Starting Strength after having a baby?

[alis]

Any moms or people with experience in heavy lifting after delivering a baby?

I was 8 months into Starting Strength when I got pregnant, I'm 6 months along now (stopped lifting heavy at 2 months), does anyone have any info as to when is a decent time to get back into heavy lifting? I've kept active during this time, although I'm sure my strength has gone downhill.

To be honest, my doctor and all my pregnancy books consider "heavy lifting" to be a 12lb dumbbell. I'm sort of at a loss as to when I can start back into hitting 1x bodyweight squats and 2x bodyweight deadlifts!!!

Thanks for any info.

[IWillLiveFreeOrDie]

I wish my wife would do SS.

If you have a C-Section it is going to take a lot longer to recover before you can lift heavy weights again. My wife just delivered and she has 2 weeks of near bed rest due to the C-Section, and another 4-6 weeks before strenuous exercise.

Remember that a lot of stuff gets pushed out of place to make room for the baby.

[homerj742]

I wish my wife would do SS.

same here!

I don't have any insight to your situation, I just wanted to mention that I admire your dedication to this. You're going to be one bad-ass mom!

[Dastardly]

You hit 2x BW deads in a few months of starting strength?

Thats really good.

Ive been lifting as long but not hit 2x yet, and your a woman. Envy!

[TrackJunkie]

I think I recall someone around here talking about how they did fairly heavy power cleans right up until the day her baby was born.

[alis]

IWillLiveFreeOrDie~ she should! The girls in the book look fantastic! That sounds scary though, very painful! Yes, it's the stuff being pushed out that worries me, especially doing heavy squats and deadlifts!

homerj742~haha thank you Actually, I was the one who harassed my husband to purchase the SS book. Good thing he listened!

Dastardly~ I almost reached 2x bw after 8 months of SS, I'm going to try for it again I think most women are much stronger in their lower body than their upper body, I don't even think I made a 65lb press yet. Ouch.

TrackJunkie~ I've heard the same from a lot of girls (not sure how to do a proper power clean with this belly in the way though), I've also heard that heavy deadlifts can lead to placenta abruption... since most medical journals can't conceive of a woman doing real lifting during pregnancy, I haven't found any clear information whether or not that is accurate, so I opted to stay away from it.

[StLRPh]

IWillLiveFreeOrDie~ she should! The girls in the book look fantastic! That sounds scary though, very painful! Yes, it's the stuff being pushed out that worries me, especially doing heavy squats and deadlifts!

homerj742~haha thank you Actually, I was the one who harassed my husband to purchase the SS book. Good thing he listened!

Dastardly~ I almost reached 2x bw after 8 months of SS, I'm going to try for it again I think most women are much stronger in their lower body than their upper body, I don't even think I made a 65lb press yet. Ouch.

TrackJunkie~ I've heard the same from a lot of girls (not sure how to do a proper power clean with this belly in the way though), I've also heard that heavy deadlifts can lead to placenta abruption... since most medical journals can't conceive of a woman doing real lifting during pregnancy, I haven't found any clear information whether or not that is accurate, so I opted to stay away from it.

I don't suppose you asked Mark?

[alis]

I don't suppose you asked Mark?

I did originally a while ago, but he didn't really have any experience dealing with lifting and pregnancy so he left it up to others to have a say. I suppose a great deal of of women 25+ wouldn't look towards SS as a program (too bad! their loss!)

[PMDL]

Assuming no complications, you can probably start back as soon as you're ready. Breast-feeding is going to raise your calorie needs for awhile, but otherwise you should be able to ease back into it when you feel up to it.

If you have a C-section or any complications beyond that, you'll probably want to revise that strategy.

[applescruffette]

I think I've read about the Valsalva maneuver being not recommended towards the end of the pregnancy. I will say I found it's rather effective at delivering babies when the cervix is fully dilated.

I had 3 large babies (10 pounds being my heaviest, all delivered naturally and the 2 biggest babies' labors being medication free), and all of them did require a layoff of too much exertion for at least 3-4 weeks. Since the sleep is spotty at best in the first few newborn weeks, I'd imagine it'd be difficult to do any sort of decent recovery after lifting. TMI-I know that when I'd do even a little exertion in the weeks following giving birth, the lochia would immediately (temporarily) flow a LOT. Be prepared!

However, I didn't lift when I was pregnant or when my babies were really little. My youngest was 3 when I started SS, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

Congrats on your pregnancy! Do you know if you are having a boy or girl?