So you wanted to get moving again but you are being bombarded with road block signs and fear tactics of "don't lift or do crunches you'll make your diastasis worse" or "don't run for 6 months," "don't start running until 6 week check up" but then you hear how horrible these words of advice are to follow.  Where do you even start and how?

 

I'll tell you exactly the problem and why you shouldn't follow that advice!

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The Problem...

 

The problem is two fold.  First, there is a huge societal pressure to bounce back and perform like you were never pregnant as fast as possible.  This creates a lot of fear and causes individuals to make choices of exercises that could be quite harmful to their recovering postpartum body.  I see if all the time where the 6 week postpartum check up is taken like a green light to start running again and that is absolutely not the case, your body is still recovering!

 

Second, there are a lot of "social media experts" that are not educated on this special population.  Yes pregnancy and postpartum individuals are a special population.  There are a cascade of changes that occur in the body physiologically, anatomically, biomechanically, and neurologically that should be taken into account when prescribing a program.  And quite honestly with social media now, it's so easy to just copy and paste what some other athlete inspo said.  You want an educated professional on your team who UNDERSTANDS the science behind all of the events that occurred with your body and to set you up properly for the next steps of recovery.

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The Why...

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Labor and delivery is like an injury to the pelvic floor muscles.  Think of it like an ACL injury.  When you have an injury, the site of injury needs time to heal.  Physiologically your body is on hyperdrive to get that injury healed and you will want to support that process.  After an ACL injury, individuals are given a 6-9 month window of recovery time that will include strength training exercises to help the knee get back stronger than what it was before.  The pelvic floor should be treated the same way.  

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The postpartum period is a unique time as there are a surge of hormones that can play a role in your recovery and ability to exercise.  Not only that but add the lack of sleep and now we are really working uphill to get you moving again.  On top of that, there were major anatomical changes that occurred with your body that could include muscular imbalances that were triggered along the way.  Not listening to these cues (as well as your mental health) can set you up for pelvic floor dysfunction, injury to your musculoskeletal system, and deplete you physiologically making it harder on your body to do your day to day functions, let alone heal and getting back to setting PR's.  You can't pour from a glass that is empty as they say, quite frankly that also stands true for your body.  You can't physiologically keep up if you do not set up the proper foundations to support your body athletically.

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The Solution...

 

Your body needs a program designed to progressively overload your pelvic floor, muscles, and tendons to lay the foundation for future trainings and races.

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Your body needs an exercise selection specific for the postpartum body.  It needs something that will realign your rib flare, anterior pelvic tilt, and gait that all were altered during pregnancy and early postpartum. 

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During your postpartum it is vital that you work out the muscles that are weak and are being overpowered by the tight muscles (this definitely happens with diastasis recti from pregnancy, and all that baby wearing/feeding that you're doing now).  Your body needs a program that will get your muscles not fighting with each other but moving in harmony and setting you up for the greatest success for years to come.

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This program is designed for the postpartum athlete who is eager to chase after their athletic dreams and goals but doesn't want to get injured six months down the road from not building proper foundations for their body.

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This program is set up to help the postpartum athlete who doesn't want to start or worsen their leaking (aka: peeing your pants), diastasis recti, or prolapse and heaviness in their pelvic floor.

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This program is also perfect for those who want to prepare their bodies by getting stronger and more conditioned to get back into their athletic goals such as lifting, swimming, biking, and running as fast as possible.

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Does this all sound a little too familiar?  Not sure if it is?  Let's give some examples...

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You hear of other runner and triathlete moms who talk about how they began peeing their pants after having their babies... how it is "normal and part of motherhood," but it doesn't seem right to have to deal with leakage (psst.. a little secret, it's common but it is NOT normal).

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You don't want to wait six months of sitting around, waiting to heal your body, to only feel anxious, lose motivation and waste more time and opportunities to get your fitness back.  You want to be proactive and get back to training/racing ASAP.

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You are afraid of ending up like other runners/triathletes who jumped back into their training program at their 6 week postpartum doctor visit and ended up with pelvic floor pain and symptoms that lasted them years of discomfort and wet pants.

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You are running on fumes just trying to get through the day and you just want to workout so you feel good in your body again, feel whole, athletic, and strong.  You want to just get out and go for a run but you are afraid of getting injured which would derail your plans for the upcoming race year.

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Or you're hearing of everyone's upcoming race year and it is making you anxious about when you will be returning to the race course. 

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Worst yet, you don't want to lose yourself and that athlete identity of yours by getting caught up in motherhood.

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Have any of these spoken to you?  Are any of these the battle(s) you have been facing? 

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Because if this is the battle you have, this program is FOR YOU!

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The Foundations of Postpartum Program has been created to not focus on what many other programs focus on (getting your cardiovascular fitness up as fast as possible or old wives tales that crunches are terrible for you) but instead Foundations of Postpartum focuses on starting to heal your body, get it moving in all of the right ways, correcting your body movements, fixing muscular imbalances, healing your pelvic floor and diastasis recti, and strengthening your musculoskeletal system while priming it for high impact like running!  Gearing you to be strong, ready, and prepared for the rest of your postpartum phase and upcoming athletic season.

 

It is based on the foundations of research in functional anatomy and exercise physiology, as well as having physical therapy techniques and approaches infused perfectly for your pelvic floor and core.  Simply put, this isn't just an fitness inspo program.  This is backed with research, expertise, and experience wrapped up into a program to help you get stronger and prepare for your postpartum athletic career!

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The Foundations of Postpartum Program is a 

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• A 6 Phase Exercise Program geared for your postpartum phase 1 to help you heal and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles from pregnancy and delivery while lying down the foundations for a future of athleticism.  

• Assessments to help you determine if you are ready for the next phase or if you need to stay a bit longer to continue to progressively overload them for the next phase, avoiding injury and pelvic floor dysfunction.

• You will have How To Videos to help guide you through the exercises.  Take the guess work out of how it is supposed to be done with these walk through instructional clips.

• A list of Educational Videos !  These videos will help explain what you should do with your body to help support the healing process and gear it up for you to become an athlete again.  This section will also address some of the athlete mindset and why we need to have a specific roadmap to prepare for your upcoming season.

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I am so excited for this program, seriously I could shout it from the rooftop!  I have crafted this program so delicately to set you up for your greatest success.  I am serious when I tell you that I want you to crush it out on the course again!  Your goals and your ambitions matter to me.  To see and be a part of you reaching your athletic goals and PR's while embarking on parenthood would be my greatest privilege.