Functional Fitness for Pregnancy Interview Question 7 of 7: Additional Advice

On December 20, 2013, freelance writer, Megan Senger, interviewed CEO and Founder of Fit For Birth, Inc., James Goodlatte, for an article that would be 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…

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).

7. Any other thoughts or advice you care to add regarding functional training for pregnant clients? (What question have I not asked that I should have?)

Yes, my thoughts:

First, thank you Megan for jumping into this realm and being willing to report on such an important and growing area of health. I hope that I have provided some great material to make your article a hit.

Secondly:

This industry can no longer be regarded as a joke. The modern human population is currently in an unrecognized state of devolution. The growth of the Pre and Post Natal Wellness industry represents the potential rate of devolution reversal.

Functional exercise is so important, and yet it pales in comparison to the tragedy surrounding our realm. Infertility is at 10% And rising fast. Mechanized childbirth means that drug use is at 80% and C-sections at one in three–it seems that we are no longer able to deliver our children naturally. And there is little news being given to the fact that chronic disease afflicts nearly one in every two infants born today. How did this happen? How can we turn this around?

The answer is that our modern world has paid no regard to our eight foundational health necessities: Breathing. Movement. Food. Water. Lifestyle. Sleep. Natural birth. Thoughts. It’s time we get them back.

This topic is so big, and well beyond the scope of our conversation today, but I will give you an example. Sleep. For the entirety of human history, humans and pregnant mothers have gone to sleep when the sun goes down. This circadian rhythm is embedded into our DNA, both pregnant mothers and their unborn infants. Less than 100 years ago, we began turning on light bulbs when the sun went down. Our brains and physiology regard this as not only an insult but as a complete anomaly–our bodies literally do not know how to handle this kind of stressor. What we humans didn’t realize is how devastating that would be for our hormonal rhythm, including the release of cortisol and our perceived level of stress. And our unborn children are suffering with sub-optimal growth.

How bad could something like the lightbulb be, you ask? Expert on sleep and biological rhythms, TS Wiley believes this alone is “An extinction level event.” Add poor breathing, sedentary lifestyle, processed foods, chemicals everywhere, and massive rising stress, and its easy to see why our society is suffering from so much chronic disease. Adding to the challenge is the fact that the tools we employ first are usually drugs and surgery.

Our society needs a massive ideological overhaul, and ASAP. We need a capable and widespread team of Pre & Post Natal Fitness & Health Professionals to be ready for the coming revolution. We need corrective exercise. We need functional exercise. We need to revisit our low-cost foundational health necessities. And we need Specialists to lead our pregnant women and their families. This is why the mission of Fit For Birth is “Healing families by inspiring the use of natural methods and by creating a team of fitness & health professionals to reduce infertility, avoid mechanized childbirth, and prevent infant chronic disease.”