349 | Fitness Changes & Considerations During Pregnancy & Postpartum with Brianna Battles

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Optimal Body Podcast. I'm Dr. Jen, and I'm Dr. Dom, and we are doctors

[00:00:10] of physical therapy bringing you the body tips and physical therapy pearls of wisdom

[00:00:14] to help you begin to understand your body, relieve your pains and restrictions, and answer

[00:00:18] your questions.

[00:00:19] Along with expert guests, our goal of the Optimal Body Podcast is really to help you discover

[00:00:24] what optimal means within your own body.

[00:00:28] Let's dive in!

[00:00:29] Before we talk with Brianna, we're going to talk about all things pregnancy which happens

[00:00:34] to be pelvic health and there's an incredible connection from our pelvic floor to our feet

[00:00:39] and really our feet to our entire body.

[00:00:42] So for not taking care of our feet, it can affect our ankles, our shins, our knees, our

[00:00:47] hips, our low back, and a lot of you might have already experienced that.

[00:00:51] And some people reach out to me and say, well I can't even spread my toes like where am

[00:00:55] I supposed to start?

[00:00:56] And this is why we love the Niboso products. Not only can you get 15% off of all their

[00:01:01] products using code Optimal, but they have these toe splays that have texture to them so

[00:01:07] there's constantly feedback coming into the brain. So not only are you getting this passive

[00:01:12] stretch of your toes, but you're getting feedback into your toes as well.

[00:01:16] So you understand how to use your toes better after you're using the toes spreaders.

[00:01:21] Then they also have textured toe socks.

[00:01:24] Now these are incredible. Not only are they the toe socks, so you always have that kind

[00:01:28] of separation working between the toes, but they're textured at the bottom and this is

[00:01:32] going to make you feel like you're walking on an acupressure mat or something.

[00:01:37] And it's this constant feedback going into the feet that's going to help to feed into

[00:01:42] the entire body. So we understand where our body is in space, how we're moving, how we're

[00:01:46] feeling, how we're responding to the ground. I mean talk about having flat feet or high

[00:01:50] arches. This is going to give you the feedback that you need so you start using your muscles

[00:01:55] better. So again, this is code Optimal and all things in a bow. So we love them so much.

[00:02:01] They have incredible products really unique to really not only help mechanically what's

[00:02:07] happening at your foot that can help your old body, but also sensory wise. And this

[00:02:11] is why we love them so much. So if you haven't checked out in a bow, so you know you have some

[00:02:15] feet stuff going on because let's face it, we've all stuffed our feet into shoes that probably

[00:02:21] are little too small. So go to the link, we're going to have it linked up but also use code Optimal

[00:02:26] and you're going to get that discount. I am so honored to have Brianna Battles on the podcast

[00:02:31] today. She is the founder of pregnancy and postpartum athleticism and CEO of Everyday Battles LLC.

[00:02:37] Brianna has her master's degree in coaching and athletic administration and her bachelor's

[00:02:41] degree in kinesiology. She is an active member of the NSCA where she is a certified straight

[00:02:47] thick conditioning specialist and a USAW sports performance coach. Brianna created pregnancy and

[00:02:54] postpartum athleticism when she realized that there was a disconnect in the fitness industry

[00:02:58] for athletes and coaches like her. And she really set out to change the culture around fitness

[00:03:04] during pregnancy and postpartum to go beyond the extreme generalizations and the dogmatic notions

[00:03:10] of being fit for birth or bouncing back postpartum and she really is going to highlight exactly what

[00:03:15] that means in this podcast. Well Brianna thank you so much for taking time to be here with us. I

[00:03:21] love and for years, I feel like now I have admired your content and your expertise in what you

[00:03:27] put out in the world and how you educate and your courses. I mean you've been very much someone

[00:03:33] I've just admired for so long in the fitness space and I've learned a lot from so I just appreciate

[00:03:40] your time in being here. Well thank you so much I'm really you know appreciative of us kind of

[00:03:44] combining forces here and having this conversation and I appreciate all your support and I feel the

[00:03:49] same. It's been awesome to watch watch you grow over the years. Thank you. Now what really led you

[00:03:55] down the path of helping women particularly during pregnancy and postpartum? Well my background

[00:04:03] like with my degrees are in kaceology and then in coaching so I knew that I always really kind

[00:04:09] of wanted to be in that realm of coaching and helping others but I worked in different coaching

[00:04:16] environments and settings early on in my 20s from collegiate athletics who corporate wellness

[00:04:21] and it wasn't until I had my son 10 years ago that I realized there was a significant lack of support

[00:04:29] and kind of like relatable information for people like me who identified as like an athlete,

[00:04:36] I still had athletic goals whether it was because I was being crossfit or I had done

[00:04:39] I'm like a lot of triathlons and things like that. I felt like that part of me didn't die just

[00:04:45] because I became a mom yet all of the information on social media was either super generic and really

[00:04:52] like fear mongering and don't lift over 20 pounds or don't get your heart rate over 140 beats per

[00:04:57] minute like really generic things or it was this really extreme glorification culture of how much

[00:05:05] can you keep doing how hard can you push during pregnancy if you do x, y and z you're then going to

