S02E09 - Ashley and David Syvertsen - Pregnancy Childbirth and Fitness Recovery

March 05, 2021 - This week's episode is with Coaches Ashley Syvertsen and David Syvertsen, owners and coaches at my box, CrossFit Bison, in Midland Park New Jersey. If we ever thought it was tough just to get fit in our everyday lives, consider the challenges of achieving fitness after pregnancy and childbirth. We discuss the process of returning to athletic performance after a major life event. In addition to dealing with the obvious physical changes, what are the mental and lifestyle adjustments needed to be able to work on your fitness after pregnancy and childbirth?

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S02E09 - Ashley and David Syvertsen - Pregnancy Childbirth and Fitness Recovery

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S02E09 - Ashley and David Syvertsen - Pregnancy Childbirth and Fitness Recovery
Sam Rhee: [00:00:00]   Welcome to another episode of Botox and burpees. I'm Dr. Sam Rhee plastic surgeon and CrossFit coach host of this podcast where we talk about plastic surgery, CrossFit, and everything in between. You can find more information at our website, botoxandburpees.com. And make sure to like, and subscribe wherever you listen to our podcast. 
This week's episode is with coaches, Ashley Syvertsen and David Syvertsen, owners and coaches at my box, CrossFit Bison in Midland Park. New Jersey. If we ever thought it was tough just to get fit in our everyday lives, consider the challenges of achieving fitness after pregnancy and childbirth. We discuss the process of returning to athletic performance after a major life event.
In addition to dealing with the obvious physical changes, what are the mental and lifestyle adjustments needed to be able to work on your fitness after pregnancy and childbirth? 
Our topic today is about bouncing back from pregnancy as an athlete, particularly in CrossFit because this is dealing with some medical issues and everyone is different. I'm just going to start with a quick disclaimer that this show is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment it's for informational purposes, only treatment and results may vary based on circumstances, situation, and medical judgment after appropriate discussion, always seek the advice of your qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding medical care and never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking advice because of something in the show. That being said, we have Dave Syvertsen of course, owner and coach at CrossFit Bison, as well as our guests today Ashley Syvertsen also a coach at CrossFit Bison, who has way more experience about recovery and athletic performance after childbirth than both Dave and I 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:01:43] hope so. 
Sam Rhee: [00:01:45] And I just wanted to mention that it is way more common these days for elite athletes to resume their careers after childbirth. Candace Parker and the w NBA Lindsay Davenport, Victoria, Azarenka are some of the pro tennis athletes, Serena Williams had a well-documented emergency C-section pulmonary embolism and postpartum bleeding, and she just recently lost in the Australian open semi-finals to the champion. Naomi Osaka. There was a 12 time Olympic swimming medalist, and a Torres who had a two year old daughter and became the oldest swimming medalist in 2008 at age 41. Olympic champion sprinter Allyson Felix had an emergency C-section in November, 2018 and then competed in a first race in July, 2019, and then won her 13th, 12th, and 13th world championship in the four by 400 relays in September of 20 of 19.
And obviously in CrossFit, there are some very well known athletes who have had children. And then also competed Camille Leblanc Bazinet who's the 2014 games champion, Kara Saunders, who took second place in 2017. And most recently, Annie Thorisdottir who has not competed professionally, but she's planning on doing so.
And so I really just want to get started first with a personal experience. What did it feel like for you and what was your experience coming out of childbirth? 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:03:04] I don't think I think I've talked to many people about our birth. Was it. As planned as we had thought it was going to be had a little bit of a Rocky go.
So coming back we had an emergency C-section and then unfortunately we were in the hospital for a week afterwards because I was diagnosed with preeclampsia. So I had high blood pressure and was on blood pressure meds for a week. And we were unfortunately in the hospital for a week.
And during COVID, obviously weren't allowed to leave our rooms. So I feel like in the very beginning, it was a little bit harder to have the mindset of coming back because, we spent a week pretty much sitting and not being able to move in a lot of times, when you hear people talk about C-sections, they say, make sure you get up and move, get up and walk and just try to get blood flow, to the C-section scar around the incision.
And unfortunately we didn't have that option. We were sitting for days on end. 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:04:00] That is no joke. The size of the guys' locker room here. They, the nurses were saying, Oh, you guys got the smallest room in the entire wing. 
