Weightlifting Safely During Pregnancy: Squats & Abdominal Exercises (23 Weeks)

Question
Hi, I am 23 weeks along with my first pregnancy, 31 years of age. My pregnancy is very healthy. Never once did i experience any morning sickness. I am a very regular gym goer, a minimum of 4 days a week, weights and cardio. My body is very accustom to working out. My question is with squats. How safe are they this far along in my pregnancy? And also is doing abdominal excercises safe as well? Its very important to me to stay strong and as fit as i can be with out any harm to my baby. i have reduced the weight in all my weight training per my dr. but any advice you can give my on my leg workout to keep legs and butt firm would be great. On fridays i do my leg day and i use to do alot, but now i cut down to squats with 5 lbs on each side of the bar, lunges with no weight, hamstring curls and quad extensions, and a glute excercise. What surprised me is how sore i was the next day, even with the less weight. and is it safe for me this far along to doing my abs still? i just use an excercise ball for them right now, and have reduced to no weight at all, just to be safe. Any advice you have will be great. Thank you!

Answer
At 20 weeks gestation the placenta stops growing, so it's functional capacity is now set. Therefore you should not try to increase your cardiovascular fitness level. As your pregnancy continues, your baby's need for oxygen will continue to rise, and in response you should slowly begin to taper down the intensity of you aerobic workouts. You'll notice that your rate of perceived exertion will also rise.

Always stay in a moderate cardio zone, at whatever rate you perceive as "somewhat difficult."

Squats are OK as long as you have functional control of your Transverse Abdominis. Since you are very fit and on your first pregnancy, the odds are very good that you are carrying "small" and that you tummy has not really "popped out" yet. But once this happens, and it will happen soon for you if it has not already, then the abdominal wall will become too stretched out to provide functional support for your spine. At this point, I would advice you to stop weighted squats.

If you have great technique, you might be able to perform isometric squats (with the spine on a high diagonal) throughout your pregnancy. Because of ligament laxity, lunges, especially forward lunges, and step lunges, are risky.

Certainly, you should be performing Transverse Abdominis isolations at every workout, along with basic core stabilization exercises that utilize the neutral spine position. Seated compound rows, with a cable pull are another "must do" exercise throughout pregnancy. You can also use fitness bands for this one.

As to abs, no more crunches. Exercises that flex the upper spine against the force of gravity can do more harm than good, and may cause abdominal separation. No more obliques curls either.

For abs, you should now perform exercises that flex the lower spine only, no weights. You can do these types of exercises on the ball, bench, or standing. Simple seated spine rotations, starting with the spine elongated in the neutral position are a way to work the obliques safely in the last half of pregnancy

For more info on strength training during pregnancy go to:
http://befitmom.com/strength_training.html

For more info on aerobics during pregnancy go to:
http://befitmom.com/aerobic_exercise.html