Navigating the Athlete’s Journey from Postpartum to Peak Performance
Written by Melissa Schenkman, MPH, MSJ
Has striving to reach new heights in your exercise routine or playing sports been a lifelong priority for you?
Whether you have been a competitive athlete or are a weekend warrior who regularly trains to run or walk local 5Ks, when exercise and staying fit has been a part of your identity, it is hard to envision a different way of life. But pregnancy demands a lot from the body.
As a result, how we define fitness must shift too. We can still be fit and embrace doing different forms of exercise and a different pace—one that may not be as fast or intense as pre-pregnancy.
Pre and Postnatal Fitness Coach, Erica Friedman, understands these challenges firsthand. She played competitive soccer in her 20s, ran marathons, and even did bodybuilding, all before having her first child.
Having that ingrained athlete’s mindset that you can just push (no pain no gain), she envisioned stepping right into her high intensity routine again at six weeks postpartum. But, she quickly realized that routine didn’t feel quite right.
As she learned, even the most fit athletes face challenges transitioning back to their sport after having a baby.
Coach Friedman dives into the athlete’s mindset and how to shift that thought process during and post pregnancy to find the ‘new normal’ that’s right for you. The goal: achieve fitness successfully and safely for your body.
She shares the top five areas of the body she focuses on with new moms and why, sample early postpartum exercises, and her advice on how to build an awesome postpartum care team.
The athlete's mindset
While being an athlete or a consistent exerciser is a part of your personal identity, it makes the shifts to your body during pregnancy and postpartum a unique challenge.
“If you've been an athlete your whole life, you're taught to push through things. But pregnancy is a whole different ball game. You should not push through pain when you're pregnant,” Friedman said.
However, this can be very challenging for someone who is used to doing the exact opposite. That’s why one of Friedman’s goals is to give her clients confidence and perspective as they continue on their fitness journey into postpartum life.
In coaching athlete clients, she focuses on teaching them how to set expectations, understand where they are at, and scale back (for many it’s their first time). It’s also important for them to decide what their goal is.
“What is your goal? I want to continue training and moving through my pregnancy?I want to prepare for delivery? It’s really important for you to understand that nine or 10 months is a very small period of time in the scheme of life,” Friedman said. “You don't have to stop training during pregnancy, it may just look different.”
While Friedman works to increase her client’s confidence in their abilities, at the same time she teaches her athlete clients to “check their ego.”
It’s an approach that makes the difference in getting back to fitness successfully postpartum, instead of having setbacks because you are not giving your body the proper time to heal.
The athlete advantage
Friedman emphasizes that whether you have been an athlete or have not been an athlete before pregnancy, neither is a good or bad thing. Yet, there are certain advantages and disadvantages for those who have worked out and trained lifelong.
“I do think that having the athlete mentality is super helpful. But I'm also saying that if you don't, that's okay too,” Friedman said. As an athlete, what I found is that myself and individuals who identify as athletes are very committed to their rehab exercises, and very creative in finding a way to make it happen.”
For example, you may not have time for a 20-minute workout when you have an infant, but can break that 20 minutes up into five-minute increments that you could do throughout the day to achieve a total of 20 minutes.
“I think athletes are very committed because they know what it feels like to be strong and to do what they want to do. And so, they're going to really follow all of your instructions and do everything to a tee,” she said.
On the flip side, this level of commitment makes it easier to become frustrated when your abilities and time are limited.
Time being in short supply is something across the board everyone faces, so she points out that it’s important to set realistic expectations for yourself. In the beginning you will have very little time with an infant, but then your child will sleep through the night and as your child grows, they will be able to do more for themselves. For example, she now has a five-year-old, and he can dress himself.
So, be realistic about what you have the time to do, your stage postpartum and how much sleep you are getting, and remember, the early postpartum period is a short period of time out of your entire life.
Erica Friedman is a Certified Personal Trainer and Pre and Postnatal Fitness Coach based in San Diego, California. The proud mom of two boys is also the founder of Erica Friedman Wellness, where she takes a full-body approach to helping moms-to-be stay healthy and fit postpartum and beyond.
The 6-week myth
For many, the magic number during that period seems to be six weeks. At your checkup six weeks after delivery, your doctor checks to see if bleeding has ceased, makes sure everything has healed a mental health check, and sometimes will ask you about your birth control plan.
But as Friedman explained, the six-week clearance isn’t enough for a full recovery.
