Pregnancy and sport

Scientists doing what scientists do found there is a 60 per cent increase in blood volume in pregnant women and that this could improve the body’s ability to carry oxygen to the muscles by up to 30 per cent.

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This could improve aerobic capacity, enabling a woman to run, cycle or swim at a certain pace for longer, says Greg Whyte, professor of applied sport and exercise science at Liverpool John Moores University.

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But there are other adaptations in the first trimester that could also make a difference:
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A surge in hormones — predominantly progesterone and oestrogen, but also the male hormones including testosterone — could increase muscle strength
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Increases in other hormones like relaxin, which loosens the hip joints to prepare a woman for birth, could also improve joint mobility to a beneficial degree.
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But results of studies that have been published suggest childbirth is beneficial to sportswomen.
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A 1991 analysis of recreational runners revealed that the efficiency with which the body uses and processes oxygen increased by 7 per cent in the eight months after childbirth.
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And researchers reporting in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports in 1997 revealed that 11 per cent of elite endurance performers, such as cross-country skiers and runners, performed significantly better after having a baby while 61 per cent returned to compete at the same level at which they had performed before pregnancy.
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Dr Jorma Penttinen of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University Hospital of Kuopi in Finland, concluded that each woman’s body responds differently to pregnancy but that it is unlikely to have a negative impact on their athletic comeback.
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It is also accepted that carefully planned training can be continued throughout pregnancy whereas it used to be considered risky to mother and unborn child, Dr David James says.
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That can make a difference to a woman’s fitness levels when she returns to competition.
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Indeed, while the advice to pregnant women 30 years ago was to do no more than a gentle stroll and cover a maximum of a mile a day, researchers have now shown that exercise throughout pregnancy benefits mother and child.
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German researchers reported that running while pregnant can enhance development of the foetus and other studies have shown that babies born to active women tend to be more alert and are less inclined to be overweight toddlers.
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But perhaps the greatest benefits to athletic mothers are the psychological changes that come from experiencing labour itself.
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Ingrid Kristiansen, the former marathon runner from Norway, confirms the hunch of many sports scientists in her belief that childbirth aided her sporting success by raising her pain threshold.
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Whyte says: Women re-evaluate where they can anchor pain and many psychologists believe that woman’s pain threshold is effectively reset so that when she resumes or takes up training again, nothing ever seems as uncomfortable
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WP