Castle Personal Training
Castle Personal Training is a Corstorphine, Edinburgh based company who specialise in weightloss/toning and Pre and Post Natal exercise.
Should you keep training when pregnant?
Hi guys,
One of my clients mentioned that she had several people in her NCT-class (ante natal classes for those of you reading this outside the UK) who worked with a trainer but 3 months into their pregnancy stopped because the Personal Trainers they were with were not happy to train pregnant ladies. Now i your PT is not happy to train you you yourself might think it’s not a good idea to train through pregnancy and stop. In my, not so humble, opinion this would really be a big mistake.
Now I’ve touched on this subject before (here and here ) but have never really gone into any depth so here we go;
Early on, for the first 6 months, in a normal healthy pregnancy you can do everything you already used to do. If you already do weight training then there’s no need to stop doing this. If you already do spinclasses etc. there’s not reason to stop going to them. Just listen to your body and stop or slow down when something doesn’t feel right. In the last tri-mester you really want to be a bit more careful, no exercises on your back etc.
Credit;Picture taken from The Mirror newspaper
What you will want to consider is adapting your training to prepare it for the change it’s going to go through and the stresses of pregnancy and giving birth. If you do the right core exercises, balancing and plenty oblique work, and pelvic floor work, build up those glutes!, your body will thank you after you’ve given birth.
As one of my clients, who had an admittedly relatively easy 3 hour labour period, said “Mostly everything about my body has sprung back to something akin to the way it was” and that is all to do with her training well and doing the right exercises whilst pregnant. She was doing squats and lifting weights up until the week before her due-date, we only had to slow the sessions down and drop the weights a bit.
I currently also have a client who is pregnant with twins and in her 20th week and she’s not showing any signs of stopping. We obviously have to adjust the training a little bit to accomodate her being out of breath a bit easier but she would still put most guys to shame with her squats and deadlifts.
There really is no reason to.
One of my other post-natal clients did not train with me whilst she was pregnant but did everything right, plenty good exercise/eating right etc, whilst she was pregnant. She gave birth to twins and 15 weeks after that she came to me for some post-natal work. She had hardly any issues, including hardly any Diastasis Recti (seperation), and what she did have was easily fixed. This is all because she did the right things whilst pregnant.
If you contrast the above with a lady who came to me 4 years after she had given birth who had not done any proper exercise during, or after, her pregnancy who was still suffering from Diastasis Recti, leakage whenever she jumped up and down etc. and it’s clear that you should train for as long as your body tells you it’s safe to do so.
Now, in my mind, the personal trainers of the ladies first mentioned actually did the right thing in saying that they themselves were not comfortable training them anymore. I’ve mentioned this before but I don’t train people who need someone with specific rehab experience. The above personal trainers clearly made the right call if they don’t have the right experience but referring them to someone with the right experience, or telling them to find someone, would have been better for their clients.
As an aside for other personal trainers; I know referring out can be scary sometimes. I always used to think that I would never see those clients again and that I was “helping the competition”. But someone with a completely different skill-set to you is not your competition and, and this is the big one, clients who have been with you for a long time will come back to you when they are ready to. On top of that; the person you’re referring out to might actually send some clients your way. It’s a win-win, it really is.
If you have never exercised before, or not for a long time, and you want to start an exercise routine when pregnant I would recommend getting some expert guidance. There are amazing personal trainers and coaches out there that can guide you through the whole process safely and make sure you’re not doing anything you shouldn’t really be doing and that you don’t go overboard. Pregnancy-yoga, to name but one thing, can be a really good way to start.
Your body is going to go through quite a big change when you’re pregnant but that doesn’t mean it’s all scary and you need to stop doing everything you love. Just make some adjustments, be sensible with what you are doing and you’ll be fine. It might actually make your pregnancy a lot easier.
Take care,
Peter
Castle Personal Training 
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