Strong and Sexy is our monthly feature from Molly Galbraith of Girls Gone Strong and it features questions from readers of the TPS newsletter. Molly will answer at least one question each month on topics geared towards our female readers. Ladies, get those questions ready and reply back to the newsletter with them.

What guidance do you have for a serious strength athlete that wants to continue training during her pregnancy? Current lifting includes big, compound lifts and strongman training. ~ Anonymous.
First and foremost, let me commend you on the fact that you are already doing the right stuff… hard and heavy training! Most women shy away from this type of training, and understandably so. Mainstream media fills our heads full of fluffy BS about “bulking up” and “not being feminine” when discussing heavy training.
Secondly, congrats on your new addition (or potential new addition if you’re not already pregnant). Seeking sound nutrition and training information will not only keep you looking and feel great during your pregnancy; it will increase your chances of having a healthy baby and a smoother birthing process.
While I have worked with pregnant clients in the past, I don’t have any children, so I turned to my good friends and hot mamas Julia Ladewski and Cassandra Forsythe-Pribanic for their advice.
Julia is a trainer, coach, Mom, and powerlifter who’s totaled elite in THREE weight classes. She trained hard and heavy through both of her pregnancies, so needless to say, she knows what she is talking about!
Cassandra is a PhD, RD, CSCS, and CISSN who has written two books, The New Rules of Lifting For Women, and the Women’s Health Perfect Body Diet. She is also on the advisory board of numerous websites like www.livestrong.com and The Personal Trainer Development Center and runs a fitness training facility in Connecticut all while raising her beautiful two year-old daughter.
I decided to pick their brains and ask them a few questions about strength training and pregnancy.
Me: What are one to two pieces of advice you would give a woman who is training heavy and trying to get pregnant?
Julia: If you’re already training hard and heavy, you should know your body pretty well. If you’re trying to get pregnant, you should be taking a prenatal vitamin and eating tons of greens and good protein. You should also start steering away from processed and artificial junk. Also make sure to keep your stress levels low, get lots of rest and keep exercising (and listening to your body).
Cassandra: They should ensure that they are getting in enough nutrients and calories from a whole food, unprocessed, high quality diet. If you’re trying to get pregnant, this is not the time to be restricting calories or trying to get super lean. Yes, you can be lean, but if you have to struggle and fight to be there, you will not be able to get pregnant, because it’s a huge stress on your body to do so.
Me: Are there any moves you would avoid during pregnancy?
Julia: Once you get big, avoid lying on your back. Switch to incline pressing exercises. Keep an eye on squats and lunges and, if you’re experiencing any pain with those, it’s time to stop.
Cassandra: Avoid any exercises that make you sick, nauseous or dizzy; each women is different. Most women need to avoid exercises that stretch her abdomen when her belly gets bigger (ab wheel, TRX supermans), and avoid excessive single-leg movements due to stability issues.
Me: Any exercises you find super-important during pregnancy?
Julia: Upper back strength was super important to me as my belly got bigger. It helped my posture a ton. Face pulls, band pull-aparts, inverted rows, chin-ups, seated cable rows, and one-arm DB rows are all great.
Cassandra: Supine hip extensions felt really good for me since I have SI joint instability and this helped pull everything back into place. I also really liked side planks to keep my core strong, since front planks became impossible. Squatting felt awesome, too.
Me: Any other words of advice?
Julia: Yes! Make sure you stay hydrated, especially during your workouts. You also need to monitor your heart rate. Most experts recommend keeping it below 140-160 depending on your fitness level, but as Cassandra mentions, it’s not quite as big of a deal as it was once thought to be. Really try to pay attention to how you feel. Also, be very cautious about stretching your hips during your pregnancy. The ligaments are loosening in preparation for childbirth, so you want to avoid overstretching them. Finally, if something doesn’t feel right or it causes pain, stop immediately. You know your body better than anyone.
Cassandra: Listen to YOUR body. You don’t have to become a heart rate watching freak, since there is much to show that heart rate control is not as important as they once thought. You’re going to become way more sensitive to being hot, so make sure you exercise within a good ventilated area and stop if you get too hot and feel uncomfortable. Also, if you still feel fine doing exercises flat on your back for a limited period of time (I continued to bench press and floor press, during my pregnancy until the very end), then you can, since research also shows during short-term supine exercises there are compensatory blood flow mechanisms that protect you and your baby (but, if you get sick on your back, of course, stop).
There you have it! Some very sounds words of wisdom from two of my favorite super strong and awesome mamas! Thanks for reading!