Fitness Friday: Prenatal Fitness -Beyond the Basics

Sara Haley is one of the fastest rising fitness pros in the U.S., a Reebok Master Trainer, and new sassy mommy! Sara shares her latest prenatal fitness tips with Sassy Moms in the City!

As a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, I have gone through prenatal/postnatal training. I knew that I would forever have clients who would become mothers, and I didn’t want my lack of knowledge to be a reason that I couldn’t continue training them during their pregnancies. Selfishly, I also knew it wouldn’t be too far down the road that my husband and I would want a child of our own, so I wanted to make sure I knew everything I could about keeping my pregnancy safe while working out.

Since going through that training, a few years back, with prenatal expert Annette Lang, I have trained several prenatal and postnatal women.  My experiences with them have been memorable and wonderful, but now that I’ve just had my first baby and experienced pregnancy firsthand, I feel differently about training through pregnancy.

The three biggest things I’ve learned through my pregnancy are:

1)   Every day is different and every pregnancy is different – just because you could do something yesterday doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it today, and just because you couldn’t do something today doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do it tomorrow.  You just have to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!

2)  Most pregnancy recommendations that trainers dish out are because they have simply read them.  They don’t necessarily always understand why a pregnant woman shouldn’t be doing them (mostly because they’ve never experienced pregnancy themselves); they basically know the “rules” that apply to keep a pregnant woman safe and comfortable, which in reality is enough. However, what I’ve realized is that most often certain exercises just become uncomfortable, which is why modifications are needed.  That said, there are definitely things that become unsafe at certain points of one’s pregnancy.  Again, listen to what your body tells you and educate yourself! (My favorite references are:  http://www.mayoclinic.com).

3)  I always believed it, but now that I am pregnant I’ve proven it to myself: The better shape you are in before your pregnancy the more you can do during your pregnancy.  Some of the recommendations that doctors, trainers, prenatal exercises videos, give are based on a woman who has not exercised at all or very minimally (because it is so important that you be active during your pregnancy – for the sake of the baby’s health and yours).  Unfortunately there are not a lot of guidelines out there for those of us who were incredibly active prior to pregnancy. The standard guidelines from most doctors and trainers these days is if your body is used to certain movement and conceived under those circumstances, it’s very likely you can continue some of what you’ve been doing in moderation.  I have found this to be very true.

Be sure to checkout Sara’s Preferred Prenatal Practices (PPP)

Don’t miss out on her fun fitness tips and workouts on @sarahaleyfit!