Weight lifting and pregnancy

[April088]

Hiya,

I'm feeling a bit confused in regards to being allowed to weight lift while being pregnant?
I've been weight lifting for almost 13 years now and pre pregnancy I was doing everything from deadlifts to pull ups, but since meeting with my midwife at 8 weeks and a doctor at 13 weeks they have both said weight lifting is not recommended for those who are pregnant, even if you are used to doing it before the pregnancy.
This isn't advice specifically for me or my circumstances but general advice, and they both advised me to do pregnancy yoga instead...
I've read so much about the benefits of continuing weight lifting throughout pregnancy, as long as your doctor is kind of overseeing it, but my doc and midwife don't even want to entertain the conversation.
I'm just wondering if there are any women who continued to weight lift throughout their pregnancy? And obviously adjusted movements and weight depending on how far along you are?

Hey

i have carried on weight lifting during pregnancy under the watchful eye of a perinatal personal trainer. She adapted a lot of moves and there are some you can’t do whilst pregnant. Sadly a combo of morning sickness and extreme fatigue means I only do it once a week currently and swim much more as I find this kinder on my muscles (I have an on the feet job with long shifts so just very tired!)

I would seek specialist advice first and then decide whether you feel happy enough to continue :)

Good luck with everything!

(My midwife was also against weightlifting but told me I could surf so I wonder how in date some of the info is!)

Be careful as the relaxin hormone can make your joints looser, which could lead to injuries by doing something like weight lifting.

I carried on weight training (until my hips just wouldn't let me anymore!!) your doctor and midwife sound like they just don't want to support which is annoying. Just don't do anything on your back eg bench press. Just keep doing what you're doing, just be mindful.

Tell that to Tia Toomey.

Their advice is very very outdated .

The general guidance is you can continue doing what you did before as long as you are comfortable , with some adaptions if required to be mindful of safety / bump

While I agree that you can continue with your usual within reason, it might be worth getting a session with an perinatal trainer as suggested above. I wasn't directly involved in the case (thankfully), but when I worked on obstetrics there was a pregnant body builder who had some sort of uterine - possibly broad ligament- rupture from weight lifting. Baby was born prem and really sick, mum had to have a hysterectomy (she was very young). So there is some truth to the advice. I just remember the huge stress in the department for the doctors and nurses involved, as I think she had presented previously with abdominal pain and been told to stop lifting.

On the flipside having the strength that comes with weightlifting is going to be great in labour. So continuing under some guidance is probably the best course of action.

That is strange advice. I’ve carried on through both my pregnancies but just lowered the intensity by about 20-25% (so for weightlifting if I was used to using a 20kg weight then I’d swap out to 15kg… and when running I keep an eye on my heart rate and if it goes over 75-80% of my previous max then I stop and walk for a bit.

It definitely helped me to recover post labour so I’m doing the same this pregnancy. My midwife has been really supportive of the approach. Sounds like you’ve maybe got a bit of an old school team 😂

Second pregnancy I continued with body pump. But my instructor had supervised pregnant women before. He would tell me the modifications I needed before I need them. You will lower the weights. You will start to loose your balance and we moved from lunges to squats. The bench was at an incline. Because you don’t really lie on your back when you get pregnant. By the end I could tell it was my last week and I couldn’t do any more. Your ligaments will be more flexible so you have to be careful not to hurt yourself. I can’t remember anything else. My instructor knew. Position yourself so your instructor can see you well.

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and advice!! Xx
Sounds like the key thing is to really listen to my body and be mindful of how the pregnancy can affect me (e.g. relaxin and loose ligaments).
I've lowered all my weights by about 30% and stopped certain exercises overall already and will continue to just see what feels not right anymore.
Does anyone have tips on where to find an antenatal trainer? Just wondering if I should use someone from my gym (nuffield) or hire someone who specialises in this..

I don't have a trainer but I bought Bumps and Burpees book by Charlie Barker and it's really good for explaining modifications by trimester. She also has an instagram account @ bumpsandburpees and runs online training programmes for each trimester and postpartum, if you can't find someone in person.

I used one in my gym but they had proper qualifications for antenatal PT training. Ask at your gym about if anyone is able to assist

if not, you can probably find something online as most postnatal trained people are also prenatal trained

Yes, I continued until practically due date. Weightlifting in pregnancy is great and I'm sure it helped me to recover super fast. If you are used to intensive exercise, pregnancy yoga just won't cut it.
https://www.mendcolorado.com/physical-therapy-blog/2022/11/21/new-evidence-supports-heavy-weight-lifting-during-pregnancy/#:~:text=Further%2C%20the%20women%20who%20continued,weight%20lifting%20program%20after%20delivery.

I had a plan out together at my gym by a personal trainer who had training in this; I moved to the machines more than free weights and as I got further along I used resistance bands for squats. My sense of balance was off so squats with a bar wouldn’t have worked well for me.

I did CrossFit up until 38 weeks, i carried on as normal until around 13 weeks and by the end it looked nothing like how i would normally train but i got to keep moving!

I would recommend having a look at a product / on line programme like Hatch Athletic as they give great advice and have specific programmes for pregnancy and pp.

The things i was told to look out for was anything that will put pressure on pelvic floor and the midline (essentially any exercise that creates doming as your abs separate when you are pregnant)

i didnt lose my balance but was i got bigger it was impossible to keep the bar close to my body etc. I switched to dumbells for some of the movements and often did body weight.