Built for athletes, or built for you?
An honest look at Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism, the mums it genuinely serves best, and what to choose instead if your goal is simply getting your core back during nap time.
Quick answer
Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism (P&PA), the education brand founded by strength coach Brianna Battles, is worth it if you are an athlete returning to barbell work, CrossFit or competitive running, or if you are a coach who wants to train pregnant and postpartum clients properly. Its real strength is teaching load management rather than handing you a workout list. It is a weaker fit for a mum whose actual goal is closing an abdominal separation, stopping leaks and feeling less soft through the middle in ten-minute windows. For that, a short one-time guide you will realistically finish tends to give better value than a coaching-level curriculum. Results vary from mum to mum.
of women still had an abdominal separation at six weeks after birth
still had one at six months postpartum
still had one at twelve months postpartum
Figures from Sperstad et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016.
What Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism actually is
P&PA is best understood as an education platform rather than a nap-time workout app. It grew out of Brianna Battles' work with women who lift, compete and train hard, and it is built around a single idea: pregnancy and birth change how your body manages pressure and load, so the way you train has to change with it. The brand runs programming for athletes alongside a certification pathway for coaches and trainers who want to keep working with clients through pregnancy and the postpartum years.
That focus shapes everything. The vocabulary is barbell and box-jump vocabulary. The problems it solves best are problems like "I want to snatch again", "my midline dooms under a front squat" and "my coach has no idea how to scale me at nine weeks postpartum". Pricing is structured as courses and coaching rather than a single small purchase, and it changes over time, so check the current rates on their own site before you commit.
Where P&PA is genuinely strong
Credit where it is due, because there is a lot here that cheaper resources skip entirely.
- It teaches the why. You come away understanding intra-abdominal pressure, bracing and load tolerance, not just a list of moves. That knowledge keeps paying off years later.
- It respects athletic identity. Plenty of postpartum content quietly assumes every mum wants gentle. If you were squatting heavy until week 38, being told to walk for six months feels dismissive, and P&PA does not do that.
- The coach education is the standout. If you are a trainer, midwife-adjacent professional or gym owner, the certification is a serious credential and arguably the brand's strongest product.
- Nuance over rules. It is comfortable saying "it depends", which is far more honest than a blanket list of forbidden exercises.
Where an athlete-first approach leaves everyday mums stuck
None of this is a criticism of the content. It is a question of fit, and fit is what decides whether you finish something.
- It assumes a training base. If your last workout was a prenatal yoga class in 2024, the framing can feel like it was written for somebody else.
- It assumes gym access and time. Barbell-centred guidance is hard to apply on a lounge-room floor between feeds.
- Volume of information. Depth is a gift to a coach and a tax on an exhausted mum. When you have twenty minutes of brain left at 8pm, a curriculum can be the reason nothing gets done.
- The goal may not match yours. Returning to the platform and rebuilding a core that no longer domes when you lift the pram are related goals, but they are not the same goal, and the shortest path to each is different.
If you are not sure which camp you are in, a simple filter helps: if you want to know whether your old training is safe yet, read up on high-intensity training after birth and when running becomes safe again. If you want to know how to get from breathing drills to carrying a toddler without your belly coning, you want a stage-by-stage progression instead.
P&PA compared with the other two realistic options
Most mums weighing this up are really choosing between three paths, not shopping one brand.
| Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism | 1:1 women's health physio | Mumma Glow guides | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Athletes and the coaches who train them | Assessment and diagnosis of your specific body | Mums who want a plan to follow at home |
| Format | Courses, programming and certification | In-person appointments, usually several | Downloadable PDF guides, yours to keep |
| Time it asks of you | Substantial: study plus gym sessions | Appointments plus homework between them | Short daily sessions you can do in nap windows |
| Cost model | Course and coaching pricing, check current rates | Charged per session; typically the most expensive per hour and varies widely by country | One-time: guides from $15, full bundle $50 |
| Best first step if | You are chasing a barbell or a race number | You have pain, prolapse symptoms or a hernia concern | You want a gap to close and a core that works, cheaply and at home |
| Not ideal when | You have no gym, no base and no spare hours | Budget is tight or waitlists are long | You need hands-on assessment or elite programming |
These are not mutually exclusive. A single physio assessment plus a cheap guide you actually complete is a very sensible combination, and it is worth knowing how to get a referral before you assume physio is out of reach.
Five things worth checking before you pay for any postpartum program
- Does it start with breath and pressure, not crunches? The NHS and ACOG both frame early postnatal work around deep abdominal and pelvic floor activation. Anything opening with sit-ups is a red flag, and coning along your midline is the sign you have loaded too soon.
- Is the pelvic floor in the plan, or an afterthought? The abdominal wall and pelvic floor work as one pressure system, which is why the two problems so often travel together.
- Can you do it on the days that are hard? A plan needing 45 gym minutes will lose to a teething week. Honest self-assessment here saves money.
- Do you keep it, or rent it? This is the difference between an ongoing charge and a single payment, and it matters more than most sales pages admit. We have written about how the two models compare.
- Does it promise a flat stomach by a date? Nobody can promise that. Recovery is not linear and it is not the same for any two mums.
The low-risk way to start
If your goal is a core that holds together again rather than a personal best, start small and one-time. Core Reconnect is our $15 guide: the breathing, deep-core and progression sequence, written for ten-minute sessions and yours to keep forever, with no subscription attached. Use code GLOW20 for 20% off, and if you would rather have the pelvic floor, glute and energy guides alongside it, the full bundle is $50.
The verdict
Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism is a strong, credible product that is honest about nuance, and for athletes and coaches it earns its price. It is not the cheapest or fastest route for the much larger group of mums who simply want the gap to close and the leaks to stop. Buy P&PA for the barbell and the certification. Buy a short one-time guide for the nap-time reality. Either way, the plan you finish beats the plan you admire.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism only for CrossFit athletes?
No. The framing leans towards strength and competitive sport, but the pressure-management principles apply to any body. The question is whether you need that depth to reach your own goal.
Can I fix an abdominal separation without an athlete-level program?
Many mums improve considerably with consistent, well-sequenced deep-core and pelvic floor work at home. Sperstad et al. found the proportion of women with a separation fell from 60% at six weeks to 32.6% at twelve months postpartum, so time and appropriate loading both matter. Results vary from mum to mum, and a persistent, symptomatic gap deserves a physiotherapy assessment.
Is a coach certification worth it if I am not a trainer?
Usually not. Certifications are priced and structured for professionals. As a mum you are paying for depth you will not use.
How long before I can lift heavy again?
There is no universal date. ACOG advises resuming activity gradually once you are medically cleared, and progression should be guided by symptoms such as doming, leaking or pelvic heaviness rather than the calendar. Your six-week check is the place to raise it.
What if I want both?
Sensible order: rebuild the foundation cheaply first, then invest in athlete-specific programming once breathing, bracing and basic loading feel automatic.
pregnancy and postpartum athleticism review postpartum program for athletes affordable diastasis recti program
Sources: Sperstad JB et al., "Diastasis recti abdominis during pregnancy and 12 months after childbirth", British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016; NHS guidance on exercise after childbirth; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidance on physical activity in the postpartum period.
This article is general education, not medical advice. Mumma Glow is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism, Brianna Battles or any other program named here, and all descriptions reflect publicly available positioning at the time of writing. Results vary from mum to mum. If you have pain, prolapse symptoms, a suspected hernia or a separation that is not improving, please see your GP, midwife or a women's health physiotherapist.