to assess you standing this isn't crazy this is like basic and it doesn't have

[01:06:54] [SPEAKER_01]: to be with um wait it can literally just be like okay you know I'm like really symptomatic

[01:06:59] [SPEAKER_01]: effort in standing all day holding my baby like this okay why will let let look like your

[01:07:04] [SPEAKER_01]: glutes in your pelvic floor right now like what happens when you change your position what happens

[01:07:08] [SPEAKER_01]: when you like exhale here what happens after we downtrain this pelvic floor with some

[01:07:11] [SPEAKER_01]: breaths for a while now let's have you stand and feel that oh you feel better okay like it's just

[01:07:17] [SPEAKER_01]: adding to your game and I think the willingness to do that instead of being committed to what you

[01:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: were taught in PT school 10 years or 20 years ago yeah I mean that that's um it's crazy because

[01:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: same thing for us too like in PT there's so many PT's that just look at well how do your hips

[01:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: move when they're sitting on the table when the moment you sit up and load is introduced to the spine

[01:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: the neurological system kicks on and says oh we have to stabilize now everything changes

[01:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: everything changes about the way we're bracing the tone of the muscle the strength of it

[01:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: like some people depend on what's going on like you could have zero strength in your shoulder

[01:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: or your hips a when seated in an vertical position once we lie down and take pressure off of the

[01:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: spine if there's something going on with the spine or an airfruit you can have all your strength

[01:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: back because that nerve isn't being impinge anymore so same with the pelvic floor it's all

[01:08:18] [SPEAKER_01]: orthopedic still like right so uh I think like it shouldn't be treated as one

[01:08:26] [SPEAKER_01]: one entity like that's the crazy thing if you're a pelvic floor PT you need to have the brain of

[01:08:30] [SPEAKER_01]: it ortho brain of neuro like you have to have the brain of sports med like you've got to bring

[01:08:35] [SPEAKER_01]: those tools in because it cannot be treated so um I don't know what the word I'm looking for

[01:08:44] [SPEAKER_01]: is but just like through like one scope like you need a few scopes right like you really have to

[01:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: look at it beyond just the pelvic floor and yes there's a time for giggles but for the most part

[01:08:54] [SPEAKER_01]: like use movement to integrate that like help help them teach like giggles should be more from like a

[01:09:00] [SPEAKER_01]: thorough side of things so they're being they can find awareness of that system um there's so many

[01:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: different reasons why women may struggle to have familiarity with how their vagina functions

[01:09:12] [SPEAKER_01]: they have been taught that be there could be trauma see there's birth like there's just unfamiliar

[01:09:17] [SPEAKER_01]: it's taboo still so women just don't know a lot about their bodies and there's a really big

[01:09:21] [SPEAKER_01]: opportunity there for pelvic floor PT's to help teach them and then more importantly empower them

[01:09:27] [SPEAKER_01]: use aspects of like ortho and sport to really like not make it weird yeah absolutely um in the limitation

[01:09:37] [SPEAKER_00]: thing too was huge of if you you know and everyone wants to go the insurance route and just find

[01:09:44] [SPEAKER_00]: the closest you know practice sometimes and for some people that's okay but if you are a high level

[01:09:50] [SPEAKER_00]: athlete you need to find someone specific for you that can can understand you and not only

[01:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: understand you but understand why you're different from the rest of the population in that you know

[01:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I have a girl that's um she's a hundred forty five pounds maybe and she dead lifts four forty

[01:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: she yeah she's top top medalist in uh USA powerlifting but that goes to say like

[01:10:21] [SPEAKER_00]: if someone gave her a 15 pound weight limit after pregnancy like she's probably on average

[01:10:29] [SPEAKER_00]: four times stronger than everyone else so why are we giving her the same blanket statement when

[01:10:36] [SPEAKER_00]: her muscles have more integrity her ligaments her tendons her bracing her awareness

[01:10:40] [SPEAKER_00]: is all at a higher level than most people's right so and with athletes I think it's just saying

