August 31, 2024 • 47 mins
Amber Bruseke, founder of Biceps After Babies, discusses nutrition and exercise during pregnancy. She emphasizes the importance of exercise during pregnancy and challenges the notion that pregnant women are fragile. She shares her own fitness journey and the normalization of exercise during pregnancy in her upbringing. Amber recommends starting with 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week and incorporating resistance training. She also highlights the significance of protein intake and the challenges for vegan or vegetarian diets. Amber discusses the benefits of prenatal vitamins, particularly folate, and the importance of a diverse diet. She also touches on the use of macro counting as an educational tool during pregnancy. In this conversation, Amber Bruseke discusses the importance of counting macros for awareness of food intake and adjusting it for different goals. She also emphasizes the benefits of cardio and weightlifting during pregnancy to prepare the body for the physical demands of pregnancy and delivery. Amber explains the importance of waiting until the postpartum period to engage in intense exercise and the need for patience and grace in the healing journey. She also addresses the safety of rapid weight loss methods during pregnancy and postpartum. Amber encourages women to embrace their unique journeys and release expectations of what postpartum should look like.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and Background of Amber Bruseke 06:05 Exercise Recommendations During Pregnancy 10:51 Preparation for Pregnancy: Exercise and Nutrition 15:17 The Importance of Prenatal Vitamins and a Diverse Diet 22:28 Using Macro Counting as an Educational Tool During Pregnancy 24:43 Counting Macros and Food Awareness 25:38 The Importance of Cardio and Weightlifting During Pregnancy 31:06 Exercise as a Tool for Labor Induction and Early Stages of Labor 33:44 Approaching Postpartum Exercise with Patience and Grace 36:36 The Safety of Rapid Weight Loss Methods During Pregnancy and Postpartum 41:18 Embracing the Uniqueness of Your Postpartum Journey
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
It's the Best Birth Podcast, wherewe interview experts that elevate
you as you prepare your heartand mind to have the best birth.
Each episode will interviewprofessionals so you are prepared
for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Our experts will build your confidenceand empower you to trust your
intuition throughout your pregnancy.
This audio is takenfrom videos on YouTube.
(00:27):
Watch the entire episodes onYouTube at Birth Made Mindful.
The Best Birth [00:02]
You're listening tothe Best Birth Podcast.
We're so excited for our episodetoday with our expert Amber Bruseke.
She is the founder and owner of bicepsafter babies and has so many credentials.
Today she'll walk us through nutritionand exercise during pregnancy and beyond.
(00:50):
Amber Bruseke is a wife, mom of four,ages 10 through 17 and a former RN
who founded biceps after babies.
because she believes that beinga mom doesn't have to mean your
fittest days are behind you.
What started as a little Instagramaccount to share her fitness journey
online has become a business focusedon empowering women to achieve.
(01:10):
Her signature coaching program,Macros 101, has helped over 8
,700 women use the tool of macrocounting to build a nutrition plan
that's both effective and enjoyable.
Amber, it is such a privilege to have you.
Amber Brueseke [00:54]
Thanks guys, I'm so excited to be here.
The Best Birth [00:56]
Well, thank you for coming on.
I found you after my second baby and wasreally excited just to start implementing
(01:33):
some of the deeper thought work andthen also the necessary steps to take
care of myself and my physical body.
And then also how that kind of likeplayed into how we see ourselves with body
image and like the mental element to it.
So I would love for you to just giveus a little background of, of what
you're doing and how you're doing it.
(01:53):
And wow, 8 ,700 women.
Amber Brueseke [01:17]
Yes, so much.
The Best Birth [01:26]
That's incredible!
Amber Brueseke [01:26]
Yeah, it's been quite a wild ride.
Yeah, so I mean, let me start backup and kind of talk a little bit
about my own fitness journey andmy own pregnancy journey as well.
When you read my bio, I have four kidsand so I've gone through pregnancy and
(02:16):
birth four times and it was a littledifferent for each child because I was
kind of in a different stage of my ownfitness journey for each of those kids.
But one of the things that wasalways a constant throughout that
those period of time was that Iwas doing some sort of exercise.
And we'll get into talking aboutexercise and how passionate I am
about helping women to be able tofeel confident in their ability
(02:37):
and their body to be able to move.
I think we can get into it, but I thinkfor a long time women have really felt
very fragile when it comes to birth.
And it's been communicated to us thatwe're very fragile in this state and
we're a very vulnerable populationand you just gotta be so careful.
And I think the pendulum reallyswung too far to one side.
(02:58):
And we have a whole lot of womenwho are having a whole lot of
issues because they've been toldthat like, we just need to sit in
a bubble for the whole nine months.
And so, you know, we can getinto talking about that, but
a little bit about my story.
My very first memory of exercise was whenI was about three years old and my mom was
a fitness instructor and she took me tothe YMCA, put me in the childcare and then
(03:20):
she went and taught group fitness classes.
And I just remember as a very, very youngchild, there was a window between the
group X room and like the childcare room.
And I just remember sitting therewatching my mom teach fitness classes.
My mom had seven kids and I'm the oldest.
And so, you know, as a threeyear old, I saw her pregnant with
number two, pregnant with numberthree, number four, number five.
(03:42):
I was almost 17 years oldwhen my sister was delivered.
And so I really saw my momthroughout all the pregnancies.
And one of the things that wasconsistent was that she always
worked out during her pregnancies.
So for me, it was very normalized thatexercise was an important part of being
a mom and taking care of yourself.
It was very normalized that she wouldexercise during pregnancy and it
(04:03):
was very normalized that she liftedweights, which I know is something
that is unique to my upbringing.
Not a lot of women hadthat modeled for them.
But when I was 14 years old, my mom,
took me into the YMCA weightroom, because you had to be 14.
So it was like a special like, you turn14, now you can go into the weight room.
And she walked me around the weightroom and she showed me all the dumbbells
and she showed me all the machines.
(04:23):
And she really normalizedworking out for me as a female.
And I'm really grateful for thatbecause it wasn't ever weird for me to
like lift weights or lift a barbell.
That was just, don't all women do that?
Because that's what I saw my mom doing.
So I ended up going to college,I ended up getting married.
and my last year of nursing school,actually I got pregnant, with
(04:46):
my adult, my oldest daughter.
And that was a really rough yeargoing through like, sickness and
just the changes that happenedto your, your body, that I didn't
expect as a young 23 year old.
and I graduated with my bachelor's degreein nursing in April and had her in June.
So I was like, you know, very pregnantat the end of my, my nursing school, but.
(05:09):
You know, during that time I still keptmoving and I, you know, movement was
still an important part of what I wasdoing, but it was more low intensity.
I was more walking.
I wasn't doing a whole lot ofweightlifting at that time.
You know, fast forwardto my second pregnancy.
That was when I became a groupfitness instructor like my mom.
(05:30):
And so once I had my daughter, I was like,man, I can't really go to the gym anymore.
I gotta find childcare for her.
And it seemed like such a great.
two for one, whereas like I canget paid to work out and my child
gets watched for me while I do it.
That seemed like a really great way to go.
So I became a group fitness instructor.
And so for babies two, three, andfour, I was teaching group fitness.
(05:50):
And I remember with, with babyfour, I literally taught a body
pump class at 9 30 a and had himat like 1 30 pm that afternoon.
So like when I say I like was liketeaching and actually isn't all the
way up to my delivery date, like it wasliterally the day that I gave birth, I
was still like teaching fitness classes.
So we can dive into any likethose specific things that you
(06:13):
guys wanna go down those paths.
But, you know, one of the things I'mreally passionate about, like I said,
is helping women to feel powerful intheir bodies and not like pregnancy is
happening to you, but that you are incontrol and it's still your body and
you're still able to make empowered.
The Best Birth [05:40]
Ugh.
Amber Brueseke [06:00]
good decisions about how you gothrough this phase of your life.
(06:34):
The Best Birth [06:05]
Well, you talked about a little bitlow impact exercise in pregnancy
and then also maybe lifting weights,different types of exercise.
What do you recommend for some ofus who want to stay healthy during
pregnancy, but we might not havethat background of weightlifting.
Amber Brueseke [06:21]
Yeah, yeah, you know, I thinkthere's a couple things here
that I would advise anybody whois really wanting to prioritize
(06:56):
activity during their pregnancy.
The first one is getting aprovider who's on board with that.
I actually changed providers during oneof my pregnancies because my provider
was not on board with me working out.
And there's, you know, unfortunately,my husband's a physician, so I
can kind of speak to a little bitof like the education physicians
get, and he's actually an OB -GYN.
(07:20):
and some of the updated education,then sometimes how things lag.
Like I said, back in the 70s and the80s and even the 90s, like I said,
pregnant women were really seen as afragile group that we really had to be
protective of and we had to pull backand we had to keep them safe and we
had to, just everything low impact, youcan go for a walk, but that's about it.
(07:40):
And unfortunately for people who wereeducated during that period of time,
a lot of that continued out.
And then what happens is you have olderphysicians teaching younger physicians,
and sometimes it just doesn't catchup to the more current research.
And so there was some really good researchthat came out in 2002 that really kind
of updated some of the standards interms of what they were recommending
(08:03):
for pregnant women in terms of exercise.
That was again reiterated in 2012, butit takes time for that to get filtered
in through the medical education.
There's pros and cons, theway that we have our medical
education structured in the US.
And that's one of the cons is it justtakes time for that to be educated
or to be updated for providers.
And so it takes time foreverybody to get on board with
(08:25):
the most current recommendations.
And I found that one of my providers,I started seeing him and he just
like was not, he was of the ilk thatlike women shouldn't be exercising.
And I was like, that'snot gonna work for me.
And so I found a new provider whowas very supportive of exercise.
So I think that's one thing that I wantto empower women to do when they're
(08:45):
looking for a provider is if exerciseand movement is really important for you,
and you can read all the research thatshows why we can and should be exercising,
is to make that a priority of finding aprovider who's very supportive of that.
I found another provider who was totallysupportive of me lifting weights.
Their recommendation, and obviouslyyou need to talk to your own
provider, but their recommendationwas whatever you're doing beforehand,
(09:07):
you can continue on during pregnancy.
However, if there's someone out therewho's like, but I wasn't exercising
at all during pregnancy, can I start?
Absolutely.
The key is titration.
So what a lot of women try todo is they try to go out, I'm
gonna go for a three mile run.
Like that's terrible idea.
Bad idea.
Go for a five minute run.
(09:27):
You know, go for a twoand a half minute run.
Go for a power walk for five minutesand then titrate that up over time.
There is research to show thatyou can safely add exercise.
but it needs to be done in atitration way, not in a like gung
-ho, go dump it all at once type of.
The Best Birth [09:18]
I think in pregnancy too, in my ownexperience, it was like, I could take
(09:49):
two steps forward and then sometimesI would have to take a step back.
You know, like If there was a day thatI was really, really active, maybe doing
a lot of yard work, lifting, squatting,then it did feel like, okay, I need
to, I need to rest and I need to likegive my body some time to recover.
Amber Brueseke [09:37]
Yeah, your recovery may belonger than it was previously.
I'm already starting to see that too.
(10:09):
I just turned 40 this year and byno means am I like old, but I am
starting to see that my recovery in my40s was not the same as my recovery,
how fast I could recover in my 20s.
