It’s not long enough when I had a pregnant client coming to me asking for an advice. I regularly get emails from females who get pregnant and would like to carry on with exercise but can’t find too much information on google, what is safe for them and what is not or find lots of information but are confused and again don’t know if it’s safe for them or not.

She was in her first trimester, fairly active, exercising before she become pregnant and it makes sense she wanted to carry on with her exercising routine. She was particular interested in weight training during pregnancy. She was using a Google search and found that she shouldn’t do any abdominal exercises, other website was telling her to avoid exercising completely and another different one was saying pregnant mums to be should avoid lifting weights completely.

No wonder this lady was confused and I was confused as well at the beginning before I started to do more research on this topic few years go. That’s why I think it’s good to share this message with other likeminded moms to be.

You might deal with a few people around you telling you to stop overdoing it, giving you funny looks in the gym or even telling you that exercising is dangerous especially when lifting weights and its unhealthy. You might find these people among your friends but also in your family.

Myth #1 You shouldn’t do any abdominal exercises

That’s what I thought at the beginning too before I started to pay more and more attention and doing more and more research for exercising during pregnancy. BUT you shouldn’t definitely skip your abdominal exercises. As pregnancy progress your abdominals will start inevitable weaken. Another reason why to carry on with your exercises. Strong abdominal muscles will help you to support the weight of the baby and to protect the back, which is very vulnerable during pregnancy. Secondly they will give the muscles of the uterus some extra help during delivery. Last think you should bear in mind is importance of breathing out on the exertion to help reduce build-up of intra-abdominal pressure. Also exhaling on the contraction the diaphragms will relax, move and leave more space for the foetus.

Now, the main question is what type of abdominal exercises I can do what are the NO-NO during pregnancy.

The GO abdominal exercises after first trimester are:

1.) Modified plank – as your pregnancy progresses you need to start putting less pressure on your abdominals starting somewhere from 2 trimester, it’s again very individual, but I think it’s a good guidelines starting point. You can do modified plank on your knees on the floor or using a bench or chair class is plank. The inclined position will already put less pressure on your growing tummy plus the closer to your delivery date the less seconds you hold the position.
2.) Side modified plank on elbows with bent knee.
3.) Other abdominal exercises should be performed from Box position
The NO-NO abdominal exercises after 1 trimester due to risk of supine hypotensive syndrome.
1.) Crunch
2.) Sit ups
3.) Twisting coming from your waist
4.) Lying on the floor abdominal exercises
5.) And anything else what would put direct pressure on your tummy such as double leg raises etc.

Proper abdominal and core training is very important during pregnancy. Why? Your posture is changing, plus additional weight, which you will carry will be added to the front side of your body, which will put more pressure on your back muscles. Sstrength training can help you to balance more effectively your muscles especially the back muscles and keeping your pelvis in a better position.

Myth #2 You shouldn’t lift any weights

We definitely need to be cautious of prolapse and pelvic ligaments stretching when lifting weights. But what you find heavy might be light for me or any other females who were used to lift weight before they got pregnant. What is really important when doing strength training is listen to your own body and needs and how the specific exercise feels does.

Second thing is the closer to delivery date the less you should lift. So before you got pregnant your goal was adding heavier and heavier weights in order to progress. During pregnancy it’s an opposite process, your weights will decrease, you will take more resting breaks between each exercise, you might need to drink and rest more. It all depends on the individual.
Strength training during pregnancy has definitely its place BUT what ALWAYS will vary will be the type of exercise, intensity, duration, volume, rest time or working time of the particular individual. A lady who never exercised before and would like to start during her pregnancy will have a very different exercise program (very gentle approach) to a lady who were active before pregnancy and were already lifting some weights.

1.) Keep in mind that your center of gravity changes as your baby grows, so don’t lift weights while standing up if you are not that experienced. “You also have an increase in blood volume, and blood can pool in your legs, leaving you feeling lightheaded and dizzy,” Julia Tupler ( RN and certified personal trainer ) explains. “Instead, sit down to lift weights.” – But it again depends on the individual.

2.) Skip any exercise that require you to lay on a flat bench after 4 months. Instead look for some incline bench you could use. It is lying still under the weight of the uterus that causes the problem because the weight of the enlarged womb can compress the inferior Vena cava. ( Artal 1999). This pressure could lead to other medical problems such as supine hypotensive syndrome characterised by lower maternal cardiac output, lower blood pressure or foetal hypoxia.

3.) Breath holding should be avoided particularly during exertion (the valsava manoeuvre) – this can cause dizziness and fainting.

4.) Due to possible Pubic symphysis instability – avoid hip abductor/adductor machines from the second trimester, instead work these muscles in a side lying position on the floor

5.) Avoid any exercises requiring you rotating from your waist!

Myth #3 You can only go for a walk or swimming

I think walking or swimming are great low impact activities and I regularly recommend them to new mums to be. Especially if you were not used to any forms of exercise before your pregnancy but decided to start to do some physical activity during your pregnancy.

On the other hand if you were exercising before pregnancy on a regular basis you can still go for a walk or swim but there is nothing wrong with carrying on with your exercise routine while you can. Talk to your GP, health visitor or Ante/Postnatal instructor for more advice regarding what type of exercise you should avoid as your pregnancy will progress, listen/pay attention to your body and you will be fine.

Myth #4 Your heart rate shouldn’t go over 140 beats per minute

If you have exercised before pregnancy and keep yourself active there is no need to follow the exact 140 beats per minute. This number has been recommended by some experts in the past but if you are active and as long as you listen to your body and feel fine you can go over 140 beats per minute.

Still reasonable precautions for exercising during pregnancy are important. Especially if you have a history of some other medical conditions you should always discuss your physical activity training with your GP.

A simple test to check how intensive your workout is to follow a “Talking test” – you should be able to have a normal conversation with your friend while exercising, if you can’t keep up that would probably mean that your intensity is too hard.

Another way is to purchase a Finger pulse oximeter – it costs around £20 and you can check your heart rate straight away. I am a big fun if these Pulse oximeters and using it all the time in my Postnatal classes with new mums.

Myth #5 You have to eat for 2.

That’s no longer true. It’s scientifically proven that new mums to be not only don’t need to eat for two but can keep their healthy eating regime unchanged until last trimester when they would need to add extra 200-300kcal to their general daily eating intake. So there is no reason for overeating.

***Disclaimer: Your doctor’s permission for exercise is essential as there can be contraindications to exercise during pregnancy. Everybody is different and same exercise can feel differently or have different impact on each of us. The best way is take an advice from professional and listen to your body.

lift weights.   be strong.   be proud.