On today’s episode, I’m chatting with Brianna Battles, pregnancy and postpartum athletic coach, about how to maintain a healthy mindset through and after pregnancy.
We’re back with our 126th episode of the Fed+Fit Podcast! Remember to check back every Monday for a new episode and be sure to subscribe on iTunes!
Find us HERE on iTunes and be sure to “subscribe.”
[powerpress]
Episode 126 Sponsors
- Pride of Bristol Bay – be sure to enter the promo code “fedandfit” (one word, all lowercase) at checkout for a discount during the month of October (2017).
Episode 126 Links
- Check out Brianna’s website HERE.
- Find Brianna on social media via handle @briannabattles.
- Check out Brianna’s online pregnancy/postpartum course HERE.
- Check out Brianna’s online coaches courses HERE.
Episode 126 Transcription
Todayโs show is brought to you by Pride of Bristol Bay, where you can get truly sustainable, high quality, nutritious Alaskan sockeye salmon delivered right to your door. Pride of Bristol Bayโs wild salmon is sustainably harvested in the pristine waters of Bristol Bay, Alaska. Their focused team of fisherman are committed to the highest quality in handling standards at the point of harvest, creating the unsurpassed quality and flavor youโll find in every one of their wild sockeye filets and portions.
Each case of their wild salmon is labeled with the name of the Bristol Bay fishing district in which the salmon was harvested. Itโs the ultimate in traceability. Boxes of supremely fresh frozen filets and portions of the highest quality salmon are delivered to your door, skin on, and already deboned. It is hands down the best salmon Iโve ever enjoyed.
You can learn more about Pride of Bristol Bay and support their important work by ordering your first box of frozen salmon by visiting their website over at www.PrideOfBristolBay.com. And, for the month of October, make sure you submit the discount code, โfedandfitโ, one word all lowercase at checkout.
Cassy Joy: Welcome back to another episode of the Fed and Fit podcast. I cannot tell you how much I was looking forward; still am looking forward to it because it hasnโt exactly happened yet. {laughs} Todayโs interview. I have invited Brianna Battles to come onto todays show. You can find her; if you’re sitting at your computer and you want to get a head start on Googling, sheโs at www.BriannaBattles.com. But she has; Iโll briefly tell you a little bit about her, and then Iโll ask her to tell more about her.
She has worked in the strength conditioning and wellness industry for years, and has coached at various levels. Sheโs the owner of everyday battle strength and conditioning. Which is located in Thousand Oaks, California. She coaches a variety of people, from high level athletes to lifestyle fitness population both in person and online.
Her specialty, however, which is why I think I was especially excited to invite her on, is coaching pregnant and postpartum athletes. From powerlifting to mommy bootcamp goers to high-level competitors. Iโm so excited about todaysโ conversation, Brianna. Iโve been following you online for a while, fangirling. And itโs just an honor to have you on the show today. Welcome.
Brianna Battles: Thank you so much for having me. Iโm really excited to chat with you, and whoever listens in on this. It sounded like a great opportunity.
Cassy Joy: Yeah! Itโs a group; letโs see. We love to geek out over science, to tell you a little bit about our Fed and Fit podcast audience. We love to geek out, we love mindset pieces, and overall wellness. So you’re a perfect fit. And I know thereโs a lot of; whether theyโre currently pregnant, postpartum, wanting to get pregnant, or just wanting to be in this conversation. Maybe theyโre healthcare coaches, or maybe theyโre nutritionists that are listening. Or maybe theyโre fitness coaches, wanting ways to better support their clients and their athletes. I really feel like everybody is going to be able to take something from todayโs conversation.
So if you donโt mind; I told such a tiny little tidbit of what you do. But if you could share a little bit more about your business. Your background. What led you to this point. And what you really enjoy most about your work.
Brianna Battles: Well Iโve been working in the strength and conditioning, I guess, industry for about 10 years. And in all different forms, from corporate wellness and personal training, to collegiate athletics. And then after having my son, Cade, four years ago, I realized that there just was not a lot of quality information and guidance supporting moms training through their pregnancy, and then making a quality return to sustainable fitness postpartum.