And it's the same thing when you arebasically taking care of two lives
at one time, your body is being usedin other ways a lot of the time and
putting energy towards something else.
(10:29):
And that may mean you don't have as muchenergy or reserves to be able to recover.
And a lot of people don't reallyunderstand that, you know, we talk
about weightlifting and how youdon't actually build weights by
lifting weights, you build weightsby recovering from lifting weights.
And so if you're not actively recoveringand you're not recovering well, you're
actually doing yourself a disservice.
So that's such a good point of makingsure that you're not only doing the
(10:51):
exercise, but that you're able to recoverfrom that exercise and really listening
to your body and pulling back whenit's evident that you've overdone it a
little bit is really, really important.
The Best Birth [10:35]
That's such a great reminderto follow our intuition and
listen to the cues of our body.
Let's kind of paint a pictureof this time in our lives.
If a woman is preparing to get pregnant,what are some good exercises and
(11:15):
nutritious health regimens for that stage?
Amber Brueseke [10:51]
yeah, I mean, so ideally every woman wouldprepare before getting pregnant, right?
Like mentally, emotionally, socially,financially, physically, like all
of the things that isn't always,you know, it doesn't always happen.
But ideally, if we can do thispreparation ahead of time, we're really
setting ourselves up for success.
(11:36):
You know, from a physical standpoint,if you can even get to the point of
just doing the minimum dose that isrecommended by the American College
of Exercise Scientists, like,
only 22 % of Americans actuallyget to that recommendation.
So if we can at least even getto that recommendation ahead of
pregnancy, that's going to be, you'resetting yourself up for success.
(11:59):
I think I read a stat that it waslike 22 % of Americans follow the
recommendation and like 13 % of pregnantwomen follow the recommendation.
So if we can even start there of getting30 minutes or more of moderate exercise
most days of the week, that's the cutoff.
of what is recommended and advised.
(12:19):
So I would say starting there, right?
Can you get to that 30 days ofexercise most days of the week
is a really great place to start.
I mean, I'm always a proponent.
I think every woman all the time, everystage of life should be lifting weights.
It's one of the best things that youcan do for your body, whether you're
pregnant, whether you're 50, whetheryou're post -menopausal, like for every
(12:42):
single woman lifting weights is...
a valuable thing, but especiallyfor my pregnant women, because your
body more is being required of it.
You think of the idea ofresistance training, essentially
carrying around 30 extra poundsis resistance training, right?
Like that is you're requiring more ofyour body, you're requiring your body to
carry a heavier load and preparing forthat and getting ready for that is you're
(13:06):
never going to regret getting strong.
And so.
You know, yes, getting that 30 minutesor more of moderate exercise, but
starting to get at least two daysa week of resistance training, of
lifting weights, and getting thatahead of time before getting pregnant.
Get comfortable with that before gettingpregnant, and then you're gonna be able to
continue that throughout your pregnancy.
And you know, we can talk as muchas you want about nutrition, but the
(13:30):
nutritional habits that you have pre-pregnancy are gonna be transitioned into
the nutritional habits you have duringpregnancy and then post -pregnancy.
And so can we make sure thatwe're getting enough protein?
Can we make sure that we're havingenough diversity of sources?
So we're getting whole foods and we'regetting a diversification of those whole
foods and being able to make sure thatwe're having enough fiber, enough water.
(13:53):
Pre -pregnancy, again, you're gonnacontinue those habits with you
during pregnancy and post -pregnancy.
The Best Birth [13:32]
So amazing.
I want to step back and just say, like,you will never regret getting strong.
Amber Brueseke [13:37]
Yeah, ever.
I've never had anybody say, my gosh,it's so lame that I can squat 200 pounds.
Like, never.
(14:14):
It is one of the best things that womencan do for their health, for their
bodies, for their body composition,and for their mental well -being.
There is just something sopowerful about feeling strong.
Being able to, I mean, some of my,I get goosebumps, like some of my
favorite testimonials from clients,
I actually just had one the other day.
(14:36):
She messaged in and she was like,my gosh, we just like moved a couch
that we'd moved into our house likea year ago and I couldn't even help.
Like my husband had to callthe neighbor over and help.
Well, we wanted to move thiscouch around and my husband was
getting ready to call the neighborand I was like, no, I can do it.
I can do it.
I've been lifting weights now.
And she's like, gosh darn it.
I like picked up that couch withhim and we like moved it over and
(14:56):
my husband was just like shocked.
And she's like, I can do it now.
Like I'm strong enough.
Those are the kind of momentswhere your self -confidence as
a woman just skyrockets, right?
That had nothing to do withwhat size pants she wore.
It had nothing to do withhow visible her abs were.
It had everything to do with herconfidence and being able to meet
whatever life was throwing at her.
(15:18):
And so, yeah, you will never,never regret being stronger.
The Best Birth [14:55]
Hmm.
I love that.
And before we leave this pre -pregnancyphase, speaking to prenatal vitamins,
I know that it's recommended to takethem 30 or three months in advance at
least, but ideally up to six months.
And is that just to, to fill in the gaps,of course of nutrition or what are the
(15:41):
extra benefits of prenatal vitamins?
Amber Brueseke [15:17]
I mean, the real benefit ofprenatal is the folate, right?
That's the key ingredient that has beenshown to reduce neural tube defects.
And the reason that they want youtaking it so far ahead is just in
case you get pregnant at any point.
Because we know that taking that folatein the early stages of pregnancy, when
that neural tube is developing and thatneural tube is actually closing, that
(16:05):
helps prevent those neural tube defects.
And that happens very early in gestation.
which is why we want that.
We wanna get that on board beforewe're considering getting pregnant.
So folate is really the reallywell studied, really well linked to
neural tube defects that we're reallywanting from a prenatal vitamin.
In general, like outside of pregnantwomen, I'm not a huge fan of
(16:27):
multivitamins for a couple of reasons.
One, they are not, there's no testing.
There's no FDA testing whenit comes to supplements.
So a...
not to scare people, but like a companycan literally say X, Y, and Z is in a
bottle and there's no X, Y, and Z, right?
Like you don't have, there's no testing,there's no oversight, unfortunately,
in the supplements industry.
And so you've got a lot of badplayers that are just there
(16:50):
to make money, unfortunately.
The other thing that I thinkwith multivitamins, well,
there's two other things.
One is that it almost makes peoplecomplacent and feel like they're covered.
Like I don't need to have that apple.
Like I don't need another apple.
I don't need to eat that celery orthat kale or whatever because like I'm
taking a multivitamin, I'm covered.
And it almost makes peoplecomplacent in feeling like they
(17:11):
don't need to have the whole foods.
And then the third thing that we foundis that while I wish it was the case
that you could just take a nutrientand put it into somebody's body
via a pill and it works the same aseating it through food, it does not.
We've seen this with fish oil especially.
There was a real huge push to like.
have everybody taking fish oilsupplements because it reduced
(17:34):
cardiac events and it reduced highblood pressure, all of these things.
The reason we did that was because wehad these studies that were linking
people who ate fish with having lowercardiac, risk of heart cardiac events.
And so we said, my gosh, thefish oil is contributing to the
lower risk of cardiac events.
So if we just put that in a pill andwe give it to everybody, we're gonna
(17:54):
reduce everybody's cardiac events.
And so they did that andthey found that it didn't.
And people had to take a step backand say, well, what's going on?
Like we literally took the substancethat's in fish and put it in
a pill and gave it to people.
And the reality is, is that our bodies areso complex that that just doesn't work.
It's not the same.
Taking a fish oil supplement is notthe same as eating fish twice a week.
(18:14):
and so while I wish it was as easy as justtaking all the nutrition that you need and
putting it into multivitamin and givingit to somebody, it just, it just isn't
our bodies process things differently.
So, if you want to take amultivitamin, knock yourself out.
Like I'm not going to.
Fine, that's fine, whatever.
But don't allow it to prevent youfrom eating a diet rich in minerals
(18:36):
and vitamins, a diverse palette of
plant proteins and plant sourcesso that we're really covering
the gamma in terms of all thosemicronutrients that our bodies need.
The Best Birth [18:22]
I want to talk a little bitabout that diverse diet.
So if you have a medical reasonto have, you know, limitations of
certain foods, or if you're choosingto be vegan or vegetarian, how can
(18:59):
some of these things play out in ourpregnancy if we're limiting the choices
that we're making around our food?
Amber Brueseke [18:31]
Mm -hmm.
Sure, and I do want to differentiatebetween someone who has some
medical condition and based off ofa desire for how you want to eat.
There's nothing wrong with havinga desire to want to eat vegan or
having a desire to want to eatvegetarian, but that's very different
than someone who has celiac diseasewho literally can't process gluten.
(19:22):
So I think it's important to know thatduring pregnancy especially, one of the
most important macronutrients that youneed to be having is protein because...
Protein is, or the building blocks,the amino acids are the building
blocks for any tissue, any cellstructures that we have in our body.
You're literally creating a human.
You're literally creatingtissue out of thin air.
(19:44):
You're creating heartmuscle out of thin air.
You're creating skin and allthese things out of thin air.
And the building blocksfor that is protein.
And so one of the most important thingsthat women who are pregnant want to
do, and this again leads into that pre-pregnancy into pregnancy timeframe is
making sure you're having enough protein.
And for recommendations, Iusually recommend clients around
(20:05):
that 0 .8 grams per pound.
So how much ever you weigh times thatby 0 .8 and that gives you a rough,
good starting place with your protein.
Now you'll hear like bodybuildersand stuff talk about going up
to like a one gram per protein.
If you can do that, fantastic.
If you're vegan or vegetarian,that may be more challenging.
It's harder to get protein ona vegan or vegetarian diet.
(20:26):
So maybe you're pullingthat down to 0 .6 or 0 .7.
But the point is, is paying attentionto and making sure that you're getting
enough protein so that you're ableto do everything that your body is
being required during that timeframe.
If you are vegan or vegetarian, it's gonnaneed to be more of a focus for you, right?
I have a vegetarian daughter and sherecognizes that she has to be very
(20:51):
concerned about and focused on makingsure she has protein at every single meal.
And there's lots of sourcesof plant protein, right?
So she can get protein from other sources,but it has to be something on her mind
to make sure that she's getting enough.
So if you're someone who is choosing avegan or a vegetarian diet for whatever
reason, that would be the biggestthing to pay attention to is making
sure we're getting enough protein.
(21:12):
Plant -based protein tends to beless bioavailable than animal sources
of protein, meaning your body, inorder to access the protein, our
body has to digest it and thenabsorb it and be able to utilize it.
Animal sources of protein tend to be lessbioavailable, meaning it's harder for
our bodies to break it down, it's harderfor our bodies to be able to use it.
So one gram of animal proteinisn't exactly the same as
(21:35):
one gram of plant protein.
And then in addition, plant proteinstend to not universally be complete
proteins, meaning our body is able tomake some proteins, just synthesize
them, because we're cool like that.
But not all of them.
We can't make all of them.
And so there are amino acids that areessential, meaning we need to eat them.
(21:55):
We have to eat those proteins becauseour body cannot generate them.
And plant proteins tend to be incomplete,meaning they'll have some of those amino
acids that we can't generate, but notall of them, whereas animal sources tend
to be more complete sources of protein.
So you just have to be kind of aware,too, if you're doing a plant -based
diet, that you're making sure that you'regetting enough protein, but that you're
(22:18):
you're having a varietyof protein sources.