Yeah. 
Sam Rhee: [00:04:07] That's like a 12 by 12. Yeah. 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:04:09] Literally we're not allowed out of the room either. Not one step out. 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:04:12] Yeah. They had, when they came in to check anything, they had to move stuff around because there was that's how it was just small that room was so I think going into, my mindset, I was like, all yeah. Just birth in general. There's been so many women who have come back and just to say kudos, to our women and our moms here, we have a fierce mom group at the gym.
I think there are probably some of the most amazing athletes here and have multiple babies, not just one. So I think like my mindset was like, all right, I got this there's so many women here who have done this. Let's go, like I'm having this baby. And then we're getting back into the gym as soon as I'm cleared.
And I think that process took a little bit of a backseat knowing, it, wasn't going to be this quick, fast road to recovery. 
Sam Rhee: [00:04:55] Let me ask you this. How much were you exercising up during your pregnancy? 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:05:02] I crossfitted just normal as I normally would. I think obviously had to do modifications which I'm sure we can go into.
But I feel like I was still doing everything that I normally would as many days a week until COVID hit. And then I think that's when, everything started to come to a little bit of a halt. I'm doing more at-home stuff, but I was doing everything. I was still lifting the same. Obviously modifying going around the belly, but everything else I was doing exactly the same, 
Sam Rhee: [00:05:28] Because some people can and then others, because of medical reasons are stuck not right, but that's awesome that you were, 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:05:33] yeah, my doctor, I told her exactly what we do and she was like, as long as you feel fine, you're totally fine. I remember asking her if I could still do handstand push-ups while he was in the room at one point, and she said, sure, why not?
And I came in the next few days, we had handstand pushups and I secretly put a mat together and Dave came over and goes, absolutely not. You're not going upside down. Don't even think about it. And I was like, 
Sam Rhee: [00:06:00] you had this huge thing and you're obviously totally immobilized for awhile. So when did you start thinking, all right, I need to get back to this and when did you talk to your your doctor. And then when do you start thinking about, all right, let me get this going. 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:06:12] So obviously when we went, I went for like my six week post-op she was like, you can start doing a little bit here a little bit there. Just making sure that nothing, hurts, obviously, if it hurts.
Stop doing it. And she's like the biggest thing I can tell you is read your body, your body enough, especially after pregnancy, what hurts, what doesn't hurt, what is this, what is that? You find a little bit more of your body awareness. I feel like when I was pregnant.
So she just said, as long as you feel fine, go back to doing what you were doing. And then I was like, all right, here we go. So I came back to the gym and we were working out outside. And I think Dave can tell you, there was more days of frustration and tears than there were of yes, I'm back.
This is awesome. Because I think. A lot of women say to you, Oh, you're going to bounce back. It's going to be fine. It's going to be fine. And everybody's circumstances are different. Some people, their water breaks, they push three times. Baby comes out. Some people are not in that, case. Some people, have complications.
So I think going into it having that mindset of it's going to be fine, you're going to be fine and bounce back. When I came back and was like, Oh crap. Like I can't do that. 
Sam Rhee: [00:07:22] What did you notice you couldn't do? Or what was the most frustrating part about them? 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:07:25] First? My engine was gone, absolutely gone.
I couldn't even walk up and down the stairs without being like exhausted. And then a lot of like your core, my core was gone, especially having a C-section they're, you're having major abdominal surgery and knowing that I couldn't even hold a hollow. I couldn't hold a plank was like demoralizing at first.
And I remember there was actually a picture of coach Ramsden  outside coaching us one day and I was the last one to finish. And I remember holding back tears, trying to do air squats and just being like, I think that was my point that I hit. That I was , okay, Ashley, it's either, you're not going to do this, or you're going to figure it out, pick one.
And that was the moment that I was like, except the fact that you just had a baby, you just had a baby. And you're trying to do crazy things with your body in the middle of the crazy heat of the summer. Give yourself some grace and do what you can. And that's I think the turning point for me was like, you have to give yourself grace and just say, I'm going to do what I can and have fun with it.
I went back to what I did in the very beginning of CrossFit. I started having fun with my workouts. I looked at the workouts and I said, I can't do that. And I would like almost laugh and be like, okay, can't do that. So what are we going to do today? And I'm going to change it up. And I think that's probably the most important thing for other women coming out of pregnancy is like realizing that you're not going to be the same athlete and that's totally fine, but you have to give yourself some grace and have fun with CrossFit.
