I keep injuring myself (pregnant)

EmbeeKay
EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
I've been doing so well in staying consistent with working out. I really got serious when I was 20 weeks pregnant and for the past 12 weeks I've been walking/jogging several miles in the morning and then doing a 30-35 minute workout of lifting weights/cardio circuit. (Walking 7 days/week and exercising 5-6.) Even being pregnant, I have noticed new muscle definition and my weight has stayed consistent (within a healthy range). I'm so proud of myself and I DON'T want to stop now, with only eight weeks left to go. I want to hit the ground running after my baby comes.

But it seems like as soon as I hit 30 weeks, my body started fighting me. First I incurred a big flare up of some kind of hip/back pain (sciatica? SI joint pain?). It took a week of shuffling around before I could resume my routine. Then I hurt my foot (who knows how) and hobbled around on that a couple days. Now I've got an extremely sore calf muscle on one side. When I woke up with it the first morning I pushed through it and went for a jog and did my workout anyway and I made it worse. So it's been two days with no exercise now while I wait for it to feel normal again. For two-three weeks I haven't been able to consistently exercise.

And every time I resume my workouts after being out of commission for even a few days it's amazing how much harder they feel. So I don't want to stop because I'm afraid of losing everything I worked hard for. How do you listen to your body, especially if for most of your life your body has been telling you, "I hate exercising, stop it right now"? (So the lazy part of me is enjoying the forced breaks and I hate that.) How do you push yourself, 'no pain no gain,' etc, without hurting yourself? How to balance the two?

(Edited to add, I should have posted in Fitness but I accidentally posted here!)

Replies

  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    I'm guessing you only have a few weeks left of your pregnancy. I would take it easy. I would continue with walking/jogging but listen to your body. That's the general rule even when you are not pregnant. No pain no gain is for soreness, not injuries.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
    I have eight weeks left. It's tough to think how out of shape I could get in that amount of time!
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    Your body is going through a lot of stress as is. No need to add more to it.
    Keep being active and moving around, but adding too much stress, especially after being keep injuring yourself will not do you any good.

    What matters now is that have a healthy rest of pregnancy and give birth to a healthy baby. You can work on your body after birth.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
    Thank you. :) I guess I needed someone to tell me that, even though it's simple.
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    EmbeeKay wrote: »
    Thank you. :) I guess I needed someone to tell me that, even though it's simple.

    Good luck with everything
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Your body is going through a lot of stress as is. No need to add more to it.
    Keep being active and moving around, but adding too much stress, especially after being keep injuring yourself will not do you any good.

    What matters now is that have a healthy rest of pregnancy and give birth to a healthy baby. You can work on your body after birth.

    This.

    While I kept very active while I was pregnant, the last few weeks I really took it easy with the exercise. Lots of walking and yoga, less lifting and cardio I wanted to save all my energy for labour and recovery. Not to mention no matter how hard I worked in the gym now, I would have a lot to do after baby was born. First I had to take time to heal, build milk supply, adjust to no sleep, adjust to taking care of a newborn and toddler in my case. Fitness took a back seat for a while but that was ok and it took me 7-8 months to get back to where I used to be. Slow and steady was the best thing for me.

    Point is, take things easy and listen to your body. It is so much easier to injure yourself when pregnant due to loose ligaments and all that. Good luck!
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
    Progesterone and relaxin are two pregnancy hormones that are loosening up ligaments so that you can push a baby out of your pelvis. All your joints become less stable as a result and more prone to injury.

    Good advice from sardelsa. You sound a bit panicky about losing your fitness. I think when the time comes you will have bigger priorities for a while.

    Enjoy this time and motherhood.

    I was going to post essentially the same thing. Plus a different center of gravity throws things off kilter. I'm always clumsy, but it was next level when I was pregnant!
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    ^ All of this. Pregnancy and the few weeks after is NOT a time that is going to be peak physical training for you. That doesn't mean NO exercise, but you do have to scale back.
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
    You arent going to "lose it all" in the last 8 weeks. Think about the extra weight you are carrying - you are your own weight machine - carrying around an extra 15-30 pounds already, and every week the weight will increase automatically. Thats enough weight bearing exercise for now. You will maintain some muscle just by virtue of that. If you take an overweight person who weighs 300 pounds, they actually have a lot of muscle (and fat) - imagine how hard it would be for YOU to carry around 300 pounds ALL day (I cant even deadlift that ONE TIME). They have to have some serious muscle under there. Unfortunately losing weight means losing muscle sometimes or they would have a great head start.

    And seriously, its only 8 weeks. Dont risk your and your babies long term health for a blink in the eye of your lifetimes.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
    I tried scaling back my routines to only body weight, but even squats and burpees had my hips hurting quite a bit the next day. I have to agree with you guys and call it. I will stick with the walking in the morning.