[01:10:47] [SPEAKER_01]: like you are the exception in powerlifting you are very very strong and now you know not just her

[01:10:56] [SPEAKER_01]: but like any parlor or cross-fer and now you're pregnant so like we just have a new body to work with that's

[01:11:02] [SPEAKER_01]: not to say that you're not strong it's not like can you still lift something it's does it serve you

[01:11:07] [SPEAKER_01]: right now and what does that actually look like how can we figure out like what does serve you

[01:11:11] [SPEAKER_01]: like what factors are we taking into consideration because 300 pounds might not be heavy for you

[01:11:16] [SPEAKER_01]: from like a muscular perspective from a strength output perspective but like that's still 300 pounds

[01:11:22] [SPEAKER_01]: against a changing core and pelvic floor and gravity that your your then you're repetitively lifting

[01:11:27] [SPEAKER_01]: so again it's not a question of your performance and your abilities more of a question of like

[01:11:32] [SPEAKER_01]: is this serving your body right now and we don't know we have to we have to figure that out and

[01:11:36] [SPEAKER_01]: change some of those strategies are you already out are we using a Vosalva okay like let's try

[01:11:40] [SPEAKER_01]: something different um like what is your your setup look like because a lot of power lifters I

[01:11:45] [SPEAKER_01]: had preaching to the choir here but you know a very particular set up stance who who tension and then

[01:11:50] [SPEAKER_01]: like you definitely like so like can we like bring that down a little bit like can we just change

[01:11:55] [SPEAKER_01]: approach in some aspects and that's not to say stop dead lifting sub squatting no we need to keep

[01:12:05] [SPEAKER_01]: safe like let's adapt that a little bit without it being like his black and white do this do not

[01:12:10] [SPEAKER_00]: do that you know what you know so what do you say too it sounds like this is kind of come up a few

[01:12:16] [SPEAKER_00]: times almost like because yeah it's especially power power lifting more than weight lifting you can't

[01:12:21] [SPEAKER_00]: really train a brace in weight lifting is it happens so fast it's just it's kind of there it's

[01:12:27] [SPEAKER_00]: not and it's something we have to train on the back end but like for power lifting anyone

[01:12:31] [SPEAKER_00]: trying to just lift heavy would you say there's almost an extra emphasis on trying to brace less hard

[01:12:39] [SPEAKER_01]: 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] [SPEAKER_01]: like they're pretty easy and then we can keep hacking it from there like just little little ways like

[01:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah don't brace as hard cool okay now let's add an exhale here cool all right let's like bring

[01:12:56] [SPEAKER_01]: your pressure up a little bit cool like let's like less grippy at the top of your dead lift or

[01:13:01] [SPEAKER_01]: less like you know here at the top of your squat like then we can start like making adjustments

[01:13:08] [SPEAKER_01]: from there in ways that are really practical that they understand that's going to serve their

[01:13:12] [SPEAKER_01]: body now and long-term and I would argue that this is not just pregnancy imposed part of them

[01:13:17] [SPEAKER_01]: this is all female athletes because all of us have a whole at the base of our core we all are

[01:13:22] [SPEAKER_01]: late prone to pelvic floor symptoms um at a certain point in time that's why we have so many

[01:13:28] [SPEAKER_01]: girls that pee when they do double-unders or at the sticking point of the squat or when the

[01:13:32] [SPEAKER_01]: barbells like right at that knee and you know they're in kind of like that call it the dog shift

[01:13:37] [SPEAKER_01]: position where they're just like trying to grind through the movement like that's why I'm so glad

[01:13:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I asked if I could swear on this podcast because it just looks maybe a little bit more good but

[01:13:47] [SPEAKER_01]: like that that's why you know and it's that has nothing to do with babies that has everything

[01:13:51] [SPEAKER_01]: you there are anatomy and forces and physics so like let's we can find better strategies

[01:13:57] [SPEAKER_01]: and it'll support your quality of life when you're 70 and it'll support your performance now.

