AUTO-GENERATED TRANSCRIPT

Brianna Battles  00:01

Welcome to the practice brave podcast. I am the host Brianna battles, founder of pregnancy and postpartum athleticism, and CEO of everyday battles. I’m a career strength and conditioning coach, entrepreneur, mom of two wild little boys and a lifelong athlete. I believe that athleticism does not end when motherhood begins, and this podcast is dedicated to coaching you by providing meaningful conversations, insights and interview topics related to fitness, mindset, parenting and of course, all the nuances of pregnancy and postpartum, from expert interviews to engaging conversations and reflections. This podcast is your trustworthy, relatable resource for learning how to practice brave through every season in your life. Hey everyone, welcome back to the practice brave podcast today, I’m here with Arielle Loewen, and I’m excited to talk to her about being pretty strong for a mom if you are a CrossFitter, you likely know who this woman is, and I feel like she’s done a really beautiful job of showcasing that athleticism does not end when motherhood begins. That’s the premise of the entire pregnancy postpartum athleticism brand, and I love bringing on women who really represent that message well. So Arielle, thanks for being here. Thanks for

Arielle Loewen  01:22

having me. I love what you’re doing for ladies out there. So I feel like this is the perfect merger. Let’s talk

Brianna Battles  01:29

absolutely so give people a little bit of like your history, like how you’ve grown up as an athlete, what that looks like for you now, what you’ve been able to accomplish so far.

Arielle Loewen  01:39

Yeah, so I’ll start from the back end of it. I now am a five time CrossFit Games athlete, five time rogue Invitational athlete, which is all awesome things, but those five consecutive years didn’t happen until after pregnancy, which to me is so cool. I was a in high school. I did track and cheer, grew up doing gymnastics, found CrossFit right after high school, and then really just took off with CrossFit ever since. And from 2012 to 2018 that was my out of that was my in college. I’m going to try and be competitive in CrossFit. Tried to go to the CrossFit Games, never made it. And then 2018 I find out I’m pregnant, so I retire focus on my family, and then actually coming back after having my daughter, I focused on my faith, my health, mentally, physically, and I actually felt better than I ever have, and that’s whenever I’ve had the most success in the CrossFit world, which is

Brianna Battles  02:35

pretty cool. You know, you’re just like confirming my bias here, and I really appreciate that, because I think it’s true like I think traditionally, we’ve seen well, when you become a mom, things are different, which, of course, they are, but it’s also an opportunity to become a better version of yourself as a person, but also as an athlete like you learn so much about your body, so much about how you want to show up in life, and ultimately, I feel like those are the building blocks for becoming the most successful and performance driven version of

Arielle Loewen  03:08

yourself, absolutely. And I think you realize you have to be intentional after having a kiddo. So it’s like, if you want to look good and short, you have to be intentional about your diet and your workouts and your time just went from 24 hours in the day to you have two hours now. You got to make it count, yes. So it’s like you really have to choose it for yourself, because you have no choice.

Brianna Battles  03:32

Right? Absolutely. So what did I mean? You were obviously training a lot before becoming a mom, and then when you decided to get pregnant, what did your training look like? Then did it totally change? Were you still kind of doing CrossFit, or did you just need like a reset? What was that season like for you?

Arielle Loewen  03:48

Whenever I got pregnant, I just switched to doing the daily affiliate CrossFit class. So I would work full time. So I worked eight to five at a job, and then I would do the 530 to 630 class, go home, eat my dinner, go to bed, and then do it all again the next day. But I would my job at the time was in a cubicle, sitting down eight to five, so it was pretty miserable. So I had to go to the CrossFit class basically five days a week, because that was my one hour of movement, making sure everything was just feeling good, and it really helped me not get like, achy and pains anywhere, because I was just moving it out. Yeah, absolutely,

Brianna Battles  04:27

especially like when you have a job that you’re typically more sedentary, like you crave that movement, and probably even like the social element of being able to like it out and being in an environment where can move your body, get your like, extrovert time, and then go back to like, you know, just what your what your like routine with work and home is like Absolutely. So I think a lot of CrossFitters struggle with being able to scale back in some ways, like, obviously you were training really hard, and then you’re like, well, now. I am just going to do, like, what the class is, what is programmed for the class. Was it hard to, like, manage those self expectations of I should be doing this, or I want to be doing that, and then just sort of, like, revamping your overall approach during

