The Barbell Mamas Podcast | Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pelvic Health

What the heck is the PELVIC FLOOR and Pelvic floor physical therapy  Pelvic floor rehab has become way more popular. Social media is a big part of that.  So many of us have no idea what the pelvic floor is unless 1) we are peeing and pooping when we don’t want to be peeing or pooping or 2) we are pregnant/postpartum and now everyone is telling us to do our kegels.  What the heck IS the pelvic floo...

This  week we talked to Rachel Moore DPT who work with Christina at the institute of clinical excellence in there pelvic and postpartum division. She opens up about her own experience with preeclampsia during her birth stories and especiallly postpartum. Rachel is joining us as a coach with TBM to take on 1 on 1 patients with either programming or  _________________________________________________...

 I know what you all are thinking  I am no where NEAR menopause.  But haven’t you had a moment in your pregnancy or postpartum journey where you thought … I WISH someone would have told me.  That is what this episode is.  An episode about what’s coming in menopause. What to expect and what to do about it NOW  ___________________________________________________________________________ Don't mi...

HAPPY 2024!!! First I want to give a massive shoutout to all of you who have joined us in the starting of this podcast in 2023. It really has been a bright spot for me to be able to connect with you all and share knowledge and learning in this space.  In this episode, Christina talks about a NEW STUDY she is going to be opening recruitment for and then talk about the 5 trends (good and bad) she sa...

Navigating a changing body is hard... navigating it when in the public eye might be harder. Anna Victoria is a multiple entrepreneur, social media influencer and mama of 2. With an Instagram account of over 1 MILLION followers, she was navigating her pregnancy and postpartum journey very much in the spotlight. Anna Victoria talks about how she did not grow up and have her world always surrounded b...

Many of you all know Meg from her Instagram account or Youtube Channel In this exclusive interview, this is the first time Meg has shared her birth story or opened up in a public forum about her journey as a mom. Meg has successfully coached tens of thousands of athletes and powerlifters through their first squat, first meet, or first national-level competition. Through her YouTube channel and pro...

One of the barbell sports that is gainining in popularity is Strongman (or in this case StrongWOman). Shannon Smith found powerlifting and then her love shifted to strongman in 2017. Rising in the ranks, Shannon won Worlds Strongest Woman in 2021 just after the COVID shutdowns. Knowing she always wanted to have a family and having reached her sport goal, her and her husband decided to try to start...

Over half to as manyas 75% of pregnant individuals will experience some amount of muscular pain. The most common of which is pelvic girdle pain.  So many mamas can go to their providers and be told that there is nothing that they can do and that theyjust need to "wait until the baby comes out"  That is simply not true! In this episode, Christina breaks down the myths then talks about the...

 Unmedicated, Induction, COVID pregnancies and deliveries  Today’s episode is a personal one where Christina recounts her stories.  So often, when pregnant, people scare the daylights out of you with their scary stories. Very few birth stories are perfect but learning positive birth experiences can help.  Learn from Christina as she talks about her induction and story of gestational hypertension,...

We talk on this podcast often about those who START their pregnancy or postpartum journey having done some resistance training. It makes it a bit easier to understand ways to make modifications and how to change your exercise routine because you know what these movements are supposed to FEEL LIKE. But what if you don't? What if you didn't start strength training unitl AFTER babies? What...

It is hopefully coming from a good place but no one gives more advice about your body and your cgoices than when you are pregnant.  Don't do this. Watch out for that. You're going to ruin this.  Ick  It's also really harmful and potentially hurtful We put it out to all of you on "what is the worst advice you got when you were pregnant" and we got SO MANY RESPONSES.  Christ...

So often, as mamas, we get told that we shouldn't do this or that because we are going to cause permanent damage or RUIN something.  This isn't true.  And it isn't that simple.  There is no other area of rehab where we would worry about a change in symptoms. We know that recovering from an injury isn't linear. WHY would this be different with birth?! The Barbell Mamas is around...

WHAT A WEEKEND!!! The Rogue invitational is the one of the biggest competitions of the year in the CrossFit space. It's heavy, there's a lot of fun toys and there is a heated competition pool, The big news and gossip that surrounded the weekend was 6x CrossFit Games champion Tia-Clair Toomey. There was so much speculation, opinion and conjecture about her return.  In today's episode...

