The Barbell Mamas Podcast | Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pelvic Health

There is this assumption that motherhood = retirement from sports or athleticism. Kristi Brewer did the exact opposite. The first time Kristi picked up a barbell was when her two kiddos were little. This was at the age of 35. Now, at the age of 41, Kristi is a multi-world record holder in the sport of weightlifting. She was representing team USA on an international platform by 38. Join us as we di...

Content Warning: In today's episode, Courtney is open about her experience as a CrossFitter who has struggled with recurrent loss. Miscarriage happens in 1 of every 4 pregnancies. When you experience multiple losses, many inidividuals are given well-meaning advice about their situation They doubt themselves and their exercise decisions They are told maybe they shouldn't be running so muc...

Preparing for the CrossFit games is a gruelling process. Athletes put in long hours, focus hard on optimizing every aspect of their recovery and prepare themselves for 10-15 tests of all aspects of fitness in Madison, Wisconsin. They say that being a professional athlete can be a selfish job. You need to focus so much on your training. When you're a mom, that isn't really possible. While...

We can't help but be invested in Tia Clair Toomey's story. She is the reigning fittest on earth for SIX consecutive years. She announced that she was pregnant with their daughter Willow late 2022 and many people have watched her social media and YouTube channels showcase what she has been up to. In this episode, Christina is an outsider looking in and takes this opportunity to challenge...

**In this episode, Jessica speaks about pregnancy loss. If this is too painful of a subject matter to listen to, please skip this week's episode**  Being an athlete and wanting to be a mom is tough. Not because you can't do it, but because your athletic window and your fertility window directly overlap.  For Jessica, her journey was not easy. She experienced 2 pregnancy losses and then b...

It can be embarrassing or sometimes produce feelings of shame to talk about sex. But sexual health is an important part of our well-being. In today's episode, we are joined by sex educator Gabrielle Kassel . Gabrielle is a member of the queer community, podcaster of her sex-positive show Bad in Bed and specializes in working with members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Gabrielle is a journalist (c...

Gymnastics and body weight movements are a big portion of many CrossFit and calisthetics programs. They require you to bring your chin, feet or entire body over a bar. These movements are also incredibly CORE dominant. When you are pregnant, there is a lot of advice swirling around the internet. Some is good... some is not. Then when you have baby and are postpartum, there is big rehab process tha...

Pamela Gagnon (IG: @pamelagnon ) is an incredible athlete, business owner, and mom of 2 boys now 19 and 21. She competed in CrossFit from 2011 until 2017, making 6 Regional appearances and 3 Games appearances as a Master's Athlete. Pamela is the co-owner of Performance Plus Programming which provides over 30+ Skill Based Programs for athletes, anything from your First Strict Pull Up to Bar Mu...

Having a strong brace is important for lifting heavy weights. It is a critical part of CrossFit, powerlifting and weightlifting. Not to mention just life. We use bracing when we move couches, pick up our kiddos etc. Weightlifting belts are a performance aid that really helps us to create stiffness through our midline to lift more as well. We did an entire video on it on our YouTube channel.  Knowi...

Meghan Scanlon is nothing short of phenomenal. She is a national level weightlifter and international level powerlifter who, in 2020, got pregnant with TWINS. Her postpartum journey led to her stepping back onto the platform. But not just getting back to competing... BREAKING RECORDS. Meg is now vlogging about her training and, at the time of this release, her finals weeks before WORLDS. Go take a...

The HWPO crew knows how to put in the work and make themselves proud. Christina headed to Vermont to talk Sammy Moniz about her pregnancy with their first little girl. In this conversation, she and Sammy chat about Sammy's pregnancy so far and how female athletes can tackle their pregnant and postpartum fitness. You can see the video version of the episode here.  _____________________________...

TBM Episode 7: When you are pregnant, there are many reasons why you might end up with a C-section.  In the United States, almost 1/3 (about 30%) of birth result from a cesarean section. For that reason, EVERYONE whether you're planning a home birth, vaginal birth with medication or without, sometimes things so NOT go according to plan.  In this episode, we break down everything you need to k...

TBM Episode 6: Getting to compete at Semi-finals is a massive task and a huge accomplishment. The sport of CrossFit has several stages to competition and semi-finals is the last stage in the competition before making it to the CrossFit games. Alison has an impressive track record of competitions and wins this year including a top spot at Wodapalooza, top 20 in her age group Semifinal, and top 3 fi...

TBM Episode 5: Cycle syncing has been a hot topic on Instagram and Tiktok. People are coming out as "cycle syncing fitness providers" helping to heal your hormones with specific exercise routines. In today's episode, Christina breaks down your menstrual cycle and then dives into what the research says about exercise at different phases of your cycle. You aren't going to want to...

TBM Episode 4: Pelvic health issues can be embarrassing. You can have issues with peeing, pooping, sexual health. Not exactly the topics that come up in every day conversation!  In today's episode, Christina goes into unchartered TMI category. There are pelvic issues that come up in the gym that can be really embarrassing to talk about. The more information we have, the more we can do about i...

TBM Episode 3: Powerlifting is an incredible sport. You try to be as strong as possible in the squat, deadlift and bench press and its divided into weight classes. Lucie Martinsdottir started powerlifting AFTER her first child was born and competed in powerlifting after the birth of her second child. She is now an International level powerlifter and has the European record in the squat at 207.5 kg...

TBM EPI 2: When a woman gets pregnant, there's a lot of well-meaning advice.  They can be told to not lift over 20 lbs, to not lift on their back or exercise on their back, to not hold their breath while lifting.  Christina has published (with her research team) the ONLY study that has looked at women that did heavy strength training during their pregnancies on outcomes.  In this episode, Chr...

TBM Episode 1: There is a lot of things to consider when you are thinking of adding MOM to your resume.  You ask yourself a million questions, "Am I ready?" "How long will it take to get pregnant?" "Is it the right time?"  For people who are athletes or exercise with goals in mind, the other questions are  "Is this the right time to step away from training?"...