Elite Runners Train Hard Though Their Pregnancies
A "friend" of mine of Facebook recently sent me this AWESOME article in Runners World magazine online about two elite female runners, Paula Radcliffe and Kara Goucher, who trained super hard all through their pregnancies.
As I was reading their interview, I was nodding my head in aggrement about so many things they talked about such as:
- The extreme fatigue in the first trimester
- The judgements from others about being active while pregnant
- The pain of labor.... ooh boy
- The way exercise makes you feel good - and when you're pregnant, you NEED lots of things to make you feel great because in truth, you feel like a bloated whale
- And, finally, why training as hard as they could during pregnancy made their pregnancies and labors that much more easy and tolerable
My favorite quote by Kara was about how even though others told her to "be careful" numerous times, she listened to her body and did what made it feel good:
"....And then one of my neighbors pulled up the other day and she's like, "Make sure you don't lift anything—a friend of mine went into labor early because she lifted a box." I know she meant well, but she would drop dead if she could see me in the weight room, because I'm still squatting, and throwing medicine balls, and doing everything I did before. Some people are shocked. But our bodies are used to working hard, and I'm not doing as much as I normally did. It's just all relative."
EXACTELY! Working out while you're pregnant IS all relative. Sure, I kicked my own butt pretty hard while I was pregnant (me pictured above slamming a medicine ball at 30 weeks pregnant), but it wasn't anything I wasn't already used to. Plus, if it made me feel nauseous, or dizzy, I stopped or backed off. The same should go for any active woman who exercises while she's pregnant. If it hurts, or makes you feel ill, don't push it. Your body does know best... even if your neighbors don't :)
You can read the whole article here:
Enjoy!
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The New Rules of Lifting for Women
Finally, a weight-training book that doesn't treat women like weaklings! The New Rules of Lifting for Women is for the woman who's ready to throw down the "Barbie" weights and start a strength and conditioning program that will give her the body of her dreams. The book puts to rest the shop-worn notion that women who train with heavy weights will bulk up. Nonsense!
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Cassandra Forsythe is the author of Women's Health first-ever diet and fitness plan book. In the Perfect Body Diet, she helps you understand why women are different from each other and how they can address these differences with a personalized meal plan to help them achieve their own perfect body. She's incorporated a revolutionary hunger-reducing aid, that will help women feel fuller, eat less, and stay satisfied while losing weight safely and effectively.
Comments for This Entry
Yes, that's the thing you are doing what your body is used to. A lot of women didn't exercise so intensely before pregnancies and probably wouldn't want to start whilst pregnant. I think I'm still a bit concerned about exercising too much whilst pregnant. Its probably unfounded but maybe something that's been drummed into me.
Cassandra, I really love this strong movement to counter caricatured ideas about pregnant women as being frail and helpless. I know that for some women, pregnancies can come with complications and difficulties, but I wholeheartedly agree that rather than stigmatizing women who chose an active pregnancy, we should applaud women for doing whatever they need to do (whether its resting or hauling butt) to reach optimal health and well-being. I think you hit the nail on the head: know thyself!
I don't see any babes in our future for now (barring surprises), but I know for sure that based on the excellent examples in my own family, treating yourself with the utmost respect and honouring your intuition go far in keeping yourself/your baby healthy!
I love this post. I'm a power lifting and fully intend to continue training through my pregnancy (when I get to that point in my journey). I am nervous about the comments that people will make seeing me lift heavy. I know it's not socially exceptable, but it's so encouraging to see this movement of active moms taking over. I recently came across a crossfit moms site devoted to pregnant women doing crossfit workouts. It's fantastic! Keep it up ladies!!!!
I know what you mean about the looks and comments. I just got home from a CrossFit workout, and I modified it to suite my needs (step-ups- not box jumps, rowing-not running) and I got 2 'be careful"s and I always notice when people are looking at me with worried expressions on their faces. Often they are the ones I look at with a worried expression on MY face because they are using really bad form and are certainly going to injure themselves.
And it's also not my first pregnancy, so I know a bit about what my body feels like during this time and I take slow what I need to. But seeing the One-Rep Max numbers sometimes hurts my ego. On the other hand, by next summer I'll be even stronger because I'm working with so much extra weight for the winter!
I ran, biked, swam, did weights and kickboxing while pregnant with 3 kids and had full term healthy babies with no meds. I'm convinced the exercise routine I was used to got me through. My kids are all healthy, active, spirited children, well, adults, now.
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