5 Myths And Realities Of Strength Training During Pregnancy

check_icon Research-backed

What does exercising during pregnancy mean to you? If you thought pregnancy is a time when you can only indulge in eating, and do nothing about keeping your body working out a bit, then you are wrong. Sedentary lifestyle during pregnancy could be harmful in that you not only become less flexible for the delivery but also don’t keep your body at optimal metabolism levels.

Research has also proven that exercise during pregnancy is good for your baby too. Moreover, strength training keeps pregnant women strong for as long as possible. Prenatal exercises help in speedy postpartum recovery and make the new mom feel good about herself.

However, for those who have never followed the prenatal exercise manual, there might be a lot of myths shrouding the benefits. Here we are debunking a few myths around pregnancy and strength training going hand in hand.

1. Myth: Lifting weight is harmful to you and your baby

Reality: It is just the contrary. Women who strength-train have shorter labor, fewer chances of premature delivery, fewer complications, and shorter stay at hospital. Your body gains flexibility through these exercises, and hence you experience lesser pressure during labor.

As for your baby, studies have proven that prenatal exercises can strengthen your baby’s blood vessels and train your baby’s heart to resist cardiovascular troubles in future.(1) It has also been proven that women who had moderate levels of exercises during pregnancy had babies who appear to mature faster.(2) It also helps in maturing the fetal lungs faster.(3)

2. Myth: Lifting weights will put you at the risk of injury

Reality: Well, yes, your body is not stable during pregnancy. Your body releases the hormone called relaxin, which makes your ligaments flexible so as to help during the entire gestational period and allow for delivery.

Therefore, you might not want to lift weights alone during pregnancy and do it with the help of a trainer. In fact, strength training will help you decrease the common pregnancy pains such as in the lower or upper back pain. It also helps you to keep your alignment optimal. A C-curve through the lumbar spine might be instrumental in aligning your baby for labor, but the alignment has to be optimal enough to prevent any hindrance to the baby’s movement during labor. Hip thrusts and glute bridges are known to enhance baby’s passage through your pelvis.

3. Myth: It’s not a good idea to rise the heart rate of 140bpm during exercise:

Reality: Your heart rate must not cross 140bpm because your muscles draw all the necessary oxygen giving little to the fetus. While this might be a valid concern, it is now proven that it’s ok for your heart rate to be higher than the 140bpm levels. The US Department of Health and Human Services now considers at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity spread through the week as a safe level.(4) If you are not breathless or struggling hard, then it means that you are very much within the endurance limits. You need to bear in mind that labor and delivery are a more stressful period, so you are only gearing up for it. There is no harm, however, to take a break for a few seconds and then resume your exercise until the next break whenever necessary.

4. Myth: Training the abs will put you at the risk of separating your abdominal wall.

Reality: Abdominal separation can indeed happen. The phenomenon is called Diastasis Recti or DR which occurs because of a growing fetus that might press onto your abdominal wall. The connective tissue that holds the rectus abdominals or the abdominal muscles might thin out thereby allowing them to stretch. But here is where you need a stronger core that can help you to tackle the DR and take you through the postpartum period. But you should definitely avoid doing core exercises such as crunches, sit-ups, straight leg raises, Pilates Movements and front planks or any exercises that might increase the intra-abdominal pressure.(5)

5. Myth: Yoga and walking are the best prenatal exercises.

Reality: Yes, yoga and walking are great during pregnancy. But that does not mean that they can undermine the added benefits of strength training because the idea is to have a strong body during pregnancy and strength training does just that.

Were there any exercises recommended by your doctor during pregnancy? Or how did you keep your body active and agile? Write back to us.

Was this article helpful?
thumbsupthumbsdown
The following two tabs change content below.