Strength Training for Moms: Pregnancy, Postpartum, & Perseverance

In this episode of Beast Over Burden, Nikki Sims and Andrew Jackson sit down with Barbell Logic’s own Nikki Burman and Coach Bekah Creek to explore what strength training for moms truly looks like across pregnancy, postpartum recovery, deployment, sleep deprivation, and raising four young kids. Through candid stories—ranging from hitting PRs while pregnant to a surprise home birth—Nikki shares how strength training became the anchor that helped her navigate motherhood with confidence, resilience, and joy. Guided by Bekah through four pregnancies, countless modifications, and life upheavals, Nikki demonstrates how consistency and adaptability can transform the experience of becoming and being a mom.

The Search for Strength: From “Skinny” Mindset to Strong-for-Life

Before becoming a coach, mother of four, and model of long-term consistency, Nikki spent years chasing the wrong target: being “skinny.” Like many women raised on 90s/2000s fitness messaging—endless cardio, toning workouts, and restrictive dieting—she never encountered weight training in sports, school, or early adulthood. Running, calorie restriction, and VHS workout tapes filled in the gaps where education and empowerment should have been. But despite years of trying, nothing worked, and nothing felt good.

Everything changed when she discovered barbell training. The first time she felt genuinely strong, she realized she had been missing an entirely different way of relating to her body—a relationship built on capability, not shrinking. This shift liberated her from the cycle of extremes and introduced her to sustainable nutrition, macro tracking, and training with intention rather than punishment.

That transition also laid the groundwork for how she would approach pregnancy and postpartum in the years to come. Instead of chasing a look, she was building a life. And instead of focusing on being small, she was learning how to take up space—physically, emotionally, and as a mother and leader in her home.

This evolution mirrors a pattern many women experience when they first encounter strength training for moms: the realization that empowerment and resilience come from capability, not constraint. And for Nikki, this discovery transformed everything.

Training Through Pregnancy: Adaptability, Coaching, and RPE Wisdom

When Nikki became pregnant with her first child, she knew she wanted to keep training—but she didn’t know what that should look like. Enter Coach Bekah Creek, whose combination of PT knowledge and strength coaching experience helped guide Nikki through four very different pregnancies. From PR-setting trimesters to seasons marked by extreme nausea or back pain, no two pregnancies were the same.

Rather than forcing consistency in weight or volume, Bekah prioritized adaptable systems: RPE-based programming, tonnage goals instead of rigid prescriptions, and conditioning work when work capacity needed a boost. On days Nikki felt strong, she could push heavier and do less volume; on low-energy days, she could accumulate tonnage with lighter sets. This approach allowed her to stay consistent without burning out.

Strength training also helped her handle the physical realities of pregnancy. Relaxin-related joint laxity required modifications to benching and deadlifting. Back pain changed how she approached squatting. And across pregnancies, her posture, pelvic stability, and recovery all shifted. Training supported—not fought—these realities.

But maybe the biggest lesson? There is no “right” pregnancy. There is only your pregnancy. And Bekah’s coaching created a framework where Nikki could thrive, even when everything changed daily.

Consistency in Chaos: Deployments, Toddlers, Sleepless Nights

The middle of Nikki’s motherhood journey includes some of the most intense stories ever shared on Beast Over Burden:

• A year-long military deployment where she parented four kids under five alone.
  
• Sleepless nights, sick toddlers, and the “exorcist” weeks when every kid is throwing up.
  
• Breastfeeding, tandem nursing, and the nonstop physical demands of caring for young children.
  
• Working full-time as Barbell Logic’s Director of Client Experience—without taking days off.

And yet she kept training.

Not because she is superhuman. Not because life was calm. And not because workouts were perfect. She trained because it was the one thing she could control—the thing that made her a better mom, steadied her mind, and reminded her she was capable.

This is where strength training for moms becomes more than physical. It becomes identity, confidence, and sanity. Nikki didn’t chase PRs during these seasons—she chased presence, resilience, and the ability to show up for her kids. And with Bekah’s guidance, she learned how to modify, pull back, adjust intensity, and still win the day.

“Something is always better than nothing” became a philosophy, not a fallback. And over years, those “somethings” stacked into a bucket of consistency that changed her life.

Postpartum Power: Recovering, Rebuilding, and Rediscovering Strength

Postpartum is often portrayed as a fragile, confusing, or even dangerous stage. But with the right coaching and the right mindset, Nikki discovered it could also be empowering. Instead of rushing back to pre-baby numbers or aesthetics, she and Bekah rebuilt intelligently—starting with pelvic floor work, partial-range benching, elevated deadlift positions, and slow progressions.

Her fourth birth—an unexpected, fast home birth caught by her 21-year-old nanny while her husband was deployed overseas—actually left her feeling strong, energized, and mentally ready to return to training. But Bekah’s job was to hold her back, ensuring long-term recovery wasn’t sacrificed for short-term excitement.

Nine months later, Nikki found herself back at her pre-first-baby bodyweight with a completely different physique—more muscle, better composition, and deeper appreciation for the process. The result? A lived proof that strength training for moms isn’t about “getting your body back.” It’s about discovering who you’ve become.

Taking Up Space: What Nikki Would Tell Her Younger Self

Asked what she would say to her younger self—the one desperate to be skinny—Nikki had a message every mom deserves to hear

“You don’t lose yourself when you become a mom. You evolve.”

Motherhood adds, rather than subtracts. Strength training doesn’t shrink you; it empowers you to take up space—in your home, your body, your career, and your identity. And modeling that strength teaches your children that mom’s time, mom’s health, and mom’s goals matter.

Bekah added another truth: every woman’s journey will look different—and that’s okay. Whether your pregnancy includes PRs or pain, whether your postpartum season moves fast or slow, whether you train four times a week or twice a month—your story is your story. And strength can be part of it at any stage.

Together, Nikki and Bekah offer a message that is both inspiring and deeply practical: 

Try it. Strength training is for you. You can do it. And you’re allowed to take ten minutes for yourself.