Recently a pregnant woman had posted a selfie doing weightlifting on social media. And immediately she came under criticism, with lots of debate on whether it’s safe to do weightlifting during pregnancy. Now by breaking the ice, I have come up with 3 reasons why weightlifting is important during pregnancy and also with some myths of pregnancy and muscle building. Read on to find out more!
Lea Ann Ellison, posted weightlifting images that caused quite a stir and garnered around 2000 comments, mostly with criticism for endangering baby’s life.
Source: breaking muscle.com
So here is the most debated question – Is weightlifting dangerous during pregnancy?
Well, it’s safe until and unless expecting ladies don’t lift heavy weights. As per doctors, Lea shouldn’t have problem lifting weights but she was a pictured lifting heavy weight which isn’t recommended at all.
However, this doesn’t mean every expecting woman should go for strength training as everybody is unique and responds differently to exercises.
There is no one-size-fits-all prenatal fitness paradigm.
While some pregnant women get benefited by weightlifting, others stay fit through prenatal yoga and lighter exercises. While there are women from lower class who are so busy doing physical work that they never find the necessity of working out.
Weight Training for Pregnancy:
Nevertheless, here are 3 top reasons that are enough to prove why it’s safe to lift weights during pregnancy. Continue reading!
1. Gaining Mental Strength
Getting prepared for the D day i.e. delivering baby is not an easy task. The expecting women should be mentally as well as physically prepared for this. During labor pain, you never know how your body would respond and what you’re going to feel. The mental toughness which you would have acquired apart from building strength muscles during weightlifting would make the process bit easier. Your mental strength would encourage you that your body isn’t fragile and that it’s quite tough to push the baby out without much pain.
Usually women freak out when they start experiencing hard contractions. The strength training helps you gain confidence on your body and this is quite necessary for every pregnant woman.
2. Relieve from Back Pain
Under professional guidance, proper muscle building can be quite useful as it prevents back pain, sciatica and other common aches felt during pregnancy. Some expecting ladies experience upper back pain. By weightlifting such physical ailments can be avoided, thereby reducing pregnancy discomfort.
3. Improves Physical Stamina that’s Required for Labor Pain
Not only weightlifting enables expecting ladies with mental strength and reduces back pain, but also improves physical stamina. It requires lot of stamina to walk around, especially if you had lengthy early labor.
While weightlifting should be focused for bigger picture, meanwhile pregnant women should consider natural movement, good alignment habits etc. They should including regular walking along with squats, lunges, single limb exercises etc. but only on doctor’s advice.
source:girlsgostrong.com
Here are some myths about weightlifting during pregnancy. Continue reading!
Weightlifting endangers baby’s life. We’ve already discussed how an appropriate amount of weights only help the expecting moms in several ways.
[sc:mediad]
Ab training may separate abdominal wall. Fact is proper abdominal training is necessary during pregnancy because of weight gain and changing posture. Abdominal separation is caused due to Diastasis Recti (DR) which occurs when the developing fetus pressing onto mother’s abdominal wall.
Disclaimer: The above exercises are only fitness suggestions. Please consult your doctor/trainer before adding them to your fitness regime.
Hope the above mentioned 3 reasons why weightlifting is important during pregnancy help you clear some related myths and encourage you to go for safe and healthy strength building session!