Again, like I, I enjoy CrossFitting now. Like I have a great time. I'm not in my head, worried about the workouts and worried about what I used to be like. Cause I have other priorities, but I think that was like that turning point for me, it was like have fun with it. 
Sam Rhee: [00:09:14] How hard was it to get to the gym now that you have a newborn, now you have to provide your childcare and you have to arrange for childcare.
So how did you try to figure that out when you first got that? 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:09:23] Obviously David and I had to have lots of conversations cause he obviously trains hard as most of you guys know. And then having him work on top of that was difficult. But I think we had conversations that were like, it's a priority for me right now to also get back into this and if we need to carve out time, we, we will. And I'm sure a lot of the people here have seen that Brock comes with me a lot of the times. He loves coming here. He'll sit there and watch everybody he's usually really good
Sam Rhee: [00:09:56] early. 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:09:57] So I think that. It was a priority that we had to have a conversation about and say Hey, I want to get to the gym three times this week. How can we make that work? And I think his support and him knowing as an athlete that like, Hey, she also needs this, was a huge game changer for us.
Sam Rhee: [00:10:12] Is this similar to the experiences you've seen with other athletes? Yeah, 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:10:17] It is it's. I want to make sure that everyone knows that. My, my credibility, your credibility is very limited when it comes to giving personal experience on what it's like to have a baby try to come back. So physically, mentally, emotionally, we cannot relate to it at all.
With that said, I was trying to count on my way here today. Like how many women have been pregnant at bison? They were members, they got pregnant, they worked out, they didn't work out, whatever. And I was counting, I think it went up to 20 to 25, including repeats. We've had a couple of that.
Women that have had multiple babies in that past seven years. And I can tell you, their experiences are so different from each other. And it has nothing to do with how fit they were, how not fit they were if they were new to cross it old across it. And that's why I will always say when it's funny, I'll actually find out if someone's pregnant way before that person's family, because they're like, Hey, they've, don't yell at me for not squatting all the way down on F and pregnant right now. Or they just, they, the doctor tell  them like, Hey, you can continue to work out, but you should tell your trainer what's going on. So it's usually on the DL, like you find out at five, six weeks sometimes.
And my, over the years, I've really grown to just be like, Hey, like my knowledge credibility the disclaimer at the start of this podcast is I'm not comfortable telling you what to do, what not to do. I want you to get some guidance from your doctor, and then I can give you experiences from other people, but some of them lifted heavy.
Some of them didn't, like I think Nicola Carlo and Brittany storms were like back squat and close to their max Nicole did, Carlos says she PR her back squat do while she was pregnant with twins, I think. 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:11:50] And I remember Brett storms, she backs got it on her due date.
Cause she was like, this baby needs to get out. And she was like heavy back squatting on her to date. 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:11:58] And we've had older women that like eight weeks in there. Like I'm throwing up every morning. I can not exercise. And they had to call it quits until after the baby. So I'll tell them like, Hey, I can give you some experiences I've dealt with other women in the gym, but I want to make sure that we're on the same page that I can't tell you what to do, how to do it when to do it.
Sam Rhee: [00:12:17] So then when they came back, because obviously if you've been. Able to maintain a pretty high level of activity during pregnancy. What was their experience afterwards? 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:12:27] I will say the one constant is most of them thought the recovery would be quicker than it was. And that's a very personal situation.
I don't want to bring up specific situations, but the amount of women that I've seen, like in tears, a month, two months, three months after they had the baby thinking it was going to take in on those six, eight weeks, I'll be back. And it took him. Five months before they really feel like they were quote back.
But I can say in the same breath that there are multiple, if not all the women here that have had babies gotten to better sheep after the baby than they were prior to, 
Sam Rhee: [00:13:01] they were in better shape after. 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:13:02] Yeah. Like a year after the what, but it just it's what I always say. You don't always get to decide when that happens, but you can decide if that will happen.
If you're just persistent and consistent and stop putting timelines. I think one of the things that. I saw Ash go through. And again, it's different when you're coaching your wife. The relationship always comes first, but one thing I saw with her, like she just thought that things were going to happen quicker than they did.
