Two cultural lies dominate the conversation about training during pregnancy. The first one is "you should rest." The evidence says the opposite: healthy pregnancies benefit substantially from sustained training. ACOG explicitly supports resistance training in uncomplicated pregnancies. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists concurs. The "rest" advice is cultural inheritance, not evidence. The second lie is "you can train normally — pregnancy is overhyped." That one is also wrong. Programming requires adaptation across trimesters. Hormonal changes (relaxin), body composition changes, blood pressure dynamics, balance shifts, abdominal accommodation — these require respect, not denial. Both extremes harm. The middle ground — informed continuation with appropriate modification under qualified clinical care — is what the literature supports and what P10 delivers.
The structure adapts trimester by trimester. Trimester one (weeks one to thirteen): two-to-three sessions a week if energy permits; modifications driven by nausea, fatigue, and OB recommendations. Trimester two (weeks fourteen to twenty-seven): often the strongest training trimester; goblet squats, incline pressing, single-arm rows, single-leg work; flat bench avoided from around twenty weeks (vena cava considerations). Trimester three (weeks twenty-eight to birth): bodyweight emphasis, supported squats, standing pressing, seated rows, glute bridges, daily walking, pelvic floor coordination. The progression rule for pregnancy is the opposite of the rest of the Library: pregnancy is not a programme for progression. It is a programme for maintenance. Performance comes after birth. The trainee who maintains during pregnancy has substantially easier postpartum recovery.
Inside this one
- Trimester-by-trimester structured resistance programme designed to follow OB/GYN clearance
- Explicit position substitutions for T2 and T3 (vena cava, balance, abdominal accommodation)
- "Stop for" symptom list with clinical-contact protocols
- Pregnancy-to-postpartum arc mapped: P10 → P08 → standard programming
- Companion spreadsheet that adapts by trimester with symptom and energy logging
- Pelvic floor physiotherapy referral preserved as the primary specialist relationship
The standard it is held to
Every factual claim in this volume names its source, and every claim carries a confidence grade — settled, strong, emerging or contested. Where the evidence is thin, the text says so. How it’s made, in full → · What we’ve got wrong →