Discuss your exercise routine with your doctor or midwife before you start. As with any form of exercise in pregnancy, it's important to listen to your body and to stop if you feel too tired or uncomfortable. Never exercise to the point of exhaustion.
Strength training is safe and one of the best ways to minimize aches and pains. Weight machines are ideal, especially for gym newbies, because they control your range of motion. "During pregnancy, your joints get looser, and it's easy to move outside of your normal range," says Jeffreys. However, if you're accustomed to doing free-weight exercises, you can continue.
Pregnant weightlifter Katja Harjanne is less than two months from her due date but she refuses to stop lifting heavy weights. The 39-year-old CrossFit enthusiast is pregnant with her first child, but with the support of her fiancee Jason Depner, 28, she is continuing her gruelling regime which sees her lift 100 kilo weights. The couple, from Brighton, believe that cross fit has benefited Katja’s pregnancy by keeping her and the baby healthy and strong.
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