“Pregnancy & Pumping Iron”- A Mum’s View

I often share client successes ………. as this is a celebration of their efforts and recognition of their efforts, which I am very appreciative of.

Gen, wanted to write about this as she was passionate that her journey would inspire other “mums to be” that you don’t have to become a couch potato and endure the “social norms” that come with getting pregnant…..

Gen has been working with us from a good while before she became pregnant and to date is 2 weeks from her due date…..

Here is what Gen wrote………

Pregnancy & Pumping Iron

I am not an obsessed crazed athlete determined to keep my personal training records intact at the expense of my or my baby’s health. I am a conscientious first time mother to be who believes that keeping active will keep me strong and prepare me for labor, delivery, recovery, and motherhood. And despite any paranoia and panic by some friends and family, keeping up my training schedule has proved to be beneficial in so many ways. .

Whilst I have been fascinated by my body adapting to the changes and noticing the subtle differences that each week brought, I knew exactly when to lay off when I felt I was pushing it too much, for me that feeling only came into play in the later stages of the third trimester.

My own personality and competitive nature meant it wasn’t always instinctual but my training sessions became a valuable lesson in listening to my body and with gentle reminders from an incredible coach and a supportive husband I was well monitored.

I have always trained and trained hard, when I fell pregnant during a trip to New Zealand at the beginning of the year I made a conscious decision to not sit back and wait out the next 9 months, I decided I wanted to carry on and make sure my body & mind stayed as fit and healthy as it had been.  Whilst this new role of developing another human engulfed my entire being, I needed something that was still familiar and for me.

There is such a huge amount of negativity surrounding women and exercise during pregnancy which infuriates me – if I had told the world that I couldn’t stop eating cream cakes for every meal it would have been socially more acceptable than if I had admitted that I continued to train at a higher intensity than most people do – how very wrong that is.

Exercise and pregnancy is a very personal matter and no one regime fits all.  Some pregnant women stay fit by keeping up with CrossFit and weightlifting. Others find lower intensity activities such as yoga and swimming to be more beneficial. More than half the worlds female population don’t engage in any workout routine at all because they’re too busy doing heavy manual labor required by daily life.

Staying fit during pregnancy is never the same for every woman.  The regime will change and adapt to fit in with your ever changing body my only advice is not to listen to the ‘experts’ (by this I mean scare mongers and other mothers who chose to take to their beds and eat crap for 9 months)

I personally feel I have been blessed with a wonderful pregnancy that has not caused me undue discomfort, considered a high risk first time mother due to my age and with a previous back and pelvis injury I was almost waiting for the day when my body broke down, I am now 38 weeks pregnant and that day hasn’t come.

I have felt wonderful, breezed through and bloomed, I am convinced this is all to do with having an active life and that keeping up a training regime helps for the reasons below:

 Mind over Matter – pushing through that barrier to get one last rep out, one last burpee, run one more mile and step way out of your comfort zone.  I have been told and am fully prepared to experience how tough having a baby is, the mind set needed to train and having a strong conditioned body  has built confidence in me and my body’s ability that I can and will get through it, it might not be the most comfortable experience of my life but its going to feel great when I’ve done it!

Bodily Alignment – Weight lifting with good form keeping your lower back and posture in good alignment can only decease pain and discomfort. I have been surprised at the fact I have felt no back pain at all or any discomfort throughout my lower back.

Endurance & Stamina – the mental preparation and dedication you need to finish a marathon or get through that training session when you are beyond tired can only aid the strength you will need when in labour.

There is a tendency to associate weightlifting during pregnancy with irresponsible motherhood, I felt I had to justify my actions on numerous occasions to people who felt I was harming my baby or myself .  I followed a monitored responsible training schedule , I listened to my body and grew to understand the changes, I kept training and I trained hard and it’s done nothing but good. Fact.