And in the back of my head, I'm like, Hey, if you think it's going to be a month, it's probably going to be three, be prepared for that. I hope that it's not three, but be prepared that it's going to take you a lot longer. And your willpower will be tested more than your engine or your muscle ups, 
Sam Rhee: [00:13:39] do you think you have a better perspective on your athletic ability? Because you're a mom now because you use, because there's some speculation I read that people actually have better perspective so they can actually focus better. They can actually understand maybe what it is that athleticism or training is about because they have refocused  priorities does that help? 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:14:05] I think, yes. I would say refocus is definitely the word to use. I think it's the one hour that, and we say this for anybody. No matter if you have kids or you don't have kids, it's the one hour that it's just you and you're here and you can shut off.
I think with that in training, I've noticed that I can. I'm like, okay. I know my capacity a little bit more, and I know when to push it and when not to push it based off of how my body is feeling, going back to that I think I'm more aware of myself. But as an athlete, I think now I'm prioritizing differently and I'm making myself a priority along with my son and my husband making myself that priority.
If that makes sense. Rather than just Oh hell, let's do another one today. Let's just get after it and throw some heavyweight around. I'm like, all right. Let's, refocus, look at those weights, look at the workouts for the week and let's strategize a little bit better.
Sam Rhee: [00:14:59] You have to be more efficient about what you're doing too, because you have all these other responsibilities now that you have to manage. 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:15:05] Yeah. Having kids, if you were doing CrossFit and you hurt your back, how you can pick up your kids, play with them, how are you going to do all of that stuff?
It makes you think a little bit differently. 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:15:14] Like even when Ash brings Brock to the gym to work out, Brock is still her priority. Like I've seen her sometimes like midwife, she has to stop because he lost his past and he flips out and Liz throws a little temperature, tantra I'm already, or he wants to hold onto a plastic cup while he got like the four people next they're like trying to PR something by six seconds, it's did you see, I did all those polls on broken, bro.
Like putting a pacifier back in our baby's mouth in between sets. It's like those that she is here for herself. But it's a different level of focus because the real focus is on, the baby that's in the stroller, 10 feet away from her. And, she's been pretty fortunate.
I've been pretty fortunate that. It's worked out with him so far. He's almost 10 months now. And this is no, if history repeats itself, we're probably approaching that age where he's no longer going to be quiet and chill. Oh yeah. When I started walking and I've seen other, I've seen other women I feel bad for them sometimes five months in the kid just does not wanna be in the stroller at the gym.
And it, the mom gets very frustrated and. It stinks, but it's, that's, it's interesting to watch her know that she used to be like, if anyone knows Ash, when we started back seven years ago now Ash was the girl in the gym. She was the girl that could do muscle ups. She was the girl that could do 10 toes bar in a row.
There she was the girl that could do 10 hats and pushups and Relic. There was nobody else that can do that. And she was like also like the, she set the Mark for a lot of the women in the gym initially. And now it's I don't want to call it an ego takes a hit, but now her priority is mom career coaching.
I'm going to try to get here three to four days a week and just get my workout on 
Sam Rhee: [00:16:47] the human being that just came into your life. 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:16:49] Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it's, but she's doing a great job with that. And that's what a lot of other women in this room have done. And again, she said it already, we do have a bad ass crew of women in this gym.
And I say this all the time on this podcast to people in the gym and it goes in one ear out the other for some. Like the amount of inspiration those women gave Ash is you can't even measure it. It's so important that those women stuck to it. And there's now they're killing it. And now ashes roll job here is tout to set the tone.
There's young women in our gym who are going to have a baby the next five years. They're watching Ashley right now, every time she comes in. 
Sam Rhee: [00:17:26] So I think the level  displayed by any of our great athletes who have had kids is You can see it. You can see it when, if you've seen them before they've had kids.
And then after, as an athlete how they approach everything, like you said, how they approach their workouts and what they do. They're not trying any less than anyone else's or when they were before, but they have a better perspective on what it is. Yeah. 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:17:52] I would say Ashley, I'd like to get your thoughts on it is.
Like your body awareness now is probably 10 times more than ever was just in you're outside saying your core's gone. Do you know how many women out there don't even know what that means? I can't hold a hollow. What's a hollow, like, How much we say you use your core when you work out here with free weights.