There's a reason that a lot of SouthAmerican countries eat rice and beans
together, because individually thoseare both incomplete proteins, but
when paired together they overlapand now you have a complete protein.
So if you're someone who, again, wantsthis type of lifestyle or diet, you
just need to educate yourself to knowwhat kinds of foods to eat, how to pair
(22:41):
proteins together, how to make sure thatyou're getting enough so that you are
able to do all the things that you needto to be able to grow that little human.
The Best Birth [22:22]
And you're an expert in macro counting.
Do you recommend this during pregnancy?
Amber Brueseke [22:28]
So I will say, the way thata lot of people teach macro
counting is very much as a diet.
It's very much as a like, you need tofollow this, you need to eat this, and if
(23:04):
you don't, well, you should, suck it up.
Like just do better, right?
And that's very much not theway that I use macro counting.
I use it much more as an education tool.
And so I think one of the best thingsthat we can do is just get a good
insight into what we're eating.
And so,
That's where I like to startclients is like, let's just get
some feedback and informationabout what you're currently eating.
(23:27):
We don't have to change anything,but let's get that insight.
So many women are walking around beinglike, I eat enough protein, but they've
never actually tracked it and they don'tactually know how much they're eating.
And I would say, 85 % of thepeople who come to me are like,
I'm probably eating enough protein.
It's like, no, actuallyyou're not when we track it.
So I would say using macro countingas a tool just to get information
(23:47):
about the foods that you're eating.
Absolutely, 100%, like everybody, Ithink everybody should track their macros
for at least two weeks of their life.
You don't have to do it forever, butlike we would be so much more informed
about our bodies and the food that we'reeating if we just took two weeks to
actually track what we were eating andget informed and just see it on paper.
It's so valuable.
(24:08):
So macro counting as a tool, absolutely.
When we get into like, okay,then where do we set our macros?
This is where we get into making sure.
we're not going into a deficit.
The goal during pregnancy is not to loseweight unless you are working with your
provider to be able to, some women wantto do that, but most women are wanting
to at least maintain or gain some weight.
(24:30):
And so macro -cutting can be a reallygreat way to have women feel more
in control and be able to gain thatweight appropriately so that you are.
minimizing your risk factorsfor hypertension, for
preeclampsia, for diabetes.
It's been shown that keeping withinthe parameters of weight gain that is
(24:52):
recommended helps with reducing yourrisk of all of those risk factors.
And so macrocating canreally help with that.
It can help make sure that theweight gain is appropriate.
Exercise can also bereally valuable for that.
And it can also help womento, if you're under gaining,
to be able to know, okay, I'meating 2000 calories and I'm
not gaining appropriately.
(25:13):
Cool, let's add more food.
We need to add more food.
So it just gives you knowledge andinsight into the foods that you're eating.
You're eating food.
It just gives you more insightinto what food you're eating.
And so, yeah, I definitely havelots of women in our programs
who are counting macros.
They're not doing it for weight loss.
And that's a, most people equatemacro counting with weight loss.
And I really wanna like...
(25:35):
bash that and just say macro countingis just awareness of what you're
eating and then being able to adjustit for whatever goals you have.
So I counted macros when Iwas trying to gain weight.
I gained track macros when Iwas trying to get a six pack.
I tracked macros when I was trying toget, I did a power lifting competition.
So I was trying to fuel my trainingand get as strong as possible.
I use macro counting to do that.
(25:56):
It's not only about restriction.
It's about just making sure thatyou're eating properly for the goals
that you have set for yourself.
The Best Birth [25:38]
Hmm.
I love this conversation aboutnutrition and being aware of
what we're eating in pregnancy.
As far as exercise, are there specificexercises that are really good for
pregnancy or, and we talked aboutmaintaining what you're doing before
(26:18):
pregnancy, but what specifically ishelpful during pregnancy with exercise?
Amber Brueseke [25:53]
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, I mean, so our two biglevers when it comes to exercise
are cardio and weightlifting.
And both of those are veryhelpful for pregnant women.
You think about it,pregnancy is challenging.
We already talked about how it almostis resistance training all day long.
(26:38):
You're carrying around all this extraweight, this extra human in front of you.
But then you think about delivery.
And delivery is very physicallyrequiring, physically taxing.
It's like running a marathon.
And I think it's so silly thatwe think we can run marathons
without training for them.
Nobody would ever go out and just belike, I'm just gonna run a marathon today.
(27:01):
I haven't done any runningor training at all.
We'd be like, you're crazy.
And yet we think that we can gointo delivery and birth without
having some sort of training.
So I kind of think of the exerciseduring pregnancy as a way that
we're training ourselves, trainingour bodies to be able to handle the
intensity of pregnancy and delivery.
And so when we're talking in terms ofhow we're structuring our workouts,
(27:22):
making sure that you're having some sortof cardio is really, really beneficial.
We've seen that even like that elevationof that heart rate has, there's been some
research that has shown that that candecrease a child, like your baby's risk
of getting diabetes later on in life.
Like crazy, right?
Like it not only reduces your...
(27:45):
risk of getting diabetes duringpregnancy, but it also impacts
that child later on in life.
And so definitely havingsome sort of cardio workout.
And I always like to define cardiobecause people are like, I go for a walk.
Is that cardio?
That's like the biggest, thebiggest question I always get.
And the key with cardio is that wewant to be paying attention to one
(28:05):
of two things, either your heartrate, if you have something that can
track your heart rate, or I can talkabout what's called the talk test.
So if you don't have
a tracker, you can still figure this out.
But if we are talking about interms of heart rate, we're wanting
to get your heart rate up intowhat we call a zone two range.
So if you take, to find your maxheart rate, you can do this math
(28:26):
with me alongside in your head,if you take 220 minus your age,
that is about your max heart rate.
So I'm 40, so I take 220 minus40, my max heart rate is 180.
From there, we can split it into zones.
So if we're talking like 50 % to60 % of my max heart rate,
that would be my zone one.
(28:47):
60 to 70 % of my max heartrate is gonna be my zone two.
That's where we're really aiming toget up into to have it be considered
cardio is into that zone two.
So for some women going for awalk, especially if you haven't
done a lot of exercise, maybe ifyou're very, very pregnant, you're
carrying a lot of this extra weight.
A brisk walk outside may getyou up into that zone too.
(29:09):
But I know a lot of women, myselfincluded, that if I just go out
for a walk around the block, itwill not get me up into zone two.
So that's why having that range canbe very helpful, because what you're
wanting is to get up in the zone two.
That's where we start seeingsome metabolic changes.
That's where we start seeing the heartrate have to, the heart and the body
having to be able to perform more.
So we're wanting to get upinto that zone two at least.
(29:31):
If you don't have a heart rate monitor,you don't have an Apple watch or
Garmin, you can use what's called thetalk test, which is essentially if
I was chatting with somebody, theywould, I could talk with them, but
they, if I was on the phone, theywould be like, are you working out?
Like they would kind of know, cause Iwould be a little bit out of breath.
Like I could carry on the conversation,but I wouldn't be able to hide from
(29:53):
them the fact that I was working out.
And that's if you, again, if you don'thave a heart rate monitor, that's a good.
to see am I in that zone two.
If I can just easily talk, talk,talk, talk, I'm just having this
long conversation, there's no out ofbreath, you're probably in zone one,
you're probably not up into zone two.
And if you're getting to the pointwhere it's like, and then you can
say a few words, then you have totake a deep breath again, you're
(30:15):
probably out of your zone two.
So that talk test can be veryhelpful in terms of cardio.
So getting into at least that zone twofor cardio is really beneficial during.
during pregnancy.
And then we go into weightlifting.
Again, weightlifting at leasttwice a week is the recommendation.
So some sort of resistancetraining twice a week.
And I think weightlifting morethan cardio has a lot to do with
(30:38):
what you were doing pre -pregnancy.
I probably wouldn't recommend anybodyto go and, you know, deadlift a
whole bunch of weight if you werenot deadlifting pre -pregnancy.
So that, but you know, we cando a lot of dumbbell work.
isolation, work, some of those morecompound lifts like your deadlift, your
squat, your overhead press, your benchmaybe is better if you've been doing
(31:01):
that ahead of time, but there's stillplenty of exercises, dumbbell curls,
dumbbell press, overhead extensions,things that we can do that are a little
bit lighter weight and still providevery good resistance for the body.
The Best Birth [30:50]
I want to speak justbriefly about labor itself.
And you talked about, you know, yourbody is going to be so much stronger
and able to have a smooth delivery.
(31:23):
Are there ever times that youwould use exercise as a tool for
labor induction or during labor?
Amber Brueseke [31:06]
Yeah, so I told you my story of myfourth child where I like taught body
pump at like 930 in the morning andI could kind of tell that something I
was like, hmm, we might be like, maybehaving a baby sooner rather than later.
And so I remember I taught my classand then I got onto the treadmill
(31:47):
and like walked on the treadmill.
I remember there were some of myparticipants who like stayed after and
did the class that was after me and therewas like a window in between and they kept
like looking at me like they knew like.
man, something might be happening.
She's like on the treadmill, liketrying to walk and engage labor.
So yeah, you know,walking can be a good way.
Physical exercise can be agood way to induce labor if the
(32:07):
body is already there, right?
We're not gonna be ableto take the body there.
It's not that powerful.
So people don't have to get worriedthat like, maybe I should pull
back and exercise during my thirdsemester, cause it's gonna like send
me into labor when I'm not ready.
That's not gonna happen.
It only is that like last little tippingpoint if you're already almost there.
So definitely in those early stagesof labor, exercise can be a great
(32:30):
way to move the body, help thehead and start to engage, right?
We're basically trying to work thatbaby down into the pelvis and movement
can be very helpful with that.
Swaying your hips, rolling on a ball,going for a walk, going for a swim, those
types of things can be very helpful.
Once you start to get into that activelabor, you know that six centimeters plus.
(32:53):
No, most people are not wantingto do very much movement.
Maybe you're changing positions, butyou're not, I was not going for a walk
when I was six centimeters dilated.
So, exercise can definitely be helpful,especially in those early stages,
staying active, staying moving.
There's a lot of research thatshows, my husband and I were just
(33:14):
talking about this the other day.
He has a friend who,
His sister is in the hospital rightnow on bed rest and we were having
a conversation about the double-edged sword that bed rest is.
It is one of those things where it makesus feel like we're doing something when we
don't have anything else that we can do.
But more and more, there's a lotof research coming out that there's
(33:38):
a lot of detriments to bed rest.
Mentally, physically, you losemobility, you lose muscle mass.
And so anyway,
that kind of circling back around tothis idea that like, we want to be moving
as much as possible as long as it feelsgood and you know, we're progressing
and there's no medical contradictions.
(33:59):
And then you probably get into thoselater stages of labor and you probably
don't want to go outside anymore.
You want to kind of hunkerdown and do the ding thing.
The Best Birth [33:44]
Okay, and then biceps after babies.
Once baby is born and we arerecovering ourselves, what exercises
should we introduce and how early?
Amber Brueseke [33:48]
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, it's a really good question.
(34:19):
So I always recommend my clients,you know, wait till you're physically
cleared that six week appointment.
There's a couple of reasons for that.
One is it's a really important timeframethat we're really establishing a milk
supply for women who are choosing tobreastfeed and making sure that that
milk comes in, making sure that you geton that schedule, making sure we're not
(34:39):
doing anything to mess up that milk supplyand doing everything in our power, right?
