Yesterday I took Annette Lang’s “Training the Pregnant and Postpartum Client”. Annette was awesome! She really knew her topic and shared both studies and personal experiences with training pregnant clients. I liked that she counseled erring on the side of being too careful.
My day started with a little chaos as I dropped my kids off at a friend’s house (school was canceled) and then headed to the metro. Thankfully, the commute was one I knew well as the training was being held near my pre-kids office. (I realized after I changed trains that I had done it without even checking to see if I was going the right way. I was. Amazing how you can still remember how to do something when it’s been 9 years since you last did it!)
The class was an interesting combination of “I already knew that” and “wow, that’s cool to learn”. Much of the discussion about what happens to a woman’s body and how that affects exercise was a review for me. Having been pregnant multiple times, plus being a research geek, put me in a good place for understanding the information. (I was unique in that I was the only mom in the room, plus I was the only one not yet certified as a personal trainer.)
Most of the new information for me came in the way of exercise modifications. I had a bit of a learning curve due to not being a personal trainer, but it was great to see suggestions on how to modify exercises to accomodate the growing belly, ACOG’s recommmendations, and the various stresses on the body from pregnancy.
One of the most interesting things I learned was that ACOG had thrown out the “don’t let your heartrate get above 140” recommendation long before I was pregnant with Jones, yet that’s what I was told by my doctor and my trainer when I was pregnant. Instead, they recommend using RPE or the talk test as the most accurate indicators of exertion for a pregnant woman.
Of interest to runners, was an article she referenced from Runner’s World about Kara Goucher and Paula Radcliffe and their training while pregnant. Note how much they slowed down many of their workouts, plus they cut their mileage way back (like by 50%). If the elites are cutting back like that, think about what the rest of us mere mortals should do while pregnant. It certainly put things in perspective!
All in all, it was a great class. Annette was awesome. And I came away with a huge reading list. My inner geek is going “squeee”!
Interesting stuff 🙂
I worked strictly with pre and post natal clients for the first three years of my fitness career. Loved it. Still do. Glad you liked the course.
Yeah that 140bpm thing is all over the place still. I read a great book called "Exercising Through Your Pregnancy" by James Clapp and it was all about how much you can actually handle while pregnant. It was a fantastic book!
oooh, sounds fascinating. i'm not a mom but it's such an interesting topic, how your body changes!
Love how excited you are about your new learning!I finally did the Stylish Blogger Award post you gave me if you want to check it out.
That would be a really interesting class. I am so glad to hear they abandoned the 140 BPM rule–I kind of ignored it myself (woops!).
Like Nikki already said, the 140 HR is still what many doctors commonly repeat even though it's been dismissed by research, and she's right, the best book out there is "Exercising Through Your Pregnancy" by James Clapp. You've probably already read it, but if you're gonna be training preggo runners, you may want to give it a read; I certainly recommend it to anyone I know who's preggo and wants to remain physically active.
Really interesting. When I was pregnant with my kidlet, my OB's advice was "you can do what you've been doing, just slower." I wasn't running then, so my exercise was pretty low impact. Now that I've spent a year getting into running, I've been wondering what I'll do if/when I get pregnant again.
Wow, really interesting!
I exercised through all of my pregnancies. In my last I exercised up till 4 days before I gave birth. I never used a HRM – just worked at a more relaxed pace. It'[s nice to know that I was doing the right thing by instinct.
It makes me want to be pregnant again so I can experience running while pregnant 🙂 Sounds like a wonderful class!
I sit on my butt while pregnant, so the BPM doesnt really matter to me ;)But the post-natal comeback is challenging with the changes your body experienced over the prior 9 months … especially in the abs and lower back 🙁
Awesome! Glad you got so much out of the class, and lots more to learn too!
Can you share any book titles from the reading list?
oh i LOVE annette lang! and the 140 bpm rule is still out there and it drives me crazy! I'm on pregnancy #4, and my midwife tells me that every time. I just look at her and nod. (sigh)