When Stephanie told her OB she'd been doing CrossFit four days a week before getting pregnant, the response was immediate: "You should probably stick to walking and maybe some light swimming."
Stephanie left that appointment confused. She felt strong. She wanted to stay strong. But her doctor—someone she trusted—had just told her that the thing keeping her mentally and physically healthy was now off-limits.
So she did what most pregnant athletes do: she Googled it.
And she found a mess of contradictory advice. Some sources said squats were dangerous. Others said they were essential. One forum insisted she'd hurt the baby if she lifted anything heavier than 10 pounds. Another said she could keep doing whatever she was doing "as long as it felt okay."
The confusion isn't her fault. The medical system has been giving pregnant women the same vague, outdated advice for decades.
Here's something most pregnant athletes don't know: healthcare providers get almost no training on exercise during pregnancy.
Dr. Emily Kreifels, a sports performance chiropractor completing her Advanced Perinatal Certification, puts it bluntly: "We had one class on pregnancy in school. It was your last quarter when you were 3,000% done with class. The gist was: they can't lay flat and you have to be a little bit more gentle with them."
That was it. No protocols for athletes. No guidelines for strength training. No framework for helping someone maintain their fitness through nine months of massive physical change.
Emily admits: "It wasn't until I was pregnant with my son that I realized how little I actually knew."
If the providers don't know, how are pregnant athletes supposed to figure it out?
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is the governing body for prenatal care in the U.S. Their official guidelines list "safe exercises during pregnancy" as:
Nowhere on that list is strength training.
And that's the problem. Because while those activities are fine, they're not enough to prepare your body for labor, delivery, and the postpartum period.
Strength training during pregnancy:
But the guidelines are silent. So doctors default to "just be careful" or "stick to what's safe," which most interpret as "don't lift heavy things."
The result? Pregnant athletes are told to stop doing the thing that makes them feel like themselves.
Here's the stat that should be on every prenatal intake form:
At six weeks postpartum, your muscles are at 50% of your pre-pregnancy strength.
Read that again. Half. You're at half strength.
And that's right when a lot of new moms start feeling the urge to "get back to normal" and jump back into their old workout routines. Maybe you got cleared at your six-week checkup. Maybe you're just tired of feeling weak and want to feel like yourself again.
But here's what almost no one tells you: strength training during pregnancy makes that postpartum cliff less steep.
Your muscles won't be as strong as they were pre-pregnancy. But they'll be closer. The gap won't be as brutal. And when you're running on two hours of sleep trying to lift a car seat that weighs 30+ pounds, that matters.
Stephanie came to Performx at 21 weeks pregnant. She'd been trying to piece together a workout routine from Instagram videos and Reddit threads, but nothing felt consistent or safe.
Emily walked her through a simple framework built around three foundational movements:
1. Squats (Box Squats if Balance Gets Tricky)
Squats strengthen your legs, back, and glutes—but they're also preparing your body for labor. The squat position is functionally identical to the pushing position during delivery.
Emily's modification: "You don't need to go all the way down. Box squats let you tap and go, which helps with balance as your center of gravity shifts."
If 15 pounds feels light, use tempo work: lower for 4 counts, pause, then stand for 4 counts. More time under tension = more challenging without needing heavier weights.
[Watch Dr. Emily demonstrate proper box squat form for pregnancy →]
2. Carries (Farmer's, Overhead, Waiter's)
Pick up a kettlebell or dumbbell and walk. That's it. But here's why it matters:
You're about to carry a car seat everywhere. That car seat weighs 30+ pounds right out of the gate. Carries train grip strength, core stability, and the exact movement pattern you'll use 50 times a day postpartum.
Emily's cue: "Think about standing up nice and tall. Someone's pulling a rope at the top of your head. Keep everything stacked. Don't lean to the side."
Farmer's carry: Weight in each hand, walk
Overhead carry: Weight pressed overhead, walk
Waiter's carry: Weight in one hand overhead (like carrying a tray), walk
[Watch Dr. Emily demonstrate all three carry variations →]
3. Bench Press (Modified: Feet Up or Elevated)
The traditional bench press—lying flat with an arched back—puts too much strain on your lower back as your belly grows.
Emily's fix: feet up on the bench (or on the floor if you're working from home). This keeps your back more neutral and gives you better support.
If you only have light dumbbells, use tempo work again. Slow reps make lighter weights feel harder.
[Watch Dr. Emily demonstrate the modified bench press →]
Emily also addressed the exercises pregnant athletes need to drop or modify:
Ditch these:
Switch to these:
The goal isn't to make you stop moving. It's to keep you moving smart.
Stephanie left her first session with a simple, three-day-a-week routine:
Nothing crazy. Nothing that required a full gym setup. But structured, consistent, and designed to keep her strong through delivery and into postpartum recovery.
She didn't need permission to keep moving. She needed a plan that accounted for what her body was actually doing.
The fear-driven advice most pregnant athletes get—"don't lift anything heavy," "be careful," "just walk"—isn't protecting anyone. It's leaving women weaker, less prepared, and more likely to struggle postpartum.
Your body is already doing something incredibly hard. Growing a whole human is work. Your heart rate increases. Your blood volume increases. Your joints loosen. Your center of gravity shifts.
Strength training doesn't add risk. It prepares you for the work your body is already doing—and the work it's about to do once that baby arrives.
You don't need to be fragile. You need to be strong. And you can be both pregnant and strong at the same time.
If you're pregnant and trying to figure out how to keep training without the guesswork, we built a guide for you.
The Pregnant Athlete's Training Guide is a trimester-by-trimester roadmap with exercise modifications, sample workouts, and the "why" behind every movement. No more piecing together advice from Reddit threads. No more second-guessing every workout.
You deserve better than "just be careful." You deserve a plan that keeps you strong, safe, and ready for what's coming.