Not all women can breastfeed, butmake sure we're doing everything
in our power to be able to.
prioritize that if that's a goal of yours.
So holding off on physical exercise untilwe have that milk supply established, we
have that clearance from your provider,we're making sure your pelvic floor is
intact, any apesiotomies or tears havebeen healed up nicely is really important.
(35:03):
Now that's not to say you can't goout and do a zone one walk, right?
Like, again, maybe I think hopefullythat's helpful for people of like...
going out and doing a zone one walkis not the same as getting up into
that zone two and that zone three.
So it kind of can give youthat rule of thumb of like
going out and walking is great.
I remember when I had my firstbaby, my goal was like to get
out of the house every day.
(35:23):
And some days that was like, Iwent to the mailbox, but dang
it, I got out of the house.
And I think that's really important duringthat, you know, post -baby time when
you're, everything is just hard and you'rejust kind of in a whirlwind and it's just
a little bit about survival at that time.
And then, you know, when you get thatclearance from your provider and you're
(35:45):
feeling up to it, that's the second thing.
It's like, I don't carewhat your provider says.
If you are still feeling likeyou're recovering, you know,
you're still listening to your bodyand you're just not ready, like,
girl, we don't, there's no rush.
You got all the time in the world.
But getting back into that exercise,you know, when you're feeling up to
it, when your provider has made thatclearance is really, is really great.
(36:06):
I always say, cause a lot of womenthat I deal with or work with,
have been very active pre -pregnancy.
And then they go to maybe not beingquite as active, maybe they're not
lifting quite as heavy of weights,and they're always worried about
muscle loss during pregnancy.
It's really important to knowfor women who are in that boat
that you may lose muscle mass.
(36:28):
You likely will lose musclemass if you're not lifting as
heavy as you were previously.
However, muscle memory isa very real phenomenon.
And so I see this time andtime again of women get back to
lifting weights post -pregnancy.
One, two months later, they're backat where they were pregnant pregnancy.
The time it takes to be able toget there is much, much slower.
(36:49):
So for anybody who's really stressed aboutlosing muscle mass, stressed about losing
strength during pregnancy, it does comeback after that pregnancy period of time.
The Best Birth [36:36]
I wanted to briefly ask your opinion.
I know there's like a lot of hype andcraze about some of this, like more rapid
weight loss, either like pills or shots.
(37:10):
Can you speak to the, like the safetyof this during pregnancy or postpartum?
Amber Brueseke [36:46]
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, I actually did a whole podcastepisode on my podcast with my husband,
who I said is a, is an OB -GYN.
And so we had a good conversation aboutOzempic and Wigoby and Monjaro and all
of these new weight loss medications.
(37:31):
so if you're wanting like adeep dive into that, go listen
to my podcast episode on it.
But you know, the, the overarchingtheme is, well, first of all, nobody's
during pregnancy should be taking this.
Pregnant women are notoriously hard toget into research studies because of
the way research studies are structured.
We have to make sure thatthere's no possibility of harm
(37:52):
or very, very small possibilityof harm being done to somebody.
And we just can't guarantee thata lot of times with pregnancy.
So unfortunately, I mean, fortunatelyand unfortunately, pregnant women are
often like the last group of peopleto be studied for any medication or
any treatment just because it is.
It is, you're dealing with nowtwo patients instead of just
one and we just don't know.
(38:14):
So it absolutely has not beencleared for pregnant women as
many medications have it, right?
And who knows if and when it willbe cleared for pregnant women.
So if you're in a pregnancy, likeabsolutely you shouldn't be taking this.
Now we get into thatpostpartum time period.
You're not pregnant,hopefully not breastfeeding.
My guess is it hasn't been testedin breastfeeding women either.
Cause again, a vulnerablepopulation that...
(38:37):
has two people that are involved,is that this is a really good
conversation to have with your provider.
There are people that this is amiracle drug for and that it can help
reduce their risk of heart attack.
It can improve their quality of life.
GLP -1s are basicallyappetite suppressants.
So the way that they work is they, wedon't really know exactly how they work,
(39:00):
but we think that they work somehow intriggering something in the brain to
reduce appetite, increase satiation.
And so people, what people report a lot isthat they have a lot less hunger and they
have a lot less food chatter, which hasbeen the interesting, an interesting thing
to note is that a lot of these people whotake it feel like their whole lives have
been just run by food chatter, right?
If they're always thinking aboutfood, they're always thinking about
(39:22):
what they're gonna eat next, they'realways hungry, they're always like,
just always thinking about food.
And it's been interesting that one of theside effects that they've seen for people
who have gone on these medications isjust the reduction in that food chatter.
and how between this increased atiationand the reduction in that food chatter,
it's just easier to stick to whateverthey want to stick with, right?
It's easier to eat less food.
(39:42):
It's easier to like notsnack on things at night.
And so they are changing some of thosehabits, but it makes those habits easier.
So I take issue with people whowant to demonize this or say that
people who take it are taking theeasy way out or some crap like that.
There is just so many obesity,
Weight is such a complex topic.
(40:04):
We don't understand a whole lot about it.
And I think demonizing somebody whoin connection with their provider
is making the decisions that's bestfor them and their health, who am
I to say what you should be doing?
So anyway, I thinkthere's a lot of unknowns.
I think we're, I mean, they're alreadyworking on like the next phase of
GLP -1 and they're working on pills.
(40:27):
Like this is not going anywhere.
Hopefully it's going to get better.
Hopefully the technology will get better.
But, you know, obesity is complexand anybody who says otherwise
doesn't know enough about it.
And I think we got to have moreresearch, but what someone makes
a decision with their providerabout is none of my business.
(40:48):
The Best Birth [40:26]
Well, and I think maybe one of therisks is that a lot of people are making
these decisions without their providers.
It's becoming much more accessible,you know, just online and whatnot.
And so making the conversation apparenthere, you know, like if you're pregnant
or breastfeeding, you know, justtake a pause, you know, don't worry
about, yep, it's not the right time.
Amber Brueseke [40:29]
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, yeah, it's not the time.
It's not the time.
You don't wanna be the research study.
Like never, never.
(41:09):
You do not wanna be the researchstudy on these types of things, right?
Get through the pregnancy,get through the breastfeeding.
I know it feels long.
I know it feels long, but it reallyis a short blip in your life.
I birthed and breastfed fourof my kids and yes, it was
time, but like it was a blip.
You will.
you will be able to not bebreastfeeding at some point.
(41:31):
And if you're wanting to talk toyour provider about the medications,
that's the point to be doing it.
The Best Birth [41:18]
I love the point that you made thatregarding postpartum, we're not in a rush.
We have time to, you know,figure out our new normal and
take this body moving forward.
What would you have to say to womenwho have a longer healing journey
(41:53):
than they expect after pregnancy?
I know for me, it's taken almosttwo years and I finally feel like
I'm healing to a point where Ican exercise the way I used to.
And so yeah.
Amber Brueseke [41:23]
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yep.
Yeah.
I mean, I think the best thing thatwe can do for women who are pregnant
is to help them release expectationsof what it's supposed to look like.
(42:14):
There is no normal timeframefor pregnancy and postpartum.
And I think when we talk, as if thereis, that it leads women to have these
expectations that they're going to beable to lose 20 pounds in five weeks,
and they're going to be able to fitinto their postpartum genes right away.
They're gonna feel like themselves andthey're not gonna struggle at all with,
(42:35):
you know, prolapse or anything like that.
And we do women at a service when wehave them coming in with expectations.
And so I think the more that we canhave conversations and share stories
like this of like, it's completelyvalid that my experience was like, I
was able to get right back to exercisingand right back to working out.
That was my experienceand it's completely valid.
And it's completely valid that you hadtwo years that it's taken you to feel
(42:59):
like you can get back to exercising.
I'm not right, you'renot wrong, none of it.
Our bodies are different and the more thatwe can embrace that of just recognizing
my body is doing what it's doing andit's different than everybody else.
I'm not the same as everybody else.
My situation is not the same as everybodyelse and having some grace for ourselves
in that is really, really importantand admittedly very hard because our
(43:22):
society does really like to promote that.
you're not back in your postpartumjeans two weeks postpartum?
What's wrong with you?
And it's like,
Gosh, man, can we just like, wejust get out of this idea that
like, I need to get my body back.
I need to, you know, post -bate or pre-baby body or my pre -baby weight or these
(43:42):
jeans or whatever we get so hung up on.
I'm gonna give women grace becausethere's a big societal push there, but
I think the more we can have honestconversations like this and be able
to say, hey, if you go in with theseexpectations that it's gonna be easy or
that you're gonna like just bounce back.
I mean, maybe it will be.
and then you'll be surprisedand happy and overjoyed.
But then if it's not, then you're notfeeling like you're the odd man out or
(44:04):
you're weird or what's wrong with my body.
I think that that belief of like,I deal with this a lot with women
of coming to me with this belief oflike, my body's broken or something's
wrong with my body or my body's bad.
And I just think that that doesn'tserve anybody to come with that belief.
And so really just embracingwhere it is that you're at.
(44:26):
I know it's easier said than done.
Having patience, havinggrace for yourself.
And again, remind yourself, I knowit feels like it's not, but it is.
It's just a short blip, right?
Even two years is just ashort blip in your life span.
The Best Birth [44:20]
And the journey is not linear.
Amber Brueseke [44:22]
Yeah, I mean, amen.
So much.
(44:46):
The Best Birth [44:27]
Yes, so true.
Well, Amber, we'd love to share resources.
Are there any books or other expertsthat you recommend for us to follow
or find with a nutrition and exercise?
Amber Brueseke [44:38]
Yeah, I mean, my favorite placeto go to is the source, right?
With my nursing background, Ilove to read research articles.
(45:07):
I like to stay up on the latest research.
I know not everybody is reallyexcited about reading peer -reviewed
research, but Google Scholar hasmade it much more accessible.
And even if you're just going on GoogleScholar and looking at what you're
wanting, having questions about, andthen clicking it and just reading the
abstract, in the abstract they tell you,
(45:27):
Here's what we were like, we'relooking at, here's what we did, and
here's the conclusion we came to.
You don't have to leave thewhole thing just abstract.
That is some of the best ways tobe able to get some of the more
up -to -date literature on topics.
I'm always looking for, if you can findlike meta -analysis is usually what I'm
looking for, because that means that theytook a whole bunch of research studies
and then reviewed all of them together.
(45:48):
So that's my favorite wayto look up information.
And I think sometimes peopleare intimidated by that,
but go give it a shot.
Like it's actually not asintimidating as you think it is.
Go to Google Scholar, put inlike weightlifting in pregnancy
and like click on the firstcouple and read that abstract.
And you know, you very quicklycan start to really learn what
the actual research is saying.
(46:10):
You know, other than that, Ialways follow people who are
like referring to the research.
I think that that's really important islike if people are telling you something
and they can't tell you where they gotit from or they can't cite the article
or they can't like direct you to wherethey're getting their information
from that's always a red flag to me.
Girls Gone Strong has a reallygood research oriented content
(46:31):
that I really appreciate.
They have some like prenatal andperinatal stuff that I find is a
really good resource for my clients.
The Best Birth [46:21]
Well, I love your nursing backgroundthat you bring to this and just the
research is the great place to go.