    With my first three pregnancies, I never worked out. I was so excited to have stayed more committed this time. I see posts from people who are still in the gym well into the end of their pregnancies and I was hoping that would be me (but, you know, working out at home instead). I also have a fear (probably irrational) that if I "give up" now, I won't ever start back, but that is silly. I have a lot of goals going forward and I'll be really excited to hit it again when I can.
  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
    edited May 2017
    EmbeeKay wrote: »
    I've been doing so well in staying consistent with working out. I really got serious when I was 20 weeks pregnant and for the past 12 weeks I've been walking/jogging several miles in the morning and then doing a 30-35 minute workout of lifting weights/cardio circuit. (Walking 7 days/week and exercising 5-6.) Even being pregnant, I have noticed new muscle definition and my weight has stayed consistent (within a healthy range). I'm so proud of myself and I DON'T want to stop now, with only eight weeks left to go. I want to hit the ground running after my baby comes.

    But it seems like as soon as I hit 30 weeks, my body started fighting me. First I incurred a big flare up of some kind of hip/back pain (sciatica? SI joint pain?). It took a week of shuffling around before I could resume my routine. Then I hurt my foot (who knows how) and hobbled around on that a couple days. Now I've got an extremely sore calf muscle on one side. When I woke up with it the first morning I pushed through it and went for a jog and did my workout anyway and I made it worse. So it's been two days with no exercise now while I wait for it to feel normal again. For two-three weeks I haven't been able to consistently exercise.

    And every time I resume my workouts after being out of commission for even a few days it's amazing how much harder they feel. So I don't want to stop because I'm afraid of losing everything I worked hard for. How do you listen to your body, especially if for most of your life your body has been telling you, "I hate exercising, stop it right now"? (So the lazy part of me is enjoying the forced breaks and I hate that.) How do you push yourself, 'no pain no gain,' etc, without hurting yourself? How to balance the two?

    (Edited to add, I should have posted in Fitness but I accidentally posted here!)

    Seriously, pare it all down. You are setting yourself up for serious injury, due to the softening of ligaments already explained.

    I am not medically qualified
    , but you may be developing, or at risk of developing SPD.
    http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/pelvic-pain-pregnant-spd.aspx
    https://www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/pregnancy-complications/symphysis-pubis-dysfunction-spd-or-pelvic-girdle-pain

    If you are, it is vitally important that you do not screw around with this and do NOT push through it. SPD can go straight away after birth, or the long-term effects can stick around for the rest of your life. Wanna guess which outcome is more likely if you ignore the pain?

    If the descriptions of the pain in these links sound like what you're having, see a physiotherapist if you can.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,581 Member
    EmbeeKay wrote: »
    I have eight weeks left. It's tough to think how out of shape I could get in that amount of time!

    You're growing another person. This isn't just about you. :)
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,297 Member
    I was simply going to say, Please take medical advice. I don't like the sound of your issues. You and your little one are so very prescious.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    Consult your doctor. A baby robs your body of many things.. mainly nutritional elements like calcium, magnesium, etc. etc. Your added exercise with the fact that you're also pregnant may mean that your prenatal vitamins aren't enough. Or, it may simply mean you need to chill out until after the baby is born (most likely). Try walking instead of running. You'll still be active, and you won't risk injury as much. But do consult your doctor. No advice you receive here is going to be right for you until you speak to your doctor.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
    edited May 2017
    EmbeeKay wrote: »
    I have eight weeks left. It's tough to think how out of shape I could get in that amount of time!

    You're growing another person. This isn't just about you. :)

    Your comment implies that I think it's all about me. I certainly don't think that, nor am I acting that way.

    As stated above, I decided to stick with walking and pick the strength training back up when I get the OB's go-ahead post-partum. This will also help me conserve a little bit of my flagging energy. I really appreciate everyone's advice!

    (ETA - my OB's advice was to see a chiropractor if I needed to and to "listen to my body." (But she had also said that 20 lbs was the max weight to lift during pregnancy... at the time (about 20 weeks pregnant then) I had been lifting a good deal more than that so I didn't feel like her advice was exactly pertinent to my situation. Now, of course, I'm doing body weight if anything.) Posting here, I was hoping I could get some input from people who lift weights and had possibly even done it through pregnancy. Definitely don't want to ignore medical advice.)
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,928 Member
    edited May 2017
    I think you should listen to your body and decrease the intensity of your exercise. I don't think injuring yourself perpetually is really the best thing for your body, pregnant or not. It's time to be more careful before you do something you can't undo (maybe your ligaments are already starting to loosen up). Just a little advice from one pregnant lady to another. I'm about 37 weeks along and, not gonna lie, my body feels pretty done with moving at all hahah (that being said, I'm ready for this bump to turn into a baby already too). So you're still doing great. Just keep yourself in good condition.