Hello everyone and welcome to the Barbell Moments podcast.

My Speaker Professor, I'm a public forfeit for the fit of the researcher and exercise in fighting feet in a mom of the two who have competed in classic, a college team, or weight with me a flight-minute post-product or both in this podcast.

We want to talk about the realities of being a mom who loves to exercise.

Whether you're a recreational exerciser or an athlete, we want to talk about all of the things that we go through as females going into this motherhood journey.

We're going to talk about fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum topics that are relevant to the active individual.

While I am a pelvic floor physical therapist, I am not your pelvic floor physical therapist, and know that this podcast does not substitute medical advice.

All right, come along for this journey with us while we navigate motherhood together.

And I can't wait to get to it.

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Barval Mamas podcast.

Christina Previtt here, and today we are going to be doing our 2025 wrap-up and our look forward to 2026.

This is our last episode of the year.

I cannot believe it.

But what I have to say is that honestly, good riddance to 2025.

I have been away the last couple of episodes.

We've been kind of reusing older episodes and republishing for new users or new listeners.

Because my mom, who was diagnosed with stage four small cell carcinoma at the beginning of this year, was in hospital and then passed away shortly after.

Quite suddenly, she was doing really well in her treatment and then she was not doing that well.

And so 2025, for me, I have had two losses.

I have lost my dog and I've lost my mom.

And so I have talked to a lot of people who have either had years like that that really kind of punched them in the teeth or have felt that 2025 is or has been a very difficult year.

And so I want to start off this podcast that if you are a person who has experienced a lot of hardship in 2025, I see you.

And I know that it can be really difficult to be positive and still show up, show up as a parent, show up as a spouse, show up as a daughter and a granddaughter and a friend when you're really going through it and in the trenches.

And so if that is you, just know that I am right there with you.

Uh writing for me has been very healing.

Um, I have done a lot of low intensity mind work in combination with my higher intensity exercise.

Some was because I had to, because of the my blood loss complication with my miscarriage.

But then I think that all of us could uh probably use with a little bit more rest and relax type of movement of our bodies.

And so um yeah, just kind of excited to put this year behind me and and really think about what we are hoping to see in 2026.

As I was reflecting on this year as a pelvic PT and as a researcher, there's a couple of things that I thought have been very cool changes to the conversation that really felt pronounced for me in 2025.

One of the big things that I have noticed, and maybe not like specifically just 2025, but definitely been a positive trend over the last little while, is that having a mom lifting heavy in pregnancy, having a mom who is continuing to be active in pregnancy, as of 2025, I really do feel like it is not breaking the internet like it did before.

It is not getting trolled comments.

We are not seeing as many people who are believing that it's gonna lead to fetal death or adverse pregnancy outcomes.

And that is a very refreshing positive that I have seen more of in 2025.

Another thing that I thought was a really positive thing that I was seeing in 2025, positive in that the conversations are are happening more and not the outcome.

But as I have shared about my miscarriages and have talked about my journey around pregnancy loss.

And maybe it's just my algorithm is showing me this more because I am personally going through it.

But I have noticed that there are a lot more people who are openly talking about conversations around miscarriage and pregnancy loss.

Some people choose to have those conversations with only their partner or their close network.

Other people are deciding to have more open conversations if they have platforms like I do, uh, and be a little bit more open about those conversations.

I'm seeing more people who are announcing pregnancies earlier in an attempt that one, to share the joy of that pregnancy for as long as possible, but then an understanding that if something does happen, you want your community around you, and that um this idea about waiting for 12 weeks, um a lot of time was because there was some shame that was placed on if you experience that loss of sharing too early.

And I think that thought process has really changed and adjusted.

And I definitely noticed that in 2025, probably because I was in that boat myself.

But I think that it's a really positive thing that gives choice and agency to the mom when how if they decide to announce their pregnancy and what that timeline looks like for them.

And I think that is something that is really positive to see.

Another thing that I thought has been a really cool thing that obviously I am biased because I'm in the research space, but we have had a couple of really pivotal papers that have come out in 2025 that just continues to add to the conversation around exercise in pregnancy.

And again, is basically moving the buoys of what is considered to be safe movement in pregnancy.

We had obviously some of the work coming out of our lab, Dr.

Margie Davenport's lab, looking at individuals who are exercising more than 300 intensity minutes in a week.

We had our study that looked at those with low energy availability in preconception and what that does for pregnancy outcomes.

We had our postpartum return to exercise guideline that was super influential in removing a lot of barriers like having to have medical clearance before returning to activity.

Our international Delphi was released this year that was looking at the postpartum period and what is considered a contraindication exercise.

And that loosened the reins around what we can expect in early movement and kind of opened up the door for us to continue exploring early movement and allowing those that want to start moving, you know, 10, 12 days postpartum to feel like they aren't setting themselves back and kind of moving away from some of those really negative messages that are basically telling people that if they start moving early, that they're dooming themselves to dysfunction and pelvic floor issues.

And I think those conversations, you know, the World Tennis Association announced that they could are freezing a person's rank if they are going through IVF or other procedures related to fertility.

