Mainting strength during pregnancy

[strideknight]

Hey guys, So we found out my wife is pregnant a couple weeks ago (yay), but since then any time she's tried to do the major lifts at her work weights, it's made her exceptionally sore and crampy. We think it's when she tries to do activities that require a valsalva or just keep her core tight.

Haven't asked the Doc about it yet, but we know they're going to say to stop lifting, which she already has. She doesn't want to lose the progress she's made over the last 6 months though... I recommended the god awful machines so she could work the muscle groups without engaging her core, because that's basically what they're intended for right, people with injuries or problems preventing the main lifts?

I know we have some SS coaches that have lifted through pregnancy... any advice?

Thanks

[Tom Campitelli]

I am sure as hell unqualified to give any first-hand advice here, but it has been discussed before. Take a look at some of the threads below. They should get you started.

https://www.google.com/search?q=part...ngstrength.com

[Sean Herbison]

Take a look at some of the threads below. They should get you started
https://www.google.com/search?q=part...ngstrength.com

Did you mean for the search criteria to be pregnancy? The current link is for partial squats.

I'd try this link, unless Tom actually wanted you to read about partial squats. (If you do, Tom, I'm missing something.)
https://www.google.com/search?q=preg...ngstrength.com

[Beau Bryant]

We train a lot of women which means we have trained more than a few pregnant women. This is not advice but I will tell you what we do.

If they have been training heavy they continue to train the main lifts. The idea of PRs goes out the window. Our new goal is to be as strong ad possible at the delivery. The first trimester seems to be the most difficult due to the hormonal changes. Many of the things they experience can probably be attributed to this. Once part the first trimester these things usually resolve.

Each women has been a little different. Some continue to squat righ t up to the end. Some reach a point and do not feel comfortable at the bottom of a squat. We tell them to listen to their body and if they feel it's time to stop squatting then they stop. Most continue at least till the very end. Weights will progressively get lighter, think of a reverse linear progression over the 9 months with the goal of maintaining as much as possible.

[bjbrookz]

Just went through this with my wife... I'm no expert on the matter, so I'll just tell you how things went for us. As OP stated, the Doc will frown on some lifts. In our case, it was squats and deadlift after 20 weeks and we were told especially no valsalva. The squats as we were told had the potential to soften the cervix prematurely which of course nobody wants to happen. As for deadlift, we were told too much abdominal pressure... Not sure I really buy into either, but we followed his prescription. First thing we decided was to halt any novice progression and just maintain. We substituted leg press for squats and back extensions for deadlift. She wasn't performing the clean yet, so that was a non factor. Bench and press continued as is, but again no more LP. We also alternated pullups and chins (that sorta had its own version of LP since she continued to gain weight). We also implemented some light conditioning which only consisted of rowing a few minutes per session and with only moderate intensity.

I will say she has the easiest pregnancy of any of her friends. She had zero back pain, was able to get through her normal day pain free. We had no issues with gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, etc as she was in great condition. Her labor was also (relatively) easy - once the epidural was in, she only pushed for 1.5 hours. Apparently, that's pretty quick for a first timer. I don't think it could have gone smoother, honestly.

She continued going to the gym up until 2 days before she gave birth. We're a month removed from birth (today), and she is back in the gym. We still have 2 weeks before squats start up per Dr.'s orders but she's anxious to get back at it.

Hope that helps. Best of luck.

[Tom Campitelli]

Did you mean for the search criteria to be pregnancy? The current link is for partial squats.

I'd try this link, unless Tom actually wanted you to read about partial squats. (If you do, Tom, I'm missing something.)
https://www.google.com/search?q=preg...ngstrength.com

Ah, fuck. You are correct. I had two Google windows open and copied from the wrong one. Use PEBCAK's link instead:

https://www.google.com/search?q=preg...ngstrength.com

[strideknight]

Thanks for the info guys, I swear I did a site search and didn't find as much as google brought up. She actually worked out yesterday with about a 30% deload and felt fine for the first time in two weeks, and all the anecdotal evidence really helped her relax about it.

The first trimester seems to be the most difficult due to the hormonal changes. Many of the things they experience can probably be attributed to this. Once part the first trimester these things usually resolve.

We're wondering if that's why it's been bothering her so much, her asthma and allergies have also been off the charts lately too. Guess we'll just keep on and hope that the second trimester goes a bit easier.

[franklie]

My wife is currently 6 months pregnant and at the older age end for having a baby.

Her max squat prior to the pregnancy was 205-lb for a single (BW 130-lb)

she continues to squat 2x/week and is currently squatting 3 sets of 5-8 reps @ 155-lb
she also benches is maintaining her bench at 95-lb with occasional forays into the 105-lb range

she does no deadlifts as she is unable to double over easily and bending in that way severely restricts her breathing.

she limits her pulls to hanging on the pullup bar and doing cable lat pulls at about 80-lb.

Bench and squats apart from tiring her cause no additional stress. lat pulls are now causing straining in the abdominal region for her.

her doctor is amazed at how in shape she is (toned) and is not averse to my wife continuing to lift during the pregnancy for as long as she can comfortably.

we only increase the weight 1X/week and we only started that in the 2nd trimester.

hope this info helps a little

[Tom Campitelli]

Thanks for the info guys, I swear I did a site search and didn't find as much as google brought up.

Yeah, Google searches this site better than anything else.

[Trewarin]

My degree recommended that you not stop resistance training for women that were already doing it, that the reasoning was hormonal changes from going from active to sedentary.

Ditto starting it if they weren't already.
Just my 5c.