The number one reason that women stop exercising during pregnancy is they feel like it could be harmful to both baby and mom. They say there could be a lack of blood flow and oxygen supply to the baby, ligaments become lax and too unstable to train, it can effect the amount of nutrition to the baby, body temperature is elevated to an unsafe level, or there is too much mechanical stress to sustain. This has been a long held belief by many women, and it’s pretty similar to the myth that strength training for youth athletes is harmful too. At 1RM, we have written articles based on science and practical application that youth strength training is perfectly safe and actually beneficial for athletes. In this post, we will show that science also supports training during pregnancy.

Do a simple google search on training during pregnancy, and you aren’t going to find a lot of substantial material. Sure, you will find plenty of articles telling you to walk or do yoga during pregnancy, but you will be hard-pressed to find articles on actually training during pregnancy. We are a sports performance gym; we focus on performance. We're going to walk through training during pregnancy and how you can legitimately train with "a bun in the oven". And by train, I mean lift heavy, play sports, go hiking, and stay strong. This article won't get into the detailed science and research on the physiologicial response to exercise when pregnant, but stay tuned for that article.