Climbing Training and Pregnancy: My Journey

By: Jess West

The author, Power Company’s very own coach Jess West.

Every pregnancy story is unique. As a fitness professional, I had a certain idea of what mine would be like. I didn’t necessarily feel pressured or determined to have it go that way, it was more of an assumption. I’ve seen other trainers, climbers, and fitness enthusiasts continue to train and seem to go about their lives with very little change.

I was the go-to trainer at my gym back in Houston when a client was pregnant, preparing for pregnancy, or postpartum. I learned from research and putting my own clients through training programs. I observed that for most women, exercise regressions are necessary within each trimester.

In addition, symptoms such as fatigue and morning sickness are common in the first trimester. The second trimester is generally easier as hormones level out and a boost in energy is even typical. The fatigue returns in the third trimester along with discomfort from weight gain. This led me to believe that I would work my hardest in the second trimester and that my performance might even peak then. As far as energy levels go, I wasn’t far off from my predictions, but rather than a performance peak in the second trimester, my exercise routine started out extremely strong in the beginning and tapered to nearly nothing by 34 weeks.

First Trimester: Conception - 13 Weeks

When I found out I was pregnant, I was working full time as a personal trainer and part time as a youth climbing coach. Needless to say, I was very active. Though not climbing my hardest, I was definitely the strongest I’d ever been and had the least amount of body fat in at least 10 years. I actually thought something was wrong because I noticed that in the span of only a few weeks, my body fat was on the rise and for the first time ever, running felt hard. I decided I needed to talk to my doctor about my hormones and get some blood work done. This may sound extreme to some, but I know my body very well and I had a feeling something was up. Getting blood work and having a conversation with a physician is a great place to start rather than just making a sudden change to diet and exercise. I knew my doctor would start with a urine test so I figured I should at least take care of that myself. So I bought a pregnancy test on my way home from work.

“Holy crap, I’m pregnant!”

In a way, this was a huge relief. I had been working with several prenatal clients, one all the way up until her due date, and I felt way more confident in working with a pregnancy than I did working with a hormone imbalance or similar challenge. Armed with all the information I already had, and doing more research than ever, I was excited to continue working out just as hard as I had been, with maybe a couple of adjustments here and there. I ran a 5k at 5 weeks pregnant but wasn’t a fan of how short of breath I felt. I tested it out a bit and found that running on a treadmill felt okay (it was now January) for under 20 minutes. Unfortunately, this didn’t last long into the first trimester. About 10 weeks in, I dropped running completely and swapped it for walking at incline. I had already started gaining weight in my butt and chest and even the subtle impact of the treadmill made me uncomfortable. Weight lifting, on the other hand, made me feel incredibly strong and empowered. Over the previous few months, in addition to bouldering and yoga, I was lifting 2-3 days a week and probably harder and heavier than ever. This continued through the first trimester and into the second trimester until about 20 weeks.

I found that doing pull-ups unassisted felt funny as my abs prepared to lengthen, and that feeling only got worse as time went on. Knowing I couldn’t hang from a bar made me nervous about climbing. My first time climbing after I found out that I was pregnant was on top-rope. I knew this would have the least impact and if something felt off, I could easily stop in place without having to worry about taking a whip or jumping off a boulder. Top-roping felt great and it had been a while since I’d put any time or attention into roped climbing so I was happy to continue. I decided to not even test out bouldering or lead climbing because I knew I wouldn’t be doing it for long and wanted to just focus on feeling good on top-rope.

Jess made the choice to stick to top-rope climbing only during her pregnancy.

Second Trimester: Week 14 - Week 26

I continued everything from the first trimester up until we moved from Houston to Chattanooga in mid-April when I was about 20 weeks pregnant. The move was stressful and exhausting and the thought of immediately going into a new gym made me anxious so I ended up taking 3-4 weeks off from everything. I was still active though, walking the nearby trails and getting the house in order (the nesting was real!). 

Hiking allowed Jess to stay active and explore her new home of Chattanooga.

After that little break, I went back to yoga once or twice a week and top-roping, though only a few times a month and now in a pregnancy harness. My abs were more sensitive than ever and climbing was getting frustrating. I quickly realized that I had to be selective with the routes I climbed. More than looking at the grades, I had to be cautious of the wall angle and the distance between the holds. Moderate to steep terrain, high feet, and long reaches were not friendly on my core. I found myself able to climb up to 11a but only on near-vertical and more technical terrain, rather than my preferred style of more powerful, bouldery climbs. While this sounds like it would be a great thing to work on, I really just wanted to climb and get lots of movement in. I mostly stuck to easy grades for the sake of making more moves and with less effort.

I wasn’t doing any weight lifting since the move, but I was still doing some bodyweight circuits at home and even completed a modified “Murph” workout for Memorial Day at 26 weeks pregnant. Squats felt awesome with my new bump as my added weight. Standard push-ups and pull-ups involved my abs too much, so I swapped for incline push-ups and banded rows, respectively.

Third Trimester: Week 27 - Birth

This is when the taper really became evident. I stopped attending yoga classes around 28 weeks because I was having to modify so many of the movements that I’d rather just do my own version at home, which I did, but very infrequently. The body weight exercises were even more infrequent and only happened at home on a rare high-energy day. I kept the exercises basic and mostly included push-ups, rows, squats, single-leg deadlifts, and some core engagement. 

I went climbing outside with friends at 29 weeks. The movement still felt fine, but the pregnancy harness was starting to squish me on the sides of my belly, especially when being lowered. It wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, but for the rest of that afternoon I noticed less fetal movement.

“The worry and guilt it caused me wasn’t worth it, so I decided that day would be my farewell to pregnant climbing.”

Energy and motivation have been hard to come by since about 34 weeks. I’ve done the occasional bike ride or long walk, but otherwise exercise has been limited to house chores and weekend activities like walking the farmer’s market or shopping with friends. 

Exercise throughout pregnancy is a good thing - doctors encourage it - so when people find out that I’ve stopped they assume it’s because of a health condition or at my doctor’s request. The fact is, I have been active my entire life. I know myself and I know that the second I’m cleared to exercise postpartum, I’m going to get right back to it.

“I made the decision a few weeks back to stop because I needed - and actually even wanted - the break. I can’t even remember a time when I had 2 months off, so this seemed like a good opportunity. I’m resting because I can, and want to.”

Could this affect labor? Maybe, maybe not. I’m not a sedentary person and I have a long history of being physically active. Is it the complete opposite of what I’ve done with my prenatal clients? Yep, but that’s their story. My clients wanted to train until the very end, so I programmed accordingly. I initially thought I’d train until the very end, too, but the tapering started so many weeks ago that it’s really no shock. It’s been a gradual adjustment that I’m sure was easier for me to make because I didn’t have a trainer to report to, other than myself.

I’m sharing my story because it’s not the story I thought I’d tell, especially with how hard I was training in the first trimester. I’ve had a really easy and healthy pregnancy so far, so I don’t have any regrets for the decisions I’ve made or the way my activity has lessened. I’ve gained the recommended amount of weight, I’ve been nearly symptomless, and my baby is healthy and growing every day! If training another prenatal client, I would still stick to the style of training programs and regressions I’ve worked with in the past, however there will be a lot more conversation about training history, motivation, and goal-setting. I hope to work with more pre- and post-natal clients in the future and I can’t wait to tell my own postnatal story!

Jess and her husband Miles welcomed daughter Scout to the world in September.

Jess is already back at it post-partum, in the gym and on the boulders.