175: Kicking Off 2025: New Year, New Goals, and Exciting Announcements in P&PA

Brianna Battles (00:01)
Hello and welcome back to the Practice Brave podcast and happy 2025. I think that everyone kind of enters a new year feeling refreshed and hopefully like you have a game plan in place for what you want personally, professionally, and just in a lot of different capacities. And in my world, I like the fresh start of business ventures for 2025 and so much of.

things for this year started to get prepped at the end of last year. And I wanted to just kind of share an overall state of the union of all things, pregnancy and postpartum athleticism and the Brianna Battles brand, so to speak, because it keeps evolving. This podcast started in 2020 and the business, pregnancy and postpartum athleticism, started in about 2014 and...

what those look like now compared to how they started. It's just, it's incredibly different and there's such a significant growth trajectory that has taken place. And so much of that is because you come into these new years and these new seasons with a lot of perspective, a lot of fails, a lot of wins and overall like a lot of feedback. And it's fun to continually look to scale growth and efforts in a way that

changes the landscape of the fitness industry and changes what it looks like for women to pursue a lifetime of athleticism and to improve the way the fitness industry and coaches can better support that, how organizations can better support that. So I wanna share a few different things that are unfolding this year. To start off, we spent Q4 of last year.

doing a rebrand. So behind the scenes, we were working with a company to just give the pregnancy and postpartum athleticism brand an updated look. I think in the trenches of being an entrepreneur and creating, my focus has always been in making sure the curriculum is most up to date, making sure the programs are most up to date, and really evolving the substance of the brand. it honestly like...

Didn't realize how long I waited to give the outside perspective a boost right and invest in what that looks like to really establish ourselves from the outside looking in as the gold standard because anyone who's worked through the programs who's gone through the coaching certification knows that What we do is different. It's an elevated level of coaching thinking and training approach But I really wanted to make sure that the brand is represented well in the greater

in the greater fitness industry. we've invested in updating the overall look and representation of each of the fitness programs from the pregnant athlete training program to the postpartum athlete training program to practice brave, which I'll be talking about in a bit, the practice brave fitness program to strength and conditioning program for athlete moms. And of course the gold standard coaching certification, pregnancy and postpartum athleticism really just creating

more authority in the market, again, looking from the outside in because we've already done a really good job of creating an incredible network, a really great updated curriculum as time has gone on. But there's more coaches that are enrolling and are making names for themselves, are adding on to the work that they're already doing. And we want to support them in that effort and make sure that the brand is rising with them and with the growth of what we're doing.

you know, like a really, I guess, like a ground-based level. So, excited to see where that goes. I did mention the Practice Brave Fitness Program. We're giving that a new look too, from updated programming to overall like messaging and approach. I've realized now after coaching women for probably 15 years and working with pregnant and postpartum,

women specifically like the last 10 years, we really have to expand the way we're supporting women across their lifetime of athleticism. You already likely identify as an athlete if you're listening to this podcast. And if you don't, it's probably something I can convince you of if you hang with me a little bit longer and follow along. But ultimately, we know that athleticism is a huge part of our identity, our interests, our family dynamic.

and what we want. know that there's benefit there, that it's not just about looking good, it's about performing and feeling good and taking measures to promote our longevity as healthy women as we age. And I had been coaching a women's strength and conditioning program in Southern California for about six years prior to COVID when it got shut down. And when it got shut down,

we evolved that to taking that programming that I was doing in person and putting it online. So it started like really small scale, just general women's strength and conditioning. And over the last few years, it's really grown a lot to kind of create a continuity program where say somebody goes to the pregnant athlete training program, then they go through the postpartum program. And they're like, you know, I don't know if I'm ready to go back to CrossFit. I don't know if I want to go back to CrossFit.

I'm gonna train for the triathlon, but I also want strength training. I wanna start running again, but I also know I need to keep getting stronger and building on my foundation. Or I'm a power lifter, but I don't know if I really wanna do that anymore, because I don't have like the energy and the capacity to be in the gym for that long. Or I have a bodybuilding background, but that actually doesn't really like resonate with how I wanna train anymore. I wanna feel athletic. So I was finding and have found a lot of athlete moms that are pursuing other sports and hobbies.

or are just looking for a more well-rounded approach to their programming. And so we've really adjusted the deliverability and overall approach of training and programming to support that exact population. And honestly, it's the way that I train. It's really focused on a consistent compound lifts, for example, squats, deadlifts, pressing variations. And then it has accessory movements.

things that complement that compound lift and then either more volume like hypertrophy based training or moving into more conditioning. And if you say you're a runner and you're like, I don't really need more conditioning. I'm doing a lot of that. Or with me, jujitsu, like I don't necessarily need a metcon all the time. Sometimes I'll supplement that into my training, but I know that I'm going to be getting a lot of conditioning at jujitsu. So I'm really focused on the strength, the hypertrophy aspect of this training program.

