Intro: It's Your Health Radio, a special podcast series presented by Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Here's Melanie Cole.

Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Do you know the importance of pre- and postnatal fitness programs and how the program at Henry Mayo Fitness and Health serves as a support system for mothers who want to feel strong, capable, ready, and connected throughout every stage of motherhood.

Welcome to It's Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. I'm Melanie Cole. And joining me today to talk about pre- and postnatal workouts, strong from the start, is Hannah Lonsinger. She's a lifestyle specialist at Henry Mayo Fitness and Health. Hannah, thank you so much for joining us today. So as we get into this topic, because it's so important and I've been working with pregnant women for a very long time, and I know how good it makes them feel, how it changes, it can really change your whole pregnancy and postnatal period. So, tell us about some of those benefits of pre- and postnatal exercise and why it's so important.

Hannah Lonsinger: For sure. Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to be here. Obviously, you know exercise is so important whether you're pregnant or not. I think it just becomes so much more helpful, especially when you're pregnant, your body changes drastically. And for most first-time moms, they're not understanding really what those changes are.

I know for me, I was not prepared at just-- obviously, you get bigger, your belly grows, but there's so much more that goes into it, mentally and within your health, not just physically. So, starting with prenatal, it depends on where you're at. If you're already exercising before and you are used to that, then it's so much easier to kind of keep going with that. But, say, you haven't worked out and you're more sedentary, it is kind of tricky to understand what can I do now? I know I got the clear from my doctor saying, "You can lift 20 pounds." And now, we know that that's not true. But it was so much harder to be like, "Wait, I was lifting a whole lot more" or "I was running a whole lot more. And now, I can only lift 20 pounds. Like my baby weighs more than 20 pounds. What do you mean?" So, it's definitely a lot more of a mind shift than that. And then, going into postnatal, everyone wants to get their pre-pregnancy baby body back, and we want to bounce back so quickly. And a lot of times that's not what happens, and that's okay.

And so, what we do at Henry Mayo is just more focusing on your core work, building that up, talking about your breath work, and just meeting you where you're at, seeing if we can help you just feel good in your body again. So, a lot of it is through education and a lot of it is support and knowledge on knowing what to do and what you can and can't do.

Melanie Cole, MS: If you were never running marathons, getting pregnant is not the time to start, right? I mean, what we say is that whatever you were doing before, you can do, but you may have to taper down a little bit. I'd love for you to give us a little bit of a program overview. Tell us about the program and how it's really a supportive community for all mothers to be.

Hannah Lonsinger: So, this is a fairly new program that we're launching. I'm so excited to be a part of it, but it is definitely not a one-size-fits-all. Every pregnancy is different, and I think anyone who's been pregnant knows that. Every body change is different and everyone heals differently as well, whether you have a c-section or a natural birth, it just depends. And so, the program that we have at Henry Mayo is all one-on-one. You are going to get paired with a coach who really understands what's going on in your body. And we want to meet you where you're at, whether you were running marathons prior or if you were sedentary and just going on little walks, which is great as well, we want to help give you that knowledge on how to do a strength training program right. And we want to make sure that you understand what you should be doing in order to recover well. A lot of it is that education, but also the support that you get through the coaches here that we have at Henry Mayo.

Melanie Cole, MS: Well, that's what's so important because certainly as you say, our bodies change throughout the trimesters. And so, in the first trimester, there are some limitations because you got to be a little bit careful. That's a tenous type of trimester for you. But as you get into that second trimester and you're feeling really good, you can do some things you maybe didn't think you could and then comes along the big belly and you're like, "Ooh, now my balance has shifted." Tell us a little bit, Hannah, how you shift with those trimesters because, as I just said, balance changes and awareness and kinematics and proprioception, all of these things change as we can't see our toes.

Hannah Lonsinger: For sure. The center of balance is completely out the window. So, yeah , the first trimester, obviously, meeting them where they're at, I've already talked so much about that. But then, comes the nausea and the tiredness and some people get the morning sickness, that kind of is an all-day sickness kind of thing, and it's understanding I cannot work out as much as I used to or I really can't get off the couch today. And I don't know what to do about that.

And so, especially in that first trimester is understanding how to be patient with your body for sure, but also knowing what you can and cannot do. As your baby grows and as you grow also, you're not allowed to lay on your back at a certain amount of weeks, because of the circulation. And I don't think that education, at least for me, was not prevalent and I was not sure what I can even do. So, I was just like, "Ah, I guess I can't do anything." And that's not where it should be at all, because we want to make sure that women feel confident in their body and we want to prepare them for labor, especially towards that third trimester. So, a lot of times with the one-on-one coaching is meeting them whatever their needs are and supporting that, but still challenging themselves. It wouldn't be a challenge like I would do with my regular personal training clients. I'm not going to ramp it up super quickly or have them do an exercise where I am challenging them. But I want to make sure I am obviously being mindful about how they're feeling altogether emotionally as well. So, very much the community aspect and support that we get through those one-on-one coachings.