That's part of the reason why we use so much, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells is your core gets your core, has to stabilize all that way. That's moving away from your body. Yeah. I remember, 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:18:19] I think I told you this once we were back in and there was a toes to bar workout, and I remember coming home and telling you that.
Holy crap. I now know what people feel like when they do toes to bar. I felt it in my app for the first time in seven years, I never used my app. I relied on it a little bit. I relied on my KIPP and my arm strength to pull me up there. I never once used my abs and I wasn't. Sore for days. And I probably not even joking, maybe did 20 toes to bar.
And I was like, this is the worst feeling ever. Whoever does toast, the bar, like this is crazy 
Sam Rhee: [00:18:56] on behalf of all the people who struggle with Tosta we hate you. One of the things I was wondering is I did see something and it was I saw in a couple sources where they thought one of the biggest recovery issues post-pregnancy is the pelvic floor. And they say that is, it can take six to 12 months. That's the thing that's holding athletes back. There was the Olympic gold medalist, Gwen Jorgensen in 2016, she said, The first thing after she gave birth that she had to do was focus on her pelvic floor. Do you feel like maybe that's what core or that lack of core strength can be for women?
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:19:35] Yeah, I would say your pelvic floor and a lot of women suffer from the abs separation in general. Just, I would say, core and your pelvic floor in general, all of that whole area, because you have to think we completely stretched out all of our organs and drowned our abs separated.
We built this, nice, loving little home for this little guy or girl in there. And then all of a sudden, like the baby's out. All of that has to somehow shrink back down. And a lot of times it doesn't, and it doesn't happen overnight. And you'll hear a lot of women say I did it today with the double under workout.
Like I had to stop and be like, okay, don't pay, like a lot of women have that. Yeah. And I think one of the things I wanted to bring up too, I think is the conversations that women need to have about those things about how to. Recover from that. How to, Hey, I just had a baby. Let's go work out.
No, it's not always going to be that way. I've done a lot of talking to, Hartman and Marnie talking to them and even doing some research on the side of how to recover those abs how to help recover your pelvic floor so that I may not pee every time. I, even though I had a C-section, you're still putting that extra weight on your body.
And I think there needs to be more awareness of what happens when you come back and how to strengthen your body. We all say Oh yeah, I, I. I'm nowhere close to my PR. That's great. But at the end of the day, like I would like to be able to sit up. In bed without my having to roll onto my side still because my abs are gone or do toast bar without them hurting.
So I think there needs to be more of a conversation about that and more research, out there for women to say, like here's ways to incorporate this into your daily activities or, before or after your workout, spend five minutes doing these things. I think that's huge. 
Sam Rhee: [00:21:27] I definitely think that if doctors push that, as opposed to saying just like maybe a little bit more of a regimen that might be super helpful for some people. Yeah. 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:21:35] Yes. And I'm sure, you being in the field that you're in. I wish that my doctors would have given me a link, a website, a pamphlet, I don't care. Something to just say Hey, this may be effective because of your pregnancy. Here's different things that you can do. And here's where to go for it. Because a lot of times, us women joke around about it. Oh, I pee every workout, but how many times do you hear women saying Oh Hey, I heard that you talked about this.
I know we all pee. Sometimes I'm going to jump rope after having a baby. I listened to this woman who helped me this, I got this information. It was really helpful. I think that's. Keep just going forward. I'd love to. Find more information and give it to people who have babies after me.
Sam Rhee: [00:22:18] How about body appearance after pregnancy? I know that a lot of moms struggle with their body appearance, especially if you're a CrossFitter and you've been sitting there and we know how CrossFitters dress they wear booty shorts. And 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:22:32] Dave says all the time, I'm usually the one who's like half naked most of the time.
Sam Rhee: [00:22:37] And even Annie Thorisdottir has posted about how she struggled with her appearance post-pregnancy and so what's that 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:22:45] Dave can attest to this? That's probably the hardest thing for me. Everybody says Oh, you look great. Like you're losing the weight, but yourself and.
This is the heaviest I've ever been in my entire life, in my entire life. And it's hard knowing that I, for the first time had to buy like adult pants. Like I literally was in like, Kids or like size zero. Like I had to buy a pair of two, four size pants and that's just, for me, I was always very small.