Arielle Loewen  05:13

that time? Definitely the first 20 weeks, I didn’t tell anybody I was pregnant because I was not excited to be pregnant. I was not trying to get pregnant, so I was dealing with a lot of shame and guilt that God healed me from. But the first 20 weeks, I didn’t tell anybody. So I was probably doing stupid stuff that I shouldn’t like, handstand push ups, running too far, lifting too heavy of weights. But after 20 weeks hit, you can’t hide it anymore. So I told the coach, and the coach there was great to say, like, Hey, we’re not doing handstand push ups, we’re not doing rope climbs, we’re not doing heavy anything. And just basically putting it in perspective, you have got to live out your athletic career all of your life now you have nine months that it’s not about you anymore. Like, put aside your pride. You can do all those things after nine months, and really, just putting in perspective, it’s just a few months. I know you can probably do handstand push ups. You can probably handstand walk, but why? What’s the benefit versus reward? And that’s probably the hardest thing I see on social media, is it’s like, moms are amazing, and they’re like, look what else I can do. I can still clean and jerk. 185 I can still handstand walk. And it’s like, that’s amazing, but why? Like, yeah, it’s just not Yeah.

Brianna Battles  06:30

I think there’s, I mean, there’s so much wisdom here, and I really love what your coach was able to say to you, and that you guys had that kind of relationship where you could, you were willing to hear it, and your coach was willing, or like, was comfortable enough to be direct with you, like that, and I mean, in my coaching certification, that’s what I encourage, just like, having, like, real conversations with people, so that they can then make informed choices, like whether you decided to listen to your coach or not, like we are looking at the big picture instead of this ultimately very, very very temporary season in what I refer to as like, our lifetime of athleticism. And you’re a perfect example of like that was a short season of your life, but you’ve gone on to make a very successful, continuous run, showing up at a high level. And pregnancy and postpartum did not take away from what that potential you still like, what potential you had exactly.

Arielle Loewen  07:23

And the biggest thing I learned pregnancy, so while I was pregnant was how to breathe. So no longer was it focused on performance, lifting, heavy, doing all these crazy, cool movements. It was, let me just stay in tune with my body. And the best way I can do that is by like, How does my breathing feel? How does my heart rate feel? And just really like making physical checks throughout the whole workout? Yeah, absolutely.

Brianna Battles  07:46

And so then you had your baby girl. How was your birth experience and what was your postpartum recovery like? If you’re willing to share, yeah,

Arielle Loewen  07:55

my birth experience was beautiful. And sometimes I have guilt saying that, because I know that’s not the case for everybody, and I’m like, my heart goes out to them, but mine was, I was 41 weeks I went in, I had phytocin. 12 hours later, I had my daughter, and there weren’t any complications. Like, it was extremely smooth, which was awesome, and then postpartum was actually good. I just did not realize how much strength I lost. So it probably took me 18 months until I physically felt the same again, which I like to encourage people, if you see somebody on Instagram, do it in six months, like that’s not reality. Like to do it a healthy way. You have to do it slow, and you have to give yourself grace, and you have to just take it day by day, month by month. But I really didn’t feel amazing until 18 months.

Brianna Battles  08:51

Yeah, there’s so much truth in that, even for the highest level of athlete. So I try to communicate with like, my everyday CrossFit moms or runners or whoever it’s like, it’s just a big deal. Like, growing a baby is a really big deal. Having a baby is a big deal. Recovering and like, acclimating to life as a mother is a big deal. And so our fitness isn’t always the number one priority, you know, like, and it’s okay for it to be a slower rebound and slower build postpartum, because so many different things have influenced our body, our training, our mind, our spirit, all of that has undergone a significant transformation. So 18 months is not unreasonable. It’s just people don’t always want to hear that exactly.

Arielle Loewen  09:33

And I treat it as if it was an injury. It was a nine month injury, so I needed at least nine months to recover from it physically. Yeah, and I

Brianna Battles  09:42

know that people like, hate saying it. Like saying that pregnancy is an injury, and it’s not like, in a negative way, it’s just your body is different, like, there’s just different considerations. Having a baby is also a really big deal, like that requires some rehabilitation and rebuilding, and more. Most importantly,

Arielle Loewen  10:00

patience, that’s the hardest part. But what I tried to focus on, which I think what the hardest part for me was I growing up being an athlete. I was trying to have a CrossFit career before this was my first time in my life ever trying to lose weight or trying to stick to a diet to look a certain way. So I also had to learn, like, what is a good diet? How do you lose weight? How do you get back into the shorts that you’re in before, which was a lot of eating, like, and then your mental health. You’ve got your physical health, what you’re eating, your mental health. So it’s just like giving yourself grace, but also setting goals to get what you want. Like, you can’t just eat the cake. Okay, I can have the cake, but I also need to prioritize my meats, my fruits and all the fats and all that stuff, right, right?

