Jen Landry is a leader in functional fitness. She specializes in pregnant, postpartum, and everyday women. As a mother of two little girls and two pregnancies that left Jen feeling weak, broken, and in need of answers, she discovered the Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Certification. Obtaining this certification changed the way Jen looked at pregnancy and postpartum fitness as well as female health in general. It ignited a fire to help as many women as possible, so they could avoid what Jen experienced. She is the CEO and Owner of Moms Fit Life. Her Mission: Teach Moms they can trust their bodies again and rock mom life with confidence!
Jen Landry, Pregnancy and Postpartum Coach
Hi Jen, introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
Hello, I am Jen Landry. I am a mom, a wife, a personal trainer, and a fitness enthusiast. I have a goal to run a half marathon in every state and 100 total half marathons. I don’t want to just run the races, I want to be able to run them with enjoyment and that means injury-free, strong, and healthy. After each of my pregnancies, there were moments I felt this goal may not actually be achievable. This was especially true after my youngest was born. I was broken. After having her, I was left with a lot of back pain, hip pain, and an emotional hole that made it feel like I would never be able to work out like I am used to again. I started on a journey to fix it all, which led me to an additional certification: Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist. It was life-changing for healing myself and pointing me toward the path I am on now. Helping other pregnant and postpartum women stay healthy, fit, and strong.
What is your business name and how do you help your clients?
My business is Moms Fit Life. Moms Fit Life provides a safe, caring, and collaborative community where you can learn to heal, strengthen, and enjoy life again. I help moms stop worrying about leaks with coughing, trouble putting kids in cribs, or being let down by their bodies once and for all. Moms can heal at any stage of motherhood, even if their babies are grown, it is just a matter of learning what the right tools and tricks are. I offer lots of great programs for all stages of healing and motherhood. All my programs come with follow-along videos, trackers to keep motivation high, as well as tips for non-workout days.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
Moms Fit Life is for any pregnant or postpartum mom who is looking to heal from things like prolapse, diastasis recti, leaking, back pain and so much more as well as moms looking to get into fitness, whether it is for the first time or for the first time as a mom. We are not just here to support new mothers, but ALL mothers. Health and Fitness are for Life.
What are your current goals for your business?
Here at Moms Fit Life, our mission is to help reach as many mothers as possible and make the world a safe, caring, collaborative community that will allow women a chance to heal while reaching their full strength potential so they can be strong for life. The better a mom can take care of herself, the better she is able to be there for her children.
What would you like to achieve for yourself and your business in the future?
What amazes me the most about being a mom, is that despite all the mothers in my life and the mothers around me on a day-to-day basis, there is so little guidance for us. Most women have never heard of Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists, most women think leaking is normal (it's common, not normal), and most women get cleared for exercise at 6-8 weeks postpartum (most are not ready for a complete return to normal for months), most OBGYNs do not even look for or test for Diastasis Recti and most mom's have no clue what they really need in order to have a full, complete and strong recovery. I have been in the fitness industry for over 12 years now and I feel stronger, more capable, and more able to serve than I did when I had all the time in the world and no kids. I want my daughters to see that and I want other mothers to feel the same way. Becoming a mother should not weaken you, it should strengthen you – mentally and physically.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?
This is such an important question and I probably could go on about it for days, but I will keep it short. It ties into what I said above. I wish more OBGYNs, Pelvic Floor Therapists, and Personal Trainers worked together so that mothers were given all the information and support needed to help guide all the physical changes that occur when we have a baby. Right now there is a serious gap in women’s care after giving birth and getting back into or starting fitness routines. There is also a gap in the training that personal trainers can receive about how to train pregnant and postpartum women. Women’s health is still falling short and all parties need to be on the same page. Let me give you an example and explain a little bit more.
After my second baby, I had a Diastasis Recti (a separation in my abs), this is very common in pregnancy and necessary to make room for baby, however after pregnancy, it can make the body weak and difficult to perform simple activities of daily life comfortably. My OBGYN did not check me for it, my primary care physician did not check me for it, my pelvic floor therapist did not check me for it, I had to learn how to myself for it while I was obtaining my certification. While I was in pelvic floor, we were addressing issues I had internally and never really approached my DR. I wish my OBGYN had been able to tell me that I had a DR, I then could have asked my PT for exercises to work on strengthening it at home. As a certified personal trainer, with a new understanding of the pelvic floor, this is where I could be extremely helpful. A postpartum mom get’s a report from her OBGYN that gives the Pelvic Floor PT and idea of how the mother is healing internally, if they notice a DR and if they are ready for PT. Then the same mom, can go to a Pelvic Floor PT. The PT can be working internally and hands on (stuff outside my scope of practice), while the mom is working with me to strengthen her core, fix her posture and utilizing a whole body approach to get better. Using all the information I have learned with this newest certification, I can understand and utilize the information provided by a pelvic floor therapist to better understand my client. I now know how to work a client from the inside to the outside and make a full connection of the core and body. This allows me to help any client (male or female), be as strong as possible.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
Being a personal trainer with a very accredited background, I thought I knew everything I needed to know about training as a pregnant woman. My first pregnancy didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary, I had some back pain, I was peeing a lot, and workouts became very difficult toward the end. Within 8 months of having my first daughter, I was training to run two half marathons, one week apart. My time was the slowest I had ever been, but I felt okay. I just thought this would be my new pace now that I was a mom. Then when I was pregnant with my second, I had pee running down my leg when I would sneeze or cough (even if I didn’t feel like I had to pee), I had bad back pain, and the hip issue I had from before kids was flaring up bad. I figured it would all stop postpartum. I was severely mistaken. The back pain had gotten worse, my hip was not calming down, but the leaks stopped. So I went to my Primary Care Doctor, it was time to get my hip looked at. She sent me to a Pelvic Floor Therapist. I definitely needed it, but I was impatient and figured I could train myself out of it, right? Then I discovered the PCES Certification (Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist) that I have now. It was mind-blowing all the information I learned, how much it helped me (and quickly), and clearly how little other people know about it all. In all my years of learning (a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology, ACSM-CEP cert and countless hours of continuing education credits), never once was I taught about how the pelvic floor, core, and diaphragm work together and how the trio can affect issues all over the body (even the feet!). I also have a deeper understanding of the Pelvis and the muscles in and around the pelvis. It took two difficult pregnancies for me to get to this point in my life, but it is because of those pregnancies I have an even deeper understanding of the human body. I can help all my clients in a much different way.