“If you think about it, you just were pregnant for nine or 10ish months, and then all of a sudden you have this baby, and it's like six weeks later, voila, you're all healed,” she emphasized.
“You had like a plate-sized womb in your body and have internal healing that needs to take place. What I say is that at six weeks, it’s just the beginning of the rehab process. You can start movement. But the first three months is very intro type stuff just introducing the body to movement again.”
She pointed out that in some cases, a new mom may have had limited movement for the past year, and six weeks is not enough time to really address the things that came up during pregnancy.
What does the typical postpartum rehab timeline look like?
“I'd say a realistic timeframe is more like 18 months to two years after pregnancy,” Friedman said. “That's not saying you need to be on the ground doing rehab exercises for 18 months, but I always think in postpartum there's these checkpoints with moms.”
She has found those to be at three months where moms start feeling a little bit better, then six months, nine months, and twelve months. It’s usually at 18 months that they start feeling noticeably good.
Erica's top 5 for new moms
Knowing the realistic timeline for postpartum rehab, here are the top skills Coach Friedman works on with new moms in the early postpartum period:
Ribcage mobility/360 breathing
It’s important to get the ribcage moving and focus on that 360-degree expansion of the rib cage while breathing. This works to get that expansion and then stretch from the inside out happening versus just breathing out on the belly.
“We're breathing into the back of the body because oftentimes postpartum we're in this very extended position with ribs actually pushed forward. So, I think about bringing you back, and the way I can do that is expanding into this area. So, you have space to come back into,” she said. This is key for prolapse symptoms, diastasis etc.
Stacking (ribcage over pelvis alignment)
She teaches new moms how to stack well over time and not to force themselves into certain positions.
“We want the ribcage and the pelvis to be a little bit more stacked because then the diaphragm and the pelvic floor are in a better position to coordinate and manage pressure” she said. So, she works with her clients on hamstrings, deep core, breathing into the back—all that stuff is going to play a role in helping us find a better position.
Glute release/lengthening
Releasing and lengthening the glute muscles are something 99.9% of moms need postpartum to help with movement. A lot of moms are clenching the glutes for stability, or they've been taught that when they come from the top like the top of a deadlift to push their hips forward.
Shifting weight/rotation
Rotational work is key in learning how to shift well and move side-to-side—something the glute release and lengthening exercises play a pivotal role in.
Progressing exercises
Each exercise builds upon one another and gets easier with time. In doing so, she works to help her clients continue to advance in their exercises.
Building your postpartum care team
While not every specialist will be geographically or financially accessible to everyone, here are the individuals Friedman believes are key players on a postpartum care team and that you should consider connecting with.
Pelvic floor physical therapist – very helpful with providing exercises that support the pelvic floor during pregnancy and delivery, internal work (only certain specialists) and to help treat postpartum conditions like urine leakage.
Lactation consultant – helps with breastfeeding challenges
Mental health provider (therapist) – finding someone or getting a referral for someone who specializes in postpartum health and in mood disorders can be instrumental.
Postpartum doula –well versed in helping you with the postpartum recovery and can kind of ease discomforts. They give you another set of hands with someone who's well versed in baby care and can take care of the baby (and other children) while taking care of you.
Nutritionist – can provide ideas and maybe even help with making meals from a nutrient perspective. This guidance can be really helpful if you have any health conditions where you require certain types of foods or medications.
Hormone/functional medicine practitioner – helpful for any concerns with functional wellness. After things have settled, it’s worth getting your thyroid and other hormone levels checked as they can change from pregnancy and affect a lot of bodily functions.
Sample early postpartum exercises
These are some of the key exercises Friedman has clients do and recommends in early postpartum to rehab the body with success.
Diaphragmatic breathing
Back body/posterior breathing
Sidelying breathing with core connection
Pelvic tilts
Hip shifting
Rocking
Learn more in Coach Friedman’s comprehensive guide for the first six weeks postpartum by signing up here.
Conclusion
Coach Friedman loves empowering athletic moms and teaching them how to make a healthy transition to their postpartum athletic life and find their way back to fitness and the sports that they have always loved.
In order to make this journey successfully, it really does “take a village.” It is important to surround yourself with the right support on your postpartum care team tailored for your needs, including having a fitness coach, who specializes in training pre and postnatal women.
Postpartum fitness life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Remember to have patience and show yourself compassion. You’ve got this!
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