And because I was in the CrossFit and strength and conditioning, I guess field. Or that was my interest, there really wasnโt a lot of great information for that kind of athletic mom, so to speak. Because we were just told, listen to your body, do what youโve always done. And that was pretty much it. And the whole focus, often times, is, โIs this safe and healthy for the baby?โ And that leaves moms getting forgotten about. In a lot of different ways. In self-care, in Iโm sure as youโll be touching on, in their nutrition and health. But also in just healing their body and knowing how to reintegrate into fitness. And then how to decrease chances of injuries and dysfunction during pregnancy.
So I knew that I needed to expand my efforts in coaching to be able to better understand this population. Because I was now part of that population, and wanting to heal my diastasis recti. And just connecting with other women that were also athletes. And hearing from them about how misguided they felt they were because they just followed a sort of typical CrossFit mom sort of approach to training, and then were injured. Or their mindset of wanting to hold on so badly to what their lifestyle was prior to getting pregnant, and then trying to be in quest for their body back postpartum. And all of these things were just sort of missing the bigger picture of what it means to have a fit and healthy pregnancy. And then make a quality, sustainable return postpartum. Where not just the baby is healthy and happy, but mom is too.
So I do try to really bridge the gap in the messaging and the education. Not just for athletes and women in my community, but also for the coaches that have the most reach with this population. So Iโve really tried to not just coach in my community, but do a lot online with creating some online courses. Both for athletes, and one I recently launched, which is for coaches. To be able to really understand all the different considerations required for best serving women during this chapter of their athleticism.
Cassy Joy: Awesome. Wow.
Brianna Battles: What a rant. Oh my gosh. {laughs}
Cassy Joy: I took so many notes! {laughs} Wow, thatโs wonderful. How long ago did you launch the coaches program?
Brianna Battles: Three or four months ago. So itโs still pretty new. But it was just; itโs like my other baby, you know.
Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm.
Brianna Battles: It was such a huge heart project, trying to figure out how I could best spread more awareness and education. And that was by reaching out to my fellow peers in this industry. Because then their reach is going to be so much greater. Because theyโll be working with women in their CrossFit gym, or personal training, or in their yoga studio. Or if theyโre a physical therapist, theyโll be helping women return to the kind of athletic goals that they have. Whether thatโs running a marathon or going back to CrossFit. Or just working with their personal trainer. They just have somebody in their corner. I really want there to be more resources for women so that no one has to go through what I did, which was searching continually for someone who could help me. Help me heal, and help me feel like there was support.
Cassy Joy: Yeah. You know, even when I started working out. You think that; and thereโs probably other practitioners listening here who may feel this way, as well. But before I was pregnant, I thought I had a pretty good idea of how I could anticipate the questions I would have. And the concerns I would have in terms of working out. Now Iโm in my second trimester, so itโs different. Itโs noticeably different. The actual mechanics and build of my body is different when it comes to physical fitness. And there really isnโt a whole lot of support out there. Itโs not quite as intuitive as I thought that it would be. Which is another reason why I really wanted to invite you onto the show today to share some of your expertise with listeners.
Itโs interesting. I think thatโs a wonderful need that you’re fulfilling by offering the coaches program. Teaching the teachers, so they can help support their clients and athletes. Going to the gym; I have a wonderful gym, and there are a lot of moms there who have been through it. But at the end of the day, I think a lot of us really want to know the whys. Itโs not just, I workout, and if you feel ok, kind of advice and guidance. We want a little bit more, so thatโs really wonderful.
I would love it if we could start off talking about the mindset of pregnancy. You mentioned that already. But going into; letโs say you find out that you’re going to have a baby, and itโs so exciting. But there is a distinct mindset shift that happens. And I talked with a reverse interviewer that had come on the show recently. And I encourage you guys to go and look that up. We talked about the first trimester mindset pieces and some of the things that were involved there.
But what do you see as some of the biggest mindset challenges, for whether your clients or the clients of the coaches that you’re now teaching. Whatโs the biggest challenge folks have had to overcome? And if thereโs anything you could tell somebody ahead of time to help them anticipate some of those hurdles, what would that be?
Brianna Battles: A sentiment that I come back to a lot is that pregnancy is temporary, and postpartum is forever.
Cassy Joy: Oh, I love that!