[00:05:10] have this natural childbirth and bounce back and have no issues and it wasn't until after I had my

[00:05:17] son that like a I felt like I had been hit by a truck because I ended up with an emergency c

[00:05:23] section and just felt like every single part of my life was a struggle for honestly about the

[00:05:30] first year postpartum and I was trying to understand my body. I was trying to like make sense of

[00:05:36] my expectations what I thought would happen versus what my reality was and then using fitness as

[00:05:43] this vessel to try to sort out my new reality in my new life, my new body, my new identity and

[00:05:50] I realized if I felt this lost and confused as someone who had honestly a lot of great education

[00:05:58] and experience and understood my body, I knew that I wasn't alone in feeling like that. I'm not

[00:06:04] this like a rare demographic and it turns out not feeling was was confirmed there's a lot of people

[00:06:10] that felt like that and while we've done a lot you know for the last 10 years to improve that

[00:06:15] through the work I've done and other peers in the industry that feeling still does exist for a lot

[00:06:21] of people and I feel really called and grateful that I get to be part of changing a lot of the

[00:06:26] information and the narrative. I am just loving everything Brianna is saying and I hope that you're

[00:06:32] really taking it in because these are aspects of fitness that I don't think a lot of people talk

[00:06:36] about when it comes to pregnancy and postpartum but I have to put a little side note here that we have

[00:06:40] a huge discount happening on the Gen Health membership right now and if you've listened to our

[00:06:45] podcast, you've come in to learn and understand about your body or how to optimize around your

[00:06:50] low back, your knee, your ankle, your shoulder or you just want to understand your core a little

[00:06:55] bit better work through full body mobility or add in some strength core and mobility. We have

[00:07:01] plans for it all so whether it's full body or body specific I want to only take five to ten

[00:07:07] minutes of your day give you something that you can understand learn about your body and move.

[00:07:13] This is really your place to come in and it's going to keep track of your progress whether you

[00:07:17] come in the next day or the next week you won't have to think you just press play and you learn

[00:07:23] and you show up within your body. I really created Gen Health to help you make long-term changes,

[00:07:29] not just short term of what to do right now but really for the long term and I hope that you just

[00:07:34] take the time to try a free week come and try one of our plans I really encourage you to listen

[00:07:40] to our monthly webinars every month we have a webinar where I answer your questions live and I go

[00:07:46] and deep dive into the research on a topic that people are asking about and put a whole webinar

[00:07:51] together for you so I really hope that you just come join the community get involved try a plan

[00:07:59] and if anything this is the time to do it because we have a huge discount no discount code needed

[00:08:04] you just get in this week and you lock in that discount for life so it's just gen.health slash

[00:08:12] free trial the link is also in our show notes if you want to just click from there or gen.health

[00:08:18] backslash free trial okay back into talking with Bri and I know many of your peers us included are

[00:08:27] so grateful that there are people out there like you doing this work because I mean Gen went through

[00:08:34] similar but I'm sure different situation with with the birth of our little guy and it is so

[00:08:40] crazy to me and I know so many other people that literally the most important thing about life which is

[00:08:47] the creation of and bringing of life into the world there's so little education around it in how

[00:08:56] people who give birth can traverse that journey and do so successfully and do so still like you said

[00:09:03] having goals in mind that yes my life as an athlete my life as somebody as a mover as somebody who

[00:09:10] likes to pursue goals hasn't just ended because I have a child and I know that gen one of the biggest

[00:09:15] questions that she gets is when people are signing up for our courses our membership is okay I'm pregnant

[00:09:22] now what how do things change how do I need to change my workouts what should I be keeping in mind so

[00:09:28] I know that that in itself is a huge question but can we just start there and pick it apart a little

[00:09:33] bit the I'm pregnant now what yeah I think depending on the population I think the majority of people

[00:09:41] now know and don't really need to be convinced that exercise is good and healthy and safe at least

[00:09:48] anybody who's maybe listening or following you or following me there's a lot of buy-in there

[00:09:53] um we don't need to be convinced that it is beneficial to our body it is beneficial to our baby it

[00:09:59] is safe it is a good thing to do I think wherever you've seen a huge disconnect across the board is

[00:10:07] solely being focused on guide pregnancy exercise guidelines that are based on

[00:10:13] safety which again of course this matters but I think we have failed in a lot of ways in the

[00:10:19] research and our coaching and our messaging and our resources to connect the dots between

[00:10:25] corn pelvic health the changing psychology of a mother during these seasons and the implications

[00:10:32] of her exercise in her training out a lot of her just overall tendencies both in exercise and

[00:10:38] her activities at daily living and how um that will change and translate into her long-term

[00:10:46] fitness goals her long-term you know performance goals whatever it might be across that spectrum

[00:10:52] so when people say well I'm pregnant now what I think it's understanding that your choices

[00:10:59] and your training can't just be made to the lens of like is it safe or not it does this respect

[00:11:04] to the evolution I'm going through um mentally emotionally in my identity um is is it an alignment

[00:11:10] or am I really conflicted does my exercise support and adapt to my changing corn pelvic health

[00:11:17] needs and demands because structurally we're changing our tissues are changing there's different pressures

[00:11:21] and tensions and we have different tendencies all of us um based on just like our habits on our