You're right.
Go to the source.
Every week we share a mom squadsecret from a woman in our community.
(46:52):
So this week it comes fromLisa and she said, night sweats
postpartum are very common.
Prepare by getting awaterproof mattress pad.
So just all those things withpregnancy that we can look up and
research and educate about thethings that happen with our bodies.
So.
Thank you for adding your insight andexpertise to our conversation and our
podcast and for talking with us today.
(47:14):
Amber Brueseke [46:55]
Thanks so much, it's been really fun.
Thanks for joining us on today's episode.
We hope you've been elevated andinspired by this week's expert.
Subscribe today so you never missan episode and please share our
podcast or post on your socialmedia so that other moms and dads
to be can also have the best birth.
Please note that the informationprovided is based on the expert's
(47:37):
insights and personal experience.
It is not intended as medical guidance.
Please seek the advice of yourmedical provider as it applies
to your specific condition.
It's the Best Birth Podcast, wherewe interview experts that elevate
you as you prepare your heartand mind to have the best birth.
Each episode will interviewprofessionals so you are prepared
for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Our experts will build your confidenceand empower you to trust your
intuition throughout your pregnancy.
This audio is takenfrom videos on YouTube.
(00:27):
Watch the entire episodes onYouTube at Birth Made Mindful.
The Best Birth [00:02]
You're listening tothe Best Birth Podcast.
We're so excited for our episodetoday with our expert Amber Bruseke.
She is the founder and owner of bicepsafter babies and has so many credentials.
Today she'll walk us through nutritionand exercise during pregnancy and beyond.
(00:50):
Amber Bruseke is a wife, mom of four,ages 10 through 17 and a former RN
who founded biceps after babies.
because she believes that beinga mom doesn't have to mean your
fittest days are behind you.
What started as a little Instagramaccount to share her fitness journey
online has become a business focusedon empowering women to achieve.
(01:10):
Her signature coaching program,Macros 101, has helped over 8
,700 women use the tool of macrocounting to build a nutrition plan
that's both effective and enjoyable.
Amber, it is such a privilege to have you.
Amber Brueseke [00:54]
Thanks guys, I'm so excited to be here.
The Best Birth [00:56]
Well, thank you for coming on.
I found you after my second baby and wasreally excited just to start implementing
(01:33):
some of the deeper thought work andthen also the necessary steps to take
care of myself and my physical body.
And then also how that kind of likeplayed into how we see ourselves with body
image and like the mental element to it.
So I would love for you to just giveus a little background of, of what
you're doing and how you're doing it.
(01:53):
And wow, 8 ,700 women.
Amber Brueseke [01:17]
Yes, so much.
The Best Birth [01:26]
That's incredible!
Amber Brueseke [01:26]
Yeah, it's been quite a wild ride.
Yeah, so I mean, let me start backup and kind of talk a little bit
about my own fitness journey andmy own pregnancy journey as well.
When you read my bio, I have four kidsand so I've gone through pregnancy and
(02:16):
birth four times and it was a littledifferent for each child because I was
kind of in a different stage of my ownfitness journey for each of those kids.
But one of the things that wasalways a constant throughout that
those period of time was that Iwas doing some sort of exercise.
And we'll get into talking aboutexercise and how passionate I am
about helping women to be able tofeel confident in their ability
(02:37):
and their body to be able to move.
I think we can get into it, but I thinkfor a long time women have really felt
very fragile when it comes to birth.
And it's been communicated to us thatwe're very fragile in this state and
we're a very vulnerable populationand you just gotta be so careful.
And I think the pendulum reallyswung too far to one side.
(02:58):
And we have a whole lot of womenwho are having a whole lot of
issues because they've been toldthat like, we just need to sit in
a bubble for the whole nine months.
And so, you know, we can getinto talking about that, but
a little bit about my story.
My very first memory of exercise was whenI was about three years old and my mom was
a fitness instructor and she took me tothe YMCA, put me in the childcare and then
(03:20):
she went and taught group fitness classes.
And I just remember as a very, very youngchild, there was a window between the
group X room and like the childcare room.
And I just remember sitting therewatching my mom teach fitness classes.
My mom had seven kids and I'm the oldest.
And so, you know, as a threeyear old, I saw her pregnant with
number two, pregnant with numberthree, number four, number five.
(03:42):
I was almost 17 years oldwhen my sister was delivered.
And so I really saw my momthroughout all the pregnancies.
And one of the things that wasconsistent was that she always
worked out during her pregnancies.
So for me, it was very normalized thatexercise was an important part of being
a mom and taking care of yourself.
It was very normalized that she wouldexercise during pregnancy and it
(04:03):
was very normalized that she liftedweights, which I know is something
that is unique to my upbringing.
Not a lot of women hadthat modeled for them.
But when I was 14 years old, my mom,
took me into the YMCA weightroom, because you had to be 14.
So it was like a special like, you turn14, now you can go into the weight room.
And she walked me around the weightroom and she showed me all the dumbbells
and she showed me all the machines.
(04:23):
And she really normalizedworking out for me as a female.
And I'm really grateful for thatbecause it wasn't ever weird for me to
like lift weights or lift a barbell.
That was just, don't all women do that?
Because that's what I saw my mom doing.
So I ended up going to college,I ended up getting married.
and my last year of nursing school,actually I got pregnant, with
(04:46):
my adult, my oldest daughter.
And that was a really rough yeargoing through like, sickness and
just the changes that happenedto your, your body, that I didn't
expect as a young 23 year old.
and I graduated with my bachelor's degreein nursing in April and had her in June.
So I was like, you know, very pregnantat the end of my, my nursing school, but.
(05:09):
You know, during that time I still keptmoving and I, you know, movement was
still an important part of what I wasdoing, but it was more low intensity.
I was more walking.
I wasn't doing a whole lot ofweightlifting at that time.
You know, fast forwardto my second pregnancy.
That was when I became a groupfitness instructor like my mom.
(05:30):
And so once I had my daughter, I was like,man, I can't really go to the gym anymore.
I gotta find childcare for her.
And it seemed like such a great.
two for one, whereas like I canget paid to work out and my child
gets watched for me while I do it.
That seemed like a really great way to go.
So I became a group fitness instructor.
And so for babies two, three, andfour, I was teaching group fitness.
(05:50):
And I remember with, with babyfour, I literally taught a body
pump class at 9 30 a and had himat like 1 30 pm that afternoon.
So like when I say I like was liketeaching and actually isn't all the
way up to my delivery date, like it wasliterally the day that I gave birth, I
was still like teaching fitness classes.
So we can dive into any likethose specific things that you
(06:13):
guys wanna go down those paths.
But, you know, one of the things I'mreally passionate about, like I said,
is helping women to feel powerful intheir bodies and not like pregnancy is
happening to you, but that you are incontrol and it's still your body and
you're still able to make empowered.
The Best Birth [05:40]
Ugh.
Amber Brueseke [06:00]
good decisions about how you gothrough this phase of your life.
(06:34):
The Best Birth [06:05]
Well, you talked about a little bitlow impact exercise in pregnancy
and then also maybe lifting weights,different types of exercise.
What do you recommend for some ofus who want to stay healthy during
pregnancy, but we might not havethat background of weightlifting.
Amber Brueseke [06:21]
Yeah, yeah, you know, I thinkthere's a couple things here
that I would advise anybody whois really wanting to prioritize
(06:56):
activity during their pregnancy.
The first one is getting aprovider who's on board with that.
I actually changed providers during oneof my pregnancies because my provider
was not on board with me working out.
And there's, you know, unfortunately,my husband's a physician, so I
can kind of speak to a little bitof like the education physicians
get, and he's actually an OB -GYN.
(07:20):
and some of the updated education,then sometimes how things lag.
Like I said, back in the 70s and the80s and even the 90s, like I said,
pregnant women were really seen as afragile group that we really had to be
protective of and we had to pull backand we had to keep them safe and we
had to, just everything low impact, youcan go for a walk, but that's about it.
(07:40):
And unfortunately for people who wereeducated during that period of time,
a lot of that continued out.
And then what happens is you have olderphysicians teaching younger physicians,
and sometimes it just doesn't catchup to the more current research.
And so there was some really good researchthat came out in 2002 that really kind
of updated some of the standards interms of what they were recommending
(08:03):
for pregnant women in terms of exercise.
That was again reiterated in 2012, butit takes time for that to get filtered
in through the medical education.
There's pros and cons, theway that we have our medical
education structured in the US.
And that's one of the cons is it justtakes time for that to be educated
or to be updated for providers.
And so it takes time foreverybody to get on board with
(08:25):
the most current recommendations.
And I found that one of my providers,I started seeing him and he just
like was not, he was of the ilk thatlike women shouldn't be exercising.
And I was like, that'snot gonna work for me.
And so I found a new provider whowas very supportive of exercise.
So I think that's one thing that I wantto empower women to do when they're
(08:45):
looking for a provider is if exerciseand movement is really important for you,
and you can read all the research thatshows why we can and should be exercising,
is to make that a priority of finding aprovider who's very supportive of that.
I found another provider who was totallysupportive of me lifting weights.
Their recommendation, and obviouslyyou need to talk to your own
provider, but their recommendationwas whatever you're doing beforehand,
(09:07):
you can continue on during pregnancy.
However, if there's someone out therewho's like, but I wasn't exercising
at all during pregnancy, can I start?
Absolutely.
The key is titration.
So what a lot of women try todo is they try to go out, I'm
gonna go for a three mile run.
Like that's terrible idea.
Bad idea.
Go for a five minute run.
(09:27):
You know, go for a twoand a half minute run.
Go for a power walk for five minutesand then titrate that up over time.
There is research to show thatyou can safely add exercise.
but it needs to be done in atitration way, not in a like gung
-ho, go dump it all at once type of.
The Best Birth [09:18]
I think in pregnancy too, in my ownexperience, it was like, I could take
(09:49):
two steps forward and then sometimesI would have to take a step back.
You know, like If there was a day thatI was really, really active, maybe doing
a lot of yard work, lifting, squatting,then it did feel like, okay, I need
to, I need to rest and I need to likegive my body some time to recover.
Amber Brueseke [09:37]
Yeah, your recovery may belonger than it was previously.
I'm already starting to see that too.
(10:09):
I just turned 40 this year and byno means am I like old, but I am
starting to see that my recovery in my40s was not the same as my recovery,
how fast I could recover in my 20s.
And it's the same thing when you arebasically taking care of two lives
at one time, your body is being usedin other ways a lot of the time and
putting energy towards something else.
(10:29):
And that may mean you don't have as muchenergy or reserves to be able to recover.
And a lot of people don't reallyunderstand that, you know, we talk
about weightlifting and how youdon't actually build weights by
lifting weights, you build weightsby recovering from lifting weights.
And so if you're not actively recoveringand you're not recovering well, you're
actually doing yourself a disservice.
So that's such a good point of makingsure that you're not only doing the
(10:51):
exercise, but that you're able to recoverfrom that exercise and really listening
to your body and pulling back whenit's evident that you've overdone it a
little bit is really, really important.
The Best Birth [10:35]
That's such a great reminderto follow our intuition and
listen to the cues of our body.
Let's kind of paint a pictureof this time in our lives.
If a woman is preparing to get pregnant,what are some good exercises and
(11:15):
nutritious health regimens for that stage?