[01:14:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah absolutely so do you think too that um every female should be or not every female but

[01:14:15] [SPEAKER_00]: any pregnant or postpartum woman should be going to pelvic floor PT?

[01:14:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I think it can be a really beneficial tool and so a lot of people don't have access to that

[01:14:25] [SPEAKER_01]: in a perfect world I would say at least a one-time assessment during pregnancy just

[01:14:31] [SPEAKER_01]: so you can have like eyes and hands on you so that you're getting feedback of like okay this is

[01:14:35] [SPEAKER_01]: what you're doing with your breath or your pressure or your tension here's a few things to be aware of

[01:14:39] [SPEAKER_01]: here's what you should be aware of like when you're going into delivery because if you've just

[01:14:45] [SPEAKER_01]: been taught to like breath hold and breathe that's not really great for your pelvic floor when

[01:14:49] [SPEAKER_01]: you're trying to push a baby out so like let's come up with some strategies here so pelvic floor

[01:14:53] [SPEAKER_01]: PT can be really great as a proactive person for them to meet at least one time maybe during the

[01:14:59] [SPEAKER_01]: third-term master of pregnancy and also that gives the PT context for how they the they present

[01:15:07] [SPEAKER_01]: postpartum to well I saw her doing her pregnancy I kind of an idea of how she was carrying

[01:15:11] [SPEAKER_01]: what her fitness was like what she was doing what she wasn't doing what her symptoms were if she

[01:15:16] [SPEAKER_01]: had any or maybe what she was just kind of naturally predisposed to cool PT has that in their head

[01:15:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and then that also gives you as the patient you know knowing like who's on your team postpartum like

[01:15:27] [SPEAKER_01]: who is part of your support team maybe it's your coach maybe it's a pelvic floor physical therapist

[01:15:32] [SPEAKER_01]: mental health therapist but that PT can be on your team postpartum so I think having that

[01:15:37] [SPEAKER_01]: person who has scope beyond your doctor telling you you're cleared and you're like cool okay

[01:15:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and then you just go do whatever the hell you want to do that's not helpful for female athletes

[01:15:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and a PT can be the person to help bridge that gap with your actual level of readiness and

[01:15:51] [SPEAKER_01]: different like aspects of rehab that your that your body needs if you push for four hours for example

[01:15:56] [SPEAKER_01]: like okay my brain is saying she has a very high risk of pelvic floor going prolapse whether she

[01:16:02] [SPEAKER_01]: has it now or not we don't want her to go out and run five miles because your doctor told her

[01:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: that she's cleared and she's really motivated to get her body back so how can we give her this

[01:16:12] [SPEAKER_01]: info to make really informed choices about her understanding her body because right now her

[01:16:16] [SPEAKER_01]: doctor said she's cleared the PT has the opportunity to say and your pelvic floor is literally

[01:16:21] [SPEAKER_01]: injured right now it is injured and we need to help it feel better so that your body can feel

[01:16:26] [SPEAKER_01]: better your symptoms can improve you won't create symptoms and you can perform better long-term

[01:16:31] [SPEAKER_01]: so I think a PT is a huge player that we have to really encourage our athletes to see

[01:16:38] [SPEAKER_01]: postpartum to at least get that assessment to get that insight and feedback that goes beyond your

[01:16:43] [SPEAKER_00]: clear absolutely yeah we see this in orthopedics too it's like they go to the doctor or the

[01:16:49] [SPEAKER_00]: surgeon you know they had an ACL tear and it's like okay they sit on the table they test their

[01:16:55] [SPEAKER_00]: quad strength and their hamstring strength in a seated position and then like okay yep

[01:17:00] [SPEAKER_00]: you're clear to go back to sport sometimes it's like because it's been nine months it's like

[01:17:03] [SPEAKER_00]: what the fuck like we have a 70% discrepancy between right and left jump strength single leg stability

[01:17:10] [SPEAKER_00]: range of motion psychological readiness all that like it's like it's a same conversation it's really

[01:17:17] [SPEAKER_01]: the same and it is so frustrating because people because I am not a medical doctor they're like

