What does training from 0 through 12 weeks pregnant look like? Well let’s first be clear, it’s really more like 4 or 5 weeks to 12 weeks pregnant. That is about as early as you can find out that you are pregnant since our pregnancies are counted from our last, first day of our period. There’s about two weeks of your cycle before you ovulate and when you could conceive. Then it takes about 2 weeks to be able to know if you are pregnant! For me personally for my first pregnancy, I knew I was pregnant between 4 to 5 weeks. I am very aware of my body and how I feel so I knew something was different. It was almost the same for my second pregnancy! I felt something was off and was just over 5 weeks pregnant by the time I took a pregnancy test.
Sooo to get back to the main subject! What does our training look like during this time? It isn’t going to look too much different if we are feeling good enough to make it to the gym. Usually in the 1st trimester we are super tired and tend to have morning sickness. Pretty much if you have been hung over that’s how you feel 24/7. (or that is how I felt up until really 14 weeks). In our training, we want to focus on what is going to be best to set up ourselves for recovery after birth! The first thing we will start to exclude is extreme flexion. This will include sit ups, toe to bars, knees to chest, Russian twists, mountain climbers, and even American KB swings (unless you can keep your spine in a neutral position throughout the entire movement).
This one seems to be hard to follow for anybody who loves functional fitness, especially in the 1st trimester. We think “well I still can do those so why not?!”. The reason behind removing these movements during your entire pregnancy is because our body’s as soon as it becomes pregnant, it starts to work to “open up” your belly. It’s already starting to get ready for a baby to grow inside of you. So there really isn’t a reason to over work our bodies in that plane of work. Also if we overwork these movements, it could lead to possibly more severe diastasis rectus abdominis or separated abs after birth. So ladies, let’s make sure we don’t make the possibility of separated abs worse than it could be!
When it comes to running I would make them intervals or run/walk instead of lots of volume. Now this is a bit dependent on if you are purely a runner. Because your volume is going to be much different than someone who does functional fitness or just lifts a lot of weights and adds some cardio with running to their routine. If that’s more your speed then intervals are going to be best. If you are a runner, then I would suggest making sure not to overdo it on mileage. Again in your 1st trimester your body is doing a ton to build your baby so taking it easy is totally ok!
If you are a weightlifter or you dabble in weightlifting, this is a time to focus on intention and technique of these lifts. Now honestly I believe this to be a true statement any day of the week. But during pregnancy it’s even more reason! So no crazy heavy weights or personal record attempts and lose your weightlifting belt for the mean time. You can keep the weights challenging! But now we want to learn/work to create our own weight belt with our breath and create our own stability. This will help us a ton with any lift or movement and will help us become stronger after our pregnancy!
Want more details on how you should train reach out to me directly and email me at nora@sweetmamafitness.com
Sweet Mama Fitness 