Hard labour
Personal trainers don’t always have the knowledge or skills to teach prenatal exercise, an expert tells Laura Baker.
The vast majority of personal trainers in New Zealand are not educated in prenatal fitness and experts say that lack of knowledge is putting pregnant women at unnecessary risk.
In this country, there is no requirement to obtain a prenatal fitness qualification before taking pregnant clients and the courses that are available are brief.
‘‘A lot of personal trainers don’t understand the changes going on in a woman’s body during pregnancy,’’ says prenatal and postnatal exercise specialist Lorraine Scapens. ‘‘They are basically training clients as if they weren’t pregnant. It’s ignorance and it can be dangerous.’’
Scapens, who has worked in the field for 25 years, says ‘‘the majority of personal trainers don’t have the knowledge or skills to teach prenatal exercise’’.
Scapens has written coursework for prenatal fitness courses overseas and says the courses in New Zealand are inadequate. ‘‘There are only very basic courses in New Zealand – normally, no more than two days – which isn’t a sufficient amount of time to cover the subject.
‘‘When I used to work at a gym, I’d quite often see women being put in situations that can become quite dangerous when they are pregnant. I would intervene, in a nice way, because the personal trainer just didn’t realise it was an issue.’’
She has seen pregnant women attempting potentially hazardous exercises, such as high stepups, crunches and Swiss balls exercises. ‘‘Because of their increased blood pressure and changing centre of gravity, women can feel quite dizzy and lose their balance more easily, doing themselves an injury.’’
It is also advisable to avoid high-impact exercise because pregnancy hormones loosen ligaments and the pelvis in preparation for labour, making the body more susceptible to strains.
One of the most common injuries in pregnant women is diastasis recti, which is the separation of your abdominal muscles. It occurs naturally during the late stages of pregnancy but the muscle separation can be exaggerated through exercise.
Pre and postnatal fitness instructor Lisa Hansen commonly sees women in her postnatal classes who have done significant damage to their abdominal muscles.
‘‘A lot of women aren’t aware of diastasis recti and it is also rare for personal trainers to know about it, causing further problems.
‘‘Unfortunately, there is a lot of incorrect information out there and a lot of women aren’t aware of diastasis recti. Women can get to six months postnatal when they realise they have been doing the incorrect exercise.
‘‘If that abdominal separation isn’t healed, it can cause back pain, umbilical hernias, pelvic floor dysfunction and prolapse.’’
While there is risk to exercise, Hansen says if done correctly, training during pregnancy is really beneficial and should not be avoided. ‘‘It elevates the mood, strengthens the body to carry the extra wight, increases stamina for labour and lowers the risk of gestational diabetes.’’
Scapens recommends women look for a trainer who has at least two years of experience with pregnant clients and knowledge of diastasis recti.
‘‘Unfortunately, there is a lot of incorrect information out there.’’ Pre and postnatal exercise specialist Lorraine Scapens