While exercise and weight management can be critical for a healthy pregnancy and recovery, special care should be taken when training pregnant and postpartum clients. In this lecture from the 2014 Personal Trainers Conference, Annette Lang provides an overview of what it means to work with this specific population.

Personal trainers should be aware of the physiological changes during pregnancy for each trimester in order to provide appropriate exercise modifications and alternatives for their prenatal clients, to positively influence overall health.

This article will briefly discuss physiological and psychological adaptations, as well as review general guidelines for beginning aerobic and resistance training exercise during pregnancy.

NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training, Third Edition, provides guidelines for the complex process of designing safe, effective, and goal-specific resistance, aerobic, plyometric, and speed training programs for clients of all ages and fitness levels. With comprehensive coverage of various categories of unique client needs, readers will learn how to make specific modifications and adjust exercise programs for each individual client. Multiple fitness testing protocols and norms for each component of fitness—including 10 new tests—are all presented, along with instructions that are detailed yet easy to follow.

Through this article, personal trainers should understand the extremes of the Wim Hof method, and instead encourage clients to follow scientifically-backed deep breathing and cold therapy practices to supplement a well-rounded exercise program.