Helping Women Discover a Lifetime of Athleticism

How Katie Davis turned her postpartum struggles into a new career centered around training women of all ages.

When Katie Davis got pregnant for the first time in 2016, she had been doing CrossFit for about a year. A hairstylist in her small central Illinois town, Katie loved attending group classes at her local gym and she enjoyed the feeling of getting stronger.

Not wanting to lose all the strength and endurance she’d gained in the past year, she planned to keep working out through her pregnancy and postpartum. To be sure she was cleared to proceed, Katie turned to her coaches and her doctor to find out how to approach her fitness when pregnant and after returning to the gym post delivery.

They all said the same thing: keep doing what she’d been doing, just listen to her body. So she did, and that advice served her well through her pregnancy. Katie kept going to the gym, scaling where necessary. After a long labor, she delivered a healthy baby girl.

Everything didn’t immediately return to normal, however. First, Katie had trouble walking for weeks after delivery. This concerned her, so at her six-week postpartum check up she asked her doctor if she could get back to working out.

“You can do whatever you want,” Katie said the doctor told her.

Following his advice, Katie jumped right back into CrossFit classes, trying to pick up where she left off.

Then, nine weeks after giving birth, she was doing overhead squats with a 70-lb barbell when she had a strange sensation.

“I felt an instant pressure and bulging in my vagina and a feeling like something was falling out of my body,” Katie said.

She went back to her doctor and told him what had happened, and he gave her a worksheet of pelvic floor exercises and advised her to avoid lifting anything heavy. She followed his advice and eventually the symptoms subsided, but she was frustrated she couldn’t train the way she used to. Even two years after having her daughter she felt nervous about pursuing the two things she wanted: doing the workouts she loved and having another baby.

Around this time Katie switched doctors and finally learned what had happened to her that day when she was overhead squatting.

“I finally got a real diagnosis of bladder prolapse, or cystocele,” Katie said.

Now, armed with knowledge, once she got pregnant again Katie knew she couldn’t proceed with training as she had before. Something had to change. That’s when Katie found Brianna Battles, the creator of Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism. This discovery not only changed her approach to exercise, it changed her career.

A New Baby and a New Career

After attending Brianna Battles’ Postpartum Athleticism Coach’s Course, Katie found her second pregnancy and delivery was much easier than the first.

This time, however, instead of jumping right back into working out after her six-week check-up, Katie slowly built a solid foundation of strength and endurance. As a result, she had none of the issues she’d experienced after her first pregnancy.

Eager to share what she’d learned with others, in 2020 Katie launched Clear Grace Strength, a female-focused strength and conditioning gym located in Lincoln, Illinois.

First she began training pregnant and postpartum women. Eventually, though, Katie realized that what she’d learned at the Postpartum Athleticism Coach’s Course could help women in every stage of their life, whether or not they’d had children.

“The brand itself really is trying to help females across a lifetime of athleticism,” Katie said.

While she can help people with pregnancy and postpartum issues, like incontinence and leaking when jumping, Katie also works with girls and women from age 7 to 80.

“I started a class for women over 60,” Katie said, “because I feel like a lot of that age range never really learned much about lifting.”

She said she’s amazed at how the world of strength training opens up to these women once she teaches them a few things about technique and form.

One of Katie’s clients is a 78 year old woman who is a survivor of esophageal cancer. Her goals are simple: to be able to open a jar and change the sheets on her bed by herself.

“She was able to do that and she was so happy,” Katie said.

“I’ve also taught a younger girls class, ages 7 to 10. I wasn't talking about the pelvic floor to them, but I was still incorporating some of the things that they can learn to do now to set them up down the road,” Katie said.

For pregnant and postpartum women, Kaie says her biggest piece of advice is not to rush back into your activities – especially strenuous physical activities – after having a baby. Even if you are fit before your pregnancy, Katie cautions against returning to high intensity and strength training workouts right away. 

“Slow is definitely the route to take, because I've done it both ways. I've tried to rush it,” Katie said, “and that just delayed my fitness even more after getting injured.”

The second thing she’d recommend is finding a coach who specializes in postpartum fitness. The popularity of strength training among women has increased exponentially among women in the last 15 years, but the knowledge about postpartum fitness has not spread as rapidly.

“There's just so much to know and not that many people are teaching it,” Katie said.

If you want to learn more about strength training and fitness for women of all ages and aren’t in Lincoln, Illinois, Katie suggests going to Brianna Battles’ website and finding one of her certified coaches in her area, or even taking her coaching class.

While the experience of pregnancy is perhaps the first time many women start to pay attention to things like breathing and the pelvic floor, it doesn’t have to be the end of the journey, but the beginning of a lifetime of strength and athleticism. 

About Author, Hilary Achauer

Hilary is a renowned fitness business writer, marketing content writer, and journalist. She’s written content for start-ups, entrepreneurs, executive coaches, wellness providers, gyms, and CrossFit. Her focus is always on telling the best story with a clear, compelling style and being able to engage readers, bring in new customers, or build an audience.