Weight Lifting Mum-To-Be: Superfit Mum Lifted 215lb Two Days Before Her Due Date

Weight Lifting Mum-To-Be: Superfit Mum Lifted 215lb Two Days Before Her Due Date
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A fitness-mad mum-to-be kept up her regime of weight lifting, gymnastics and cardio training until the day she went into labour - including lifting 215lb weights just two days before her due date.

Meghan Umphres Leatherman, of Phoenix, Arizona, is a devotee of a training programme called CrossFit, which combines weight lifting with cardio exercises.

"It's a challenge," she explains. "I like to try and work with others in a community and getting the motivation to be stronger and fitter and better. I didn't lose that motivation just because I was pregnant."

Since taking up weights two years ago, the 33-year old's fitness regime has become an integral part of her life. In addition to hitting the gym four times a week, Meghan walked her dog three miles a day throughout pregnancy, as well as hiking in the mountains every week.

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Meghan even claims that her pregnancy hormones, rather than holding her back, actually made it easier for her to lift. And it seems she may have been right - she was setting new personal bests just three days before her due date, registering 215lb dead lifts and 165lb squat lifts.

"I never considered giving up," she says, but admits that her family were initially concerned for her health. "I had family give me a hard time early on but I just said my doctor's said it's okay. It made me feel good so why stop?"

After fellow weight lifting mum-to-be, Lea-Ann Elison, came under fire last year for being pictured pumping iron while eight and a half months pregnant, Meghan is aware that her decision to keep training until the day she went into labour might leave her open to criticism.

"A woman shouldn't be criticised for trying to stay active and healthy," she argues. "This actually helped me have an easier pregnancy and delivery."

She credits her fitness regime with preventing morning sickness and giving her a short labour, saying she pushed for 'less than 20 minutes' to give birth to her daughter, her first child.

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Meghan and husband Chad, 34, welcomed Florence Germaine into the family on May 3. The little girl was born weighing 6lb, 11oz - by our calculations, mum could lift that 30 times over!

For now, Meghan is giving herself a well-deserved break to relax with her daughter, but she hopes to be back in the gym in just three weeks. Now that's a supermum!

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