Brianna Battles: {laughs} So really, homing in on that mantra when perhaps a woman feels really discouraged by her body changing. Because we do live in a very aesthetic driven society. Where; I mean people are continually trying to lose weight and go on different diets. And theyโre very consumed with how we appear and how weโre showing up online and all these different considerations. Weโre just really conditioned to be very focused on being smaller. So I think pregnancy rages against all of that. And you canโt control it. If you want to be a mother, and you are pregnant, there is no controlling the fact that your body is going to change and thereโs not a whole lot you can do about it.
And in fact, trying to control it is actually not healthy for you or for the baby. Itโs crazy the different avenues Iโve now stumbled down by working with so many different women. But Iโve seen; and myself too. Iโve just had my second baby, so Iโm also in this mindset of, trying to hold onto a sacred mindset when I was pregnant the second time. Itโs just knowing how destructive it can be to hate how you look.
Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm.
Brianna Battles: Because you feel guilty about that. You donโt want to hate it, because you know that you’re doing something thatโs beautiful. And you canโt take that for granted. But it is still hard when weโre just super conditioned to not want to gain weight, and to not see our body change. And then being really paranoid about, oh my gosh, what does this mean Iโm going to look like postpartum? And we get so preoccupied with stretch marks and pounds on the scale that we really forget about the much bigger picture of whatโs happening.
So I do try to remind all my athletes that this is just a temporary phase. And what we do now will have a direct impact on how we recover postpartum. And that includes how we mentally approach this chapter. If weโre spending it obsessing, and trying to control, then thatโs going to carry over into postpartum and when you are trying to figure out motherhood, whether as a first-time mom or a mom of five, that can be really a detrimental mindset to have going into this next transition.
Cassy Joy: Thatโs beautifully put. I love it. And you know, I also think that going into being pregnant with a humble attitude, in the sense. I have not thought; I thought I mentally overcome, right, really healed myself from negative self-talk. And had done that for at least 7 years; really felt like I had arrived at a solid state. A solid mindset. With the migraines that I had in my first trimester, and then I was joking. My body; and I know this, as a practitioner whatโs going on. My body is going; Iโm putting on water. Iโm going to put on fat. And all these other wonderful things in order to support human life. And it just brought up this old haunt, speaking to what you’re saying.
And I think that knowing that would have been a component going in almost would have helped me to say, โI can anticipate this and work through it. And remember the bigger picture.โ Instead of, like you’re saying, feeling guilty about feeling this way, in addition to wanting to focus on the miracle of whatโs going on and what your body is doing. It was interesting. And mostly, it came from the expectation of how you carry a baby. Or at least thatโs what I was told by acquaintances. All these expectations of how they thought I would carry a baby.
Brianna Battles: Right.
Cassy Joy: And itโs so interesting. Because I had no expectations of how I was going to carry a baby. But for whatever reason, all of a sudden, now that Iโm pregnant, the shape of my body becomes a topic of conversation.
Brianna Battles: Right.
Cassy Joy: And it hadnโt been before. So that was something new that I had to deal with. And I think that just knowing ahead of time to just anticipate in general, at least for me, helps me think about how I can really overcome that.
Brianna Battles: Absolutely. And it is hard, because you’re right, it does kind of, for a lot of us. Whether someone has struggled or not, weโre all aware. Weโre all aware of different insecurities. And sometimes seeing your body change, or being commented on, or in my circle of, I guess athleticism, itโs like, how fit can you look while being pregnant.
Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm.
Brianna Battles: {laughs} And Iโm like, thatโs ridiculous. Weโre not trying to maintain a small belly. Thereโs not a whole lot we can do. Thereโs no gold star or badge of honor for having a super fit pregnancy. Weโre all just trying to do our best. But itโs funny what ends up getting glorified when we really are missing whatโs actually important. Which is getting through pregnancy, but also having a healthy mindset. Because again, thatโs whatโs going to carry on into our transition into motherhood. And I see way too many women struggle because of how distracted they are by their body. Which thereโs just not a whole lot we can control. And thatโs ok. {laughs}
Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm. I love that. Go with it. Itโs such a freeing perspective to think about it that way. Thatโs wonderful.
So now, Iโd love to dive in, if you donโt mind sharing a little bit of maybe some of the basic advice you would give pregnancy, preparing for, postpartum kind of 101 when it comes to functional fitness. And I know this would vary based on the client you’re talking to; and you have no idea whoโs out there listening {laughs}.
Brianna Battles: Right.
Cassy Joy: But are there any just kind of sweeping general pieces of advice that you like to remind folks of when it comes to what theyโre actually practicing?