Uh, Canada had their first release of a pregnant postpartum funding card for athletes that are on public funding for their sport.

All of these things are really positive conversations that have started to place this lens of empowerment and individualized decision making in the pregnant postpartum period in the hands of the mom or mom to be.

And I think that's so freaking awesome.

I just think that that is so fantastic to be able to have more nuanced conversations.

And this is gonna be kind of transitioning into my hopes for 2026.

And uh, I have some really exciting things coming in my manuscript pipeline from some of the work that you know takes time to generate and develop.

And that that gives me a lot of you know positive energy going into 2026.

Um, something that I think that is gonna be very cool to see this momentum continue to carry into next year.

And so, my where I want to go with this podcast now is to talk about what I hope to see in the pregnant and postpartum space in 2026.

The first thing that I want to keep hoping to see more change towards.

And this is gonna be a wish list that isn't always going to be possible because I know that some of this is not possible in a social media landscape, but we're we're gonna try the best we can.

What I wanna see in 2026 is a continued avoidance of this all or nothing safe or unsafe messaging that has been so central to understanding or program marketing for pregnancy and postpartum.

We see this a lot with our core messaging of like this is a pregnancy safe exercise, or here's a modification that's safe for DRA, diocesis rectus.

And we have this open acknowledgement that there is no such thing as safe versus unsafe messaging in pregnancy and postpartum.

Um, it is what is the exercise that the person that is pregnant is ready for versus the exercise that they are not outside of anything that would cause a blunt force trauma to the abdomen, right?

And so I am hoping that we are gonna see this uptake and return to nuanced language that allows for more conversations to stay in the gray.

Where the recommendations that I'm gonna give to a marathon runner who is used to a 50 mile a week exercise volume, is not gonna be the same as my mom of four who hasn't really returned to exercise in her uh pregnancy postpartum journeys because of life stresses and life demands, and is hoping to be active in this fourth pregnancy.

Those situations, circumstances, not just from the muscles and bones perspective, but also from, you know, the supports, the environment, the life, the expectations, the demands on your time perspective, are all gonna require this individualized approach.

Our postpartum recommendations very much started to pave the way for this type of understanding when it comes to counseling around pregnancy and postpartum, where in the postpartum period, there is an advocacy for an individualized symptom-based return to exercise protocol that is going to take into account the social determinants of health, meaning that somebody may be able to start returning to exercise three days postpartum, moving their body in some way, and others, it's going to be a year before they're really back to any sort of dedicated physical activity program.

What this is requiring, and why this is so important, is that there are so many certifications in pregnancy right now that create or have postured themselves with too much confidence with absolutely no research backing us up.

And diastasis is a good one because, you know, we've had so many conversations about this, and it seems to be very attention-grabbing in social media.

But so many people will say you're gonna modify this way to prevent diastasis recti postpartum.

And the reality is that we don't have any evidence around exercise modification and its influence on the rate and severity of pelvic flora dysfunction in the postpartum period.

And that kind of leads to the second thing that I am hoping for us to develop and talk to more in 2026 is that we need way more research that is going to allow us to get into the weeds of the very real variability that happens in pregnancy.

Like we have a lot of work now that is showing that exercise is safe, especially in uncomplicated pregnancies, and that it is generally recommended that whether you have exercised before or have not exercised before, that you should begin, be beginning or continuing to engage in exercise in pregnancy and postpartum.

We're very firmly in that camp where we need so much more data and not a clinical commentary.

I love, I love that people are putting their opinions out in medical journals, but it's when we don't have any data to base those opinions on, it's just a regurgitation of the same theoretical plausibility hypotheses that we are seeing over and over and over again, right?

We are so desperate for more research on the role of movement in complications of pregnancy.

And I know some people say, well, why pose or why bother, why risk it?

And my response to that is always, but what if it actually makes it better?

Like, why is the knee-jerk reaction that exercise is going to make something worse?

When in all of our chronic disease literature and all of our understanding of almost every issue or complication in health, from heart failure to stroke to uh diabetes to osteoarthritis, that exercise actually is a positive influence on the development of those complications.

And so the research that we need so much is on the modulating role of exercise in complications.

And we're going to start in lower intensities, of course, where we're probably limiting interabdominal pressure, load, and impact.

But I think that there's probably a positive, more positive role than we think in some complications where the knee-jerk reaction to remove exercise is unnecessary.

I would love more research in IVF and exercise.

Our research lab is currently working on that data right now.

So I'm foreshadowing a little bit about we need this research, but also that our lab is working on this research right now.

And so that's really exciting.

And then on we need more research on the role of exercise modification on pregnancy outcomes in previously active women.

And this is foreshadowing to my work that is in manuscript mode right now, and that I hope to have published in the first half of 2026.

All of our guidance on exercise modification in pregnancy is based on physiological theoretical plausibility, where this is how your body is changing in pregnancy.

This is the stress that exercise put puts on you.

In the absence of research, we are going to suggest you modify X, Y, Z.

What my work is starting to do is to look at does that matter?