Amber Brueseke [10:51]
yeah, I mean, so ideally every woman wouldprepare before getting pregnant, right?
Like mentally, emotionally, socially,financially, physically, like all
of the things that isn't always,you know, it doesn't always happen.
But ideally, if we can do thispreparation ahead of time, we're really
setting ourselves up for success.
(11:36):
You know, from a physical standpoint,if you can even get to the point of
just doing the minimum dose that isrecommended by the American College
of Exercise Scientists, like,
only 22 % of Americans actuallyget to that recommendation.
So if we can at least even getto that recommendation ahead of
pregnancy, that's going to be, you'resetting yourself up for success.
(11:59):
I think I read a stat that it waslike 22 % of Americans follow the
recommendation and like 13 % of pregnantwomen follow the recommendation.
So if we can even start there of getting30 minutes or more of moderate exercise
most days of the week, that's the cutoff.
of what is recommended and advised.
(12:19):
So I would say starting there, right?
Can you get to that 30 days ofexercise most days of the week
is a really great place to start.
I mean, I'm always a proponent.
I think every woman all the time, everystage of life should be lifting weights.
It's one of the best things that youcan do for your body, whether you're
pregnant, whether you're 50, whetheryou're post -menopausal, like for every
(12:42):
single woman lifting weights is...
a valuable thing, but especiallyfor my pregnant women, because your
body more is being required of it.
You think of the idea ofresistance training, essentially
carrying around 30 extra poundsis resistance training, right?
Like that is you're requiring more ofyour body, you're requiring your body to
carry a heavier load and preparing forthat and getting ready for that is you're
(13:06):
never going to regret getting strong.
And so.
You know, yes, getting that 30 minutesor more of moderate exercise, but
starting to get at least two daysa week of resistance training, of
lifting weights, and getting thatahead of time before getting pregnant.
Get comfortable with that before gettingpregnant, and then you're gonna be able to
continue that throughout your pregnancy.
And you know, we can talk as muchas you want about nutrition, but the
(13:30):
nutritional habits that you have pre-pregnancy are gonna be transitioned into
the nutritional habits you have duringpregnancy and then post -pregnancy.
And so can we make sure thatwe're getting enough protein?
Can we make sure that we're havingenough diversity of sources?
So we're getting whole foods and we'regetting a diversification of those whole
foods and being able to make sure thatwe're having enough fiber, enough water.
(13:53):
Pre -pregnancy, again, you're gonnacontinue those habits with you
during pregnancy and post -pregnancy.
The Best Birth [13:32]
So amazing.
I want to step back and just say, like,you will never regret getting strong.
Amber Brueseke [13:37]
Yeah, ever.
I've never had anybody say, my gosh,it's so lame that I can squat 200 pounds.
Like, never.
(14:14):
It is one of the best things that womencan do for their health, for their
bodies, for their body composition,and for their mental well -being.
There is just something sopowerful about feeling strong.
Being able to, I mean, some of my,I get goosebumps, like some of my
favorite testimonials from clients,
I actually just had one the other day.
(14:36):
She messaged in and she was like,my gosh, we just like moved a couch
that we'd moved into our house likea year ago and I couldn't even help.
Like my husband had to callthe neighbor over and help.
Well, we wanted to move thiscouch around and my husband was
getting ready to call the neighborand I was like, no, I can do it.
I can do it.
I've been lifting weights now.
And she's like, gosh darn it.
I like picked up that couch withhim and we like moved it over and
(14:56):
my husband was just like shocked.
And she's like, I can do it now.
Like I'm strong enough.
Those are the kind of momentswhere your self -confidence as
a woman just skyrockets, right?
That had nothing to do withwhat size pants she wore.
It had nothing to do withhow visible her abs were.
It had everything to do with herconfidence and being able to meet
whatever life was throwing at her.
(15:18):
And so, yeah, you will never,never regret being stronger.
The Best Birth [14:55]
Hmm.
I love that.
And before we leave this pre -pregnancyphase, speaking to prenatal vitamins,
I know that it's recommended to takethem 30 or three months in advance at
least, but ideally up to six months.
And is that just to, to fill in the gaps,of course of nutrition or what are the
(15:41):
extra benefits of prenatal vitamins?
Amber Brueseke [15:17]
I mean, the real benefit ofprenatal is the folate, right?
That's the key ingredient that has beenshown to reduce neural tube defects.
And the reason that they want youtaking it so far ahead is just in
case you get pregnant at any point.
Because we know that taking that folatein the early stages of pregnancy, when
that neural tube is developing and thatneural tube is actually closing, that
(16:05):
helps prevent those neural tube defects.
And that happens very early in gestation.
which is why we want that.
We wanna get that on board beforewe're considering getting pregnant.
So folate is really the reallywell studied, really well linked to
neural tube defects that we're reallywanting from a prenatal vitamin.
In general, like outside of pregnantwomen, I'm not a huge fan of
(16:27):
multivitamins for a couple of reasons.
One, they are not, there's no testing.
There's no FDA testing whenit comes to supplements.
So a...
not to scare people, but like a companycan literally say X, Y, and Z is in a
bottle and there's no X, Y, and Z, right?
Like you don't have, there's no testing,there's no oversight, unfortunately,
in the supplements industry.
And so you've got a lot of badplayers that are just there
(16:50):
to make money, unfortunately.
The other thing that I thinkwith multivitamins, well,
there's two other things.
One is that it almost makes peoplecomplacent and feel like they're covered.
Like I don't need to have that apple.
Like I don't need another apple.
I don't need to eat that celery orthat kale or whatever because like I'm
taking a multivitamin, I'm covered.
And it almost makes peoplecomplacent in feeling like they
(17:11):
don't need to have the whole foods.
And then the third thing that we foundis that while I wish it was the case
that you could just take a nutrientand put it into somebody's body
via a pill and it works the same aseating it through food, it does not.
We've seen this with fish oil especially.
There was a real huge push to like.
have everybody taking fish oilsupplements because it reduced
(17:34):
cardiac events and it reduced highblood pressure, all of these things.
The reason we did that was because wehad these studies that were linking
people who ate fish with having lowercardiac, risk of heart cardiac events.
And so we said, my gosh, thefish oil is contributing to the
lower risk of cardiac events.
So if we just put that in a pill andwe give it to everybody, we're gonna
(17:54):
reduce everybody's cardiac events.
And so they did that andthey found that it didn't.
And people had to take a step backand say, well, what's going on?
Like we literally took the substancethat's in fish and put it in
a pill and gave it to people.
And the reality is, is that our bodies areso complex that that just doesn't work.
It's not the same.
Taking a fish oil supplement is notthe same as eating fish twice a week.
(18:14):
and so while I wish it was as easy as justtaking all the nutrition that you need and
putting it into multivitamin and givingit to somebody, it just, it just isn't
our bodies process things differently.
So, if you want to take amultivitamin, knock yourself out.
Like I'm not going to.
Fine, that's fine, whatever.
But don't allow it to prevent youfrom eating a diet rich in minerals
(18:36):
and vitamins, a diverse palette of
plant proteins and plant sourcesso that we're really covering
the gamma in terms of all thosemicronutrients that our bodies need.
The Best Birth [18:22]
I want to talk a little bitabout that diverse diet.
So if you have a medical reasonto have, you know, limitations of
certain foods, or if you're choosingto be vegan or vegetarian, how can
(18:59):
some of these things play out in ourpregnancy if we're limiting the choices
that we're making around our food?
Amber Brueseke [18:31]
Mm -hmm.
Sure, and I do want to differentiatebetween someone who has some
medical condition and based off ofa desire for how you want to eat.
There's nothing wrong with havinga desire to want to eat vegan or
having a desire to want to eatvegetarian, but that's very different
than someone who has celiac diseasewho literally can't process gluten.
(19:22):
So I think it's important to know thatduring pregnancy especially, one of the
most important macronutrients that youneed to be having is protein because...
Protein is, or the building blocks,the amino acids are the building
blocks for any tissue, any cellstructures that we have in our body.
You're literally creating a human.
You're literally creatingtissue out of thin air.
(19:44):
You're creating heartmuscle out of thin air.
You're creating skin and allthese things out of thin air.
And the building blocksfor that is protein.
And so one of the most important thingsthat women who are pregnant want to
do, and this again leads into that pre-pregnancy into pregnancy timeframe is
making sure you're having enough protein.
And for recommendations, Iusually recommend clients around
(20:05):
that 0 .8 grams per pound.
So how much ever you weigh times thatby 0 .8 and that gives you a rough,
good starting place with your protein.
Now you'll hear like bodybuildersand stuff talk about going up
to like a one gram per protein.
If you can do that, fantastic.
If you're vegan or vegetarian,that may be more challenging.
It's harder to get protein ona vegan or vegetarian diet.
(20:26):
So maybe you're pullingthat down to 0 .6 or 0 .7.
But the point is, is paying attentionto and making sure that you're getting
enough protein so that you're ableto do everything that your body is
being required during that timeframe.
If you are vegan or vegetarian, it's gonnaneed to be more of a focus for you, right?
I have a vegetarian daughter and sherecognizes that she has to be very
(20:51):
concerned about and focused on makingsure she has protein at every single meal.
And there's lots of sourcesof plant protein, right?
So she can get protein from other sources,but it has to be something on her mind
to make sure that she's getting enough.
So if you're someone who is choosing avegan or a vegetarian diet for whatever
reason, that would be the biggestthing to pay attention to is making
sure we're getting enough protein.
(21:12):
Plant -based protein tends to beless bioavailable than animal sources
of protein, meaning your body, inorder to access the protein, our
body has to digest it and thenabsorb it and be able to utilize it.
Animal sources of protein tend to be lessbioavailable, meaning it's harder for
our bodies to break it down, it's harderfor our bodies to be able to use it.
So one gram of animal proteinisn't exactly the same as
(21:35):
one gram of plant protein.
And then in addition, plant proteinstend to not universally be complete
proteins, meaning our body is able tomake some proteins, just synthesize
them, because we're cool like that.
But not all of them.
We can't make all of them.
And so there are amino acids that areessential, meaning we need to eat them.
(21:55):
We have to eat those proteins becauseour body cannot generate them.
And plant proteins tend to be incomplete,meaning they'll have some of those amino
acids that we can't generate, but notall of them, whereas animal sources tend
to be more complete sources of protein.
So you just have to be kind of aware,too, if you're doing a plant -based
diet, that you're making sure that you'regetting enough protein, but that you're
(22:18):
you're having a varietyof protein sources.
There's a reason that a lot of SouthAmerican countries eat rice and beans
together, because individually thoseare both incomplete proteins, but
when paired together they overlapand now you have a complete protein.
So if you're someone who, again, wantsthis type of lifestyle or diet, you
just need to educate yourself to knowwhat kinds of foods to eat, how to pair
(22:41):
proteins together, how to make sure thatyou're getting enough so that you are
able to do all the things that you needto to be able to grow that little human.
The Best Birth [22:22]
And you're an expert in macro counting.
Do you recommend this during pregnancy?
Amber Brueseke [22:28]
So I will say, the way thata lot of people teach macro
counting is very much as a diet.
It's very much as a like, you need tofollow this, you need to eat this, and if
(23:04):
you don't, well, you should, suck it up.
Like just do better, right?
And that's very much not theway that I use macro counting.
I use it much more as an education tool.
