Posted on November 21, 2014 by Kate Halsall

 

Can you exercise when you are pregnant? Ask some people and they will say ‘no’, stay in, never step foot in the gym again. But we would disagree. From the courses we have studied and recent research, we encourage healthy, already active women to remain so throughout their pregnancy. For those ladies who want to start exercising when they are pregnant, we have to be more cautious but providing they have a clean bill of health, then the answer is still yes…..they are safe to exercise. To be honest, the main problem that we, as personal trainers face, is not the question of whether they should exercise during pregnancy or not, but it’s getting those pregnant ladies to slow down!

The key is, that exercise during pregnancy is very much down to the individual, some people may feel like that they have loads of energy still, others may suffer with fatigue and morning sickness. What exercises may be suitable for one pregnant lady may not be suitable for another and this is all dependent on their previous exercise history, their medical history, their biomechanical make up, etc . Likewise, there are exercises that I would personally avoid such as kettlebells swings, but that other trainers or pregnant ladies would be happy to continue with. It’s not necessarily wrong or right, it’s just the way that it is – we’re all different!

One of the things I do find strange however, is that when you search for documents on the internet for “Exercise during pregnancy”, there’s a whole lot written on what NOT to do rather than focusing on providing example exercises (other than swimming, non balancing and pelvic floor) or an example workout you could do whilst pregnant. Based on the feedback we’ve received from some of our clients, I think that this would actually be more beneficial than being told “make sure you hydrate” “don’t lie flat on your back after your first trimester” and “wear loose fitting clothing”! So here is some information and a sample workout which may help!

Cardio
Low impact cardio is generally fine – so swimming, aqua aerobics, indoor cycling, cross trainer/stepper, low impact aerobics, jogging and so on.

Running
From exeperience of training our personal training clients whether you continue to run or tends to depend on two things:

1. Personal preference of whether or not you feel comfortable running. When you are pregnant your center of gravity changes and you may feel less balanced so may not feel comfortable running.

2. Biomechanical make-up. We have some personal training clients who would love to continue running throughout their pregnancy but their biomechanical make-up means this is not possible as they are at risk of injury or other complications like pubis symphasis disorder.

Weights 
With regards to weights, I take a circuit style approach as that ensures I can reduce both the weights used and reps performed, but I increase the sets so that they still get a good workout but without over exertion. I still take a full body approach, but minimise the number of exercises which involve over the head movements simply due to blood pressure and back-load concerns. I also try to incorporate postural and functional exercises to help my clients throughout their pregnancy. Here’s a circuit I have used previously:

Try 8-10 reps, 3 sets

The weights you use will be down to personal preference and stage of pregnancy.

Circuit 1
Lat Pull down
Seated/Incline Chest Press
Squats
Bicep Curls
Tricep Extensions
Step Ups

Circuit 2
Reverse Flys
Hand elevated kneeling press ups (so hands on a step)
Lunges
Upright Rows (kettlebell or resistance bands)
Lateral Raises
Step Ups

Flexibility
Yoga and Pilates are excellent for pregnant ladies, and there are actually class designed specifically for pre and postnatal mums. Both will help with relaxation, posture and core strength.

One final thing to bear in mind, if you are looking to exercise and you are pregnant but have previously suffered a miscarriage, you must seek advice from your GP first about whether you are safe to exercise.

For More Information:
http://www.gymfreaks.co.uk/gym-workouts/exercising-whilst-pregnant
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/pregnancy-exercise.aspx#close
http://www.fitpregnancy.com/exercise/prenatal-workouts/pregnant-womans-guide-gym
http://www.m8north.co.uk/personal-training/pre-and-post-natal-exercise/