Pretty Strong · Pregnancy & Postpartum
Still training. Then getting back properly.
Pregnancy is not an injury, and postpartum is not twelve weeks. I have coached women through both since 2016. You get a plan that respects what your body is actually doing, and a return built on strength rather than a countdown.
six weeks is a clearance, not a plan.
If this is you
Four versions of the same gap.
The advice goes from "listen to your body" straight to "you are cleared at six weeks", with nothing useful in between. That gap is where most women lose a year.
You are pregnant and still racing
You want to keep training with a reason behind every change, not stop because a stranger on the internet told you to.
You are newly postnatal
Cleared, in theory. No idea what week one actually looks like, or how to tell the difference between hard and too much.
You went back too fast
You tried, something hurt or leaked or gave way, and now you are nervous. We rebuild from where you actually are.
It has been years
Second baby, third baby, or a child in school, and you never got back to the athlete you were. That is still available.
The honest version
What changes, and what does not.
What changes
- Load gets rebuilt from the bottom. Strength and impact tolerance first, mileage second. In that order, every time.
- Fuelling goes up, not down. Pregnant, feeding, or sleep-deprived, you need more than you think. This is where most returns quietly fail.
- Sessions fit real days. Thirty minutes that works beats ninety minutes that never happens.
- We watch the signals that matter. Leaking, heaviness, pain, and how you feel the next day. Not the scale.
What does not
- You are still an athlete. The word does not expire because you had a baby.
- You still get a target. A race, a distance, a time. Something to aim at, chosen honestly.
- You still get hard work. Progressively, and when you are ready for it.
- You still get the big stuff later. Marathons, Ironman, HYROX. Postnatal is a starting point, not a ceiling.
How it works
Three steps, then we are coaching.
Application and a conversation
Birth, recovery so far, what hurts, what you have been cleared for, and what you actually want to be doing in a year.
A rebuild, not a comeback plan
Strength, impact and fuelling written together. We add running when you can carry it, which is a thing we test rather than guess.
We adjust, week by week
Sleep, feeding and small children do not respect training blocks. Coaching calls as and when you need them.
Boundaries
What I will not do.
- I will not work around a pelvic floor problem on my own. If something is leaking, dragging or painful, you see a pelvic health physio and I build around what they tell you.
- I will not give you medical advice. Not about your birth, your recovery or your scans. That is not my lane.
- I will not sell you a bounce-back. No weight-loss goals, no before-and-afters, no six-week promises.
- I will not let you skip the strength work so you can add mileage faster. That is the trade that puts women back at the start.
slower start. much better year.
Start before you apply
Free tools and reading.
No email gate on any of these. If they are all you ever take from me, that is a fine outcome.
Questions
The ones I get asked most.
Can I keep running while pregnant?
Many women can, for a long time, with changes along the way. It depends on your pregnancy and what your midwife or consultant says. I coach around their guidance, I do not overrule it.
When can I start again after birth?
When you have been cleared and when you can tolerate load, which are two different things. The checklist is free, and it will tell you more than a date on a calendar.
Do I need a pelvic health physio?
I would like every postnatal athlete to see one, and I insist on it if anything is leaking, heavy or painful. It is the single best thing you can spend money on at this stage.
What if I am breastfeeding?
Then fuelling and hydration go up, and we plan sessions around feeds rather than pretending they are not happening. It does not mean you cannot train hard.
How long until I am back to where I was?
It varies enormously and I will not give you a number on a web page. What I will do is tell you the truth each month about what your own numbers are saying.
Can I aim at something big?
Yes. Marathons, Ironman, HYROX, extreme triathlon. Postnatal is a starting point, not a ceiling.
Ready when you are
Tell me what you are chasing.
Ten years of coaching women, 200+ athletes, and an application form that asks about your goals rather than your dress size. Whether you are twelve weeks pregnant or four years postnatal, start here.