“We are strong and we are capable.
I am able to do this.
Let me give my body the utmost respect that it’s giving me the ability to bring a life into the world.”
Meet Alysia Montaño, Olympian, 7x USA Champion, mom, and all around badass…
Our favorite bits from Alysia’s Interview:
“Okay, this is about to be the greatest athletic event that I’d ever been a part of.”
“When I discussed training and pregnancy with my midwife she said, ‘Listen to your body, respect it. Modify when you need to. Eat well, drink tons of water get lots of rest.’ And I was like, ‘So be a professional athlete?’
Every piece of advice was like, ‘Oh, this is how you basically execute to perform your best as an athlete.’
It made sense to me. So I really started thinking about it. Okay, this is about to be the greatest athletic event that I’d ever, ever been a part of.”
“How can I do this the very best way possible?”
“If I’m training for the Olympics, what would I do? I’m going to think about my nutrition in a completely different way. I’m going to think about not only what I need but what does the baby need? What do I need before workouts? What do I need after workouts?
How much water do I need? And how will my intake change. Not only because I’m active, but because I’m carrying another person.
Then I thought about labor. I thought about like the mental aspect of things – how do I wrap my mind this. I thought about my exercise regimen as a way to prepare my body for the physical part of labor. Like what is it going to go through? So I took that on. I want the stamina, I want my cardiovascular firing on all cylinders.
I thought about intervals and strength. Contractions are like intervals. They come in waves and then they stop, and they allow you to rest. But then they start to get closer together. I thought about all of my milestones like that. I’m going to just run for a minute.”And then I’m gonna stop and I’m gonna give myself a minute rest.” And then I’m gonna get to that next point right there. I’m not gonna stop until I get that point for a minute and started thinking about it in labor like that.
With strength, I thought about what positions would I get into in labor. I’d do squat holds. I’d do back strengthening things to counter my belly.
I had a goal. Just like I do in training. I had a goal to deliver my baby pain med free. I wanted to give myself that full experience to let all the sensations be the sensations. Just like when I’m training for a specific race, I want my body to be able to respond the way that it needs to respond. It’s kind of like chess. You have to make a calculated movement, but the same time there are very natural movements that are happening regardless.”
Check out Alysia’s Video Series!
“Thinking of all the other things that go on in my body is where [Bloomlife] comes in.”
“It’s really important for my partner, my husband, Louis. I am such a go-getter and it’s being that type of person is also makes it really difficult for you to say ‘Everybody give me a break.’
Being a mommy to a three-year-old, it’s hard to say, ‘Honey, momma needs a break.’
You gotta say it too: ‘Papa, momma needs a break!’
It is very important to have that evidence right in front of you to be like, ‘Yeah, I am actually am feeling this. I’m not making up excuses!’
The check-in also needed to be with my hydration. Being able to look at the Bloomlife app and be like, okay, there is something actually happening right now you’re not ready to give birth yet. It had me be like, ‘Oh my gosh. I need to hydrate.’
You have to take care of yourself. You have to take care of this baby. And, [Bloomlife] allows for that check-in to be something that is visible and it’s physical, and you can tell, “Okay, I need to fix this right now.”And then you see it dissipate and you’re like, ‘Cool, I’m all good’.”
“Stop comparing yourself to someone else.
I think everyone would enjoy their experience so much better if they could really just appreciate where they are at today and the journey that they’re on.”
Interested in trying out Bloomlife?
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