Pregnant Women
THE GREAT DEBATE
Most of the time, when people are squabbling online about fitness during pregnancy, they fall into one of two camps:
EITHER:
"You should do nothing more strenuous than walking and yoga, and you should lift nothing heavier than a 3lb dumbell"
OR
"You can do anything you did before pregnancy - run marathons, lift your 1 rep max deadlift, intense cardio - you're a badass mama!"
While the debates often focus around who's wrong and who's right, I think they both kinda miss the point. It's just not really black and white like that and the truth lies somewhere in the grey area in between (like most things in life).
Exercise is extremely important for the health of both the mother and the baby,
If we avoid the very extreme forms of exercise that really raise the heart rate or body temperature of the mother, and avoid any knocks and falls, exercise is very beneficial to the growing baby.
Priorities for Training Workout for women
- Avoiding any injury
- Building strength to cope with the demands of pregnancy AND avoid injury
- Maintain some level of cardiovascular fitness
- Maintain full range of motion and mobility in all the joints in order to avoid aches and pains
- Make you FEEL GOOD! Elevating mood and having you leave the gym feeling better than you came in!
- Keep you and your baby healthy - we all know that exercise is good for us
- Maintain good posture and breathing mechanics
- Set you up for a healthy birth
- Set you up for a swift recovery postpartum