When I was pregnant with all three of my children, strangers would come up to me at the gym and say things like “are you sure you should be using those cattle balls? Looks dangerous” or “wow! Your doctor say it’s okay to workout like that?” Ahhh yes the advice of a stranger…oy. But I get it, understanding how to work out during pregnancy isn’t easy, let alone adding into the mix kettlebells, something that we know is so great for high intensity training. So can you workout with kettlebells while pregnant? It’s a great question, and if you’re here reading this article, then I think you’ll like the answer.
Now, first off, let me say that I am NOT a doctor. What I say might be helpful to you and help you better understand how to workout while pregnant, but always, ALWAYS talk to your OB/GYN or doctor before putting into action any of the advice in this article or elsewhere.
Get it? Got it? Good! Because first and foremost, the purpose of a pregnancy is for both mom and baby to optimize their health. Oftentimes working out while pregnant will do just that, but it’s always best to check with your doc and make sure.
Okay, so let’s get started.
Traditionally, the blanket prescription for exercising while pregnant is something like: Don’t lift more than 25 pounds while pregnant and don’t get your heart rate over 140 beats per minute.
If you’ve never worked out or if you’re out of shape going into pregnancy, then yes, these standards have their place.
But what about the pregnant athlete? What about the women who were in shape heading into their pregnancy?
Sticking to those standards will most likely make that woman lose strength and cardiovascular capabilities for no real reason. And if she loves working out and has the energy to do so, then telling her to only lift 25 pounds and keep everything low intensity, could very well make her miserable.
It certainly made me miserable, at least in my first pregnancy when I followed that exact advice.
But then I started researching the pregnant athlete and found that I could and very well should do more. So I cleared my plans with my doctor and got back to what I loved most in working out – kettlebells.
Me in a full squat two days before giving birth to my first child
Why Kettlebells: A Quick General Overview
For most exercises, kettlebells are a great tool to develop strength, improve mobility, increase cardiovascular endurance and provide a killer fat-blasting workout.
Because of its supreme versatility, the kettlebell allows for switching easily between exercises. This way, you can string movements together into a chain, or complex. This allows for greater exertion. Again: a killer flat-blasting workout.
And because of its versatility, workouts/complexes can be scaled for anyone regardless of current physical fitness abilities or restrictions. Meaning this is a great tool for pregnant women and postpartum women as well. Oh, and a few months from now, if you have a bell or two at home, you can do a workout in your living room while the baby naps!
The Pregnant Kettlebeller: Which exercises you should be doing
Click on the links below for tutorials on how to do each exercise!
- Goblet squat: strengthens the pelvic floor, makes for great pushing skills in L&D
- Kettlebell swings: strengthens pelvic floor and posterior chain.
- Military press: Develops arm muscles needed for holding babies. Helps maintain core strength especially later in pregnancy
- Bent over rows: another upper body strength developer, a great contrasting movement to military presses
- Rack holds: Helps maintain core strength (alternative: plank)
- Turkish get up: maintains mobility even when your belly grows and it becomes harder to move otherwise
Sample 3x/Week Pregnancy Program:
Monday:
A: front squats. 3 sets x 5 reps
B1: military press. 4 sets x 8 reps
B2: bent over row. 4 sets x 8 reps
C1:Kettlebell swings . 3 sets x 15 reps
C2: Rack hold or plank. 3 sets x 30 seconds
Tuesday: brisk walking 30-60 minutes
Wednesday:
A: Kettlebell swings. 10 reps every minute on the minute (EMOM) for 6 day minutes
B1: military press. 3 sets x 10 reps
B2: bent over row. 3 sets x 10 reps
B3: goblet squat. 3 sets x 12 reps
C: 5 minutes lightly weighted TGU practice
Thursday: brisk walking 30-60 minutes
Friday:brisk walking 30-60 minutes
Saturday: 20 minutes metabolic conditioning. Choose any complex you’d like (lots of workouts here) and scale according to fitness/energy level and overall comfort levels. By scale, I mean you can drop the weight you’re using or cut the workout time or take extra rest.
Sunday: brisk walking 30-60 minutes
Bonus exercise: brisk walking!
Okay it’s not a kettlebell exercise, but brisk walking is pretty much the best thing you can do while pregnant. It promotes blood flow, eases any pregnancy unpleasantness like hemorrhoids, gets you active and coupled with a great diet, will help make sure you don’t gain any unnecessary pregnancy weight.
Remember: Take the time to familiarize yourself with these kettlebell movements so you’re doing them correctly. As beautiful as the result of a pregnancy is, the months leading up to it can be really tough. So be smart – learn the movements, listen to your body, and scale the workouts according to your abilities and comfort level. And when in doubt, walk!
If you’re looking to get back in shape postpartum and you’ve been cleared by your doctor at your six week checkup, come give the 5 Day Kettlebell Fat Furnace a try. This free five day program provides workouts and eating guidelines that can help give you the fat loss boost you might be looking for after baby.
Christine is a mom of three children, aged 4, 3, and 1. She worked out throughout each of her pregnancies and had quick labor and deliveries and swift recovery. Have questions? You can reach her at Christine(at)ChroniclesOfStrength(dot)com
I had a friend who lightly exercised during her pregnancy and during labor it went out easier for her. I’m not sure if the exercise was directly correlated to her easy labor but it’s worth mentioning that it is fine to exercise during pregnancy as opposed to what many people thinking that it hurts the baby! Of course it’s important to ask your doctor for an opinion, especially the types of exercises you do. Interesting take on the kettlebell exercises! Brisk walking is definitely a prescribed thing too.