Brianna Battles: Absolutely. I think the number one piece of advice for both pregnancy and postpartum is that our lifestyle habits are the foundation for whatโs going to keep us healthiest as far as keeping our baby healthy, and us healthy. Just walking, and moving. And trying to be unintentional with our movement and fitness. Going to the gym 5 days a week doesnโt have to be what constitutes being healthy and active. We can have sort of active lifestyles without necessarily trying to keep up with going to the gym all the time when you’re pregnant when you’re maybe really tired. Or trying to get back to it right away postpartum. What we do in our daily life actually matters most.
So with that, learning a strategy thatโs going to be sustainable for pregnancy with your body and postpartum. And what I mean by strategy is to learn piston breathing, which is something that Julie Wiebe taught me. I was able to mentor under her. This will help to decrease, not prevent. We canโt ever say prevent. But it will help decrease the severity of symptoms that a lot of women experience. Either during pregnancy, and definitely in the postpartum chapter.
So symptoms can be incontinence, which is leaking, like peeing when you sneeze or run or jump. Diastasis recti, which is very common and totally normal in pregnancy. Itโs the separation of the left and right sides of the abdomen right at the line of the 6 pack abs, which is called the linea alba. And again, it is normal. And now there is more attention being brought to diastasis. But itโs coming from a place of fear, and โOh my god, my abs. Theyโre never going to come back.โ And itโs like, ok. Weโre missing the point here. Itโs more about function. We want that fascia to be strong. We want our abs to approximate again postpartum. And our habits. What we do, and how we compensate are things that really contribute to symptoms such as diastasis recti, incontinence, and even pelvic organ prolapse.
So thereโs not a lot of advocacy. Again, especially in the athletic circle, where women are sort of expected to just have a fit pregnancy, and bounce right back, and kind of act like nothing ever happened. But having a baby is a big deal. Growing a baby is a big deal. How the baby comes out is a big deal. No matter which way you spin it. It all requires a recovery strategy. And hopefully, whatever we can do in pregnancy to help prevent a lot of these womenโs health issues, really.
So piston breathing. The basics would be just as the diaphragm descends on inhale, the pelvic floor has to relax. On exhale, the pelvic floor contracts, or recoils. And that recoil is what gives us stability and gives us strength from the bottom up. So that way weโre not just trying to squeeze and hold. Weโre really conditioned to suck in our stomachs all the time. Weโve been doing that since we were, what, 8, 9 years old as girls? So that actually carries over into pregnancy. Where even in pregnancy weโre conditioned to suck in our stomach. Which is crazy, because our stomach is doing the exact opposite of that.
So balancing the pressure. Balancing how weโre using our body in space as it continues to change. And then this same strategy is what helps us heal postpartum. So not sucking in your stomach. Honestly, I tell people; if you can just remember to breathe instead of holding your breath, that will make a big difference.
And then a slow and gradual return postpartum, which includes actually rehabbing from birth and pregnancy. Thatโs not just, go back to the gym and do a few Pilates exercises. Itโs actually going to see a pelvic floor physical therapist. And itโs going and doing exercises and getting its best, making sure that you’re reintegrating into fitness in the way thatโs going to allow you to continue to pursue your fitness. And if nothing else, be functional for the rest of your life, where you’re not having to experience symptoms.
A lot of women have no idea that sneezing and peeing isnโt normal. Itโs just sort of an accepted part of motherhood, and thatโs pretty universal. Which is unfortunate. So I do try to bring some awareness to issues that arenโt necessarily as talked about as often as they should be.
Cassy Joy: And I really appreciate that. If you guys donโt already, I highly recommend you follow Brianna on Instagram. You can tell folks your handle, because my phone is ancient.
Brianna Battles: Itโs just Brianna.Battles.
Cassy Joy: Perfect. And youโve talked about that in the past, too. Iโve loved that it was sort of a very kind PSA. But essentially, going to the gym and peeing when you do double unders or sneezing; you know, that doesnโt have to be the way.
Brianna Battles: Right. And actually, thatโs our body saying, โHey. Pay attention. Somethingโs wrong.โ Just like if our shoulder was hurting when weโre doing pushups. Weโd go, โOh gosh, we need to make an adjustment because my shoulder is really bugging me when Iโm doing pushups.โ Or whatever. Itโs the same thing, yet we think having a baby, this is just part of having a baby. But it actually happens to women that havenโt had babies, and itโs all about our strategy, our habits, our tendencies. Things like that.