There is so much FEAR around diastasis recti. This is a lengthening of the linea alba that happens in 100% of pregnancies and something that can create a lot of concern postpartum Many mamas are worried about what their bellies are going to look like after babies  They start googling about what is going to “Ensure” they don’t have diastasis recti postpartum.  This causes people to stop doing anyth...

Nutrition and how much food we take in is a super important conversation for the pregnant and non-pregnant person. If we aren't eating enough, our body goes into energy saver mode. We turn down our other body activities that are considered optional. For many women, the sign of this is that they stop getting their period. (If you haven't checked out our menstrual cycle episode, check it o...

Finding CrossFit at 25, Mekenzie Riley spent her time after her swimming career learning CrossFit, competing in the Open, then quarterfinals making her debut to the Games as an individual in 2018. When COVID hit, she had already started to think about motherhood and spent her 2020 season embracing her new role as a mom. She didn't think she would make it to the Games again but in 2021, to her...

There are so many questions we can have when thinking about exercise during pregnancy and into postpartum. We question EVERYTHING. Knowing the research while building in your own experience, allows you to make the informed choice for YOU.  We put up a question box and LOVED the questions but they werent "30 second" answers. We picked 5 and did a deep dive  Here are the timestamps: 6:20 C...

Being a high-level athlete is hard on the body. Being pregnant is hard on the body too. Talayna Fortunato is a CrossFit OG, being on the podium at the Games in 2012. Fast forward 10 years and Talayna is still CrossFitting but now has had two pregnancies including twins and is pregnant with baby 4! In this week's podcast, Talayna talks about her fertility journey (she was advanced maternal age...

When you are pregnant, you start thinking about labor a lot.  People like to tell you their horror stories.  You start reading things online.  Pregnant women into fitness can be told that "labor will be a cinch! No problem for you because you work out so much" But is this true? What happens if for YOU it doesn't go that way? In this week's episode, Christina talks about the sta...

There are a lot of people that think that it may be unsafe for you to perform Olympic weightlifting movements (the snatch and the clean and jerk during pregnancy). These movements are SPEED STRENGTH movements. In weightlifting competitions, you have 3 attempts to lift the most you can . It is ABSOLUTELY SAFE to weightlift during your pregnancy. But everyone's pregnancy is different and HOW an...

The sport of powerlifting consists of the big three barbell movements: the squat, the deadlift and the bench press.  During the competition, you have 3 attempts to lift the most you can in each of these movements to pre-specified movements standards. It is also a weight class sport so you are competing with females of the same relative weight as you.  Powerlifting has absolutely exploded in popula...

Pelvic organ prolapse also known as POP is a  condition that occurs when one or more of the pelvic organs shift from their normal position and press against the walls of the vagina . This definition can sound scary and there is a lot of fear surrounding prolapse in the pregnancy and postpartum space. In this episode, we break down what it is, how it presents, common symptoms of prolapse, risk fact...

**Disclaimer: everyone has their own journey**  At the Barbell Mamas, we are pretty against blanket statements. This "do nothing" for 6 weeks can be a help to guide you and give you time to rest ... but does it apply to everyone?  We are getting more information and research about how to get back to early postpartum exercise if you so choose.  Early postpartum exercise isn't BAD.  W...

Colette is a mom of three and now a PODIUM finisher in the Masters 35-39 category at the 2023 CrossFit Games.  Being a mom makes training harder. It’s true.  Being a mom of three, you start to embrace the chaos! That can make structured exercise, especially at the Games level, SUPER challenging.  In today’s episode, Colette talks about her CrossFit love story, her journey in CrossFit through all h...

What a WEEKEND!  Our mamas and all of our athletes showed up. The events were unreal. The energy unparallelled and the community so wonderful.  In today's episode, Christina and Nick break down the Games. We talk about the experience being in the Games arena, the Masters athletes, our mama athletes, even our vendors.  The ups, downs, injuries, pelvic health complaints and all the things in be...