Strength training during pregnancy may help reduce diabetes risk

Go to a gym these days and you may see more and more pregnant women doing just that: strength training. New research suggests it could have benefits beyond building muscle, including a possible lower risk of gestational diabetes and better quality of life.

In a randomised clinical trial published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, researchers studied 209 pregnant women who were overweight or had obesity. The women were randomly assigned to either a strength training program or usual prenatal care.

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Training with light weights or resistance bands

The training started around weeks 12 to 14 of pregnancy and continued until week 36 or delivery. It included weekly supervised sessions as well as home workouts, with women encouraged to train three times a week using light weights or resistance bands.

Overall, 2% of women in the exercise group developed gestational diabetes, compared with 7.3% in the control group. The difference was not statistically significant. Among the women who stuck to the program and exercised at least twice a week, none developed gestational diabetes. However, this was a small, exploratory subgroup, so the finding does not prove that exercise prevented diabetes.

Strength training improved quality of life

When it came to quality of life, the results were striking. Women in the strength training group reported significantly better quality of life and fewer pregnancy symptoms, including less anxiety, tiredness and back or pelvic pain.

The exercise did not appear to increase the risk of complications. Rates of preterm birth and miscarriage were similar in the two groups.

“Our findings suggest that adherence to a structured strength training program during pregnancy may help reduce the risk of gestational diabetes while also improving maternal well-being,” said corresponding author Teresa E. Santa Cruz, MD, of Hospital Universitario Donostia in San Sebastián, Spain.

She said further research was needed to confirm the findings and determine “how strength training can best be incorporated into routine prenatal care.”