Heavily Pregnant Woman Shocks People by Weight Training at the Gym

A heavily pregnant woman shocked people by doing weighted squats at the gym, with her prominent baby bump clearly on display in a TikTok video which has since gone viral.

Aubrie Geedey, from South Carolina, is currently expecting her second child, but she's not let that stop her from hitting the gym. The mom-to-be has been a keen lifter for the past six years, and also continued to workout during her first pregnancy.

She shared a clip showing herself using the squat rack, with 65 pounds on her shoulders, as she performed a perfect squat. Geedey, thought to be nearly 35 weeks pregnant, said in the video: "My back hurts from carrying a lil human all day. But still staying active."

The clip, which can be seen here, was simply captioned "2-4 days a week at this point," and it's been watched nearly 5 million times since being uploaded on Sunday.

Geedey assured viewers she wasn't putting the baby in danger, as she said in the comments: "This is 65 lbs baby #2. Perfectly safe, healthy, doctor cleared and not strenuous as I've been lifting for 6+ years."

But after the clip blew up, it seemed she received an avalanche of questions over the safety of using weights while pregnant, so she shared a follow-up post addressing concerns.

The day after the original video she addressed followers in a separate video, saying: "A lot of you were concerned over my last video, and it often pops up on my page if it is ok if I work out while pregnant, and what is good, what is bad, all of that. So I figured that I would share my hospital's guidelines on exercise while pregnant."

She used a green screen to pose in front a document, which she claimed was from Roper St. Francis Healthcare, which has five hospitals in the state.

Geedey, who's expecting another little girl, said: "I would like to start off by saying this is my second active pregnancy and everything was fine with my first, she actually did not want to come out. So no it doesn't induce labor per se, and it certainly doesn't cause a miscarriage. Miscarriages happen if you're high risk, meaning if you have something going on, doing too much, or the pregnancy just wasn't going to stick in the first place.

"I have adjusted what I do and how much weight that I do, throughout the different stages of pregnancy. So what I was doing in that last video was significantly less than what I could do pre-pregnancy. And something that I am comfortable with doing."

Referring to the document, she continued: "There's three different categories here, all pregnant women, women who weren't super active prior to pregnancy and the category that I fall under, someone who vigorously worked out before pregnancy."

She stressed she was "cleared to do this," adding: "I've been lifting for six plus years, I eat, I sleep, I rest and at the end of the day it's healthy for mom and baby."

Commenting on the original video, Axolotlungs joked: "The baby's coming out with abs."

Jenbug102485 said: "Anyone can do this if they train for it. But why when you're already carrying to much lol high five to you girl."

"If she lifted before pregnancy she can do it during pregnancy and it's okay people!!" Justjathings thought.

Some of the negative comments, which likely prompted Geedey to share her follow up clip, said: "U can still be active but this is extreme, it's not healthy," Aauussie wrote.

Baljeetle commented: "That's very dangerous you are risking it."

Bitsandbirbs added: "Aren't you scared you'll induce labor early?"

The American Pregnancy Association states: "Overall and in most cases, exercise is safe during pregnancy. You will usually find it is even recommended. Typically, the first rule of thumb is if you were physically active before you were pregnant, it is likely safe to remain active during pregnancy.

"More than likely, your healthcare provider will tell you to remain active, as long as it is comfortable and there are no other health conditions suggesting otherwise. Exercise does not put you at risk for miscarriage in a normal pregnancy."

Newsweek reached out to Geedey for comment.