[00:11:28] previous injuries um you know movement pattern tendencies that sometimes get exploited during

[00:11:35] pregnancy and pregnancy can also be an opportunity to kind of take inventory of our body and how we're

[00:11:40] moving what our you know what I'll quote like form is and if that's really supportive of the changes

[00:11:47] to our corn pelvic health in a really like proactive way so from a free-hab standpoint and then

[00:11:53] does our training support our long-term fitness goals for example if I want to do a half marathon

[00:12:01] at eight months postpartum does my training support that well that doesn't necessarily mean

[00:12:08] I'm going to keep running all through my pregnancy and then start running early postpartum so

[00:12:12] that I can do that half marathon at eight months postpartum it actually means less is more we're

[00:12:18] going to de-load training throughout pregnancy as the demands of pregnancy continue um the belly

[00:12:26] grows pressures grow changes to our running gain and our overall movement patterns as pregnancy

[00:12:33] continues so we need to basically like adapt to what's changing instead of trying to maintain

[00:12:39] and I think among a lot of fitness-mighted people there's this mindset of I have to maintain my fitness

[00:12:46] in order to bounce back in order to achieve my fitness goals and I really think we have to be able

[00:12:53] go into that season with a really adaptable approach both mentally and physically with our training

[00:12:58] so that would be my first piece of advice for I'm pregnant now what now I also recognize that people

[00:13:03] want tactics I like to lead with more like that holistic approach because if you don't address

[00:13:09] your motivations in your belief systems and your overall like why um it's going to be really hard

[00:13:15] to make some tactical changes so I would uh first thing first I think it's important to

[00:13:23] learn what to expect when I'm expecting and not through the lens of again just like the baby but

[00:13:29] knowing that you will have a diet stasis there is going to be more stress and demand to the pelvic floor

[00:13:34] you might be more predisposed during this season to different pelvic health symptoms certain exercises

[00:13:41] that you do may aggravate symptoms or could just not really be necessary for what you want to do

[00:13:47] long-term so again just really being proactive and then taking inventory of your body and how you move

[00:13:53] a lot of female athletes and women in general are leaking and like peeing basically whenever they

[00:14:00] do jump rope and they've done that since they were 16 years old um or they you know they would go

[00:14:04] to cross-fed they do double underers and you know they would be peeing so if that's something like a

[00:14:09] predisposition you already have to some pelvic health symptoms that's a good thing to be aware of

[00:14:14] and so I do like to encourage anybody that I work with to go get an assessment from a pelvic floor

[00:14:19] physical therapist or work with Parkinson's postpartum athleticism coach that's anyone who's been

[00:14:23] certified through my program because we're able to help figure out where do you hold tension and

[00:14:28] then how does out affect your pelvic floor um how do you distribute pressure and then how does out

[00:14:32] affect your diet stasis for your pelvic floor um what are your postural and positional tendencies both

[00:14:38] in your archivist daily living and also in your exercise how does out affect your body as it's

[00:14:43] changing throughout pregnancy so those predispositions and just kind of that I don't just like really

[00:14:48] being able to understand your body in a whole new way and your motivations a whole new way

[00:14:52] I love that you started with the mental piece of it I think that is so huge especially when

[00:14:58] it comes to movement and workout and hopefully you know for most people that's why I hate the

[00:15:04] recommendation that some people and I even have friends recently who've heard okay your pregnant

[00:15:10] now don't left more than 20 pounds you know and it's just kind of wild to me especially if you were

[00:15:15] someone who was more athletic or competing or doing a lot more aggressive activity

[00:15:22] that's not just physical but it's so mental as well so to take that away from someone can be

[00:15:28] so impairing and or to have that level of expectation that it's just going to stay

[00:15:34] and that's what you're already putting on yourself can also be really mentally overwhelming I know

[00:15:40] like coming toward the end like at 39 weeks I was like okay maybe I stopped lifting as heavy

[00:15:45] so that I just prepare my body and down regulate and by 41 weeks because he still wasn't coming

[00:15:52] I was like I can't not workout anymore this is mentally not helping me I'm getting more stressed so

[00:15:58] I actually started lifting again and it was recognizing that mental aspect of how workouts really

[00:16:05] played a role for me and where where I needed to go and I think that's I mean I just love

[00:16:11] love so much that you brought up that mental aspect and I know a lot of people question you know

[00:16:17] core workouts or maybe they do do crossfit and they're wondering about totabar or pull ups or things

[00:16:23] that distribute pressures a lot into the abdomen so what do you say is there a blanket statement

[00:16:29] is it bad if we see more of an increased pressure through the diastasis through the abdomen

[00:16:35] or those exercises something we should stop what do you kind of recommend for that yeah I think

[00:16:39] it's just my goal is for more people to be informed I think we've seen a huge pendulum swing

[00:16:44] from leg zero awareness to a hyper awareness around stuff like that and then a really critical

[00:16:50] culture like you look in the comment sections on any post where any crossfit or any person honestly

[00:16:55] is performing any movement during pregnancy and you get people that are experts and I'm here to say

[00:17:00] that the actual experts are very rarely the people that are commenting on people's posts and