Brianna Battles  10:51

Absolutely. And I love that. Like you’ve said the word grace a few times, where it’s just like giving yourself grace in a season where so much has changed, and ultimately you have what you what you want your life to be like, what you want your body to be like, what you want your training to be like. And you can get to that like, brick by brick and just over, like across a timeline, and that timeline looks so different for every person.

Arielle Loewen  11:13

It does, it does. But then I try. I would give myself grace, because it would be hard. But then also, like all your kiddo cares about is that you love them. If I’m a size eight jeans or a size six, she doesn’t even know the difference between a SIX and an EIGHT. Like, you also have to have a bit of reality, like, you have one job, and it’s to love your kiddos, teach them the good things in life. So it’s, yeah, prioritize that.

Brianna Battles  11:37

No, absolutely. And like, I look back and like, especially on my first pregnancy, I’m like, Man, I just feel like there were, there were aspects of that where I was focused on the wrong thing, where I was so desperate to feel like myself again, that I rushed a lot of things. And that, like, mentally, it just, it brought me down, and I didn’t even realize it. Because that was, like, our default mechanism, if you’re an athlete, is, well, I’m just gonna push harder. Do more, be tougher. I’m fine. I’m not, you know, like, and you just sort of dismiss all of those little things, and then you come out of it, and you’re like, Oh my gosh. Like, who I wish I could get get a little bit of it? Yeah, who was that I wish I could get a do over? Like, I wish I could approach that a little bit differently.

Arielle Loewen  12:15

What would you have done? Different?

Brianna Battles  12:18

Quite a few things. I would not have rushed the process of getting back back then there was no information online or anywhere about, like, core and pelvic health consideration. So I was like, What’s wrong with my abs? Why do they look like this? I really flat stomach, strong stomach, and why is his skin looking like this? I just didn’t see bodies that looked like mine. I had really, like dogmatic expectations around what kind of birth I wanted, and then my reality was very different just how things ended up going, so that I had a lot of shame and embarrassment around like what I was saying versus what my reality was. I struggled with my mental health, just so many different variables, but ultimately, like that was a catalyst for starting this business of being able to help other women like me and then help other coaches so they can have good conversations, like what your coach had with you. But you know, just like, yeah, just being able to not try to rush that process and give myself a lot more grace and patience and perspective that it is a very short period of time, even though it’s frustrating, it’s a very short period of time. And you know, your daughter’s a little bit older, my boys are a little bit older than your daughter, and like, it’s so annoying, but it’s true, it goes by really, really fast. And these are, this is like a precious era that we are in of like, little kids, little kids working out next to us. I’m in a precious era of being a coach on the sideline now, and I have that perspective where it’s like, Man, I really want to just slow down, because now I know, now I know I can look back and say, it goes by really fast, and I don’t want to wish this away. I don’t want to be so preoccupied with my own body and stuff that, like, just doesn’t even matter that much, like I was so neurotic, it wasn’t worth all of that energy.

Arielle Loewen  14:04

No, not at all. No, you’re speaking truth.

Brianna Battles  14:06

I love it, yeah, yeah. So that’s what I would have done. Thanks. Thanks for asking. Yeah. I think you speak to No, yeah. I mean, it’s a, it was huge, a huge driving force in starting this business. Because I was like, Why didn’t anyone tell me why was there nobody who was sharing some of these things I was struggling with, physically, mentally, emotionally, and then you get on the other side and you’re like, Oh my gosh. Like, there. There’s got to be a better approach, better information, and people that are here to better support us, there just wasn’t back then. So we’ve come a long way, and you enjoy

Arielle Loewen  14:41

the process. Yeah, y’all have,

Brianna Battles  14:43

yeah, yeah. And it gave me when I was ready to have a second baby, it gave me a lot of perspective that I just I was able to approach so differently with just a lot more maturity and strategy, just intention, everything. And made that whole process of i. Like, transitioning into a mom of two, so much better, so much healthier, good and ultimately, similar to you. Like, obviously, you are a much higher level athlete than me. I’m very recreational at this point in life, but I compete in jiu jitsu now. That’s my congratulations. Oh well, yeah, that was a fun thing to dabble into, but it complements this point of like, I feel I’m a better athlete now on the other side of pregnancies and postpartums and so many like, physical and mental struggles, because of the perspective it gives you going through that, like you learn how to be a better athlete. You’re so much more efficient. You understand your body, more your nutrition, more your training approach better. You just dial things in where, you know, like what actually serves me and my life, while prioritizing the things in life that actually matter 100%

