Was at the gym this week and saw something that bothered me quite a bit and thought I would share. . . Trainer was working with a client who had recently had a baby and was easing back into exercise (with doctor approval, of course). It was her first day back and the trainer was assisting her with creating a routine. When it came time for ab work, he put her on an ab crunch machine with the weight set at ten pounds. I would think training a woman following pregnancy would be much like training a novice or person recovering from injury. You start out slow, with basic crunches, and work towards weighted exercises as strength improves. This is particularly important for women postpartum, as its not uncommon for them to have developed diastasis recti (separation of abdominal muscles during pregnancy), and resuming ab work too soon or with too much weight can not only slow the healing process but cause injury. The client in this case couldn't even perform a single rep. She told the trainer she didn't feel strong enough and they moved on. Training a woman following a pregnancy should be treated in the same manner as training anyone recovering from an injury. Start out slow, pay attention to the input of the client, and if you don't know ASK. The guy obviously wasn't aware of the dangers in resuming challenging ab work soon after delivery, but this would have been remedied by a little research, the same kind you would do when taking on a client with a recent injury you know little about. There's also the obvious. . . don't be greedy. Pass the client on to someone familiar/trained in prenatal and postpartum fitness.
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postpartum ab training
- Thread starter Bethlehem
- Start date
Well my first thoughts are A)This guy is a personal trainer, not a rehabiliation specialist so he probably does not know the ins and outs. B)You mention that she tried 10lbs and told the trainer it was hard, and they moved on, sounds fine to me. After all how would you know what you can do, till you try to do it. C) Would the doctor OK it, if she had abdominal muscle seperation?
You have good points about him being a personal trainer and not a rehabilitation specialist but this isn't an obscure condition but something personal trainers probably run into on multiple occasions so you'd think they'd be trained on it to begin with and would surely do some research if not as it'd be something I'd assume would come up ever so often.
Of course, I can't join the debate on whether or not the load was a bad idea to begin with since I'm a novice myself. Just thought I'd voice my assumption that personal trainers would, or should, know about dealing with post-pregnancy ladies.
Of course, I can't join the debate on whether or not the load was a bad idea to begin with since I'm a novice myself. Just thought I'd voice my assumption that personal trainers would, or should, know about dealing with post-pregnancy ladies.