So for me having to change, I always say I was wearing his clothes for a lot of the time because I was like, I don't have anything that fits. It's very disheartening. The summer, we went to the pool and all the CrossFitters, everybody's ripped six pack abs and I'm over here, frumpy and I'm like, Oh my gosh, we're not going. We're not going because I don't feel confident. And there was a lot of times that even still now that it's very hard to go from being super fit, healthy, and lean my entire life to being, and I'm not overweight, but having those extra pounds and thank God for reset because I've lost a lot.
But you're still just not back to where you are. And I think again, like giving yourself grace to sit there and say I just had a baby. My body just went through nine months of transforming for this kid. Give yourself some grace here. And if it's a priority, make it a priority. Like you have to be your own advocate at that point. 
Sam Rhee: [00:24:19] Is it okay to accept that your body will never be the way it was pre pregnancy again? 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:24:24] I think it's, I see clearly I have not accepted it. I think I've gotten better at saying okay, like this is the stage of my life right now that I'm in. And if it is an extra few pounds and things like that, like fine, because guess what?
This body gave me that child. Yes, I would love to be able to rip my shirt off again and not feel like, Oh crap, hurry up, put it back on. But I think I'll get there because to me that's my mindset is that's a goal of mine is I don't need to be, six pack actual brick abs like you guys all have, but I would like to just feel confident again, what and whatever that is.
That doesn't mean that I have six pack abs. That just means me being a hundred percent confident and content with myself. I think it's more of a individual thing than it is. You know what society puts on you. It's more of just me and how I feel in my own clothes. 
Sam Rhee: [00:25:25] Can you think of any, I understand the how difficult it was when you first started and you had nothing.
Were there any points also where you just felt overwhelmed by. All of it. And you're just trying to get to, all you're trying to do is get to the gym. I remember I saw an anecdote where someone had brought all the baby stuff, the baby, all the stuff, she had gotten everything to go to the gym, and then she realized she forgot her shoes.
And she just broke down and cried because she, there was, it's just really overwhelming to try to pull it off. 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:25:57] Yeah. I will say I love, obviously I love my husband. But it is hard when his priority obviously is the gym. That's his business. And this year he's going after something. So his training goals are a lot higher and I don't want to get in the way of that. So in turn my priority of being like Nope, I need to go to the gym today. My priority gets pushed back. That can be a little bit frustrating being like, I just want to work out. I just need to feel normal because there's days that you go through and, I'm sure many parents realize that no day is the same with with an infant.
And some days he is like a saint and the other day, he is just the terror. And when he is a terror, And you're like, I had this thought in my head, I was gonna, I was going to work today. Then I was going to work out. We were going to have a nice bath, Dave and I maybe have a drink later on when he goes to bed and then all hell breaks loose.
And none of that goes as planned and he's going to train and you're like, I want to train. I want to work out. And I think those are the moments that you just are like, I'm never going to be able to do any of this. Again, there's so much going on. Work is nonstop and life is nonstop and this baby won't stop crying and I have to make dinner or pseudo make dinner because I don't cook, but like I need to put something in the microwave later on.
But all of those things there's times that they just all seem to come crashing down. And like you said, like the mom can bring all of her stuff and forget her shoes. There's days that like the keys will drop when I'm trying to walk in the front door and I'm carrying him. And Dave laughs at me because I am that person that brings everything at once instead of taking trips.
So I've got my work bag, his backpack, him and I dropped the keys to the front door and it is like the world just ended that day. I just there, there's going to be days like that. And I think you have to, take that with it's just today. It's just today.
Sam Rhee: [00:28:05] I think the common thread I do hear though, is that getting to the gym, you've never once not spoken about not wanting to work out. It was, it's something that you really need. And I think probably a lot of. Women would find that if they don't would, it would be something they would really miss in their life. If they never did 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:28:25] one thing I noticed with her, and it's been really over the course of reset since January is that I feel like maybe it was reset.
Maybe it was just, Hey, new year, new you all that good stuff. Open coming up she got some momentum going, like she just was on. Instead of being like two days this week, four days that we, five days this week, once this week, she got into a rhythm in early January and then also was eating better.
Also maybe drink a little less, like less like sweets at night on the weekends, less big cheat meals. And she found this rhythm where she she was starting to string some like good, really good workouts in a row. She came home dude, David did 30 pull-ups in a row and today's workout, and Then the next week it was, I squat clean this, like this past week I was watching her squats.
