Exercising While Pregnant: The Do’s & Don’ts

20 Feb 2019

Exercise during pregnancy is becoming quite a controversial topic mostly because women don’t know what they can and cannot do. The truth is that exercise is EXTREMELY safe and highly ENCOURAGED throughout pregnancy. Even if you did not exercise regularly before it is advised that 150 minutes of moderate levels of physical activity per week will not only have health advantages for mom but also for baby. Now if you have never exercised regularly this is not the time to decide to train for a marathon but getting into a regular routine of cardio and weight training is highly recommended.

The single MOST IMPORTANT thing to focus on during the prenatal and postpartum period is creating a stable core. The core takes the major brunt of change throughout pregnancy and lack of core strength and stability is what can cause negative side effects such as low back pain or post partum injuries.

The controversies and the major problems we see in exercising while pregnant and postpartum is the type of exercises performed. When people think of core exercises they assume sit ups, which is a NO. During pregnancy you want to avoid any type of exercise that puts the body into a flexed (forward bending) position, which means bringing the trunk or upper body closer to the legs. This involves exercises such as sit ups, crunches, mountain climbers, V-ups, L-sits, toes to bar etc. Any exercise that creates coning of the abdomen should be avoided. The goal is to maintain as much strength and stability in the abdominal muscles to maintain the integrity of the linea aba (the fibrous band between the rectus abdominis) that creates the diastasis recti. Getting a diastasis recti is inevitable during pregnancy but we want to maintain the structure and integrity of it so that abdominal strength and stability can return fully post baby. These core exercises should be replaced with other ones that create stability throughout the full core such as planks, bird dog, dead bugs etc.

For lifters: In general, weight lifting is okay to continue throughout pregnancy UNLESS the growing belly impedes the regular barbell path. This will become the case for movements such as cleans and snatches. As soon as the belly is large enough that the barbell path in regular form would need to be altered than the exercise should be stopped and replaced by other variations. FORM SHOULD NEVER BY COMPROMISED because of variation in the body. Also, make sure you are able to do each lift without having to use accessory aids such as weight belts, bands, wraps etc. If you feel the need to start to use aids due to changes in the body the exercise should be changed to a different variation.

The general rule is that it is safe to perform any exercise you would regularly do UNLESS it creates any pelvic floor dysfunction (i.e. leaking urine or pubic pain) as well as any other exercise that may create coning of the abdomen. Working with a trainer who understands the changes that are happening throughout pregnancy is extremely important and highly encouraged as well as working with health professionals who can assess for stability, full movement and muscular imbalances. A healthy and active pregnancy generally leads to an easier post partum recovery and exercise is a huge component of a healthy pregnancy!

In health,

Dr. Shannon Bloch

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