[00:17:06] so I do think there's a lot of nuance here and I do like I said I like to lead with people

[00:17:11] feeling informed in their training choices because ultimately have people choose to navigate

[00:17:16] their training during pregnancy postpartum and their overall motherhood experience like that's a

[00:17:20] totally autonomous decision yeah now as a coach and somebody coaches other coaches and I've coached

[00:17:26] lots of professional athletes I think we have to come back to the why there's like short term

[00:17:33] like dopamine hit and our ego that is fed by doing and performing certain movements whether it's

[00:17:39] honestly just a self fulfilling thing or because there's environmental pressure there's

[00:17:45] pressure comparison someone else was doing this so I'm gonna do this I do like to say

[00:17:51] there's an opportunity to check in and say like can I do this versus is it right for my body right

[00:17:55] now should I do that and I think that we have to be able to measure the costs and the benefit of

[00:18:02] how we train during these seasons and overall when it comes to corn pelvic health so much of it

[00:18:08] is a sum of our tendencies and our habits over time that may aggravate symptoms it's not like you

[00:18:15] could go do a toast to bar right now and have that in your workout and like you would likely be just

[00:18:21] fine now we also know that as pregnancy continues there the diet stasis is going to increase because

[00:18:29] the the size of the baby is going to increase and then every single body carries differently I'm

[00:18:35] five three I grew two 10 pound babies they were giant and they just literally grew straight out

[00:18:40] into my abdomen so like I'm someone who had to be a lot more cognizant of a diet stasis

[00:18:46] A because of a pre-existing one and then going to my second pregnancy which in general there's

[00:18:51] a lot of strain and stress on that tissue that midline tissue so then a movement

[00:18:57] where positionally I'm put in a position where my ribcage is really flared up my arms are

[00:19:03] finally hanging from a pull-up bar for example or if I were to do setups it's this exaggerated

[00:19:09] ribcage position where it's really thrusted up that positional love when is naturally sending

[00:19:14] forward pressure to the midline which then causes more coning and that presentation again it's the

[00:19:21] sum of our habits over time that will really kind of reinforce how much strain and pressure

[00:19:26] and stress goes to that tissue and my thought is why are we opting into that when we don't really

[00:19:34] need to like we can train the stimulus of toes to bar and a lot of different ways like crossfiters

[00:19:40] especially are so great at scaling up and scaling down and that's why I think it's reassessing

[00:19:46] your belief systems and your motivations behind how you're training how you're approaching that

[00:19:50] training and also like being able to be really adaptable and confident in some training choices so

[00:19:56] I know that's not necessarily a popular answer but I think it's understanding like okay

[00:20:02] like this these particular movements might be reinforcing this diastasis it might be adding more

[00:20:08] pressure more stress more strain on a system that already has pressure stress and strain 24-7

[00:20:15] because of this growing baby I don't need to reinforce that through my exercise and there is maybe

[00:20:20] a few different adjustments we can make that can help decrease it but overall like certain positions

[00:20:25] you just can't help where that forward pressure goes it goes there for the reason whether

[00:20:28] your pregnant or not that's just how pressure can be distributed in certain positions and certain

[00:20:34] movement patterns oh yeah anything you bring up a great point that all exercises can be modified

[00:20:40] or changed slightly so that you are still training similar patterns similar muscle groups similar

[00:20:46] movements but it might be more appropriate for where you're at and of course if you aren't

[00:20:50] the person who knows best how to modify that there are also professionals out there that you can

[00:20:55] see yourself and your trainers included that might have great suggestions for you so I know of

[00:21:03] course with the populations that you work with you work with a lot of people who are pregnant obviously

[00:21:08] what we're talking about and people who are pregnant I wouldn't know this but as I saw

[00:21:15] Jen there are certain stages where you just are exhausted and you have no energy

[00:21:20] and the last thing that you know might sound good is going to work out but as we know people who are

[00:21:28] in this space of movement and enjoy that kind of thing sometimes that can be exactly what

[00:21:33] brings some energy back into your body even if you are feeling very low energy all that to say

[00:21:40] how do you counsel people who are in those stages of pregnancy when they have low or no energy

[00:21:47] but still have that itching desire to get some movement or exercise in yeah I think it's an

[00:21:53] all or something kind of approach and I think that pregnancy and postpartum act as these like

[00:21:57] catalyst seasons it truly forces you to like look take a full inventory of yourself of your

[00:22:04] belief systems of your relationship with your body of your relationship with exercise and just

[00:22:11] really like I mean it is an eye opening experience and exposes all of our BS and all of our like

[00:22:18] struggles all of our strengths and I think this is a season that we can learn what I like to call

[00:22:23] like athletic maturity because when you become a mom like your exhaustion doesn't just end

[00:22:30] you know after the 12 weeks like after the first trimester right of like pregnancy like oh yeah

[00:22:35] maybe feel a little bit better but you're gonna be tired and lack motivation off and on

[00:22:41] honestly like going forward and there's gonna be seasons where it's harder and then there's

[00:22:46] gonna be seasons where it lets up if your baby is in a leap I'm you know like there's just different

[00:22:50] seasons of hard and challenge when you become a mom so you do have to have what I like to