[01:17:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to listen to you like right but I I see the thing like I'm measuring and looking at

[01:17:30] [SPEAKER_01]: all the factors that your doctor is not because that's just not their scope practice that's not

[01:17:35] [SPEAKER_01]: their job that's my job and that is your job as a PT like that's where we have to like hope that

[01:17:40] [SPEAKER_01]: doctors just refer to us for better context around their athletic readiness to return to sport or fitness

[01:17:46] [SPEAKER_01]: or whatever it might be that's not the case and unfortunately the general population is just going

[01:17:51] [SPEAKER_01]: defer to what their doctor said and then they end up frustrated hurt or you know seeing us eventually

[01:17:58] [SPEAKER_00]: and so for any listeners that are looking to work with you or someone you've certified

[01:18:06] [SPEAKER_00]: where what is the name of the certification or are there certain things

[01:18:13] [SPEAKER_00]: accolade certifications credentials that people should look for especially as a

[01:18:19] [SPEAKER_00]: pregnant or postpartum athlete that people should be looking for to be able to return to

[01:18:24] [SPEAKER_00]: lifting and doing the activities they want safely yeah well I got you covered there because I

[01:18:30] [SPEAKER_01]: am like the person who works with pregnant postpartum athletes in a banana bird decade now

[01:18:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm so my website is the pregnant postpartum athlete.com and I have a lot of different resources

[01:18:41] [SPEAKER_01]: there to help navigate training during pregnancy from like a from different free resources reading

[01:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: to a fitness program same with a postpartum program help bridge the gap between rehab

[01:18:53] [SPEAKER_01]: and return to fitness and then my certification program is for coaches and practitioners

[01:18:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and honestly anybody who wants to learn how to train during these seasons and potentially help

[01:19:03] [SPEAKER_01]: yourself or help others that's pregnancy and postpartum athleticism and that's it's all online

[01:19:08] [SPEAKER_01]: in self-paced it's evidence-based but has a significant practical approach because I'm a strength

[01:19:17] [SPEAKER_01]: to apply and make it really practical to the female athletes that we're seeing who are wanting to

[01:19:22] [SPEAKER_01]: pursue athleticism as a mother like it does not end when mother had begins and I am a firm

[01:19:28] [SPEAKER_01]: believe that we need the medical fitness and practitioner communities to get together and rally

[01:19:32] [SPEAKER_01]: behind this. That's where you can find me in the Instagram I'm at Brianna.battle's or the brand

[01:19:38] [SPEAKER_01]: page is at pregnant dot postpartum.apply. I'm so happy I found someone out here on the world that has a

[01:19:45] [SPEAKER_00]: longer website name than me. Barbelpharibelle.com because Barbelpharibelle.com is being

[01:19:58] [SPEAKER_00]: pirated for like $10,000 right now so I don't know and to put that in for a domain but

[01:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Brianna has a ton of awesome content on her Instagram page and I think for any of you listening

[01:20:12] [SPEAKER_00]: it could definitely be something that could you know maybe shift your viewpoint a little bit on how

[01:20:17] [SPEAKER_00]: you view yourself as a mom and things after so yeah someone is at my door and I'm late for

[01:20:26] [SPEAKER_00]: meeting anyways so I do go to I'll just drop off a package so yeah anything else you have to add

[01:20:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Brianna well thank you so much for having me and I'm just getting this conversation out there

[01:20:40] [SPEAKER_00]: been more appreciated yeah and if any of you listeners have questions comments concerns you

[01:20:47] [SPEAKER_00]: want to have Brianna back on to talk about anything you know specifically a little more in depth

[01:20:52] [SPEAKER_00]: we could definitely do that in the future and also in the meantime you can go check out her podcast

[01:20:56] [SPEAKER_00]: where she has very in-depth conversations on a lot of different topics related to being a postpartum

[01:21:02] [SPEAKER_00]: so definitely check her out so again thank you for coming on and yeah this is great great

[01:21:09] [SPEAKER_00]: show thank you