Arielle Loewen  15:47

and that’s I work out from home. Now, if you couldn’t tell from the garage, but that’s like, another driving factor of working out from home is I just saved two hours of my day, one hour getting ready to drive to the gym, to get to the gym, to stretch, and now I can just walk in my garage and get it done, and it’s like, do I miss the community? Yes. But right now, my goal is not community, make a ton of friends, it’s pour into my family and then be intentional with my training. And this helps me do so. So it’s like, you have to look at what you’re prioritizing in your

Brianna Battles  16:19

life, yeah. And that will just totally ebb and flow through every season. But I think once you become a mom and you’re an athlete like those two can actually really complement one another, that it’s a beautiful thing to be able to bring to our kids and to be able to integrate those you know,

Arielle Loewen  16:34

together, it is, and there’s a bit of freedom even with competing, because my identity is not tied up to anything that happens on the floor, because it’s like, I come home and I’m still making the bed, I’m still taking care of my family, pouring into them. I can get first, I can get last. They’re going to love me regardless. So there is a bit of that mental, oh, I am not only living for myself, that I have to perform and impress myself. It’s way deeper than

Brianna Battles  17:00

that that’s so powerful. I love that because you’re right. There is such a freedom and knowing like there’s there’s more to this life. There’s more to me, there’s more to just your overall identity. Because there’s a huge identity shift that happens when you could become a mother, you’re it’s just it totally transforms you. And I think a lot of women are really afraid of that, but I see over and over that it acts as this catalyst for so many beautiful things to come in, like who you’re evolving into

Arielle Loewen  17:28

absolutely and I think there’s so much joy in family. You lose a bit of yourself having a kiddo, but it’s the selfish side who does whatever they want at any time of the day. But you gain joy, you gain fulfillment, and like, God’s beautiful design for

Brianna Battles  17:43

a family. I totally agree with that. And it’s, yeah, it is. It really only gets better, like, right? And it feels really good to be able to say that, because before you know, when you’re in the early trenches of motherhood, you’re just like, this is hard, or this is different, and you don’t have anything to compare it to. But then you just get a little bit more perspective and that maturity over time, and you see like it’s not over, it’s it like I’m still an athlete. I’m still me. I’m a better, healthier version of that person.

Arielle Loewen  18:13

Exactly.

Brianna Battles  18:14

So what did it look like? You know, now coming out of postpartum, you’re at that 18 ish months postpartum phase when you decided, Okay, I think I still want to be involved in CrossFit at a high level. Like, what was that? That turning point for you?

Arielle Loewen  18:29

What I prioritized? I guess I’ll say, like, I was cleared after a month, I can go back to the daily affiliate class. So that’s what I did. So I set a goal for myself, when I was cleared from the doctor, show up to the daily affiliate class three times a week. Once that became obtainable, learning my new schedule, sleep, nap time, all that three times a week turned into five times a week, and I just set the goal like I’m going to show up for myself at the Daily affiliate class five times a week. I’m talking one hour a day. My daughter’s there in the stroller next to me. We’re just going to make it happen, and I prioritize that for a year, while also trying to focus on what is healthy eating, okay, perimeter of the grocery store, I’m going to eat my carbs, my fats, my protein. So really just prioritized showing up for myself and then my physical and mental health. And then it wasn’t until about 18 months that I was like, Okay, I look great. I’m actually doing really good in the daily affiliate class. I’m getting first place against all the other people. Like, maybe I still got it. Let’s just try it. And the way the open work, or the way that CrossFit season works, is the first stage is at your affiliate. So I didn’t have to travel anywhere. I can just do the workout in my home gym. First stage did great. Then the second stage came, same thing. It’s at the home gym that I’m at, so I’ll just keep doing it. And then after I qualified, from there, it was an in person qualification. So like, the barrier to entry was really easy, because it’s like, I’m already going to show up to the gym anyway, so let’s just do the workout. And then each stage. I just gained a little bit more confidence, and I also had great people around me at the time who were seeing things in me that I thought were gone, that were like, Hey, you can still do this. You still got it. You’re You’re not done and washed up just because you had a kiddo.

Brianna Battles  20:15

Yeah, so then that message is so important in the same exact way the message that you got during pregnancy was also really important. And like, think people think these are, like, such contradicting messages, but it’s like, what do you need to hear for the body you’re in right now, for the season of life you’re in right now, for your level of, like, athletic readiness, mental readiness, and like, that coaching ability and the community, the people you surround yourself with, being able to tell you what you need to hear

Arielle Loewen  20:41

when you need to hear it. Yeah, and it’s funny, because one of them was in Abilene, Texas. One of them was in Midland, Texas. So we’re talking two different gyms, two hours apart. You also have to have a good, godly people around you and be humble enough to listen to what they say, because they could have said, Hey, like you’re rushing back too much. You need to chill. And I would have to be humble enough to listen to that. So it’s like a Who are you letting influence your life? Do you trust them? Do they don’t?

