Keeping active during pregnancy and postpartum is so important for a whole host of reasons and, fortunately, there’s no shortage of advice out there on how to do so. Generally speaking, for those without any health issues during pregnancy, most international health guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. This means movement that allows you to increase your heart rate and get a sweat on (could be anything from a brisk walk to some active gardening) for something like 25 min, 6 days/week.
These guidelines represent an ideal benchmark for promoting active pregnancies for women among the general population but they aren’t so fitting for high-performance elite athletes, whose bodies are accustomed to training at significantly higher intensities and volumes.
A noticeable lack of research on elite athletes’ training during pregnancy and postpartum has left female athletes with limited advice or guidance around navigating such a feat. In our earlier research, we found that elite pregnant athletes have had to rely on the experiences and advice of fellow pregnant/mother elite athletes, their own personal healthcare team, or miscellaneous online sources.
To address concerns from the athletic community, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) created an expert group on pregnancy, who have really called out on the need for more research in this area, and we answered.
We conducted a research study that was published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (MSSE) in August 2022 and highlighted in Outside magazine. This study was the first of its kind, where we assessed the training and performance outcomes through the pregnancy and postpartum periods of 42 elite and world-class female distance runners. Over 50% of our participants competed in the Olympics or World Championships, including medalists in distances ranging from 1500m to the marathon.
We zeroed in on 2 primary factors:
- Training: Through questionnaires, these elite and Olympic female runners shared their training information for before (1 year prior), during (first, second, and third trimesters), and after pregnancy. This included training volume, intensity, and type.
- Performance Data: We analyzed competition performances pre- and post-pregnancy by comparing the -1 to -3 year period before pregnancy to the +1 to +3 year period after pregnancy, excluding the year of pregnancy.
Key findings
These elite female runners scaled back their training volume and intensity from the first to the third trimester of their pregnancies. They also had significantly lower average training pace (ran slower) during pregnancy compared to pre-pregnancy.
Interestingly, while they spent less time running, they really upped their time spent cross-training. But even at their lowest training levels, which were around 300-350 minutes of total exercise per week during the third trimester (mostly cross-training), the athletes still significantly surpassed the recommended pregnancy guidelines of 150 minutes per week.
Most participants resumed some level of exercise about 6 weeks after giving birth and reached 80% of their pre-pregnancy training volumes by 3 months. It is important to note the variability across individuals considering injury and performance goals.
READ MORE: Mom’s Got Game! Stories of world-class athletes and gold-medal moms
Almost half of the participants reported an injury in the first year after giving birth that delayed their return to training or competition. However, there was no link between injury risk and the type of training approach nor type of delivery (vaginal or caesarean).
When we looked at competition performance data, there was no difference in performance levels pre- and post-pregnancy for the 60% of participants aiming to get back to equivalent performance levels. In fact, nearly half of these athletes improved their performances post-pregnancy. This shows that female athletes can return to elite or world-class levels after giving birth, with many running even faster than pre-pregnancy.
While these key findings are extremely beneficial for elite athletes, they are equally as important for the many supporting team members who guide athletes through pregnancy, postpartum, and return to performance phases, including their coaches and health professionals (for example, physicians, physiotherapists, physiologists, nutritionists). We also hope these research findings encourage athletic sponsors, athletic governing bodies, and policymakers to rethink any preconceived and outdated views about pregnancy and return to sport, it’s time to keep pace with these incredible female athletes.
RESOURCE: Mothers Moving Forward: A postpartum guide to being physically active
The IOC expert group on pregnancy recommended that training during pregnancy and postpartum for elite athletes should be individualized across and within specific sports. The biggest takeaway from our research here is that female distance runners can not only return to an elite level of sport following pregnancy, but, if they intend to, they can come back faster!
It is also essential to note the significant individual variability in return to training and competition outcomes. In order to continue to address gender equity in sport and challenge assumptions that pregnancy and high-performance sport are not compatible, more research, across a variety of sports, is required.