Training while you are expecting - The Happiest reason for feeling like crap!
The Happiest Reason for Feeling Like Crap
Having a baby is a rollercoaster of mostly happy emotions yet can be a time of lowered energy levels, terrible morning sickness, lack of sleep, all in addition to the changing body. In this article, I discuss how we work with clients of ours during and after pregnancy so that they can train safely and adjust to life with a baby. Every pregnancy is different, my wife had a difficult pregnancy and was bed bound for much of here last 4 months and obviously didn’t train for that reason.
I have trained with ladies that have been able to exercise right throughout their pregnancy and If you can maintain some form of exercise throughout the pregnancy, then you should train as it’s going to benefit you both physically and mentally as well as give you the stamina and strength to help prepare for the birth itself.
When I work with clients that are pregnant, part of my role is to help them understand what to expect from their body and how those changes impact on their training, how to train safely in terms of what movements they can do and at what heart rate, as well as how to eat right for their pregnancy. When I am working with clients that have had their baby, I am focusing on getting them back to the strength they had before, working with them at the right pace according to how their pregnancy went. Trust is really important in this relationship and my own personal experience becoming a father definitely helps inform my work.
What to expect from your body
During your pregnancy, the main physical goal is to maintain your body shape you were in BEFORE you got pregnant, putting on the right amount of weight for your pregnancy. If you were overweight before you got pregnant then pregnancy isn’t a time you should be thinking about going on a diet, just trying to do your best to eat healthily, reduce the amount of poor quality food you may have been eating and introducing an appropriate amount of exercise if you haven’t done any before.
One of the biggest fears many women have about being pregnant is putting on loads of weight. The average weight gain for a pregnancy is about 2 stone (12kg) and this is needed to give your baby the best start in life. During pregnancy, your physical expectations need to be leveled at maintenance to these expectations NOT progress.
I say this because I have had conversations with women that feel guilty about putting on the weight and think they can push themselves too much in training out of fear of putting on unwanted extra fat. Similarly pregnancy shouldn't be a reason to nothing nor to drastically increase the amount of food you eat. During pregnancy, you need roughly 300 -500 extra calories a day. Three hundred extra calories = a piece of fruit + yogurt + nuts or small sandwich so think of it in those terms.
Just be sensible and understand that it’s likely that you will have lots of days where you feel zonked and need to pull back so rather than worrying about it, just do less that day and understand that’s just part of the process. Resist the temptation to eat all around you and remember it’s easier to control your environment than your willpower so make sure high calorie foods are placed well out of sight.
After you have the baby and once you’ve been given the all clear to return to exercise you must again understand that getting back into pre-baby shape takes time and don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be back into the clothes you haven’t worn in months. Some celebrity new mums have made it a virtue and competition on how fast they can get back into “beach body shape” which does nothing to help women at this stage other than encouraging them to feel guilty. Those celebrities have lots of help and not represent real life- Most of the mums in real life have nothing like this, they could be back at work, have other children to mind as well as a house to run. So how long should this process take? There is no defined timeline – some could be back at pre-baby weight after 6 months, some will be longer for all sorts of reasons - baby isn’t sleeping well or there are other complications but it isn’t something you should feel bad about but do remember that you can still get exercise by getting out and getting lots of fresh air walking baby every day and eating well.
How to train safely and effectively
The way we approach exercise or fitness for ANY client is to place their mobility (combination of both flexibility and stability) as a top priority, strength comes next and getting your heart rate up is last. This does not change during and after pregnancy and the justification for this hierarchy is enhanced during this time.
During your pregnancy, you should of course exercise if you can BUT I get clients to ease back on any activity that elevates their heart rate because the extra stress on your body is just unnecessary and your overall conditioning will stay the same through medium or low intensity activity. It’s helpful to wear a heart rate monitor to check the intensity of your training and keep all training in the 120-140bpm per minute range (60-70% effort). I’ve found this easier to do with clients that have a long exercise history as they have learned over time what medium to low level intensity feels like whereas, those that have been training infrequently will find any activity hard and a monitor becomes more useful for them.
Maintaining your flexibility, strength and muscle tissue quality during pregnancy and after you have the baby is vital because I’ve found that women understandably sit down more and their body has to adjust to the added weight of the baby which can put undue stress on their body. You need to keep up a regular training schedule that places an emphasis on -
- foam rolling and stretching to help with your flexibility. As pregnancy hormones can impact muscle laxity then ensure you are not pushing the stretches too much, especially if you are already quite mobile. If you need help on this then please check out my article on improving your mobility here
- The use of the big compound movements e.g. push ups, upper back rows, deadlifts, squats or single lag variations, such as, step ups, lunges etc.
- Direct core work that focuses on anti-rotation movements, such as, pallof press, plank variations etc.
Through working on these three main areas you will be more prepared to handle the extra baby weight as well as keep up the stamina needed for delivery. Of course, I would adjust the movements according to the stage of pregnancy e.g. you can’t exactly do push ups off the floor with a big belly bump in the way in your third trimester! One of the most common physical problems associated with pregnancy is lower back issues and although these can still happen despite all the gym work in the world, it’s important to constantly work on mobility and strength in the hips, core and back as the stiffer and weaker they become then the higher the likelihood you will get lower back issues.
If you want an example of what I do with clients both right after the baby is born to during the pregnancy then here’s a link to a few Youtube videos I did with a client - https://youtu.be/IJw8dLoexK4?list=PL7HyOap7lRnySbQv-0-9FCQ3ijxMo3LTJ
It’s important to remember that what’s shown in the video was suitable for that client individually and you might need to do less or more depending on what stage you are in your pregnancy and your medical and exercise history.
Bringing a baby into the world is one of the most wonderful things (as a Dad, one of the best things that ever happened in my life) but it can be hard too. I believe that exercise is one of the most positive thing you can do as a tool to make both the pregnancy easier and as an aid post pregnancy to helping you look and feel better.