Brianna Battles  21:08

Yeah, and you feel that like I feel like your your like, your spirit and your heart, like knows, like when you when you hear something that is in alignment, that’s like that next right step, and that step in your belief, like, you know. And like that is worth trusting and and hearing. Even when it’s like, what you don’t want to hear, you usually know that you because it’s like, oh yeah. Like, I think you’re right. It like, sucks to hear. It’s a little painful, but it, you know, like you feel that. And then on the other side too, is like, you’re like, maybe it is possible. Maybe there is something to this. And like that also feels affirming. So I think learning to listen to that little voice and trust those people and trust this, this calling and this purpose in your life is, I mean, that’s a that’s an amazing thing to be able to tap into and to see in the

Arielle Loewen  21:53

feel absolutely and that’s where I’m just so thankful, like, I think God all the time. So now my message is pretty strong for a mom, but it all kind of stems back to, like, there’s a few points in my career where I had given up on myself because I was a mom, like, because the narrative is like, you can’t be strong, you can’t go to the games, you can’t do this. And it’s like finding your strengths wherever they are. It might be like back squatting 95 pounds when you thought you can only lose 65 pounds, you’re still strong, overcoming trying to have a kiddo and you can’t. You’re still strong. Like there’s so much mental and physical things that we go through. So it’s just like showing up for yourself and being proud of those wins. Yeah, what

Brianna Battles  22:36

is, what do you feel like was the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome, either as a mom or as an athlete, or the intersection of those two worlds for you, like, what was

Arielle Loewen  22:45

that for you? My biggest obstacle was probably so I had my daughter three days later, I moved two hours away, moved in with my boyfriend, now husband and we learned how to live together. We learned how to raise a daughter. We learned how to be married, all, all within a one week period at my father in law’s house at the time. So it just kind of puts in a new level of like, having a kid is hard, yeah, moving in with someone for the first time is hard. Being married for the first time is hard, and we kind of got all thrown into that within one week, but it was, like, the most beautiful and easy process we could have ever asked for. So it’s like, on paper, this was really hard, but like, we were down here, we had nothing but each other and our family. Like, where are we going to grow from this? And let’s do it together.

Brianna Battles  23:39

Yeah, and it seems like you have so tell me what your run has looked like. The last few years.

Arielle Loewen  23:45

It’s been awesome. So we started as a family or as a CrossFit athlete.

Brianna Battles  23:50

Well, like as a okay, like both, like as a CrossFit athlete, you’re making this run, but obviously, like your family is in this with you, like you guys, yeah, I mean, at least from the outside in, like you guys are, like a solid unit, supporting you, making this pursuit. So tell me about that.

Arielle Loewen  24:07

Yeah, and that’s what’s fun. I do think a supportive partner is such a blessing for mamas out there who has who have that, and if you don’t, I pray you find it. We started, like from the bottom, three days after giving birth, we move into my boyfriend at the Times dad’s house. We have nothing to our name, and we just start saving up. We buy a piece of land, we start saving up. We slowly build a home on that land. We cultivate like, what do we want our family to look like? We want family dinners. That means I need to learn how to cook. So we just prioritize that. And from there, like, three years down the road, we finally finish our house, we move into this house, and then we have this awesome home gym in the house. So we truly came from nothing, but we worked hard to cultivate it, and now it’s like my place of work, my place of business, and we kind of get to reap the benefit of it together when we go to all these competitions. Yeah, so awesome.

Brianna Battles  25:01

And now, in terms of your training for CrossFit, what has that looked like? You know, to be able it’s one thing to make a run, it’s a whole other thing to be consistent in this game. Thank you. Of a professional athlete, like different professional athletes I work with, it’s interesting talking with them, because it’s not a one off thing. There’s a lot to be said about that consistency over time, and I think like you’ve you’ve shown what is possible. So what has gone into that process?

Arielle Loewen  25:28

There’s been a lot of boundaries, and I think people don’t like to hear that, but it started at the affiliate, which was amazing in that season, but it slowly became something I didn’t need. So I switched gyms, and that gym slowly became something that wasn’t giving life. So then I just put all my time into working out from home and from working out from home. I can do intentionality. I have peace. I can do whatever I need to. So I’ve had to set boundaries of like, this is causing way too much drama because there’s too many people in the mix, I’m going to make my circle smaller. Okay, this circle is actually supporting me and wants the best for me. They’re staying in my circle. And I’m going to be intentional with that.

