Labor: Why You Should Prepare Before The Ultimate Marathon

Fun fact: the average first time female marathon runner runs their first marathon in around 4.5 hours. Not too shabby, until you consider that the first time mom is in labor (eg the ultimate marathon) for just over 12 hours. That’s right folks, the average first time labor is akin to almost three marathons. Now that’s what I call a workout!

And yet, when preparing for labor, many pregnant people forget just what a workout they’re really in for. Take an acquaintance of mine, B. After giving birth to their baby, they wrote me and said they were surprised by “just how much of a workout” it really was. They are absolutely right – and absolutely not alone! That’s why we help ourselves so much by going into pregnancy strong, by maintaining muscle during pregnancy (or building some, if we were de-conditioned beforehand) and by working on the mental component as well.

After all, chances are that if you wanted to run a marathon you would seek out the help of a specialized coach, spend hours at the gym and on the track and even do some forms of mental preparation in the form of breath work and/or mindfulness. It’s tough, but necessary. And, you guessed it, same goes for during pregnancy (when we’re healthy). So how do we apply some form of that training to our prenatal experience?

A few of my favorite ways to train pregnant clients* include:
• Labor training endurance workouts
• Practicing holding birthing positions (some of these take a whole lot of muscle!)
• Low-impact cardio utilizing primal/functional movements
• Visualization paired with breath work/mindfulness

Not sure where to start? Check out my IGTV series “Mondays Are For Mamas” on IGTV for prenatal specific workouts, mindfulness and more! Interested in more structured labor training? Send me a message to set up a virtual coffee chat to learn more! ✨☕ It’s fun, low-key and zero pressure! 🙂

Did you workout differently during pregnancy? Share your story in the comments!

Xoxo,

*Training is all done virtually at this time due to COVID-19 restrictions + safety. Prenatal training should only be done if your doctor has cleared you to workout and you’re feeling good. 🙂