And I think that this is a way that we can keep women getting strong. We can endorse them getting strong. We're training power. We're training explosiveness. And we're also doing it in a way that's mindful of their body and their capacity as imam because more than likely, you don't have hours to be in the gym. But you also don't necessarily...

have the capacity for like high intensity where you're like thrashed every single day. So I think we can find a compromise and a happy medium. And I feel really excited about this new version of the Practice Brave Fitness program. It's just another way that we can continually elevate how we are supporting women across their lifetime of athleticism and excited for this like next iteration of what it looks like after the feedback we've received after.

You know, just years of doing this, I it can always be new and improved and that's exactly what we've done and that's been able to complement the rebrand really well. moving on in 2024, we also fully updated the pregnant athlete training program as well as the postpartum athlete training program. So that's it's something that I'm really committed to doing consistently as time goes on, whether it's with new movements or adjustments to the programming or

Videos and explanations are just what's within the program. So those are sort of the foundation of this brand. These are the programs I get people in the door where they recognize my body has changed, my life is changing. I want to be really strategic with my training because now like we actually have access to information. We have more awareness around core, pelvic health, training approach and wanting to pursue again, what I call this lifetime of athleticism.

So there's more buy-in and more interest in learning how to adjust training during pregnancy and postpartum to set yourself up. And ultimately, these programs tend to act as a great funnel for those getting interested in wanting to learn more or at a higher level who ultimately become a pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach, whether they use it for personal reasons or to professionally get out there into their community, or maybe they have been a lifelong coach, they're now pregnant, or they have a lot of pregnant.

athlete clients or moms that are peeing themselves when they're doing double unders or are lifting really heavy and experiencing prolapse or incontinence. Overall, see that this is no longer a special population of women in the gym. This is a really common population and we more coaches and more people in general who are able to help improve the conversation and the strategies needed.

to better support this population in the gym and in general. I'm excited for some of those to keep expanding and growing.

To go along with that. This is a really big change and really awesome announcement for the brand in March. We are going to be hosting our first ever Event in Phoenix. I'm like, I don't know why I'm like anxious about this We are going to be hosting our first ever coaching certification for pregnancy and postpartum athleticism and we're doing it in a live weekend format

So one thing that we have been told through the years is like, I wish I could take this certification in a weekend. I like don't have a lot of time. I miss traveling and networking. I would love to be able to like knock this out, just like fully focus and dedicate a weekend to learning. And then I have that to bring back to my gym, to bring back to my community, or honestly, just to get answers about my own body and be around other coaches and my team who can just like help troubleshoot in real time.

And I had been hesitant, I'm being really honest. I didn't like the model that has existed for weekend certification programs. It kind of was against what I felt was going to actually improve the quality of the fitness industry. So I knew that if I was ever going to offer anything like that, it had to be done in a very deliberate way. And so the way that I have been able to figure out the best way to deliver this is to

provide when we make this officially, something that you can sign up for, it will be, you will be buying the online certification program. So you still get the coach certification in the form that it is now, and it accompanies a weekend certification. So it's essentially bundling these two so that you, yes, we're gonna have a condensed weekend of learning to get certified as a pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach, but you also have access to all of the resources and interviews and.

Templates and everything like that that's actually lives within the course so that you can re-reference it You can work through it prior you can work through it during after and so forth. So you have Truly the whole certification online, but you're getting it delivered to you in a weekend certification So that you are leaving with tangible, you know Like just really able to dive in and make changes to your coaching to your business and your offers and honestly make

really urgent changes for your pregnant and postpartum clients. So I'm excited to bring this to life in 2025. It has been something we've been asked about for so long. And I finally feel like I'm able to offer in a way that's in alignment with the quality. I am really committed to delivering. And I actually think that, I mean, as a coach myself, like I learned best by being in person and watching bodies move and asking questions in the moment.