Brianna Battles  26:10

Yeah, no, I think, yeah. Cultivating that circle is really key. One thing I say a lot is, like, I want a large network, but very small circle, right?

Arielle Loewen  26:19

You know? So I have I do my own programming from home, I coach myself from home, all that fun stuff. But I have two to three people in my immediate circle who I listen to. If they were to say, Hey, your back squats. Look really bad. Let’s get stronger. If you’re an outsider telling me that I’m like, okay, that’s rude. You don’t even know me. You don’t know what happens in the gym. But I have people in my life who still can call me out and say, hey, you need to work on this. And I do. But unfortunately, a big network doesn’t mean they’re all on your side wanting to see you succeed.

Brianna Battles  26:51

No, you need that small, small circle of people that you can trust, who like, really know you and who can really like, provide the kind of insight that you want to hear. You need to hear it all things like that. So you have done all of your own programming as a CrossFit Games athlete

Arielle Loewen  27:06

since my 2023 season. So I went to the games five times. 2023 was the year I made my circle smaller, worked out from home, and that was actually my most successful year. I was able to get third place at the CrossFit Games, which just really affirmed, you know, what your body needs. You don’t need a million people around you encouraging you show up, get the work done and make yourself proud, and it’ll pay off.

Brianna Battles  27:32

Yeah, had you like, had a lot of experience coaching, or was it mostly like learning to coach through your own athletic experience

Arielle Loewen  27:41

that, and I know from other coaches who had helped me, like, I really don’t like this style. I like this style. These are my weaknesses, and I know what motivates me is the clock, so I prioritized all of my training to be okay. Here’s your workout, but you have to get it done under 10 minutes. Set the clock. You have to get this done under two minutes, or else it’s going to beep and you’ve got to do it in to do it again. So just learning what works for my crazy brain and then prioritizing that, yeah, no, that

Brianna Battles  28:08

definitely makes sense. And I think that’s such a gift to be able to know yourself that intimately, and then be able to like, leverage that, like, you know what you need, and then you have a high drive enough to be able to, like, actually do it. Like some people, like, I could never work out from the line of being told exactly what to do. And like, I’m the same way. I’m like, I don’t want anybody in charge of my programming. I know what I want and what I need on any given day, on any given week. And I like to change my mind sometimes too.

Arielle Loewen  28:33

And I think there’s that’s what I love as well. Because some days I’ll show up in the gym and I’m like, Man, my shoulder does not feel good. Okay? No shoulders today, whereas if I was with a coach and all that, I would just suck it up and do it. So listening to your body, which goes back to pre pregnancy, of assessing

Brianna Battles  28:50

totally and like, I think you like, prior to becoming a mom, and I, this is how I feel anyway, is like, when someone would say, listen to your body, like you don’t really do that like you’re over. You’re able to override that, right? Because you’re just told, like, push through, grind like, you can ignore literally everything. But then so I think for a lot of pregnant athletes, even postpartum athletes, it’s hard to listen to your body, because that’s not intuitive for an athlete. What’s intuitive is to ignore your body. And then I think once you gain a little bit more maturity and perspective and body awareness the longer you’ve been in it, or when your body’s experienced change like a pregnancy or postpartum experience, then you learn how to actually listen to your body, and then you learn to like leverage your training, leverage your approach, and even like leverage your mindset on any given training day. And I think that’s where that freedom and enjoyment and sustainability comes into play Absolutely.

Arielle Loewen  29:43

I love the quote that’s like, listen to your body before you’re forced to, and then you’re like, you can’t even walk because you hurt your hips or

Brianna Battles  29:51

something like that. Yeah. That’s like, dear postpartum athlete, that’s so hard because it’s hard to like, trust the process. It’s hard to be. Patient. It’s hard to be strategic, but ultimately, see it pay dividends when you do and we know that, like as athletes, you can say like, I know that if I trust this process and I and I follow this program or this progression, I will peak, I will hit that number. I will do that time. If you give it enough time and enough intention, it goes a long way. That’s the hack, that’s the strategy, but that’s hard to do during different seasons of your life as a as an athlete, it is. But, yeah, mom, life kind of helps you, helps you do that a little bit, right? So what does your training look like now? Obviously, you coach yourself. You work out from home. What does it look like? And what are your goals? Your goals? What are you training for?

