Lifting for Two; the first trimester

Weeks 0-6 – first trimester

General overview

By week 6, baby has grown to 0.2 inches long (about the size of a pea or lentil).

Like most people, for the majority of the first 6 weeks I had no idea I was pregnant.

At week 6 I’m weighing 127.9lbs, approx. 2-3lbs heavier than the weight I ‘normally’ walk-around at.  

Prior to falling pregnant I had been preparing for a photoshoot, so I was working out 5 times a week, utilising a slow tempo and following progressive overload principles (this is more days per week than I would normally do). I was sticking to maintenance food intake, which for me is about 2,400 calories a day, or just below, with a high carb focus.

Workouts

For the first 4+ weeks of the pregnancy I didn’t manage to workout AT ALL!!! I tend to train early in the morning, but I just couldn’t get out of bed during this time. I assumed I was really run down.

I was still cycling to and from work three days a week, but it felt harder than normal.

From about week 5 I managed to complete a couple of rolling out and stretching sessions, a very low intensity lower body bodyweight session, followed by a light weighted session. These all felt like hard work, pretty unenjoyable and a bit of a chore!

From weeks 6 onwards I was lifting weights again, but I swapped my usual 4 x heavy lifting sessions a week to 5 x shorter, lighter sessions. I was lifting somewhere in the region of 60% of my normal amount, and my rep range increase from 8-10 to 15-20. My overall workout volume and intensity was less. At this stage I didn’t have to swap out any exercises.

Engagement and motivation with my workouts were generally low. Getting workouts in was mind over matter. I found I was quite breathlessness when lifting. Nothing extreme, but notably harder than normal and I was needing longer rest periods between sets.

Energy

Low low low!! I was exhausted and random naps started pretty early on. It wasn’t unusual for me to wake up on the couch an hour later wondering what had happened…In all honesty, not being able to do much left me feeling quite low.

When I found out I was pregnant I had to cut my coffee intake to just 1 a day, literally overnight! Doing that on top of already feeling exhausted was fairly brutal. I’m a veteran coffee drinker, fuelled by a stint of intermittent fasting years back and four years of evening classes at university, so this is the least amount of coffee I've ever drunk as an adult!

I found it quite hard to really get myself going in the evening or to do anything productive. When I did, I would crash hard after and it would have an impact on me the next day.

Food

I suddenly couldn’t stomach my protein shake, which was my normal go to in the morning, and a decent chunk of my protein intake for the day given I’m vegan.

I was fairly hungry from the get-go and found myself eating earlier e.g. I'd easily eat dinner at 6pm rather than my normal 8pm.

Other than that, nothing changed.

Body

No significant changes - some bloating.

Goals/Focus

Lockdown had started lifting so I wanted to reconnect with all the things I love doing that I’d missed the most, like indoor climbing and hiking. I decided to continue with these things even when I found out I was pregnant, especially given that I knew over the coming months this might be more difficult for me as my centre of gravity and balance would probably change.

Weeks 7-12 – first trimester

General overview

Baby grows from 0.4 inches (the size of a blueberry) to 2.1 inches long and 58 grams heavy (the size and weight of a lime).

During this stage I definitely fall back on my long-term habits, relying on autopilot to get up and exercise and make healthier food choices. I realise how grateful I should be to have such a solid foundation of exercising, because I'm not sure I'd be very active without that.

Pregnancy has taught me that rest isn’t a luxury, but essential. Baby is giving me some much-needed space to reflect on where I place value, and to consider the trap that society pulls us into by glamorising being busy and placing greater value on productivity over well-being.

There were lots of tears and frustrations during these weeks, as my hormones changed and my once motivated and active self became tired and sluggish. I felt overwhelmed by being a pregnant non-binary person, as I found myself propelled into a world of gendered language and expectations. During these weeks my inability to concentrate, be proactive or resemble anything like my usual self was challenging.

Minimal weight change, with my average weight increasing from 127.4 (week 7) to 128.6 (week 12). 