And sometimes pregnancy and motherhood brings out our weaknesses. It also brings out strengths we never knew existed, and other times it can bring out things that we were sort of able to compensate for for a really long time, and now we canโt completely get away with it because of these structural and hormonal changes.
Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm. Thatโs wonderful. So for ladies that are listening right now, you probably have perked some ears. If theyโre thinking, โOh gosh. I do that. I pee when I do double unders, and my coach always told me that was normal! Because Iโve had 3 kids.โ Or whatever it is. Who would you recommend they go see?
Brianna Battles: I would suggest seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist in your area. And they can do an assessment and help teach just basic strategies. Sometimes it really is as simple as changing how your breathing when you’re breathing. How your standing. And again; are you sucking in your stomach all the time? If you’re sucking in your stomach, you’re probably gripping your pelvic floor. And all of that has carry over into then adding impact in fitness. On top of these core strategies. So itโs improving strategies.
And then Julie Wiebe also has a great online course called the Pelvic Floor Piston, and this is the woman that I was able to mentor under. She is a womenโs sports medicine physical therapist. So I recommend her program to everyone. Because itโs just an online course, and itโs really affordable. And it at least gives you the basics; the foundation of things to build upon. So those are the two places I usually send people. An in-person assessment, and then that online resource through Julie.
Cassy Joy: Thatโs wonderful. And if you’re a member of a gym, this would be a great program also to recommend your coaches. If you’re close with the owner of the gym, or the coaches. Recommending that somebody at the gym, at least one coach. One of the fulltime coaches go and get certified in a program like this, so we can really help educate, I think, pregnant expectant mothers.
Brianna Battles: Right. Thatโs what I tried to do with creating my course. The pregnancy and postpartum athleticism one. Which actually includes Julieโs online course. Because we need to at least know that foundation. But then we need to know how to apply the foundation; two different movements. What are we looking for in our athletes when we watch them move? How can we kind of cue them and watch what their habits are under a barbell, or swinging a kettlebell, or running? What do we know to watch for and look for? How can we help these women perform better and also heal their body?
Cassy Joy: Thatโs wonderful. I would love; I know that itโs a buzzword. But I would love it if you would talk a little bit about diastasis recti. Did I even say that correctly? Iโve never said out aloud.
Brianna Battles: Diastasis recti.
Cassy Joy: {laughs} Diastasis recti. {laughs}
Brianna Battles: Itโs cool.
Cassy Joy: Itโs like; gosh, I read Harry Potter before there were movies. Years before. And when the movies finally came out is when I realized I had mispronounced all the words. {laughs}
Brianna Battles: Oh totally. Itโs ok. I think in Australia and the UK they say it a little different, too.
Cassy Joy: Oh do they.
Brianna Battles: Well, you know. Tomato, tomahto. Whatever.
Cassy Joy: {laughs} Or potato tomato. {laughing} I just said the wrong word.
Brianna Battles: {laughs} Itโs cool. Itโs cool.
Cassy Joy: But I would love it if you would touch; I know weโre getting close on time. But I think just some general if someone is pregnant right now, things they could maybe ask their coach to look for in them. Or they be more aware of in general. And since it is such a buzz, maybe just talk about some of the myths and some of the truths about that kind of separation, and the stretching of the abdomen in general. And then general healing tips for afterwards.
Brianna Battles: Yeah. So I think the biggest thing in pregnancy is to be mindful of our alignment. And it doesnโt have to be perfect. But trying to keep the ribcage stacked over the hips. Because a lot of times, we go into a posterior pelvic tilt in pregnancy. Because thatโs kind of a comfy resting position. But we want to keep the glutes involved the whole time. When weโre walking. When weโre moving in general, and how weโre standing. Because thatโs going to keep us in that more stacked position, which then reduces the amount of forced thatโs being placed on the linea alba. Which is that line of the 6-pack abs that does separate to accommodate space for the baby.
So again, super normal. So being mindful of, basically the position of our body. Trying to stay midfoot. And that, a lot of times, itโs really comfortable to rock back to our heels, and just sort of live in this position where our butt is tucked under and our heels are places on the ground. And then weโre squeezing our butt, and obviously that has carry over into our pelvic floor.