[00:22:55] call in your perspective athletic maturity and how you go about your training approach but then

[00:23:02] another term I like to use is adaptable discipline and I think that so many people are really

[00:23:08] programmed and they are rigid with their training and you know like our athlete brains like well

[00:23:13] I wake up at 6 a.m. I do this workout and this is the structure of my workout and this is the

[00:23:17] program that I follow and the loads and the percentages and the volume and the sets and whatever

[00:23:22] might be like we are really kind of rigid with our training and I think for a lot of people

[00:23:27] pregnancy is the first time where they don't necessarily have as much oomph or as much motivation

[00:23:35] or frankly even as much ability or interest in a training so that's why figuring out that all

[00:23:41] or something and being really adaptable with your program really adaptable with your approach maybe

[00:23:46] a 6 a.m workout does not serve you right now can you do it at 12 and can you cut that workout in

[00:23:51] half can you do a quarter of that workout can you split it up across the week like find where you

[00:23:58] can say yes and what is manageable and some days that might be a walk and it is saying that truly

[00:24:03] like a walk is really really beneficial and just because you're not at crossfit for an hour does

[00:24:10] not mean that your movement isn't serving your body right now because again these are seasons

[00:24:16] that become so eye-opening for us and I've been at this mom thing for 10 years now and it's like

[00:24:22] I feel like I can actually see the forest through the trees now because when you're pregnant

[00:24:26] and you're postpartum you're so much in like this survival mode like pregnancy is temporary okay

[00:24:31] and then you have this baby and your whole world is revolving around this baby and then they get a

[00:24:35] little bit more independent and a little bit more independent and you get doses more and more

[00:24:39] doses of freedom and time amounts and like that happens as time goes on but to survive some of

[00:24:47] those harder and challenging time periods you just have to be very adaptable in your belief systems

[00:24:54] surrounding your training in your body and knowing that it is not a forever season and you can make

[00:24:59] do with the circumstances that you have now and that's going to set you up for success as you

[00:25:04] pursue a lifetime of fitness and performance. Yes I love that and I feel like that's just that's

[00:25:10] motherhood learning how to be adaptable and I think that's going to help you know take that pressure

[00:25:17] off take that guilt off mom guilt so so often many people are walking around with it and an

[00:25:24] understanding what can feel beneficial and what can I say this is good this is still okay and I'm

[00:25:31] still doing something like even the other day I hadn't gotten a workout in for a couple days and

[00:25:37] we ate some takeout and so I started doing some work I did like a little mini workout in my living

[00:25:43] room after I said you know what I just want to help process this food a little bit and feel good

[00:25:47] within my body and so this is my movement and it did help me feel better so I love that idea of

[00:25:54] it's not all or nothing it's all or something and being able to be okay with that I think is

[00:26:00] it's great and then moving into like a postpartum because this is a very tough journey for so many

[00:26:07] women I mean there's so many aspects to it now you have this new baby but also you're not really guided

[00:26:14] physically from your OB they're really just there to kind of gauge your bleeding and any

[00:26:19] scar healing so what are some basic principles that people can really start to focus on in those

[00:26:25] really early weeks where they're not kind of guided or you think are often missed. Yeah I think

[00:26:32] that you know when people have a baby especially like maybe no more athletic population there's this

[00:26:37] expectation of I'm going to start to feel more like myself and get back to like what I want to do

[00:26:43] but no matter how the baby comes out your body is still going through a significant

[00:26:48] you know a lot of a lot of healing from the inside out some healing is visible some healing isn't

[00:26:53] visible and beyond that it's a significant life adjustment to make so the mental health emotional

[00:27:00] health so many things are challenging acclimating to just learning how to be a mom that is that is

[00:27:08] a hard process and we might not have that extra motivation or desire to do much so sometimes

[00:27:17] you know our athlete brain people they're really eager to do things so something I like to tell

[00:27:21] them is like your your brain might feel ready but your body is not and you just can't always see

[00:27:27] that so I think we can do some really basic like breathing exercises just being able to connect

[00:27:35] your breath to some basic movement patterns movement patterns that you're doing

[00:27:41] anyway throughout your activity to daily living but not really structuring it like exercise

[00:27:46] and so many people are tempted to just jump back into exercise and again tell you

[00:27:50] that not a single athlete that I've worked with or person in general that I've worked with has

[00:27:54] regretted taking their time not a single one but I will tell you there are quite a few people

[00:28:01] that regret rushing the process no one regrets taking their time for a few reasons letting their

[00:28:08] body heal and honestly learning to adjust to this new baby to sleep you learn how to nourish yourself

[00:28:15] nourish your baby if you're breastfeeding there's so many changes going on that giving yourself

[00:28:21] more time to adjust will allow your body to be in more of a place of readiness to add in exercise

[00:28:27] to add in more structured routine so doing things that are good for your mental health like walking

[00:28:33] but not not power walking and not pushing a really heavy stroller uphill because again

[00:28:38] your pelvic floor whether you had a c-section or a vaginal birth it is still healing and not putting

[00:28:43] extra strain on your incision if you had a c-section or if you had stitches from vaginal birth like I

[00:28:49] think we think of walking as this really easy exercise and it is and it is good and also we like to

