Weight lifting??

[PandaCub]

Do you know what the medical evidence is for lifting heavy / exercising quite hard in general when TTC and pregnant please?

I love weight lifting - it's so much fun and a great reason not to go near the dreadmill. But I don't know if I should give it up when TTT? It's been so good for my health but now I worry about miscarriage when lifting.

Here's the thing though.....I can't find any evidence to suggest that lifting anything (toddler / weights etc) actually is bad for pregnancy. It feels like an urban myth that's just deeply in our culture.

Any thoughts please? I'll probably end up stopping just out of fear but feel there should be some proper guidelines out there.

I am not an expert but the advice I've often heard is that if you did it before you were pregnant, you can likely continue it while you are pregnant, within reason. That is, it would be idiotic to start weightlifting in pregnancy, but you already have the muscles; the knowledge; the understanding, plus it contributes to your wellbeing. Seek advice from an expert, but it's likely you could find modifications that would help you continue. A mate of mine was cycling 20+ miles at 38 weeks.

I think that pregnancies that are going to stick, stick. Pregnant women aren't made of glass. Obviously the 'don't be a twat' caveat always applies, but if you are using best practice, taking advice and being cautious with your body, there is a lot you can still do.

As far as I'm aware most lifters tend to reduce their weights during pregnancy but carry on throughout. Just make sure you listen to your body. Might be worth consulting with a PT once you get your BFP just to be on the safe side but should be fine.

When pg hormones make your ligaments loosen so injuries from exercise could happen more easily but that's no reason to stop, just be careful. I did some weights work in early pg (and then developed unrelated complications and had to stop all exercise).

I was lifting heavy pre conception and I've carried on lifting, although much less heavy now - I'm 21weeks. I felt like crap during the first trimester. I'm aiming to just to keep doing what I can.

90% of miscarriages are caused by chromosomal abnormality. Lifting won't affect the pregnancy but obviously listen to your body. Being healthy is a good thing for conception. I'm a sample size of one but I conceived first month of trying and I've never had a miscarriage.

Word of warning though - I'm apparently very hard to scan because I have such strong abs, it's all the compound movements... I've also gained very minimal weight so far, I've got a very neat bump.

Ah interesting! Thank you x