Arielle Loewen  30:44

Now? Yeah, my next competition is the rogue Invitational, and that’s actually in Scotland. So me and my husband are going to be going to Scotland for a work trip, end of October, beginning of November. So right now, my training is two hours a day in the afternoon, so I’ll do like, 40 ish minutes of cardio, rest a bit, and then do an hour of strength, do my errands, make dinner, all that fun stuff, and I might come back in the evening and do another cardio piece, but that’s only leading into competition, getting primed, like, six weeks before a competition, my normal healthy lifestyle is going to be at least 30 minutes of cardio and at least 30 minutes of weight training. That’s my normal in the home gym.

Brianna Battles  31:27

Yeah, that’s awesome. And how’s your body feeling? It feels good.

Arielle Loewen  31:31

I have a bit of a tight hip, but I was doing stretches the other day and like, my mind was blown that, like, my left hip isn’t very mobile, but my right hip is so it’s just making sure you’re assessing your body at all times. But other than that, like I haven’t had any aches this season. I haven’t had any injuries, but I’m very in tune with my body and humble enough to know if something hurts, don’t do it. If your legs hurt from running, don’t run more like you won’t reap the benefit tomorrow. You’re just gonna feel even worse. So I train a lot different than most athletes, because I can make exceptions, because I don’t have to report to a coach.

Brianna Battles  32:12

Yeah, again, that autonomy goes a really long way. Talk to us about how the CrossFit Games went this year. How did you feel?

Arielle Loewen  32:20

Yeah, it went good. I felt great. I actually focused a lot on my running, and I was a phenomenal runner, which was awesome. We had one event. The first event had six miles of running in it, and I was able to hold a 645, mile pace, which for me, is like phenomenal. But other things I didn’t do great on was just execution, which is just showing up and doing the workout without any mistakes. I wasn’t very good at this year. So there were some big wins, and then some big learning lessons. Yeah, I ended at fifth place. Which fifth in the world, you know, I can’t complain at all, but yeah, you know, there’s that woulda, coulda, shoulda. Had I had been a little bit better here and there, it could have been totally different.

Brianna Battles  33:02

Yeah, well, like I said, it’s almost like you’re pretty strong for a mom and that went that went well for you. I think that that all checks out. Absolutely no. I mean, it’s cool. I think it’s really great to see you performing at a high level, and doing it in a way that obviously you’re at a different capacity and output than the majority of people listen to this episode, and there are common themes here. You work out at home. You are a mom. You are homeschooling, I believe, right, yeah, yeah, second year homeschooling. So you’re like, on that level of mom duty also, which is a different level. You have a lot of other relatable aspects of your life that people can see themselves in, and yet you’re still able to perform at a really high level. And I think that’s really inspiring.

Arielle Loewen  33:50

Thank you. I’m definitely blessed because I I get to pour into my family, but also going and competing does, like, fill up my cup and makes me be like, Oh, I am still awesome, and I’m a mom, and I’m prioritizing my family. So I just think encourage women like, find something you’re passionate about and make time to do that so you still have a little bit of yourself, because pouring into your family is amazing, but you are still amazing too.

Brianna Battles  34:16

Yeah, yeah. One thing I say a lot is like, you’re still an athlete. And if you know you’re listening to this, and you know your body’s been through a lot, if your training is different, that doesn’t mean that it’s over, even if it’s like different right now, like different can, honestly, in most cases, act as a really great opportunity for how we leverage it, whether it’s career, your time as an athlete, relationships, things, all these things, like, different doesn’t necessarily mean bad. So there’s a lot of a lot of like, I don’t know, patience and process to be learned through through these seasons, and you’ve shown honestly, like, what’s possible.

Arielle Loewen  34:57

Thank you. Lot of grace. That’s what I tell everybody. Yes, absolutely.

Brianna Battles  35:01

So you got rogue coming up, and then after that, are you done competing for the year?

Arielle Loewen  35:07

We have a crazy offseason. We have a crazy back half of the year. So we have rogue in Scotland in October, and then I have one more competition, which is the world fitness project finals in Copenhagen, Denmark for Christmas. So woe is me, I’ll be in Lord willing Copenhagen for Christmas.

Brianna Battles  35:27

So awesome, yeah, but

Arielle Loewen  35:29

normal, a normal season for me. After rogue, I would take a pretty long break of just, you know, enjoying the holidays, pouring into my family. But this year I’ll have a bit more training, and then after Christmas, I’ll have three months of offseason, 30 minute cardio, 30 minute strength, a little bit more balanced workouts.

