Article Link Supervised weight training safe during pregnancy

[KickDancer]

As reported in the ScienceDaily article, "Supervised Weight Training Safe for Pregnant Women, Study Suggests":

Researchers in the University of Georgia's department of kinesiology studied 32 pregnant women at increased risk for back pain, who participated in a low-to-moderate intensity weight training program over 12 weeks. They found:
- no musculoskeletal injuries
- increases in amount of weight lifted (by an average of 36% to 56%, depending on the exercise)
- no change in blood pressure (either good or bad)

The women did a series of six exercises, 2x/week, targeting muscles relevant to back pain and function, including:
- leg press
- leg curl
- lat pulldown
- lumbar extension
- leg extension

(For some reason the abstract doesn't mention the sixth exercise; I haven't read the original article.)

Even James Clapp was more cautious in his recommendations (in Exercising through your Pregnancy), saying that pregnant women can safely maintain their fitness but not seek improvements. So now we have some research suggesting that it's safe during pregnancy to work toward strength gains, as long as they're just moderate.