First of all, I want to credit the excellent Barbell Rehab training course that I took for the knowledge and inspiration for this blog! This is just a small taste of what I learned from the brilliant Dr. Sophia Vieras! Find more info here➡️ https://barbellrehab.com/female-online-course/
I’d like to start by debunking a few myths about training during pregnancy! I want to reassure you that exercise, within reason, is safe and valuable at this time! It can aid in decreasing risk of ⬇️
Blood pressure complications
Excessive weight gain
Gestational Diabetes
Delivery complications
Cesarean birth
Postpartum depression
It’s important to note that there is 🚫No🚫increase in risk of still birth, newborn complications or adverse effects on birth weight. Those risks are present and exercise does not change or increase them!
There are movement that are super helpful for labor preparation that can be added into your regular routine including but not limited to general stretching and mobility work with breathing and extend hold times in positions like cat/ cow, butterfly stretch, deep squat, down dog and stratal sit and reach!
When it comes to modifying form in lifting, it’s important to consider making small modifications including widen stance (for growing belly), breathing and bracing with heavier loads and movement, toeing out more, lifting through the pelvic floor, adjust load down as body changes, and keeping the intensity a little lower, RPE 5-7!
It is also important to listen to you body, add rest breaks as needed, hydrate and fuel properly for added effort of exercise and growing a human, and getting adequate sleep at night for full refreshing recovery!
Although many barbell movements can be modified to be safe around a growing belly, there are also great resistance variations that can be used such as kettlebells, dumbbells, cable machines, or even squatting to a box to modify the range of motion. It’s also important to consider inclining the bench for bench press as the pressure on the blood vessels changes and it can become difficult to breathe and circulate blood when lying flat on your back in the mid and late stages of pregnancy!
The goal is truly to maintain and sustain whatever tolerable amount of activity you can during this time in the form of a regular walking programs, modified lifting, mobility training, planning for the postpartum, labor prep and including preventative breathing and pelvic floor work to aid in recovery!
Keep in mind these are just general guidelines, and everyone’s journey is different! If you’re looking for someone to help you assess your current situation, address pain or dysfunction that is bothering you, and create a custom training plan for you through pregnancy or in postpartum, reach out to us today! We would love to help!!