Functional Fitness for Pregnancy Interview Question 5 of 7: Labor Training

On December 20, 2013, freelance writer, Megan Senger, interviewed Founder of Fit For Birth, Inc., James Goodlatte, for an article that was published in the May issue of IDEA Fitness Journal, Volume 11, Number 5.  James was one of several industry experts interviewed for the article titled “Functional Fitness for Pregnancy.”  His progressive and unique views helped shape the article, particularly concerning exercise selection and objectives.  His views also gave a unique perspective on what it means to select exercises based upon Trimesters.  What follows are the transcripts of the complete interview…

QUESTION #5:  I have read some pregnant women (especially pregnant Crossfitters or athletes) discuss working out to prepare for the event of birth (almost like training up to a major competition). Do you find this analogy helpful for your clients?

ANSWER:  Not only do I find this analogy helpful for our clients, this is the reason we created Labor Training as part of the Fit For Birth curriculum.  Labor Training is a “sports specific” protocol specifically designed to train a woman physically and mentally for labor and delivery.  We incorporate high-intensity bouts of exercise with mental imagery and meditation techniques.

 

Read more from the interview questions here:

Question 1 of 7: Pregnant versus Non-Pregnant Functional Exercises

Question 2 of 7: Top Functional Exercises During Each Trimester

Question 3 of 7: Pregnancy Myths

Question 4 of 7: Considerations for Training Pregnant clients with Physical Jobs

Question 6 of 7: Physiological Aspect to Training Pregnant Clients

Question 7 of 7: Additional Advice

 

James Goodlatte is a Pre & Post Natal Holistic Health Coach whose passion is to heal families by inspiring the use of natural methods and by building a global team of fitness & health professionals to reduce infertility, avoid mechanized childbirth, and lower chronic disease in our infants.  As the founder of Fit For Birth, Inc., he is a driving force for providing Continuing Education Credits for the Pre and Post Natal World.  As a writer, his articles have been published in a dozen languages and have inspired contact from Pre & Post Natal women as well as health professionals in over 150 countries.

Background by Megan Senger:

This article will discuss functional fitness as it relates to the different stages/trimesters of pregnancy. Note that this article is NOT a review of exercise guidelines during pregnancy, cardiovascular or nutrition concerns, or general tips about working with pregnant clients.  Instead, it will focus exclusively on functional fitness for activities of daily living during pregnancy, i.e. what exercises should a pregnant client perform during her 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimester so she can comfortably perform ADLs during her pregnancy, prepare for the birth experience (“fit for birth”), and her immediately post-partum ADLs (e.g. sitting in a chair nursing/feeding her baby for hours, etc).