And then if I want to learn more then of course I read more or I watch a video or I like listen to another interview and I re-reference that but ultimately I think we can move the dial more effectively by creating that kind of intimate workshop environment where we have coaches all coming together expanding this network and leaving ready to implement and that's really what's needed is something that respects time.

and delivers high quality with access to further learning and knowledge and information. We'll talk about more of this once we like officially put it out there mid-January, but there will be CEUs for this and that's getting really, really important to us. I know that it's important to so many people in the fitness industry. And hey, if you're in a cold weather place getting a Phoenix in March, it's probably a solid win for you too.

So please share this with anybody who's been thinking about becoming a pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach. This will be an incredible opportunity to learn in person and you get the online version of that as well when you buy the in-person ticket. So excited to bring this to life and that's one of the biggest changes that we're creating in what the P &P brand offers in 2025. Next up.

I'm just gonna talk really broadly about this, but I'm wanting, I spent 2024 doing a lot of kind of like internal work on the brand. There was a lot of changes, a lot of updates, and I kind of just had to go behind the scenes. A lot of writing, a lot of recording, a lot of updating, right? And so in 2025, my goal, and there's been a few things that have already been set up, but is to start speaking more and expanding.

the work that we're doing, getting on more stages, creating more collaborations and partnerships as a way to really support growing what we're doing here and what's making it different. I have always felt like the pre and postnatal industry is really like has been always like really focused on more conservative approaches to training. And it hasn't really grown with the way women train today. And the way women train today is athletic.

They're lifting, they're running, they're competing, they're involved in combat sports, they're making a run for the Olympics when they are mothers. We've seen the culture of the fitness industry change dramatically and I think it's just gonna be really important to keep sharing what we've been doing as we keep seeing this culture change where it's really, like the way women change, it's just different than it was 10, 15, even 20 years ago.

I'm really excited to expand what we're doing and the opportunities available, the collaborations and just bring everything up to speed in the way that we can. And so if there's somebody or something that you would love to see collaborate with the P &PA brand, don't hesitate to share that. love, you know, making connections and hearing different ways you as a consumer or listener or coach aspects that you think

would be good connections and good areas of growth, things we can focus on. I do appreciate that feedback. So look for that in 2025, some more partnerships, collaborations, and speaking opportunities to really showcase what we're doing here and what we've been doing for about a decade now. And then lastly, we're gonna keep working and expanding our work into the combat sports community, specifically Jiu-Jitsu, because that's what I'm most connected to.

Working with pregnant and postpartum athletes in combat sports, whether it's UFC fighters or jujitsu or wrestling and kickboxing, anything like that, we're seeing such an increase in women participating in combat sports in general. And that population will be getting pregnant. More girls are participating in combat sports at a younger age. They're growing up in them. More moms are finding jujitsu because their kids are practicing. And they see that as an opportunity. And it's a great...

Avenue of Self-Defense. So we're going to see more and more women on mats in different communities around the world. And a lot of those women are mothers or will become mothers. And this is a sport that needs a lot of, it needs a lot of support and it needs a lot of attention. And that's something that I feel that PNPA coaches and this brand can do really well is.

improve the the messaging and the information support for women in combat sports in particular mothers in combat sports So we make in a little bit of an effort to do that in a few weeks I will be speaking at the al-qamai's jujitsu camp in LA How much is a women's? Seminar women's jujitsu event and I'm excited to speak there not on jujitsu for sure. No, I'm not there yet. I'm just a

I'm just like a baby purple belt, but I'm excited to go there and talk about PNPA and what we've been doing in different training approaches through pregnancy postpartum and ultimately mothers training throughout their lifetime of athleticism. So that's what I'll be speaking about at that event in January. I'm excited. That'll be my first jujitsu speaking opportunity. So nervous about that, but ultimately I think it's a step in the right direction for creating more support and encouragement of not just women, but mothers to get on the mat.

whether it's jujitsu or another form of combat sports. And then personal, know, I'm just, man, I have an 11 year old, I have a seven year old, I'm in the trenches of like coach mom life and I love it. Like I've said this so many times before, I've coached at every level, I've played at pretty much almost every level, not professional, at pretty high levels and competed at high levels.

