I mentioned earlier that I was going to have a session also with the prenatal personal trainer at the gym I joined, and indeed I did! Here are some thoughts about this experience and the strength training program we planned for my second trimester.
The reason for meeting with two different prenatal PTs was that I’ve realised there are many schools of thought when it comes to prenatal exercise… I decided to gather as much information as possible and then plan my workouts based on the consensus view, common sense, and how my body feels/reacts to certain things.
The first prenatal PT I met around week 8 was a mum of two and she clearly had a quite gentle approach to training. Her primary mission was to encourage expecting mothers to exercise even a little bit. She reminded me of a pilates instructor with her focus on deep muscles and subtle but effective exercises. She paid a lot of attention to supportive muscles, the pelvic floor and the correct posture, as well as what all this would mean as my pregnancy would progress. I had my session with her at my home, using equipment she brought with her (resistance band for example).
While she was a lovely person and clearly knew what being pregnant felt like, I felt like her training plan would be better suited for someone who had not been very active prior to pregnancy. But I’ll definitely try to remember especially her advice about posture, breathing and drinking enough water during my workouts.
The second prenatal PT I met at week 12 seemed very experienced in weight training but while being a trained prenatal trainer, she was not a mum herself and thus her knowledge about pregnancy was very theoretical. In addition, it did not sound like she had been training many pregnant women before. I’m saying this based on her (perceived) lack of confidence and funny questions about how it feels to be pregnant. Additionally, anyone who claims a pregnant woman can perfectly well continue her pre-pregnancy training during first trimester clearly has not experienced the first trimester… (Note: while this statement could theoretically be true, I believe many pregnant women find the early pregnancy symptoms at least a little limiting!)
That being said, I did find the session useful. We went through a weight training programme which targets the main muscle groups of the body, with emphasis on glutes and legs to support the shift forward of the body’s centre of gravity during pregnancy. Maintaining upper body strength is also important to be able to lift and carry around the baby when s/he arrives!
Below is the set of exercises (and targeted muscle groups) I now use as the core of my resistance training program, modifying and adding exercises depending on how I feel on that day (note: core is activated in all exercises).
Gym programme
- Pull ups, machine assisted (since I can’t do them without) – Upper body : chest, upper back, arms
- Deadlifts, barbell – Upper and lower body : lower back, abs, glutes, several leg muscles
- Low row, barbell – Upper body : several back and arm muscles
- Squats, machine – Lower body : quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes
- Shoulder trisets (Flys 1. to the front 2. to the sides 3. bent over and fly to the sides from front), pair of dumbbells – Upper body: shoulders, chest, upper back, abs
- Donkey kicks, body weight – Lower body : glutes, hamstrings, abs (stabilising core muscles)
- Leg raises – Core
- Leg criss cross – Core
After 20 weeks I am not meant to lie on my back after which the last two will not be appropriate. I also plan to swap the barbell to dumbbells once my belly grows big enough to get in the way. Another consideration is to adjust squat/lunge depth to less deep to limit the risk of injury due to losing my balance, which will apparently reduce as the pregnancy progresses.
For the past month I’ve been feeling really good and have been very keen on exercising. I plan to continue as long as it feels good and modify when I feel the need. Closer to the third trimester I will have another session with a prenatal PT to adjust my plan based on what’s safe and how I feel at that point.
Sweaty training!
xoxoxo,
Sini