Pregnancy and Exercise

Kimberley0418

Alright pregnant mamas! I'm only 4 weeks along so I'm not having to make many changes in my exercise routine yet; however, I know it's going to happen. What are y'all doing to stay physically active and how do you motivate yourself during the first tri when you're absolutely exhausted to get up and get moving?

bkerr30

I mainly walked but recently did a body pump class with a very pregnant woman, she adapted a lot of the moves and lowered the weight but still participated. Bottom line: if you're active before its usually safe to continue with exercise, but make sure you are discussing your exercise in detail with your doc/midwife. I found walking gave me more energy to get through the day

steph2strong

Hi I'm currently 23 weeks pregnant. I was very active before pregnancy with running, rowing, elliptical, weight training, kettles, TRX suspension. In the first trimester I was able to do everything as I did pre-pregnancy, although the intensity was dropped because my heart rate response completely changed (it took a lot less to increase my HR and make me breathless). I found that exercising was the only thing that gave me some reprieve from nausea and it helped give me a bit of energy, but I definitely took a few more rest days than I normally would. Now in the second trimester with my ever growing belly I can still run, row, go on elliptical and do some weight/TRX training. I can't do kettle bell routines anymore. My intensity continues to drop weekly and everything feels harder, but I still workout an hour a day. I need a bit more recovery time. I listen to my body and do what I can. Really the motivation for me in the first trimester when i felt so crummy was knowing that the exercise made me feel better and also that I didn't want to lose my fitness. I have had many friends who stopped everything in the first trimester and had a hard time re-incorporating exercise later in their pregnancies. Every pregnancy is different though. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep running my whole pregnancy because it's taking a toll on my groin and low back, but there are lots of other options like hill walking, elliptical etc. that can substitute when the time comes.

Asher_Ethan

When I was 10 weeks pregnant I had to be sent to the emergency room because I was pushing myself too hard while pregnant. Please talk to your doctor.