Melanie Cole, MS: It's really important. It's great work that you're doing. And I remember when the side leg curl was invented kind of for pregnant women because they couldn't lie on their back, because of that descending the aorta and that compression that can happen. And we don't realize things like when you mentioned lying on your back, we don't really know those things unless somebody really helps us. And while women can still exercise and walking certainly is so great, weight training, aqua aerobics, yoga, these things all sort of change and ebb and flow as we're pregnant.

Now, speak a little bit about postnatal because like you, I mean, I knew I'd been in the business a long time, but I got up and I started walking right away, day two, and It wasn't a great idea. But then, once I was able to get back into my exercise, then it was fine. But I did have to, like, tell myself off a little bit because I did too much too quickly. Speak about how you work with women in that regard because it is tempting, like you said, to want to get that body back.

Hannah Lonsinger: For sure. And it all depends on did you have a C-section and did you have a regular natural birth. But either way, you went through a traumatic experience and your body needs time to recover. So for me, I know I had an emergency C-section. I got cleared after the six weeks, which I was like, "Are you kidding me? I don't feel like my body is able to do anything yet." And it was just laying on the ground that I was in so much pain and just rolling over. I was like, "What? I used to be able to do all these things." And now, just laying on the ground gives me so much pain. So definitely, postnatal, we are all starting at ground zero. We are starting at level one, and mostly everyone is, and that is okay.

And I think the main thing for that is they don't need to get their pre-baby body back, like there is no need for that. You have a little one in your arms now, and you get to cradle them and hold them. That should not be your main focus. However, we do want to make sure that moms feel confident and strong again. So definitely, it takes time and there's no linear progress with that. There's ups and downs. But definitely, obviously, we're working on pelvic floor, we are strengthening their core and we are learning how to keep everything strong again and rebuild those muscles, and that'll start just very slowly, working their way back up. But there's no shame in taking a few days off, feeling your body and starting at level one.

Melanie Cole, MS: Definitely great advice, and the pelvic floor is so important. I mean, we know what happens when you get to be my age. If you didn't concentrate too hard on the pelvic floor after having the babies, it gets a little bit iffy, but that's really great advice to do. Now, how does somebody join the program or get involved?

Hannah Lonsinger: Yeah. So, anyone could join. This is specifically for our members though, but the great thing that Henry Mayo is doing is that if you deliver at Henry Mayo, you automatically get, I think, it's four weeks complimentary here at the gym, and that's a really awesome way to get integrated in the facility that we have. But I would love to help out, and you'll get set up with a complimentary assessment with me and some of our other coaches as well. That will be very helpful. And then, we just kind of dive deep into what are your goals, obviously what trimester you're in, or where are you post-pregnancy in your fourth trimester, and we talk about moving through there.

Melanie Cole, MS: Wrap it up for us, Hannah. Great information that we've given. And it's so lovely that Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital does this for their pregnant moms-to-be, and that you get to join the club and get some time in there to kind of feel it out and see if this is really what you want. And it's really just so important, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally, because it does help you to relieve some of that anxiety of becoming a new mother, of starting this family. I mean, it's all very overwhelming, but this is really the best way and the best way to get that support and meet a community. So, tell everybody what you would like them to know about the program for pre- and postnatal workouts at Henry Mayo fitness and Health.

Hannah Lonsinger: Yeah, I think the community is something like you just said, is what I really want to touch on because the community here at the gym is exactly what we're looking for. And I know for me as a first-time mom, I was not sure what I could do and why isn't he gaining weight or can he progress and why isn't he sleeping through the night? And then, you realize when you talk to other moms and you have that community, "Oh, we're all going through the same things together, and that community is just the best thing to have." And so, that's what I'm looking for with this program as we build it. We're hosting a group called Moving with Mamas in late August, we're hosting them for a big workout kind of community event. And that's what I want. I want all moms to come together and have that community to share and Understand that they're not in it alone, but also in a physical aspect and how to get your health back going and how to build up from there.

Melanie Cole, MS: Thank you so much, Hannah, for joining us today and telling us about this wonderful program for moms-to-be and for new moms, because really it's just so important to have that support and community. Thank you again. And for more information, you can visit our website at henrymayo.com/fitmom. That concludes this episode of It's Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. I'm Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for joining us today.