Coach Mindy empowers fellow moms on how to start postpartum fitness safely
- Jo Valle
- May 10
- 5 min read
When Coach Mindy Rivilla Lagdameo became a mom for the first time a decade ago, she found out she had no one to turn to for guidance on how to start postpartum fitness safely and properly after a caesarean section.
“There was ZERO postpartum support,” Coach Mindy recalls to The Fitness Advocate via email interview.
As a result, she felt “so lost and alone” while figuring things out and eventually got injured.
“I developed a hernia because I didn’t do the right things when I went back to exercise,” she laments.
Then a realization hit her to push for change: “If I went through that struggle surely so many others were too. I decided to be the person I needed in that season, for others.”
Today, the 42-year-old “perimenopause mama" to daughters Ellie, 10, and Erica, 8, is “incredibly grateful” to have helped thousands as a specialist in diastasis recti/core restoration and CS recovery.
Fitness journey
As far as Coach Mindy remembers, she has always loved movement.
She can’t forget imitating Jane Fonda in the Hollywood actress-turned-fitness guru’s workout home videos that were originally released in VHS format in the early 1980s.
“But I became an overweight high schooler with disordered eating,” she says in reflection. “Getting fitness saved my life, more than once.”
In 2003, the movement enthusiast began her career in the fitness industry as a group exercise instructor and manager.
She soon moved to the Middle East, where her last job involved giving physical fitness training to the royal family in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Coach Mindy returned home for good in 2014. She then took the CrossFit certificate course and worked as a fulltime coach until 2020.
Looking back, she quips, “I got paid to work out, haha!”
That stage in her life was “literally consumed” for the better part of 20 years.
For starters, she taught five to six classes per day. She was also training that often because she was moving along with her students in Les Mills, yoga, mat Pilates, spinning, and the like.
“I didn’t have time or energy to do any other fitness activities on the side,” she says. “When I shifted to CrossFit, I would train and compete CrossFit too outside the classes I coached.
These days, her fitness activities consist of daily core and breathwork, resistance training three to four times a week, and walking.
Advocating postpartum fitness without burnout
A year after Coach Mindy gave birth to her second child in 2019, she developed the Mamafit fitness program. Then, she specialized in postpartum core restoration, postpartum corrective exercise, and c-section recovery starting 2020.
One word comes to Coach Mindy’s mind when asked about being the first diastasis recti/core expert in the Philippines.
“It means HOPE,” she states. “Hope for mothers who feel lost in their postpartum bodies, that all they need is to address a natural adaptation that their bodies did in pregnancy.
“Hope that they can still become their strongest selves. And also hope that since I was able to specialize in this and help so many, other coaches will be inspired to as well and serve more mothers.”
In a nutshell, this is how she describes her work as a specialist in diastasis recti/core restoration and CS recovery:
“I help mothers regain full control over their postpartum season by rebuilding their bodies starting from the core.”
A primary concern that she addresses is the core dysfunction—often symbolized by the mommy pouch, the poor posture, back pain, and pee leaks. This dysfunction comes with every pregnancy and delivery.
After coaching 2,000-plus moms, she’s received quite a number of memorable and impactful feedback. She gladly shares two stories here.
The first one came from an early client who was the first to try Coach Mindy’s original core rehab progression. Client Mama had been told by her obstetrician, “Wala nang pag-asa ’yung tummy mo. Ipa-tummy tuck mo na lang ’yan.”
Coach Mindy remembers being “absolutely horrified” hearing her client relayed the doctor’s rather harsh verdict.
“My client didn’t only get her confidence shattered, but she was also in pain every day,” the coach explains.
“She had chronic back pain, pelvic floor pressure, and was leaking pee almost all the time, on top of a distended tummy that made her look like she was still eight months pregnant, when she was actually two years postpartum at the time.
“She did my program and within eight weeks all her pain and leaks were gone, her posture had improved, her tummy was so flat and her confidence returned. She told me she went back to her OB just to show her that she did it all without surgery.”
Coach Mindy goes on sharing another memorable feedback. This time from a client who called and told her, “Coach, your program saved my marriage!”
The coach explains why, “Before my program, she had been experiencing painful intercourse, and was suffering from body image issues because of how she lost control of her body in postpartum.
“After my program she was strong and confident again, and we addressed her pelvic floor dysfunction so she and husband were also happy again too.”
How to regain fitness after pregnancy
Coach Mindy points out that moms can start their postpartum fitness journey by doing regular foundational breathwork. This will help restore core connection almost immediately after vaginal delivery, she says.
Afterwards, core restoration can begin at four to six weeks post normal spontaneous delivery.
For c-section moms, Coach Mindy has developed a proper and OB-approved post-surgery core rehabilitation and restoration program. She says this is safe and recommended from four to six weeks post CS.
Coach Mindy makes it clear, though, "Please note that fitness looks different in the postpartum period. Even for women who were active pre-baby, ALL women should first restore core function first before trying any other type of exercise or movement."
Her tips for new moms so they will get into fitness:
"Be kind to yourself. Your body has gone through so much , and while our bodies are created for this, it is still a physical trauma that has ushered in a whole new season in our life.
"You do not need to bounce back, and you do NOT need to 'get your old body back.' You will develop into your new, best, strongest self as long you do it the right way, and with the right mindset."
When asked for her recommended exercises for new moms to get them moving and be motivated to be fit, Coach Mindy first makes this clarification:
"Whether you just had your baby a month ago, a year ago or 10 years ago and will start exercising again, your body is still NEW and the most essential thing to start with is always going to be core restoration before anything else."
She then reiterates starting with foundational breathwork, then suggests following it up with postpartum-safe deep core connection exercises. Just choose those that focus on rebuilding core function first.
To get a clearer picture, Coach Mindy recommends her own Mamafit Roadmap program.
She describes it as a "six-week core restoration progression that will safely and properly address core dysfunction, restore core connection so you have full control of your body again and get you ready for any other exercise you may want to try afterwards."
Mamas, you've got this! Enjoy your postpartum fitness journey.
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