I would also suggest not sucking in your stomach, even though, again, this is such a mental thing more so than a physical thing. But weโve got to connect the two. And then not holding your breath. Whether itโs bending down to pick up a pencil you dropped on the ground, or it is picking up a barbell. Being able to breathe through. And that reduces the amount of pressure on the abdomen by being able to exhale when you are having to exert force. Regardless of the level of force you are exerting.
So those are the main things for pregnancy. And I guess knowing that itโs super normal, and itโs nothing to stress out about. It really isnโt. For the majority of women, it is not something to stress out about. Because there is a ton of hope when it comes to healing and people, Iโve heard many times, theyโre like, โIโll just get surgery, or Iโll get a tummy tuck.โ But itโs very rarely needed. It has to be a very severe case for that to be the main, I guess, reason for pursuing surgery for that.
So thereโs rehab. And I do suggest doing rehab. Even if you donโt think anything is wrong after having the baby. Even if thereโs no pelvic health or core symptoms. We donโt want to create symptoms by going to our mommy bootcamp class in the park where theyโre just running and doing crunches all day. Or theyโre going to CrossFit and throwing the barbell back and trying to work our way back to higher numbers. And signing up and starting to run a marathon in a quest to lose weight. All of that is really hard on a healing, postpartum body.
And we wouldnโt do any of those things if we just had surgery on our knee, right? We would take time to rehab and build up to those sort of athletic quests and things like that. So again, this isnโt just athletes. This is your everyday mom who just wants to go to a park workout with fellow moms. She needs to know that just because she doesnโt have symptoms at 6 weeks postpartum doesnโt mean that she wonโt create symptoms at 8 months postpartum. She has to kind of work back gradually so that her fitness, and her health and function, can be sustainable.
So, that really is an overarching principle for diastasis, but also for her pelvic health, too. Is just slow and steady is really the way to reintegrate. Because our fitness will always be there. But this is such a small, small, small chapter in our womanhood and our athleticism. And it is so incredibly temporary. So any time you feel that desire of, โI just want my abs back! I just want to feel like myself again! I just want to do this, or do that.โ You will always be able to do those things. But the amount of times that weโre pregnant is fairly limited. {laughs}
Cassy Joy: Mm-hmm.
Brianna Battles: And postpartum is really just a short chapter that can often seem like a really long one. But I guess taking care of ourselves and our body and our new baby have to be our main focus. Because everything else will always be there. But this wonโt.
Cassy Joy: I love that. Oh my gosh. Iโm so excited you came on the show! {laughs}
Brianna Battles: {laughs}
Cassy Joy: Thatโs wonderful. Wow, thatโs really great. Ok, I apologize, because I lied. Can I ask you one more question before I let you go?
Brianna Battles: Of course, yeah.
Cassy Joy: So, now I just want to touch on it really briefly, because Iโd like for folks to hear it from you. But what are your thoughts on women who are relatively active. And I know that youโve touched on this online and via social media before. But letโs say a lady is active. She finds out sheโs pregnant, and now sheโs worried. What should the shouldโs, I guess, involved in terms of physical fitness? Sheโs a CrossFitter and so on and so forth. Because itโs interesting. Everybodyโs pregnancy journey is different. How do you really calibrate your compass in terms of whatโs right for you?
Brianna Battles: Right. Obviously this is a super tricky question, but itโs the one I get asked the most. So hereโs kind of my, whenever someone asks me, โCan I keep doing this? Or when should I stop doing this?โ I want to ask them, why are you doing it? Why do you feel like you want to keep doing kipping pullups? Why do you want to workout until the baby comes out? What is your reasoning?
Of course, I just want to say, I get it. Iโm also an athlete. I fully embrace the mindset and this can be a really challenging chapter on a womanโs mindset. But a lot of times, it is our ego that is a driving force. And it is our fear of losing our identity and who we are and what we love to do. Or putting it on hold is just scary. And itโs such a huge part of our identity. And often times, weโre trying to hold onto this stuff during pregnancy and wanting to keep up running and keep up doing a lot of ballistic movements with lifting really heavy, things like that. Not necessarily to prove anything to anybody else, but also to sort of hold onto something that makes us feel like us.