and nothing compares to now being in the parent role, supporting and raising my little athletes. And it's really fun to be on this side of things. And I do see the need for an evolved, like not just coaching, but like I call it coach mom approach to supporting our kids in their sports. Like whether they really take to it and identify, I suppose, as being athletic or they're just participating to get more versatile.

versatility, they can talk, in their sports and their activities. I think there's a way that we as informed and emotionally intelligent parents and athletes can raise our kids. And I think that's gonna be an exciting thing for me to keep kind of figuring out, integrating into the brand messaging, just because my role has changed. This has been a new role for me, watching them play all the different sports. So I think that's gonna be really cool. And then in terms of my own,

Training and competing, I'm doing a relay high rocks at the end of January. I got bullied into that by all my little fit mom friends and they're like a bunch of crossfitters or like washed up crossfitters and then I'm like, guys I mostly just do jujitsu. Like I don't train like that anymore. I don't remember the last time I did a wall ball for example.

But that's okay. We're gonna go in we're gonna rally and I think it'll be fun to get out there and just like do something new and who knows maybe Maybe that'll spark a new interest for me. Who knows? But ultimately I think I'm gonna be shifting my focus into competing again probably like sometime in like March through August as I Work into jiu-jitsu worlds, which happens in August. So I want to get in a few competitions leading up to that

which means just dialing in training a little bit more, dialing in my nutrition a little bit more. And I realized that, which I should have known, like I tend to be kind of an all or nothing person. So as much as like my lifestyle overall is like fairly consistent with being disciplined, when it comes to competition, that's not something I personally can do year round because it just takes too much from my family and my business and other things that demand a lot of nurturing time and attention. So.

If I'm going to dial, I'm going to do it really strategically and in a way that is truly just seasonal and I feel like that is the best approach for me, at least in this particular season of life. So I'd like to compete a little bit more. I'm really enjoying my time at Purple Belt. I feel like this is, I know that like not every, like honestly, probably hardly anyone listening to this does jiu-jitsu. But for me, this season in jiu-jitsu, I'm about five years in.

I've just really found more fun and play in this like belt level. And so just wanna see how that goes. I wanna take that spirit into competing. It feels like the healthiest mentally I've been in terms of my relationship that you did too, which is so funny, right? It's like you think that, you like you get a better.

candle on things the older you get, but athlete brain never dies. It's something that I will wrestle with in different capacities and I have to learn how to like leverage it and really lean into athletic maturity, but that does not come easily, does not come naturally. I have to check myself all the time and have to be in environments and around people that keep me healthy. And I've been able to like really figure that out and I feel excited about competing.

with that new kind of vibe and approach to my training and my overall experience there. So I think that's those are like the main personal things that we're working on and there'll probably be some more exciting announcements later in the year. But this is I just kind of wanted to give a say to the union of what's going going on behind the scenes, what we have coming out in 2025 and know that like I sign every email with I'm with you. And I mean that because if you

buy in to me and what we're trying to do here, I will show up for you in the ways that I can onward. This is how this whole thing has grown through the years and I appreciate the support. I appreciate the trust and being part of your process in a little way and ultimately it ends up being a big way. We've created a whole, we've changed the landscape of the fitness industry and certainly of the pre and postnatal industry and I plan to keep doing that.

just really slowly, strategically improving the game. Something we talk about a lot with pregnant post-partum athletes is it's like staying in the game and evolving the game as it goes. And I feel like that translates to business too. Where this started versus where it is now couldn't be more different. But that's the growth opportunities that happen in business, coaching, and training.

in this pursuit of a lifetime of improvement, of athleticism, of growth. And I'm excited to do that. Thank you for being here with me. Thank you for being part of the brand. Thank you for sending people our way and exposing what we're doing, what makes it different, the resources that we have, the programs that we have, and listening to this podcast. So this is a little passion project for me. And I love just using this platform of the podcast to bring on

really impactful guests and just, you know, for you to have an opportunity to get a feel for what we're doing and what we're about. And, you know, if it's a good fit for what you're looking for in this particular season of life, you know, it's so much more than just pregnancy and postpartum modifications. It's approaching transitional seasons in life, like motherhood, knowing that, you know, we have to be strategic and there are so many different things that influence this season of life where it's really transformative.

And if the goal is to pursue this lifetime of athleticism, because being an athlete is a huge part of our identity, then we have to really understand how to navigate the changes our body experiences through motherhood and beyond. So thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it. And stay tuned for more in the new year.