During my 1st pregnancy, I quickly realized there was a lack of accessible information and education around how to train throughout pregnancy, into postpartum and beyond. Google leads you down a path of confusing and conflicting information with many of it incredibly outdated. The general guidelines & do's and don't of pregnancy do not factor the individual and training variables at hand and simply label movements as 'safe' or 'unsafe'. Or provide general advice like; ’just listen to your body’ and ‘you can return to whatever you were doing pre-pregnancy.’ Women deserve so much more than bullet points.
My approach is not about what fits my bias and rather driven towards your long term performance and interests. I understand, I empathize. I have been through this journey myself. Seeing your body change both physically and performance wise is HARD. Navigating those early postpartum weeks/month is both euphoric and monumentally overwhelming. When I found out I was pregnant I reevaluated my training goals, my mindset shifted and I exercised with the intention of building a different kind of strength. You're training for motherhood. You're training for the the sleepless, hormonal marathon of caring for a newborn. You're training to continue to do your daily activities without peeing your pants or struggling with back pain. You're training to feel strong in motherhood. 6 days after giving birth, I was carrying Theo in his car seat to his first doctors appointment. Each week he was getting heavier and throughout the day I was squatting, lifting, bending, carrying, getting up and down from the ground, all while trying to rest and heal.