As a general rule of thumb if you are already an active person it is totally safe for you to continue with physical activity during pregnancy. Staying fit and healthy has some great benefits for you and your baby, as long as you have the go ahead from your doctor/midwives.
Here at Iceni we will of course take special care as coaches to ensure that you are moving correctly, and adjust any movements as necessary to make sure you get the best out of your sessions.
In the beginning you may feel able to continue on without too many changes to your training, however as the pregnancy progresses we may need to factor in:
- The overall health and safety of the mother and child
- The Physical changes that impede some of the movement patterns
- Hormonal changes that affect muscles, tendons and joints
- Changes by trimester
As with all our sessions, we can assess each individual and adapt movements and workouts to suit each person. Being pregnant may mean for example you are not comfortable or physically cannot move in the usual movement pattern for certain exercises. Here are some examples of some adjustments that we can use for different movements:
Squat - It might start to become uncomfortable to squat to full depth or it may be that the bump just gets in the way! We can then adjust the depth and/or the load of the squats for comfort, or we could perform lunges instead.
Sit ups - We would prefer to eliminate movements that involve flexion, therefore we would recommend Plank/Side plank holds, or even a static hollow hold.
Weightlifting - It may be that using a barbell for certain lifts becomes uncomfortable, so we could use Dumbbells instead. Or we can reduce the discomfort by lifting from a higher position rather than from the floor, and we can reduce the load.
Skipping - If jumping is not an option for you then there is plenty you can still do, box step ups, kettlebell swings or calories on a bike will all get your heart rate up still.
Our main priority is to make you feel as though you are getting the most out of your session, and walk away feeling good!
Here are some guidelines set out by the UK Chief Medical Officer:
