Whether you’re a fitness buff or someone who occasionally works out, if you’re pregnant, you might be seeking ways to stay active while also maintaining a safe pregnancy. In fact, exercising while pregnant is actually recommended by the Mayo Clinic, as it can reduce backaches, improve mood, aid sleep, and prevent excess weight gain.
But if lifting weights is your exercise of choice, is it safe to do while pregnant?
The benefits of weight lifting during pregnancy
How long can you lift weights while pregnant?
While there’s not a set time frame during which you can lift weights during pregnancy, it’s important to listen to your body, Cates said. She recommends stopping if you experience any pain, discomfort, cramping, or bleeding, and to seek a doctor’s recommendation if you’re unsure about a particular workout.
“As long as the individual hasn’t been given other recommendations by their doctors or health care providers, continuing to lift weights up until the end of their pregnancy is completely safe and often proves to be better for the individual, versus someone halting their exercise in the final month of pregnancy,” Cates said.
Workouts will likely need to be adjusted as the body changes, and it’s important no pregnant woman “push through” if they experience discomfort.
In general, too, pregnancy is not a time to kick workouts up a notch but to slow down a bit and listen to your body, Cates said.
“While pregnancy is not a time to increase intensity with exercise, it is a time when women can implement a new understanding of core connection to better support them throughout pregnancy and for life,” Cates said. “The majority of women will often find that a level of scaling back on exercises, weight, range of motion, and the like begins to take place around the second trimester.”
Can weight lifting cause a miscarriage?
Cates said that pregnant women can safely lift weights without the threat of miscarriage or a pregnancy loss. “As long as the individual is scaling back and listening to their body — if it shows an uncommon symptoms like sporadic spotting or bleeding after a workout — it is extremely rare that any type of healthy movement would be the cause of a loss,” she said.
