07/04/2024
Lifting weights is the gold standard for women during and after pregnancy.
Birth in itself is an extremely demanding physical event, and something that should be suitably prepared for - I like to think of it as being similar in many ways to preparing to run a marathon.
You wouldn't turn up at the start line with fingers crossed hoping you'll cover the distance smoothly if you haven't trained for it. The same goes for birth.
Your coach should have a progressive and REGRESSIVE training programme for all 3 trimesters, and a post birth plan to ensure you can return to full capabilities in time (trimester 4).
Here is the simple training blueprint that I use for all female clients who are expecting.
Tri 1 - Weight training, progressive overload, core focused phase (lower intensity due to rapid body and hormonal changes).
Tri 2 - Weight training, muscular endurance focused, cardiovascular work (likely to get the largest volume of training done in this phase).
Tri 3 - Weight training, movements regressed in volume and intensity, functionality biased, increase in stretching and release work.
Tri 4 - Recovery, retraining and restoring phase (predominantly the same movements in trimester 4)
It is important to note, each client will experience pregnancy differently, and making adjustments will be necessary. However, I always base my initial programming off this strategy.
