Author of New Rules of Lifting for Women Cassandra Forsythe is blogging about her pregnancy. Her post on her blog at 30 weeks reports that she’s feeling good and strong!
She writes:
All you pregnant ladies out there: we’re learning each and every day how and why training during your pregnancy is so good for you AND your baby (NOTE: this information comes from one of the most prominent pregnancy and exercise researchers, Dr James Clapp III, who has studied many pregnant competitive Olympic athletes):
- you accumulate less body fat
- you have a positive sense of well-being and vigor when you might tend to be pessimistic, depressed or lethargic
- you have a reduced incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (colds, sinusitis, etc)
- you’ll tend to have an easier, shorter and less complicated labour
- you can actually IMPROVE your fitness level and physical performance (I can attest to that!)
- your baby has developed an improved tolerance to stress and as such, can handle the stress of labour much better than a baby of a sedentary woman (i.e., fewer drops in heart rate with each contraction)
- your baby has less body fat, but is still able to maintain it’s body temperature
- your baby will most likely be more mature at birth, meaning, they respond readily to environmental cues and will self-quiet themselves if disturbed when napping
- your baby will also be a better sleeper (less likely to wake easily)
- your baby will probably perform better on standardized intelligence tests as they advance in age
- your baby will grow to be a less-fat adult (which is great news in our society of excess overweightness)
If you missed Cassandra’s excellent podcast on training and pregnancy (and other woman-related issues), see here.