Workouts

I keep my lifting sessions to shorter, lighter sessions - when I’m able to workout that is. Some weeks I hit 5 sessions and feel fantastic, other weeks getting just one session in is a major achievement. I’m still lifting somewhere in the region of 60% of my normal amount and keeping my reps high. I’ve dropped the weight I’m lifting because I typically use the Valsalva maneuver for heavier lifts (holding your breath during weightlifting which helps to provide core strength and helps protect the spine), which you can’t do when you’re pregnant as it can increase your abdominal pressure too much and place too much pressure on your pelvic floor. Otherwise, there are no exercises that I’ve cut out of my routine as yet.

I try to spend this time focusing on new breathing techniques during lifts, introduce daily connection breathing and pelvic floor exercises.

I try and see this as an opportunity for refining form, trying new exercises, having fun with single leg exercises etc. whilst I can’t lift in my usual way. Despite this, my workouts don’t feel as fun because I like lifting heavy and so my new workouts feel a bit mundane.

Energy

Energy remained low, and at times this felt relentless. I’ve never felt fatigue like it before and even though I tried to fight it I would quickly need to rest after doing near enough anything - there were whole days at a time spent on the sofa trying to rest. On the plus, tiredness and nausea were really my only main symptoms.

It felt hard knowing whether to rest and when to push through, but the reality of my pregnancy is that rest has to come first whether I like it or not. I often had to decide whether I wanted to workout or skip my session so that I had the energy for something else that day.

Food

One of my journal entries references ‘eating anything that isn’t moving’ and ‘bread being my best friend’(!) which accurately summarises the insatiable hunger that I experienced during these weeks. My hunger would increase suddenly and urgently, so the key for me was eating just slightly before my hunger grew, which was about every 3 hours. I also needed to space out my meals better, and having breakfast late was a big no-no because my energy would suddenly drop.

I started struggling to stomach some of my usual go-to foods. Veg was generally difficult to eat and I went off some of the meat replacements I use, which meant getting my protein in was trickier than usual. I would usually hit about 130+g a day, but during these weeks if I hit 90g I was having a particularly good day! I managed to keep my fibre intake high though which I really benefited from.

Carbs were the easiest thing for me to stomach, so I lived off sandwiches, toast, pizza etc. My diet was definitely not made up of what I prefer and by the end of the day I was pretty bloated. Life was pretty beige during these weeks!

Body

My stomach felt bloated and 'stretched' most days and my body was generally feeling softer. The only real changes though were how I felt, rather than how I looked.

My weight increase was stable and in line with the recommended amount. In no way have I been trying to control my weight during pregnancy, but I’ve been keeping an eye to ensure I’m gaining enough at the right times, to help baby grow.

Goals/Focus

My goals and focus have had to change. It occurs to me that this is the first time in my life my health and fitness goals are purely about just being as healthy as I can be. I normally have a PB I want to hit or an area I’d like to build muscle, but now it’s just about keeping myself and my baby healthy. It’s a weird mix of liberation and being in limbo at the same time. I want to be hitting the gym hard, but that is paused. Not over, just paused.

I’m focusing on talking to myself kindly, remaining conscious of my word choices to describe how I’m feeling. Instead of saying I feel huge, I say that baby feels big today or my bump feels like it's grown. This is really important to me because I have to remember I’m growing an actual human, and so right now having abs or being lean don’t not serve a purpose.

My daily goals right now are modest - I try to hit 7,000-10,000 steps daily, cook at least one balanced meal and try and get enough protein and fibre each day. If I manage to do all that, it’s been a successful day.

I get a lot of joy and pleasure in pushing myself physically - believe it or not testing my 1RM is literally my favouite thing to do on Christmas day before eating and drinking the rest of the day. Going hiking or hitting a heavy session in the gym and feeling totally exhausted after feels amazing to me. The current replacement of complete and total exhaustion after not doing anything at all doesn't feel too satisfying. 

For more information on our pre and post-natal training, check out www.chptr-pt.com/pre-and-post-natal