Brianna Battles  35:49

Yeah, yeah. Well, that is awesome. What goals do you have in terms of both being an athlete and, like, overall family, like, what are what are some things on your radar,

Arielle Loewen  36:02

like long term, as silly as it sounds, I’ve been blessed to accomplish all my goals. I’ve podium it across the games. I’ve proteamed it rogue Invitational. So now just getting to go to these competitions is a thankful I get to go to Scotland like this is amazing. So as an athlete, I’ve done everything I’ve ever wanted to. This is all just bonus. As an individual, as a family, it’s really just knowing when is this over, because every like you can’t be a professional athlete all your life. So just really staying in tune with my body, in tune with my family’s health, in tune with where God wants me. Of it’s a blessing, but this isn’t your entire life. So knowing when to step back and pour into the community more, pour into moms, more and let my focus be more, giving back to people rather than intentionality and my training in my everything, yeah, absolutely.

Brianna Battles  36:57

I love that is pretty strong for a mom, like, a business and a brand or, like, what? What What is that like? What are you doing

Arielle Loewen  37:03

with that angle? It’s a bit of both. I don’t 100% know the direction of where I want it to end. But right now, it’s a saying. It’s a t shirt brand. It’s something moms can relate to, because we go through so much we overcome. So right now it’s a website where you can buy a shirt and a patch and a sticker. I’m trying to make it something on a deeper level. So each month, I mean, over the summer, I did this a lot. If moms approach me on social media and say, hey, I want to do a competition, I’ll pay their entry fee and let them go compete for fun, just because I want to give back to moms and let them get back out there, find the joy in competing. So on a giving back level, it’s paying their entry fee so they can go show up and have fun and do all the strong mom things. Oh, I love, I’d love to make it like retreats, like a strong mom retreat. Come train with Ariel. We’re gonna learn a new recipe, do a workout, encourage you, build you up, and then go back to your family, but that’s probably after I’m done competing.

Brianna Battles  38:04

Yeah, it’s fun. I love like, you know, just bringing that vision to life and seeing, yeah, just seeing, like, how things start and you know what, the what’s on the vision board for it. So that’s pretty cool. Thanks. Thanks, absolutely. So where can people learn more about you and follow your process into your cheer along.

Arielle Loewen  38:24

Yeah, the easiest way is Instagram. That’s where I do majority of my you can keep up with my competitions, all that. I’m on YouTube, but I don’t post as much as I should. And then I have on Instagram my links to my shirts, and I also do hair clips for fun, because people love those so just all over Instagram

Brianna Battles  38:44

that is awesome. Well, Ariel, thank you so much for sharing your heart, your journey, and just like what you’ve been able to accomplish, and just a lot of wisdom. And I think a lot of people listening to this will really value

Arielle Loewen  38:55

what you have to say. Yeah, my biggest message I want moms to hear is, God’s not done with you. So you have a kid, and you kind of give up on yourself because you think you lose yourself, but God is gonna do amazing things for you, and you just have to believe that and step into that. Because it’s like, if you would have told me, this is where I was gonna be whenever I first got pregnant, I would’ve been like, if you’re crazy, there is no way. So just like, trust, trust all

Brianna Battles  39:23

the process. It is so true. Yeah, it is so true. See that play out in my own life, and it’s, it’s amazing to bear witness to that play out for others as well.

Arielle Loewen  39:33

Yeah. Well, thank you for having me. Thank you. Any anybody listening is a strong mom and wants to do a competition and wants to get sponsored by the pretty strong for mom, shoot me a DM on Instagram. I’d love to sponsor you

Brianna Battles  39:45

amazing, and we’ll have that link. Thank you so much for sharing your time. Thanks bye. Bye.

Brianna Battles  39:54

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the practice brave podcast. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a read. You and help us spread the work we are doing to improve the overall information and messaging in the fitness industry and beyond. Now, if you are pregnant and you are looking for a trustworthy exercise program to follow, I have you covered. The pregnant athlete training program is a well rounded program for pregnancy with workouts for each week that are appropriate for your changing body. That’s 36 weeks of workouts, three to four workouts each week, and tons of guidance on exercise strategy. We also have an at home version of that program. If you are postpartum and you’re looking for an exercise program to follow. The eight week postpartum athlete training program would be a really great way to help bridge the gap between rehab and the fitness you actually want to do. From there, we have the practice brave fitness program, which is an ongoing strength conditioning program where you get new workouts each week and have a lot of guidance for myself and my co coach, Heather Osby, this is the only way that I’m really offering ongoing coaching at this point in time. If you have ever considered becoming a certified pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach, I would love to have you join us. Pregnancy and postpartum athleticism is a self paced online certification course that will up level your coaching skills and help connect the dots between pelvic health and long term athletic performance, especially during pregnancy and postpartum, become who you needed and become who your online and local community needs by becoming a certified pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach. Thank you again for listening to the practice brave podcast. I appreciate you, and please help me continue spreading this messaging, this information and this work.