Why Don’t We Perform Lifts To Failure During Pregnancy
If you’ve followed any of the BIRTHFIT online programming, specifically the Prenatal Program, you might have asked yourself, “Why don’t we perform lifts to failure during pregnancy?” The short answer? Because you have a baby in you. The long answer is that birth is one of the single most athletic …
Obstacles to Exercising While Breastfeeding
*Although it is possible to breastfeed while exercising (baby-weighted lunges are killer!), this post is in reference to exercising in general while being a lactating mama. As a birth-world-movement that includes “Fitness” as one of our Four Pillars, we often meet women who believe they cannot, or worse, should …
My Top 5 Pregnancy-Related Misconceptions
When mom and baby are healthy, there should be no reason not to train for birth. In my opinion, and what I founded BIRTHFIT on, is that training includes, but is not limited to, strength, conditioning, flexibility, and balance. These skills can easily translate into other ordinary life tasks. When …
The Benefits of Lifting Weights for Women
Women Lifting Heavy? Until recent years women weren’t typically all about the barbells and squat racks. Even today, as weightlifting is becoming more normal for women, we are still surrounded by stereotypical ideas about what fitness should look like for us and we are faced with unrealistic ideas of …
Training Cycle
What is Training Cycle? Training Cycle is a strength and conditioning training program based on a 28 day menstrual cycle created by yours truly. My intention was to apply feminine energy to an otherwise masculine dominated world of strength and conditioning training. After months of trial and error I …
Back-To-Back Pregnancies
Lately, we’ve had a number of people reach out via social media and email who are curious as to how to best support their bodies with back-to-back pregnancies. Mostly what you read on the internet are horror stories and how this experience is anything but desirable. We’re determined to flip …
Monitoring Training During Pregnancy
What should my heart rate be? How much weight is too much? What can I do to monitor myself? These are the million dollar questions for monitoring training during pregnancy. However, there is no one-size-fits-all model for training throughout pregnancy and the initial twelve months postpartum. Tools we use …
BIRTHFIT Coach Is an Honor: Requirements and Recommendations
We frequently hear from personal trainers and/or coaches (women and men) wanting to be a BIRTHFIT Coach. However, when we share our BIRTHFIT Coach Education and application requirements and recommendations, many people vanish or have a hard time understanding why we cannot just “let them in”. Our BIRTHFIT Coach …
The Role of Transversus Abdominis as Part of a Functional Core
You’ve probably heard that the transversus abdominis (TvA) is essential for core stability. You’ve heard right, but that’s only a small part of the whole story. The truth is, the TvA is *part* of a dynamic core (referring to the entire region from your neck to your hips). Why …
Intentional Training Before and After Birth
Webster dictionary defines intentional as: ”deliberate, to have a purpose behind a task.” How can this be applied daily to our lives and any training we are pursuing in the Motherhood Transition? The intent will be personal to us each, and specific to our season, but the concept is the …