I'm like, Whoa. I was like, that was a really good lift. And I think that it's really important that she just like bit the bullet for awhile and it created this momentum. And now I feel like she's talking a little bit hot streak. And she's starting now, she's starting to feel better about herself, her performance, she and her body.
It's easier to eat well, when you're feeling good like that, you're not eating your emotions. And drinking the emotions. And I think it's one thing I saw with her. And we've seen with some other women in the past is that once you just get that little bit, like of like downhill momentum, you don't feel like you're walking up a Hill every single time you come to the gym.
It actually gets easier and easier to take yourself to the next level. And I think she's she's in that run right now and it's, she's doing an awesome job there. 
Sam Rhee: [00:29:52] I do see a lot of athletes that it doesn't matter if you're immediately after you've had a kid, some of them have come in. And I'm thinking of a couple who maybe their kids are just a little bit older, maybe one or two years or three years and they really hate the way they look or how they feel. And it really does. You don't have to be a CrossFitter before pregnancy to do it after pregnancy or even do it right after your pregnancy. I think a lot of them are making amazing progress. And they may not think it, but they think they are really making a lot of progress.
I'm thinking about a couple of people in the reset challenge, people that we've seen lately that have really, and some that have actually done it for a while with even older kids. And they've really made a ton of progress that you would think moms wouldn't nest, 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:30:40] prime example, your kids, they're older, they don't need you 24 seven, like most kids under the age of five. And she's a rock star, she's put in the time and put in the work. But still having a job, a career, having two kids that now you're running around, bringing them to practice and games and whatever else goes on. 
Sam Rhee: [00:30:59] I think the high intensity efficient type of workout that CrossFit brings is particularly good for moms, for people who want to really make some changes and they don't want to spend three hours in a gym lifting or planning it out. Yeah. 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:31:14] And that's one thing that we do well here, but most gyms that have classes do that. It's like you're in and out right under an hour. 
Sam Rhee: [00:31:20] And the other thing that we do is push all this stuff outside, the reset challenge. So the nutrition, and that's when you start seeing some of these athletes really make those differences, because like you said, an ideating, the you're not eating your emotions. You're not eating the way you used to that. You're finally getting to get all those things. 
Dave Syvertsen: [00:31:40] I also think Ash, tell me if I'm wrong. I think one of the things that helped her take the turn was at some point you had to stop comparing your situation to another woman's situation. And that's something I hear either like to my face or you hear through the grapevine someone that's fighting through the process of coming back from baby Oh, like doing this already and I'm still here.
And I really think that, it, that's never going to do anything for you. And everyone's situation is so different. Everyone's training age is different. Their background is different. Their jobs are different. There's no, it's a waste of time. Any of you guys, 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:32:14] And to go off of that, I think that you don't know what everybody else went through.
And you could set I'm sure a lot of people, close to us know our what happened. And then there's some people who may listen to this and have no idea who we are or who, are close enough to me to know what happened and be like, Oh, I didn't know that it was like that for her, you just don't know what somebody else went there or what somebody else is going. So you cannot compare yourself to anyone else. You can compare yourself to you. You know how I was five years ago, but you cannot compare yourself to anyone because situation is exactly the same. 
Sam Rhee: [00:32:52] Everything I've read about pregnancy, exercise after pregnancy is exactly what you said, Ashley. You have to keep your expectations appropriate. You have to realize it's not overnight. It takes time. It's a process. And then the most important thing is what you said was enjoy the process. And I, I think it's actually really good advice for everybody, but it just gets put into sharper focus, post childbirth.
You just had this big thing happening and then you have to free group. 
Ashley Syvertsen: [00:33:23] Oh yeah. Yeah. I agree. I think it's. It's the biggest craziest time of your life. And if you are able to just let go of, and I'm very type a, everybody who knows me knows I'm very tight. I am very planned. You have to let go of that a little bit and enjoy it.
Why did you start CrossFitting it wasn't just to like, be the champion and be, beat Matt Frazier. Like you decided to do this for you and to have fun along the way. And if you can't have fun and enjoy it. There's no point in doing it. 
Sam Rhee: [00:33:53] You can get every episode of Botox and burpees, wherever you listen to podcasts, or go to botoxandburpees.com. thanks for listening