[00:28:56] sometimes push boundaries with it well I'm gonna walk two miles tomorrow I'm gonna four miles

[00:29:00] tomorrow before you know it like it just that volume adds up so I think just being really cognizant

[00:29:06] of our loads really cognizant of our volume during those especially that fourth trimester where things are

[00:29:12] just your body's vulnerable and your brain is vulnerable and frankly your life is vulnerable as

[00:29:17] you were adjusting to so many new variables and so honoring that and knowing that the gym will always

[00:29:23] be there your fat loss ability will always be there and by giving yourself time and grace that

[00:29:32] process will be a lot easier to navigate later on when you're actually ready for it some of the

[00:29:37] hardest advice probably for the athletic minded individual is to hurry up and slow down because

[00:29:44] yeah it's just you're not always wired that way but like you said you've had nobody who's

[00:29:50] regretted taking their time and just letting their body lead that way through that through that

[00:29:53] healing journey um so what would you say are some of the the markers that people should be paying

[00:30:00] attention to for readiness to return to activity beyond just having your six week check up and

[00:30:07] having them say okay you're good to start exercising again um are there different markers or

[00:30:13] variables that you like to take into account absolutely I mean in an ideal situation I'd love to

[00:30:19] encourage somebody to go into a public floor physical therapist I'm at least for like a one-time

[00:30:23] assessment of like all right here's how the baby came out this is typically uh where you're

[00:30:28] sending pressure to or where you hold a lot of tension at let's learn to like relax the

[00:30:32] public floor feel it's learned like what it feels like to gently engage it and not like a cable like

[00:30:37] how people were taught like 20 years ago um like what that actually means now and are we recruiting

[00:30:43] that do we have awareness around that that whole core system and then what are their symptoms

[00:30:49] think being able to take inventory of that and then again seeing that public floor physical

[00:30:52] therapist to help with any symptoms that they're currently experiencing or even if you don't

[00:30:58] have symptoms being able to go to a public floor physical therapist and know what you may be more

[00:31:03] predisposed to if you've pushed for hours and hours and hours and hours like you likely have

[00:31:10] a high um incidence of like public floor symptoms whether you're experiencing it right now or not

[00:31:15] like there's a good chance that you could be more prone to that as you know you start increasing

[00:31:20] demand to the public floor through exercise so again it's kind of knowing like what is your unique

[00:31:26] situation um and then having a game plan off that so I think having an exercise of eyes and

[00:31:31] hands is super helpful and then um you've put in some rehab basic basic rehab exercises that can go

[00:31:38] a really long way of reading that connection allowing your body to learn how to relax allowing

[00:31:43] your body to know how to create engagement without like kind of like matching um the tension to

[00:31:49] the task that's being performed um and then obvious things like you've stopped bleeding and you'll

[00:31:55] have a lot of like pain or pulling your cane like wound healing issues those are all signs of

[00:32:00] readiness um I think it's just honestly starting really slow we look at birth so differently than we do

[00:32:08] any other orthopedic symptom like you guys know as PT is like if you have shoulder surgery there's

[00:32:15] a protocol to follow and there's sort of like a universally understood process where you don't

[00:32:22] have shoulder surgery and then go to the gym and start bench pressing or go to the gym and start

[00:32:27] like doing snatches you know that like if you want to do a snatch again that's kind of like

[00:32:33] down the line that is what you are working toward and you're working toward that through

[00:32:39] range of motion through strength through um creating more stability by training other accessory

[00:32:46] movements and I think we have to start looking at the postpartum body the same lens that we look at

[00:32:51] I'm recovering from other orthopedic injuries and surgeries and I know that kind of sounds like

[00:32:56] above skill because nobody wants to look at birth as being like an injury and it's not that it's just

[00:33:00] like understanding it's one of the greatest trans probably the greatest transformation that the female

[00:33:07] body will experience therefore like we have to treat it that way we have to treat the other side of

[00:33:12] it postpartum that way because now not only has the body been changed but her whole life has been

[00:33:18] changed oh yeah everything it goes fundamentally different so then being able to honor that

[00:33:25] and then truly truly rebuild that so that doesn't mean going right back to your crossfit class

[00:33:30] and doing the prescribed workout or going right back to your bar class and doing the same exact

[00:33:35] movement patterns are doing I'm the same poses at yoga it's being able to scale down and then

[00:33:41] gradually build up over time with new levels of awareness of your strength of your symptoms

[00:33:49] of your capacity and all of those things so that's I mean it's it is this open-ended question

[00:33:54] I wish or like I wish I had super concrete things but it is just there's an acknowledgement of

[00:34:01] different and different doesn't have to be bad it's just allowing yourself that time and grace

[00:34:06] to truly rebuild just like you would if you had any other surgery or injury

[00:34:13] exactly and it yeah it doesn't have to you don't have to tell yourself that you're injured but

[00:34:17] you're healing like there's still healing that needs to happen because your body is completely

[00:34:23] changed now and it's a new body that we're working into so understanding those

[00:34:29] those new ranges of motion there's new capacities there's new barriers and starting to ease

[00:34:34] back into it is only going to help the journey in the long run and hopefully you know we're