But hereโs the thing; {laughs} this is going to be a whole new version of who we are. There is no holding on. This is a period where we are supposed to evolve. And we are supposed to sort of let go of what was, and start transitioning into something thatโs new. So it is ok to take a step back. And I actually recommend; weโre supposed to sort of deload. Pregnancy slows us down. Even if you try not to. You’re still going to be fatigued. There are structural changes of your body that are happening anyway. Honor those changes.
That doesnโt make you any less of an athlete by saying, hey, you know what, Iโm not going to do the 400-meter run. And Iโm going to stop doing toes to bar because I know thatโs not supportive of my core health. And Iโm not going to do a lot of impact exercise because I know itโs really hard on my pelvic floor that has a baby currently growing on top of it. {laughs} I am going to not really stress about my abs, and Iโm going to lift weights that are going to help me feel strong but not where I feel like Iโm having to exert all the effort thatโs left in my body right now.
So while that is a total; there is no one-size fits all methodology. And I have coached some really high-level athletes. And Iโve coached some moms that honestly want nothing to do with exercise, and just want to be able to be an active mom. It all comes back to our mindset approach during pregnancy. Being one of just honoring the process, and not trying to prove anything. Whether itโs to ourselves, or social media. Honestly, is a huge player in this conversation. And doing things that are going to support our postpartum health. And itโs huge.
Cassy Joy: I love it.
Brianna Battles: Because that is coming back to, pregnancy is very temporary. It really is. And postpartum is forever. And what we do during these chapters has huge implications on our long-term health, wellness, mental health, all of these things. So being able to be active. And yeah, you could keep doing the same activities. But itโs not in the same manner in which youโve always done them. Thatโs why we have to incorporate strategy and modifications that go beyond just like, โWell Iโm going to do pushups on my knees instead of full pushups.โ Itโs not about that at all. It is about changing how weโre moving and why we are moving.
Cassy Joy: I love it. I could hug you! {laughs}
Brianna Battles: {laughs}
Cassy Joy: Oh man thatโs wonderful. Thank you so much, Brianna, for coming on the show today.
Brianna Battles: Oh you’re welcome. Thank you for having me.
Cassy Joy: Of course! I personally got a lot out of it. But Iโm sure listeners are eating it up and telling their friends they have to listen to this episode now. So thank you so much. If you donโt mind, tell folks one more time where they can find you, your work, if you’re accepting new one on one clients. And then of course if somebody listening is or has a friend who is a coach where they can find information about your coaches program.
Brianna Battles: Yeah. My website is www.BriannaBattles.com. And thatโs B-R-I-A-N-N-A B-A-T-T-L-E-S. Iโm on social media. Instagram is Brianna.Battles. And on Facebook, my Facebook page is Brianna Battles โ Everyday Battles. Which is my strength and conditioning business, locally. So I do have some online courses that go over all the considerations for pregnancy and postpartum athletes called strength training and adaptations for the pregnant and postpartum athlete. And then my course for coaches, or anybody who really just wants a much deeper understanding of all of the considerations for, I guess, advocating and learning about pregnancy and postpartum athleticism. Thatโs the course that I have; pregnancy and postpartum athleticism. {laughs}
Cassy Joy: What a good name!
Brianna Battles: Real creative!
Cassy Joy: I love it.
Brianna Battles: But it gets to the point.
Cassy Joy: Yeah.
Brianna Battles: So yeah. I really had to take some of my stuff. Of course, I do things locally. I give seminars. I try to travel to give as many seminars around the US as possible. But a lot of my stuff is now merged to being online so that I can reach as many people as possible in a really straightforward manner. Because at the end of the day, people are going to make their own decisions. I just want them to feel empowered and knowledgeable in those decisions.
Cassy Joy: Thatโs wonderful. Thank you so much for coming on the show! My goodness, this was a real treat. It really was. I really appreciate. It. Everybody listening, as always, if you’re a familiar listener you know that you’re going to find links to everything that Brianna and I talked about today over at www.FedandFit.com in the show notes. So if you’re driving, no worries. You can pull up the show notes and get direct clicks there. Brianna, thank you so much again for coming on todayโs show. Everybody else, weโll be back again next week.
I’m trying to download on iTunes but iTunes is saying your podcast isn’t available. Am I the only person having this issue? Any tips? Thank you!
You’re not alone, Melissa! We’re having issues and are working diligently to get it resolved. Stay tuned.