And so I think one of the best thingsthat we can do is just get a good
insight into what we're eating.
And so,
That's where I like to startclients is like, let's just get
some feedback and informationabout what you're currently eating.
(23:27):
We don't have to change anything,but let's get that insight.
So many women are walking around beinglike, I eat enough protein, but they've
never actually tracked it and they don'tactually know how much they're eating.
And I would say, 85 % of thepeople who come to me are like,
I'm probably eating enough protein.
It's like, no, actuallyyou're not when we track it.
So I would say using macro countingas a tool just to get information
(23:47):
about the foods that you're eating.
Absolutely, 100%, like everybody, Ithink everybody should track their macros
for at least two weeks of their life.
You don't have to do it forever, butlike we would be so much more informed
about our bodies and the food that we'reeating if we just took two weeks to
actually track what we were eating andget informed and just see it on paper.
It's so valuable.
(24:08):
So macro counting as a tool, absolutely.
When we get into like, okay,then where do we set our macros?
This is where we get into making sure.
we're not going into a deficit.
The goal during pregnancy is not to loseweight unless you are working with your
provider to be able to, some women wantto do that, but most women are wanting
to at least maintain or gain some weight.
(24:30):
And so macro -cutting can be a reallygreat way to have women feel more
in control and be able to gain thatweight appropriately so that you are.
minimizing your risk factorsfor hypertension, for
preeclampsia, for diabetes.
It's been shown that keeping withinthe parameters of weight gain that is
(24:52):
recommended helps with reducing yourrisk of all of those risk factors.
And so macrocating canreally help with that.
It can help make sure that theweight gain is appropriate.
Exercise can also bereally valuable for that.
And it can also help womento, if you're under gaining,
to be able to know, okay, I'meating 2000 calories and I'm
not gaining appropriately.
(25:13):
Cool, let's add more food.
We need to add more food.
So it just gives you knowledge andinsight into the foods that you're eating.
You're eating food.
It just gives you more insightinto what food you're eating.
And so, yeah, I definitely havelots of women in our programs
who are counting macros.
They're not doing it for weight loss.
And that's a, most people equatemacro counting with weight loss.
And I really wanna like...
(25:35):
bash that and just say macro countingis just awareness of what you're
eating and then being able to adjustit for whatever goals you have.
So I counted macros when Iwas trying to gain weight.
I gained track macros when Iwas trying to get a six pack.
I tracked macros when I was trying toget, I did a power lifting competition.
So I was trying to fuel my trainingand get as strong as possible.
I use macro counting to do that.
(25:56):
It's not only about restriction.
It's about just making sure thatyou're eating properly for the goals
that you have set for yourself.
The Best Birth [25:38]
Hmm.
I love this conversation aboutnutrition and being aware of
what we're eating in pregnancy.
As far as exercise, are there specificexercises that are really good for
pregnancy or, and we talked aboutmaintaining what you're doing before
(26:18):
pregnancy, but what specifically ishelpful during pregnancy with exercise?
Amber Brueseke [25:53]
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, I mean, so our two biglevers when it comes to exercise
are cardio and weightlifting.
And both of those are veryhelpful for pregnant women.
You think about it,pregnancy is challenging.
We already talked about how it almostis resistance training all day long.
(26:38):
You're carrying around all this extraweight, this extra human in front of you.
But then you think about delivery.
And delivery is very physicallyrequiring, physically taxing.
It's like running a marathon.
And I think it's so silly thatwe think we can run marathons
without training for them.
Nobody would ever go out and just belike, I'm just gonna run a marathon today.
(27:01):
I haven't done any runningor training at all.
We'd be like, you're crazy.
And yet we think that we can gointo delivery and birth without
having some sort of training.
So I kind of think of the exerciseduring pregnancy as a way that
we're training ourselves, trainingour bodies to be able to handle the
intensity of pregnancy and delivery.
And so when we're talking in terms ofhow we're structuring our workouts,
(27:22):
making sure that you're having some sortof cardio is really, really beneficial.
We've seen that even like that elevationof that heart rate has, there's been some
research that has shown that that candecrease a child, like your baby's risk
of getting diabetes later on in life.
Like crazy, right?
Like it not only reduces your...
(27:45):
risk of getting diabetes duringpregnancy, but it also impacts
that child later on in life.
And so definitely havingsome sort of cardio workout.
And I always like to define cardiobecause people are like, I go for a walk.
Is that cardio?
That's like the biggest, thebiggest question I always get.
And the key with cardio is that wewant to be paying attention to one
(28:05):
of two things, either your heartrate, if you have something that can
track your heart rate, or I can talkabout what's called the talk test.
So if you don't have
a tracker, you can still figure this out.
But if we are talking about interms of heart rate, we're wanting
to get your heart rate up intowhat we call a zone two range.
So if you take, to find your maxheart rate, you can do this math
(28:26):
with me alongside in your head,if you take 220 minus your age,
that is about your max heart rate.
So I'm 40, so I take 220 minus40, my max heart rate is 180.
From there, we can split it into zones.
So if we're talking like 50 % to60 % of my max heart rate,
that would be my zone one.
(28:47):
60 to 70 % of my max heartrate is gonna be my zone two.
That's where we're really aiming toget up into to have it be considered
cardio is into that zone two.
So for some women going for awalk, especially if you haven't
done a lot of exercise, maybe ifyou're very, very pregnant, you're
carrying a lot of this extra weight.
A brisk walk outside may getyou up into that zone too.
(29:09):
But I know a lot of women, myselfincluded, that if I just go out
for a walk around the block, itwill not get me up into zone two.
So that's why having that range canbe very helpful, because what you're
wanting is to get up in the zone two.
That's where we start seeingsome metabolic changes.
That's where we start seeing the heartrate have to, the heart and the body
having to be able to perform more.
So we're wanting to get upinto that zone two at least.
(29:31):
If you don't have a heart rate monitor,you don't have an Apple watch or
Garmin, you can use what's called thetalk test, which is essentially if
I was chatting with somebody, theywould, I could talk with them, but
they, if I was on the phone, theywould be like, are you working out?
Like they would kind of know, cause Iwould be a little bit out of breath.
Like I could carry on the conversation,but I wouldn't be able to hide from
(29:53):
them the fact that I was working out.
And that's if you, again, if you don'thave a heart rate monitor, that's a good.
to see am I in that zone two.
If I can just easily talk, talk,talk, talk, I'm just having this
long conversation, there's no out ofbreath, you're probably in zone one,
you're probably not up into zone two.
And if you're getting to the pointwhere it's like, and then you can
say a few words, then you have totake a deep breath again, you're
(30:15):
probably out of your zone two.
So that talk test can be veryhelpful in terms of cardio.
So getting into at least that zone twofor cardio is really beneficial during.
during pregnancy.
And then we go into weightlifting.
Again, weightlifting at leasttwice a week is the recommendation.
So some sort of resistancetraining twice a week.
And I think weightlifting morethan cardio has a lot to do with
(30:38):
what you were doing pre -pregnancy.
I probably wouldn't recommend anybodyto go and, you know, deadlift a
whole bunch of weight if you werenot deadlifting pre -pregnancy.
So that, but you know, we cando a lot of dumbbell work.
isolation, work, some of those morecompound lifts like your deadlift, your
squat, your overhead press, your benchmaybe is better if you've been doing
(31:01):
that ahead of time, but there's stillplenty of exercises, dumbbell curls,
dumbbell press, overhead extensions,things that we can do that are a little
bit lighter weight and still providevery good resistance for the body.
The Best Birth [30:50]
I want to speak justbriefly about labor itself.
And you talked about, you know, yourbody is going to be so much stronger
and able to have a smooth delivery.
(31:23):
Are there ever times that youwould use exercise as a tool for
labor induction or during labor?
Amber Brueseke [31:06]
Yeah, so I told you my story of myfourth child where I like taught body
pump at like 930 in the morning andI could kind of tell that something I
was like, hmm, we might be like, maybehaving a baby sooner rather than later.
And so I remember I taught my classand then I got onto the treadmill
(31:47):
and like walked on the treadmill.
I remember there were some of myparticipants who like stayed after and
did the class that was after me and therewas like a window in between and they kept
like looking at me like they knew like.
man, something might be happening.
She's like on the treadmill, liketrying to walk and engage labor.
So yeah, you know,walking can be a good way.
Physical exercise can be agood way to induce labor if the
(32:07):
body is already there, right?
We're not gonna be ableto take the body there.
It's not that powerful.
So people don't have to get worriedthat like, maybe I should pull
back and exercise during my thirdsemester, cause it's gonna like send
me into labor when I'm not ready.
That's not gonna happen.
It only is that like last little tippingpoint if you're already almost there.
So definitely in those early stagesof labor, exercise can be a great
(32:30):
way to move the body, help thehead and start to engage, right?
We're basically trying to work thatbaby down into the pelvis and movement
can be very helpful with that.
Swaying your hips, rolling on a ball,going for a walk, going for a swim, those
types of things can be very helpful.
Once you start to get into that activelabor, you know that six centimeters plus.
(32:53):
No, most people are not wantingto do very much movement.
Maybe you're changing positions, butyou're not, I was not going for a walk
when I was six centimeters dilated.
So, exercise can definitely be helpful,especially in those early stages,
staying active, staying moving.
There's a lot of research thatshows, my husband and I were just
(33:14):
talking about this the other day.
He has a friend who,
His sister is in the hospital rightnow on bed rest and we were having
a conversation about the double-edged sword that bed rest is.
It is one of those things where it makesus feel like we're doing something when we
don't have anything else that we can do.
But more and more, there's a lotof research coming out that there's
(33:38):
a lot of detriments to bed rest.
Mentally, physically, you losemobility, you lose muscle mass.
And so anyway,
that kind of circling back around tothis idea that like, we want to be moving
as much as possible as long as it feelsgood and you know, we're progressing
and there's no medical contradictions.
(33:59):
And then you probably get into thoselater stages of labor and you probably
don't want to go outside anymore.
You want to kind of hunkerdown and do the ding thing.
The Best Birth [33:44]
Okay, and then biceps after babies.
Once baby is born and we arerecovering ourselves, what exercises
should we introduce and how early?
Amber Brueseke [33:48]
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, it's a really good question.
(34:19):
So I always recommend my clients,you know, wait till you're physically
cleared that six week appointment.
There's a couple of reasons for that.
One is it's a really important timeframethat we're really establishing a milk
supply for women who are choosing tobreastfeed and making sure that that
milk comes in, making sure that you geton that schedule, making sure we're not
(34:39):
doing anything to mess up that milk supplyand doing everything in our power, right?
Not all women can breastfeed, butmake sure we're doing everything
in our power to be able to.
prioritize that if that's a goal of yours.
So holding off on physical exercise untilwe have that milk supply established, we
have that clearance from your provider,we're making sure your pelvic floor is
intact, any apesiotomies or tears havebeen healed up nicely is really important.
(35:03):
Now that's not to say you can't goout and do a zone one walk, right?
Like, again, maybe I think hopefullythat's helpful for people of like...
going out and doing a zone one walkis not the same as getting up into
that zone two and that zone three.
So it kind of can give youthat rule of thumb of like
going out and walking is great.
I remember when I had my firstbaby, my goal was like to get
out of the house every day.
(35:23):
And some days that was like, Iwent to the mailbox, but dang
it, I got out of the house.