[00:34:39] starting to get out of the idea of bouncing back and needing to be fit a certain way or look a

[00:34:48] certain way or lift a certain amount or anything like that and just starting to get to know the

[00:34:55] new you I think is crucial and I hope you know more and more people are who are teaching fitness whether

[00:35:01] they're cross-fed instructors or branched-ductors or you know I've even been to some like fit for

[00:35:06] mom classes like hopefully more and more are going to start to take courses like yours and get

[00:35:11] more education to help support women who are coming back and going into these classes and I think

[00:35:18] that's what's so incredibly important and valuable now is there kind of like a rule of thumb

[00:35:26] that you can kind of talk about when it comes to jumping and running because you know even

[00:35:31] going to the fit for mom I've only been to like two three in my one like couple when my sister

[00:35:38] was had young kids and then now I want one one time it's not my jam but you know there is a lot of

[00:35:46] like aerobic type jumping and and complaints still that I hear so what are rules of thumb

[00:35:52] of what people can do to properly start kind of supporting their body if they do want to get back

[00:35:58] into running and jumping and not you know necessarily dealing with some symptoms yeah I think the

[00:36:04] biggest thing is not just going right back into the jumping and the running right it's like what

[00:36:09] precedes that so a baseline of strength like can you squat and do that well can you do walking

[00:36:16] lunges without leaking or it can create some more stability there like basically finding some

[00:36:22] movement patterns that complement what we see in like more plyometric based movement so

[00:36:28] they didn't there has to be like a strength foundation there combined with like a core and pelvic

[00:36:33] health strategy so are we able to do walking lunges where maybe we inhale down an exhale coming

[00:36:38] out and are creating that co-contraction of the pelvic floor in our breath to create more

[00:36:44] stability and support to the pelvic floor so it can respond to that transition or so that it

[00:36:49] can eventually respond to that force absorption or that force production that we see in running

[00:36:54] another thing I like to encourage honestly like this this cue seems to work for everybody

[00:37:00] and it's a little forward but quite literally but I like the cute tits over toes because that puts

[00:37:06] you into a more forward leaning position which then improves the availability of the pelvic floor

[00:37:13] to both absorb force and produce force so that's really helpful so if you're doing a box jump

[00:37:20] for example you want to slightly forward lean if you're starting to run and it feels a little

[00:37:25] weird on your pelvic floor really lean forward and you're going to feel ridiculous at first and

[00:37:31] you're going to find a little bit of a rhythm but that tits over toes position that forward lean

[00:37:36] really helps and also involves the glutes a lot more so I think if you have any pelvic floor

[00:37:41] symptoms if you're wanting to return to any kind of plyometrics you have to focus on getting your glutes

[00:37:47] a lot stronger and even like unilaterally so you're really focusing on you know doing it on

[00:37:53] your right side and then doing it on your left side so that you have equally distributed strength

[00:37:57] or at least you know more equally distributed strength efforts there able to recruit your glutes

[00:38:03] and get them a lot more involved because the glutes in pelvic floor have to work together especially

[00:38:08] when we're talking about any kind of plyometrics or impact jump ropeing running etc that tits over

[00:38:14] toes too is honestly it works it works every time I like that yeah I think that's a fantastic

[00:38:21] point and go back to what you said previously try getting at least one of those sessions in with the

[00:38:26] pelvic floor therapist to just like give a little more specifics of potentially what might help you

[00:38:32] because I know Jen has gotten back from some of these stroller strads or for mom classes and

[00:38:37] and has just had frustrations about how the conversations are still like one of the moms might bring up

[00:38:43] oh I just don't do those because I have leaking still and another mom or the instructor even would say

[00:38:49] oh yeah that's just normal you know and it can be common not normal and that's a line that I've

[00:38:55] liked when and I've heard a lot of people use when it comes to pelvic health and women's health

[00:39:00] common not normal how do we start to change the conversations around these things and so

[00:39:07] love that you just like a more education you know it's just like I think that we have sort of

[00:39:10] settled there because that's what's easier but I mean I think we've seen a great shift in culture where

[00:39:17] there's a lot more awareness um and some ways I feel and this is probably my bias but like

[00:39:24] this millennial mom culture has a lot of information a lot of self advocacy um and you know I am

[00:39:31] seeing a lot more fitness professionals that are like I am seeing consistent trends I have a lot

[00:39:37] more moms as clientele I have these mommy specific classes that I'm coaching or I'm a mom and I

[00:39:43] notice this change with my body and I know that that's not normal I know there's something that

[00:39:49] can be done whereas maybe generations generations before like didn't know because it was more taboo to

[00:39:53] talk about and I guess what I'm seeing is like there's less taboo and I think that has a lot to do

[00:39:59] I mean that is one of the benefits of social media yeah yeah certainly um some trade-offs

[00:40:04] there and information but I do think you know we're starting to see that there's information

[00:40:09] and as coaches and just with our different voices and platforms it's just creating a lot more

[00:40:14] education that there is help and there's resources so people are a lot more open-minded to it versus

[00:40:19] ashamed of it or you know hopeless totally so one thing that we've been talking a lot about

[00:40:25] people who are already in fitness or are already working out a lot and that is kind of their MO

