how much can you lift?

I get this question ALL the time when I work with new prenatal people.

"How much weight can I lift when I'm pregnant?"

My response is this- You can lift as MUCH as you want. If you can maintain or increase your resistance, great! If you need to scale back and regress certain exercises, great! There are no current limitations from ACOG.

It truly depends on the following:

1- Can you stay within a 6-7 on the 1-10 RPE scale? (Meaning the rate of perceived exertion- how challenging an exercise is from laying on the floor to running up a mountain with a weight vest- feels.)

This means you should be able to comfortably breathe, hum, talk, or sing. This not the time to challenge yourself to a 1-Rep Max, but you can certainly lift to your 60-85% average and mix up the rep scheme so you can lift and breathe.

2- Can you maintain proper form and posture?

3- Can you breathe so you can properly manage your deep core? As in, no doming or coning in your abdominal wall?

All of these I take into consideration while training my clients. My personal belief when it comes to prenatal fitness is that we should be able to maintain and build strength in order to prepare ourselves for a healing recovery from birth and live in functional and capable bodies during postpartum and beyond. So yes, lift as much as you can as long as you are considering these 3 things!

Have more questions for me? Reach out here and I'll answer yours in my next newsletter! Want more information on Prenatal Fitness and learn what Trimester-Specific guidelines there are? Get a copy of my complimentary book! Click here for your copy.