And I think that's really important duringthat, you know, post -baby time when
you're, everything is just hard and you'rejust kind of in a whirlwind and it's just
a little bit about survival at that time.
And then, you know, when you get thatclearance from your provider and you're
(35:45):
feeling up to it, that's the second thing.
It's like, I don't carewhat your provider says.
If you are still feeling likeyou're recovering, you know,
you're still listening to your bodyand you're just not ready, like,
girl, we don't, there's no rush.
You got all the time in the world.
But getting back into that exercise,you know, when you're feeling up to
it, when your provider has made thatclearance is really, is really great.
(36:06):
I always say, cause a lot of womenthat I deal with or work with,
have been very active pre -pregnancy.
And then they go to maybe not beingquite as active, maybe they're not
lifting quite as heavy of weights,and they're always worried about
muscle loss during pregnancy.
It's really important to knowfor women who are in that boat
that you may lose muscle mass.
(36:28):
You likely will lose musclemass if you're not lifting as
heavy as you were previously.
However, muscle memory isa very real phenomenon.
And so I see this time andtime again of women get back to
lifting weights post -pregnancy.
One, two months later, they're backat where they were pregnant pregnancy.
The time it takes to be able toget there is much, much slower.
(36:49):
So for anybody who's really stressed aboutlosing muscle mass, stressed about losing
strength during pregnancy, it does comeback after that pregnancy period of time.
The Best Birth [36:36]
I wanted to briefly ask your opinion.
I know there's like a lot of hype andcraze about some of this, like more rapid
weight loss, either like pills or shots.
(37:10):
Can you speak to the, like the safetyof this during pregnancy or postpartum?
Amber Brueseke [36:46]
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, I actually did a whole podcastepisode on my podcast with my husband,
who I said is a, is an OB -GYN.
And so we had a good conversation aboutOzempic and Wigoby and Monjaro and all
of these new weight loss medications.
(37:31):
so if you're wanting like adeep dive into that, go listen
to my podcast episode on it.
But you know, the, the overarchingtheme is, well, first of all, nobody's
during pregnancy should be taking this.
Pregnant women are notoriously hard toget into research studies because of
the way research studies are structured.
We have to make sure thatthere's no possibility of harm
(37:52):
or very, very small possibilityof harm being done to somebody.
And we just can't guarantee thata lot of times with pregnancy.
So unfortunately, I mean, fortunatelyand unfortunately, pregnant women are
often like the last group of peopleto be studied for any medication or
any treatment just because it is.
It is, you're dealing with nowtwo patients instead of just
one and we just don't know.
(38:14):
So it absolutely has not beencleared for pregnant women as
many medications have it, right?
And who knows if and when it willbe cleared for pregnant women.
So if you're in a pregnancy, likeabsolutely you shouldn't be taking this.
Now we get into thatpostpartum time period.
You're not pregnant,hopefully not breastfeeding.
My guess is it hasn't been testedin breastfeeding women either.
Cause again, a vulnerablepopulation that...
(38:37):
has two people that are involved,is that this is a really good
conversation to have with your provider.
There are people that this is amiracle drug for and that it can help
reduce their risk of heart attack.
It can improve their quality of life.
GLP -1s are basicallyappetite suppressants.
So the way that they work is they, wedon't really know exactly how they work,
(39:00):
but we think that they work somehow intriggering something in the brain to
reduce appetite, increase satiation.
And so people, what people report a lot isthat they have a lot less hunger and they
have a lot less food chatter, which hasbeen the interesting, an interesting thing
to note is that a lot of these people whotake it feel like their whole lives have
been just run by food chatter, right?
If they're always thinking aboutfood, they're always thinking about
(39:22):
what they're gonna eat next, they'realways hungry, they're always like,
just always thinking about food.
And it's been interesting that one of theside effects that they've seen for people
who have gone on these medications isjust the reduction in that food chatter.
and how between this increased atiationand the reduction in that food chatter,
it's just easier to stick to whateverthey want to stick with, right?
It's easier to eat less food.
(39:42):
It's easier to like notsnack on things at night.
And so they are changing some of thosehabits, but it makes those habits easier.
So I take issue with people whowant to demonize this or say that
people who take it are taking theeasy way out or some crap like that.
There is just so many obesity,
Weight is such a complex topic.
(40:04):
We don't understand a whole lot about it.
And I think demonizing somebody whoin connection with their provider
is making the decisions that's bestfor them and their health, who am
I to say what you should be doing?
So anyway, I thinkthere's a lot of unknowns.
I think we're, I mean, they're alreadyworking on like the next phase of
GLP -1 and they're working on pills.
(40:27):
Like this is not going anywhere.
Hopefully it's going to get better.
Hopefully the technology will get better.
But, you know, obesity is complexand anybody who says otherwise
doesn't know enough about it.
And I think we got to have moreresearch, but what someone makes
a decision with their providerabout is none of my business.
(40:48):
The Best Birth [40:26]
Well, and I think maybe one of therisks is that a lot of people are making
these decisions without their providers.
It's becoming much more accessible,you know, just online and whatnot.
And so making the conversation apparenthere, you know, like if you're pregnant
or breastfeeding, you know, justtake a pause, you know, don't worry
about, yep, it's not the right time.
Amber Brueseke [40:29]
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, yeah, it's not the time.
It's not the time.
You don't wanna be the research study.
Like never, never.
(41:09):
You do not wanna be the researchstudy on these types of things, right?
Get through the pregnancy,get through the breastfeeding.
I know it feels long.
I know it feels long, but it reallyis a short blip in your life.
I birthed and breastfed fourof my kids and yes, it was
time, but like it was a blip.
You will.
you will be able to not bebreastfeeding at some point.
(41:31):
And if you're wanting to talk toyour provider about the medications,
that's the point to be doing it.
The Best Birth [41:18]
I love the point that you made thatregarding postpartum, we're not in a rush.
We have time to, you know,figure out our new normal and
take this body moving forward.
What would you have to say to womenwho have a longer healing journey
(41:53):
than they expect after pregnancy?
I know for me, it's taken almosttwo years and I finally feel like
I'm healing to a point where Ican exercise the way I used to.
And so yeah.
Amber Brueseke [41:23]
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yep.
Yeah.
I mean, I think the best thing thatwe can do for women who are pregnant
is to help them release expectationsof what it's supposed to look like.
(42:14):
There is no normal timeframefor pregnancy and postpartum.
And I think when we talk, as if thereis, that it leads women to have these
expectations that they're going to beable to lose 20 pounds in five weeks,
and they're going to be able to fitinto their postpartum genes right away.
They're gonna feel like themselves andthey're not gonna struggle at all with,
(42:35):
you know, prolapse or anything like that.
And we do women at a service when wehave them coming in with expectations.
And so I think the more that we canhave conversations and share stories
like this of like, it's completelyvalid that my experience was like, I
was able to get right back to exercisingand right back to working out.
That was my experienceand it's completely valid.
And it's completely valid that you hadtwo years that it's taken you to feel
(42:59):
like you can get back to exercising.
I'm not right, you'renot wrong, none of it.
Our bodies are different and the more thatwe can embrace that of just recognizing
my body is doing what it's doing andit's different than everybody else.
I'm not the same as everybody else.
My situation is not the same as everybodyelse and having some grace for ourselves
in that is really, really importantand admittedly very hard because our
(43:22):
society does really like to promote that.
you're not back in your postpartumjeans two weeks postpartum?
What's wrong with you?
And it's like,
Gosh, man, can we just like, wejust get out of this idea that
like, I need to get my body back.
I need to, you know, post -bate or pre-baby body or my pre -baby weight or these
(43:42):
jeans or whatever we get so hung up on.
I'm gonna give women grace becausethere's a big societal push there, but
I think the more we can have honestconversations like this and be able
to say, hey, if you go in with theseexpectations that it's gonna be easy or
that you're gonna like just bounce back.
I mean, maybe it will be.
and then you'll be surprisedand happy and overjoyed.
But then if it's not, then you're notfeeling like you're the odd man out or
(44:04):
you're weird or what's wrong with my body.
I think that that belief of like,I deal with this a lot with women
of coming to me with this belief oflike, my body's broken or something's
wrong with my body or my body's bad.
And I just think that that doesn'tserve anybody to come with that belief.
And so really just embracingwhere it is that you're at.
(44:26):
I know it's easier said than done.
Having patience, havinggrace for yourself.
And again, remind yourself, I knowit feels like it's not, but it is.
It's just a short blip, right?
Even two years is just ashort blip in your life span.
The Best Birth [44:20]
And the journey is not linear.
Amber Brueseke [44:22]
Yeah, I mean, amen.
So much.
(44:46):
The Best Birth [44:27]
Yes, so true.
Well, Amber, we'd love to share resources.
Are there any books or other expertsthat you recommend for us to follow
or find with a nutrition and exercise?
Amber Brueseke [44:38]
Yeah, I mean, my favorite placeto go to is the source, right?
With my nursing background, Ilove to read research articles.
(45:07):
I like to stay up on the latest research.
I know not everybody is reallyexcited about reading peer -reviewed
research, but Google Scholar hasmade it much more accessible.
And even if you're just going on GoogleScholar and looking at what you're
wanting, having questions about, andthen clicking it and just reading the
abstract, in the abstract they tell you,
(45:27):
Here's what we were like, we'relooking at, here's what we did, and
here's the conclusion we came to.
You don't have to leave thewhole thing just abstract.
That is some of the best ways tobe able to get some of the more
up -to -date literature on topics.
I'm always looking for, if you can findlike meta -analysis is usually what I'm
looking for, because that means that theytook a whole bunch of research studies
and then reviewed all of them together.
(45:48):
So that's my favorite wayto look up information.
And I think sometimes peopleare intimidated by that,
but go give it a shot.
Like it's actually not asintimidating as you think it is.
Go to Google Scholar, put inlike weightlifting in pregnancy
and like click on the firstcouple and read that abstract.
And you know, you very quicklycan start to really learn what
the actual research is saying.
(46:10):
You know, other than that, Ialways follow people who are
like referring to the research.
I think that that's really important islike if people are telling you something
and they can't tell you where they gotit from or they can't cite the article
or they can't like direct you to wherethey're getting their information
from that's always a red flag to me.
Girls Gone Strong has a reallygood research oriented content
(46:31):
that I really appreciate.
They have some like prenatal andperinatal stuff that I find is a
really good resource for my clients.
The Best Birth [46:21]
Well, I love your nursing backgroundthat you bring to this and just the
research is the great place to go.
You're right.
Go to the source.
Every week we share a mom squadsecret from a woman in our community.
(46:52):
So this week it comes fromLisa and she said, night sweats
postpartum are very common.
Prepare by getting awaterproof mattress pad.
So just all those things withpregnancy that we can look up and
research and educate about thethings that happen with our bodies.
So.
Thank you for adding your insight andexpertise to our conversation and our
podcast and for talking with us today.
(47:14):
Amber Brueseke [46:55]
Thanks so much, it's been really fun.
Thanks for joining us on today's episode.
We hope you've been elevated andinspired by this week's expert.
Subscribe today so you never missan episode and please share our
podcast or post on your socialmedia so that other moms and dads
to be can also have the best birth.
Please note that the informationprovided is based on the expert's
(47:37):
insights and personal experience.
It is not intended as medical guidance.
Please seek the advice of yourmedical provider as it applies
to your specific condition.
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