[00:40:32] what about the person that you know wasn't previously the gym rat or the person who was always

[00:40:38] going to the exercise classes but now they are either pregnant or looking to get pregnant

[00:40:44] and want to start working on their fitness is there anything that you you know consult those types

[00:40:50] of people in like okay here would be a good place to get started yeah I think like it doesn't have

[00:40:56] to be complicated so what can you commit to is it two days a week you know maybe one day is upper body

[00:41:02] and the other day is lower body like we think we need to keep fitness accessible we need to keep

[00:41:07] it really simple it doesn't have to be uh like again like it's this all or nothing approach um

[00:41:13] you want to find a coach or a gym or an environment um this really supportive of you and will teach

[00:41:19] you how to move especially if you don't have that as a foundation I think it's really critical

[00:41:25] entering into you know pregnancy postpartum where there's going to be extra changes to your body

[00:41:31] having that kind of support where you at least are guided on basic movement pattern just really

[00:41:35] really key um and then knowing that like you're not fragile and you're also not invincible you're

[00:41:41] just really adaptable through every single season and exercise will benefit you in

[00:41:46] in ways that will support your health for years to come not just in this these short seasons

[00:41:52] and I mean everything that you talk about is so integrated not only you know physically coaching

[00:41:58] and understanding what's happening with the body but also mentally and I've seen you use the

[00:42:02] term practice brave what does that mean yeah that's a a term that's like honestly part of my value

[00:42:08] system both in my business but in our family like it's it's on our wall in our home and it was a

[00:42:15] a sentiment that I pulled out sort of from like a book that I was reading when I was considering

[00:42:21] having a second baby um I had a really traumatic experience with my first baby and really hard

[00:42:27] postpartum and I didn't know if I was ready or could consider having a second baby it just was

[00:42:32] really scared um and I knew that it it wasn't going to be this one brave moment um of deciding and

[00:42:40] and in beyond just having a baby or deciding that it was the series of like the identity shift

[00:42:47] that happens as you become a mother and you're also figuring out who you are and what you want

[00:42:53] there's so much bravery attached to it and I think that we've been taught that we just have to be brave

[00:42:58] like no like you just have to practice the little tiny brave behaviors in small actions

[00:43:04] and eventually you do become brave but it's through a series of these small actions over time

[00:43:10] where you're getting practice of different brave acts that really you know kind of lead to living

[00:43:15] a really brave life and a fulfilling life and the decision to have a second baby for me that was

[00:43:22] that was the decision to practice brave that I didn't have to have it all figured out but I could

[00:43:27] make one brave choice at a time um learn from it and honestly it's it's truly been the best gift of my

[00:43:36] life and completed our family and I see you know this theme kind of translates through every single

[00:43:43] thing that I do you know and I think a lot of people resonate with that because it's

[00:43:49] we're going to be faced with different adversities and challenges and shifts and seasons that

[00:43:55] that do require bravery we don't have to have the answer just yet but we do have to you know practice it

[00:44:02] in small doses I love that yeah I think that's a fantastic mentality and and it's like giving your

[00:44:08] heart to something and and the trust that you make one confident decision at a time like

[00:44:16] the world will pay you back and so I appreciate that and I appreciate kind of

[00:44:21] wrapping things up there but how can people I know you have an incredible online platform you put out

[00:44:27] so much education we've been talking about the courses and memberships that you have available

[00:44:33] where can people go to continue to learn more from you yeah absolutely moment by website is

[00:44:39] the pregnant and postpartumathlete.com and you can learn all about the different resources I have for

[00:44:45] training during pregnancy postpartum and then also my certification course for coaches and

[00:44:50] practitioners which is pregnancy and postpartumathleticism and we're actually opening enrollment

[00:44:57] on that very soon I think that you said this podcast errors in March and so we're going to be having

[00:45:04] the open enrollment in April so if you would like you can join that wait list or if you're

[00:45:09] hearing this depending on when you're hearing it you can go ahead and join us in becoming a pregnancy

[00:45:13] postpartumathleteicism coach on Instagram and I'm at Brianna B.R.I.A. and N.A. dot battles

[00:45:20] and then also the brand page is at pregnant dot postpartum dot athlete and then my podcast

[00:45:26] is the practice brave podcast so I would love to connect with you on any of those platforms and

[00:45:31] happy to answer any questions amazing so much valuable information I really hope any coaches

[00:45:38] or trainers get into this because there's so many women who need to be helped and guided

[00:45:44] and don't have the answers and so being a coach and being able to provide that is so valuable so

[00:45:51] thank you for what you do thank you for how you help people you're just continuing to

[00:45:56] help more coaches which help more people and it's exciting to see well thank you so much I

[00:46:01] appreciate you having me on thanks for listening through another interview from the optimal body

[00:46:06] podcast Brianna has so much great information on movement and training around pregnancy and postpartum

[00:46:13] and I don't think we can ever have enough advocates and individuals that educate in that space remember

[00:46:19] also we have a massive discount on the gen health annual membership going on this week only so make

[00:46:25] sure you check that out before the discount ends on friday if you've been listening to the podcast

[00:46:29] and enjoying please make sure you leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcasting platform

[00:46:34] and of course we will see you next time on the optimal body podcast