And does it matter if, how, or when you modified different things that we commonly see in the pregnancy space?

Holding your breath while you're bracing, valsalva bracing, reducing the load of your exercise, exercising on your back, modifying your core exercise, hanging, running, jumping.

We often talk about preemptively or preventatively modifying those exercises, but the question is, is that actually necessary?

And if you do, does that lower your odds of having pelvic floor dysfunction postpartum?

And I think that is so necessary.

We need this evidence so badly because there is a very high degree of confidence in the need or necessity of modifying exercise and pregnancy.

And I was there too.

Like this is a huge change in what my belief systems were even five years ago.

And I, if I had to hypothesize, I believe that we are putting too much complication on modifying exercise in pregnancy, and it's to a detrimental, I think, because it can lead to so much fear, uncertainty.

I don't know if I'm doing this wrong.

Did I cause my dysfunction?

Because even if we say, hey, like just doing it might, it doesn't harm anything.

But I would argue that in some cases it does.

Because if you do have pelvic floor dysfunction and an influencer told you that you shouldn't have been doing running past 28 weeks and you continue to run and you had prolapse, then your belief system is you caused your prolapse because that influencer told you to stop and you didn't listen.

And now you have this dysfunction.

And that influencer could be completely wrong.

And they've taken certifications and whatever, and they're giving this advice.

But it's just that what happened during your labor and delivery, and you had a big baby with a big head.

And genetics and long pushing stages are actual known risk factors for prolapse, was what caused it.

Our brains, as mothers, is saying this was my fault because I didn't change my running.

I should have changed it.

I wouldn't be feeling this way in my body.

And so it's really important, right?

A lot of people say, like, well, what's the harm?

And I think the harm does exist, right?

So we have to be very careful with our language.

And so I'm hoping that some of my research is going to come out that's going to look at, you know, what are the things that are real?

And that, you know, if we modify, this is going to reduce our risk versus if we don't modify what is our relative risk.

And then understanding that that nuanced language, even if, say, we have a higher risk, is it a 9% increased risk or a 60% increased risk?

And know that that is not a guarantee.

So even if you hadn't continued running, you may still have had that prolapse diagnosis.

And I think that conversation is so necessary.

I've actually been struggling so much with social media lately because there is this lack of nuance.

And that's why I love this podcast so much.

And so I'm hoping that that research is going to come out in 2026 to begin having those conversations.

And not to like put the cart before the horse because my research papers haven't been accepted yet.

Hopefully they will.

I truly believe, and this is something that I have become more firm in my belief for is that it should be part of our care pathway, whether you are a previously active person or not, that we begin a return to movement process in the postpartum period before six weeks, if at all possible.

I think for most women we should be engaging or starting to work on rehab and return to exercise before that six-week mark.

Right.

For many, if you are listening to this in the US, you do not have a year like we do in Canada to work on building up capacity after labor and delivery.

And that means that out of necessity, we need to work on work hardening.

But also our postpartum guideline says that those who engage in exercise getting up to 120 minutes in that postpartum first year, rates of postpartum pelvic or postpartum perinatal mood disorders decrease.

And we can talk about the physical part.

And I think the the physical reconditioning is pivotal and really important.

And I don't want six more weeks of deconditioning if the circumstances allow movement to be initiated earlier.

But also the mood piece, I think is really important.

And that type of exploration and hows and circumstances around return to early exercise in that postpartum period, I think is something that I want to see more of in 2026.

I want to see more research, more clinicians talking about it.

I want to see more discussion around that early return.

Um, and I think that's gonna be something that is going to be a positive change that's gonna gain some momentum going into 2026.

And so to kind of finish off this episode, um, what I want to say to you all is that I am so thankful to all of you that have listened to the podcast this year.

I cannot even believe we are over 75,000 downloads for this podcast, which is unreal.

Um, it is so, so exciting to see you all messaging me and seeing that the nuance in our conversations um on this podcast allowed you to feel more confident in how you are approaching exercise in your pregnancy and postpartum transition.

There's a lot of discussions about what we want to do with this podcast and things like that.

Um, over at the Barba Mamas, my husband and I are talking about, you know, how do we put more into this podcast to serve you all better?

Um, and so if you have any ideas for us, let us know.

And just I hope that you have some time for reflection.

And I know if you're in the craziness of parenthood and pregnancy, that it can feel very overwhelming.

But I I hope that you have peace.

And I hope that you have moments of joy and laughter and introspection um over the holidays and going into 2026, I hope that it is everything that you want it to be.

I know my vision board as I come into this reflective time of year is calm.

I want to calmly work on building this stream of information in pregnancy and postpartum.

I want to make decisions that bring calm into our day as a family.

And I really hope that nobody gets sick in my life.

Please.

Um, and uh that is that is my hope, and that is my intention as I go into 2026.

And I hope that you all are going into similarly reflective moments as you approach the end of the year to um to just yeah, think about what you want for for this year, end of this year, and the beginning of the next.

Have a wonderful, wonderful um Christmas, everybody.

And we will see you all in 2026.