Can Pregnancy Make You A Better Athlete?

What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. That old adage can apparently be applied to going through a pregnancy. While many new mums complain of the stretch marks, weight gain and that whole exhaustion thing, some become more physically powerful.

The Times is reporting that becoming a mother could make the body “better able to cope with the extreme physical demands than ever before.”  Case in point—Kim Clijsters. After this Belgian tennis player took two years off to give birth and care for her daughter, she came back a stronger and better player putting on a superb performance at last week’s US Open. The Times also stated that “Among those to have experienced the “’motherhood effect’ are the distance runners Paula Radcliffe and Liz McColgan and Catriona Matthew, the Scottish golfer who won this year’s women’s British Open ten weeks after giving birth.” All of these athletes claimed that pregnancy was the key to their recent successes. But is there any fact behind this?

According to a professor from Michigan State University, due to the increase in blood volume during and after pregnancy, this may improve oxygen being delivered to the muscles.  Another professor – Greg Whyte – noted that “This could improve aerobic capacity, enabling a woman to run, cycle or swim at a certain pace for longer”.  He also states that the hormone relaxin – which increases to get the body ready for childbirth – may help an athlete’s mobility.

Also there is the psychological change that occurs. After giving birth, a woman’s pain threshold could be raised, letting her endure much more than before.

Whyte says: “Women re-evaluate where they can anchor pain and many psychologists believe that a woman’s pain threshold is effectively reset so that when she resumes or takes up training again, nothing ever seems as uncomfortable.”

So what about you? Did you feel stronger after giving birth? Did you achieve any great feats of strength (apart from the Big One – managing to get up and be a loving, soothing mum at 2am, 3:30am, 4:55am ad infinitum)?

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