Pregnant Client

[gchen23]

One of my clients has recently discovered that she is pregnant. High risk pregnancy at that! We had been doing really intense training, but her being high risk has changed everything. we no longer use weights, just body weight, and have lightened everything we do. just maintenance, i guess. any suggestions?

[SeaSiren]

I bet she is thrilled about her blessing

Has she been cleared by her OB?

Careful not to raise body temp to high and no exercises while lying flat on back. Stick to exercises that don't incorporate the core as much.

I'm pregnant now and trained hard and heavy prior, so have taken a huge interest in proper training during pregnancy. The main thing to remember is it's not just mom who you are looking out for body temp and oxygen issues will effect baby.

[flexapeal]

Don't be afraid to use weights. She can even do moderately heavy stuff. No laying on the stomach exercises and no overhead movements cause this could strangle the baby. She can even do cardio at a moderate pace. As long as she takes her preggy vitamins, drinks lots of water and gets plenty of rest she can still work out with the best of them. Don't be afraid to make her sweat.

[flexapeal]

Originally Posted by flexapeal

Don't be afraid to use weights. She can even do moderately heavy stuff. No laying on the stomach exercises and no overhead movements cause this could strangle the baby. She can even do cardio at a moderate pace. As long as she takes her preggy vitamins, drinks lots of water and gets plenty of rest she can still work out with the best of them. Don't be afraid to make her sweat.

As she gets further along limit the amount of weights to 25 lbs.

[BrotherWolf]

Originally Posted by mohammed-abdul

am just kidding id tell her to do jump rope instead

yeah but cork it up or the baby might fall out

[zalesguy]

Nothing changes until the third trimester. Are you certified? Don't you remember this stuff?

[bnice500]

Originally Posted by gchen23

One of my clients has recently discovered that she is pregnant. High risk pregnancy at that! We had been doing really intense training, but her being high risk has changed everything. we no longer use weights, just body weight, and have lightened everything we do. just maintenance, i guess. any suggestions?

Nothing on the back after the third month. For example, instead of dumbbell chest press move her to the vertical chest press. Reason for this is the increasingly larger uterus can restrict blood to the heart. Nothing supine.

[gchen23]

Originally Posted by zalesguy

Nothing changes until the third trimester. Are you certified? Don't you remember this stuff?

I am newly certified, and know that I still have a lot to learn. The course I studied didn't go into indepth detail about pregnancy. especially hugh risk pregnancy. I just needed some input. Thank you all for the advice!

[kserajuddin]

I had a few pregnant clients pop-up all at once (wasn't my fault, lol) - and brushed up on a lot of info about it, but still didn't feel comfortable about training them -

I'm an intense trainer too, and was afraid to push them hard - to me, feeling uneasy about what I was doing just wasn't worth it -

[sargefit]

Take her into a pool and do an aqua session. You can do both cardio (running through the water in differrent directions) and strength (with aqua dumbells using the resistance of the water). It will help to keep her temperature down too.

[ChrisTurk]

Heart rate monitor and keep her below 140bpm

[shawnbfitness]

Originally Posted by zalesguy

Nothing changes until the third trimester. Are you certified? Don't you remember this stuff?

It might be different through different organizations, but I learned no exercises on the back after the first trimester because you could risk affecting the sciatic nerve. Obviously, you want to stay away from any exercises that could put pressure on the abdomen. I wouldn't push her to the point of very labored breathing - don't need to cut the supply of oxygen to the client or their baby too much. I understand that it's a ways off, but it's always a good idea to start work on strengthening the hip area and pelvic floor muscles to help prepare for labor.

[kimm4]

Originally Posted by gchen23

One of my clients has recently discovered that she is pregnant. High risk pregnancy at that! We had been doing really intense training, but her being high risk has changed everything. we no longer use weights, just body weight, and have lightened everything we do. just maintenance, i guess. any suggestions?

This is a great article for women who are pregnant and training. Maybe you can use it for future clients. Where she's high risk, that does change things and she needs to check with her doctor 1st.

http://www.davedraper.com/hugo-train...-pregnant.html

[BestYearEver]

I did not do weights while pregnant but did a pregnancy aerobics class -- pretty low impact. the instructor was very smart and also pregnant.

some things I remember. She will need more warmup -- you not only have more blood volume but more synovial (sp?) fluid in the joints. Need more time to warm up more fluid. This also makes pregnant women more likely to develop impingements like carpel tunnel syndrome -- any assisted pushups or wall pushups (late in pregnancy) we used fists instead of flat hands.

Her joints will become looser because of relaxin -- hormone that primarily is increased to relax the pelvic joints for delivery. This means gentle stretching. Our instructor also discouraged twisting moves of hips/pelvis -- partly because of the loose joints but also because...

Her center of gravity will change throughout pregnancy -- this is really noticable toward the second half of pregnancy. Makes for some clumsiness and balance issues.

The main reason I heard from doctor/instructor about not sleeping on back is that the weight of the uterus can reduce blood flow to the placenta -- she absolutely does not want to do this after 1st trimester.

Be careful with ab work -- the muscles can split vertically. Not sure if they will grow back together after pregnancy.

We carefully monitored heartrate 2 or 3 times during an hourlong class. Definitely a reduced target rate but, of course, I have no idea what it was.

In a high risk pregnancy, she really, really needs to get approval from the doctor and very specific guidelines about what she can or cannot do. Being active during pregnancy is so important but infinitely less important than delivering a healthy baby in 7 or 8 months.

Good luck!!!

[carl.c]

You said high risk: what is the problem? Did she get clerance nad have you taked to her doctor?

[MarkTrainer]

When dealing with high risk situations, always have the client go to her doctor. Even better is if your client will let you speak with her doctor so that between the three of you, you can determine what the best route to take is.
All courses, no matter how in depth, are just that, courses. These are not applicable to any and all situations. Always err on the side of caution when health is at stake, especially someones health, (the baby's), who doesn't have a choice.
Good Luck.

[-xTreMeGAiN-]

Originally Posted by SeaSiren

I bet she is thrilled about her blessing

Has she been cleared by her OB?

Careful not to raise body temp to high and no exercises while lying flat on back. Stick to exercises that don't incorporate the core as much.

I'm pregnant now and trained hard and heavy prior, so have taken a huge interest in proper training during pregnancy. The main thing to remember is it's not just mom who you are looking out for body temp and oxygen issues will effect baby.

that

[flexapeal]

There are tons of examples on this site. Just do some research if your worried. Don't just go through the motions. You can still get a good workout while being preggy. Also a lot of women think they need tons of more calories....not true. They only need about 200 to 300 more a day and if they don't get that its ok. A woman should only gain about 15 to 20 lbs while being pregnant.

[SeaSiren]

Originally Posted by kimm4

This is a great article for women who are pregnant and training. Maybe you can use it for future clients. Where she's high risk, that does change things and she needs to check with her doctor 1st.

http://www.davedraper.com/hugo-train...-pregnant.html

Fantastic link.


Here is the breakdown on weight:

Baby 8 pounds
Placenta 2-3 pounds
Amniotic fluid 2-3 pounds
Breast tissue 2-3 pounds
Blood supply 4 pounds
Fat stores for delivery and breastfeeding 5-9 pounds
Uterus increase 2-5 pounds
Total 25 to 35 pounds