Living in the Grey Area: Training During Pregnancy

Pregnancy can be a confusing time, whether you had been trying for a baby or it came as a complete surprise. As an athlete, a different dimension is added.

There are the early days of pregnancy where you have no energy but just want to hit the gym. Your body hasn’t changed, but you just aren’t sure how much is too much, what movements should you steer clear of, when should you break the news to the coaches, other athletes, or even teammates. Second trimester a lot of women experience a return (or even a surge) of energy. Driving to the gym doesn’t seem like a marathon of energy, and movement may actually make your body feel good. An emerging and constantly growing bump helps remind you to take a breather or switch up a movement. Third trimester and things are just getting interesting. The loss of spacial awareness has you knocking cereal off the shelves in the grocery store, the calendar shows T-3months until baby is here, and putting your shoes on is a struggle in itself, so how are you going to pick up a barbell?

You want to keep working out because there are so many benefits for both you and baby, but also, it’s just part of who you are. The gym is where you find your people. It’s where you feel at home. But at the same time, the only advice your OB gave you was to “keep doing what you’ve always done” or “just listen to your body”.

It’d be a lot easier if someone would just hand you a list of “do this not that”. But, with every pregnancy and every mom being different, it’s just not practical. Instead, take this time to learn about your changing body. Learn how to listen to it. Learn about how to move with consideration of growing a baby and the implications that will have on your body.

Risk vs. Reward

For most of us, the ultimate goal of fitness pursuits during this chapter of our lives is for long term benefits. With this, we must look first and foremost at safety for both ourselves and our baby. Movements such as rope climbs & muscle ups carry a greater general safety risk to the body than the reward it provides. Are there movements that can be substituted and provide a similar training benefit? Or even a more appropriate training benefit? As pregnancy progresses, the risks change. They migrate from general safety to also include consideration of potential injury to the core & pelvic floor. At some point, the risks of pelvic floor stress from more dynamic movements (jumping, running) outweighs the reward from continuing to do them in training.

Can vs. Should

At 27 weeks, I can run. In fact, I had to last week as I chased my toddler across a soccer field. Does this mean I’m going to go out for a 2 mile jog or sign up for that Saturday morning 5k? No. The constant impact of running with the added weight of a baby is not beneficial for long term pelvic floor function. Similarly, if at any point during exercise there is any pain or discomfort such as pelvis or low back, pregnancy is not the time to push through, but rather listen to the red flag and modify the movement or adjust strategy.

When it comes to strength work and loading up the bar, it might not be the time to go for a 1 rep max. Or even hit your 90% weight. Your body has a higher priority of where it wants to expend energy, because of this strength often goes down during pregnancy. While you may be able to grind through reps, is it worth it? How are you bracing? Were you maintaining form? Did you have any leaking or pressure?

In terms of intensity, we are used to pushing through during a workout especially in a group setting. To eyeing the athlete next to us and pushing the pace. To stepping up our game for one more pullup, one more deadlift, one more rep. Pregnancy is a time to pull back a notch. Take the extra breath. Pause one more second before the lift.

Not what, but How.

It doesn’t come down to a do this not that. Not during pregnancy, and not during postpartum. A movement as simple as an air squat may still need to be modified. Does your changing body need to adapt a wider stance? Maybe you don’t need to squat ass to grass. How are you breathing? Does that change if you do a back squat? Does your breathing technique change from 55# to 105#? Should it?

With overhead movements especially, are you maintaining alignment? Are ribs stacked over your hips? Are you arching your back or flaring your ribs? What can you do to adjust? Maybe it’s time to drop weight, do a less dynamic movement, or just take a break from a certain exercise.

Training in the Grey Area

There is no black or white answer. There is no guideline of “Every pregnant woman should do this instead of that”, or at least there shouldn’t be. There is a lot of grey area. A lot of it depends. A lot of individual considerations.

Every woman and every pregnancy is different. The timeline of how you adapt during your first pregnancy will be entirely different than your third. Modifications that the mom next to you makes may be entirely different than yours. Postpartum fitness goals will vary from the competitive CrossFit athlete to the mom that likes to get in a morning run, to the mom who hits the 9am class a couple times a week.

So how do you train in the grey area? Awareness and education. Fitness during pregnancy is about more than doing what you’ve always done and listening to your body. It’s about understanding the impact on your system of growing a human, and then also understanding the trauma on your body from childbirth. It’s about giving your body the respect it deserves for growing a human, and allowing it rest and recovery when needed. It’s about preservation and mitigation and then rehabilitation and restoration. Understand symptoms (pressure, pain, leaking, heaviness). Watch for coning & doming in movement. Always be ready to adjust strategy or movements.

The grey area is constantly moving. Training 6 weeks pregnant looks different than 15 weeks which looks different than 30 weeks. Movements that feel great one day, may not the next. And vice versa.

Movements that cause symptoms don’t necessarily get blacklisted. Sometimes they just get modified, sometimes you adjust strategy, sometimes you drop weight or reps, sometimes you just put them on a shelf for a while.

So where can you find help?

Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism coaches are all over the world. Search here to see if there is one local to you. If not, plenty of coaches (myself included) offer remote coaching which ranges from occasional consults, to day to day modified programming, to full on custom programming. If you’re interested in working together, I offer a free 15 min call to discuss your needs and how we can work together. Email me at coachamyboyle@gmail.com for more info.

If working 1:1 with a coach isn’t your cup of tea, check out Brianna Battles Pregnant & Postpartum Athlete course where you can learn everything you didn’t know you needed to know about training during pregnancy.