Exercise question

meggwyn

In the 6 months before getting pregnant, I was active, but not always consistent. I hit a record low weight in July before my husband returned from deployment. I was very fit, doing all the mowing/gardening, etc all summer. Once he got home, I sort of stopped all that and started gaining weight. I decided to start lifting and "bulk", except I wasn't consist with the lifting. I did get stronger, but was really eating way more than I should! And bad stuff, too. THen I hurt my shoulder and had to stop for a while, but kept "bulking". lol I also run, but can never seem to do it daily. It ends up being a couple times a week. I had worked up to running 4-6 miles at a time, though, at a good pace. We had planned on trying to get pregnant in December and I thought I could easily "buckle down" and drop 10-15 lbs before getting a positive. Well then the holidays hit, AND I got my BFP in January!

So, I started this pregnancy about 15 lbs over what I had wanted. I've definitely replaced muscle with fat, as my exercising wasn't consistent and I haven't had any hard labor to do (its winter, so no yardwork). I'm not sure how hard I can push myself now that I'm pregnant. I know they say to keep doing what you were doing, but what if it was sporadic?

I've already discovered I can't run as far or as fast as I could bc my heart rate jumps so high and i get out of breath. So I am mostly fast walking on an incline on my treadmill, with slow jogging mixed in. I really want to continue lifting weights, but I wasn't following a program. (I do have NROLFW and had meant to follow it). Is it safe to still do that? Can I safely lift since I've done it before, even though I wasn't in the middle of a program?

How much can you challenge yourself while pregnant? I should also add, this is my third pregnancy and I've never had any complications with health during a pregnancy (except HBP at 41 weeks with my first b/c I gained so much), so, I'm low risk! Thanks for the advice!

fludderbye

i had started an 8 week fitness blender work out series that i just finished- i am currently only 7 weeks but this my 5th pregnancy

from what i have figured out- i am not going to start anything new- so going to redo this 8 week series from the beginning, and really listen to my body- just dont over do it-

dewsmom78

I was working out quite a bit before getting pregnant with this one. I was doing Jillian Michaels and running twice a week. I was 10 lbs over my happy weight when I got my positive. I started out still going walking a few times a week, and used my elliptical occasionally. But honestly, I lost interest once I got to about 20 weeks. I couldn't do anything strenuous without getting winded. So eventually I just quit, and it being winter didn't help.

My advice is to do as much as you can, but don't let yourself get out of breath or get your heart rate too high.

BTW, my lack of exercise is haunting me cuz I'm up 40lbs with 4 weeks to go. I will be hitting the gym as soon as I can!

DawnieB1977

Even if your exercise wasn't constant, you were still capable of it, so should be fine to continue whatever you were doing. Obviously stop if you feel uncomfortable, or just slow it down.

You need to be careful with exercises lying on your back, and it's best to lift weights with the support of a bench, rather than doing it from standing up. If you do stand up, then use lighter weights.

I was exercising a lot before I got pregnant, 5-6 times a week, so I felt fine to continue. I'm 32 weeks today and I still go to the gym to use the elliptical, stepper, bike, and treadmill (walking on an incline) and weights, and I also do Zumba and aerobics. I did spinning up to about 26 weeks, but started to feel uncomfortable so stopped, and I have done step aerobics too and still feel ok to do it.

I haven't weighed myself, but I'm still fairly sure I have gained quite a bit despite all my exercise.

meggwyn

Thanks for the replies! I sort of figured it would be ok to start lifting moderate amounts since I have the strength there. I just won't be increasing anything. I will try to be consistent and at least maintain my muscle mass. I just don't want to lose all of my strength. The number of pushups I can do has decreased a lot already, so I'm just concerned. I'll only be 10 weeks this week, so I have a LONG way to go and want to be strong and ready for labor once its time!

I don't have a bench, but only really do dead lifts and various squats and some arm stuff. Dead lifts should still be ok, right? Are there any standing moves that would be off limits?

rhye

I still challenge myself, both in lifting and running. The only "rule" I have is that if I feel pain, I stop, or even unusual levels of discomfort. There's no real heart rate rule any more and you're just supposed to keep your exertion level moderate rather than heavy, though that's subjective. With weightlifting the biggest concern is joint instability and making sure you have the correct form so you do not injure any joints. I was also advised to go up by only small amounts of weight and not try for any maxes during pregnancy. But given how sore I am today I'm pretty sure I'm still challenging myself plenty. I've actually dropped my weights back to what I was lifting in October and that is more than a challenge-- I guess I lost some muscles when I was too sick to work out or eat thought the first tri. I'm 22 weeks and still at the gym 2-3 times a week lifting and running.

I did dead lifts yesterday Nothing's "off limits" as long as you have the correct form. It's easier to have an incorrect form for some kinds of lifts (such as dead lifts) than others, but you should always lift with correct form pregnant or not and always have form at the forefront of your mind, it's just that with joint instability it is much easier to injure a joint.

As an aside, after running yesterday my SI joints hurt like hell so I think from now on I'm going to use my SI brace for running. I think running is putting too much stress on those joints at this point. But that's not something I experienced until this week at 22 weeks.

I think it's excellent to keep working out! For my first pregnancy was at the same weight but out of shape and I had SO MUCH PAIN EVERYWHERE and especially my back, but having gone into this one in pretty good shape, I have hardly any back pain or pain anywhere else. Well, until running yesterday anyway.

DawnieB1977

Thanks for the replies! I sort of figured it would be ok to start lifting moderate amounts since I have the strength there. I just won't be increasing anything. I will try to be consistent and at least maintain my muscle mass. I just don't want to lose all of my strength. The number of pushups I can do has decreased a lot already, so I'm just concerned. I'll only be 10 weeks this week, so I have a LONG way to go and want to be strong and ready for labor once its time!

I don't have a bench, but only really do dead lifts and various squats and some arm stuff. Dead lifts should still be ok, right? Are there any standing moves that would be off limits?

I read somewhere that you shouldn't do walking lunges, but can't remember from how many weeks, or why! I would've thought dead lifts would be ok. Unfortunately no-one at my gym is prenatally trained so can't advise me properly, and the personal trainer I used to work with refused to do sessions with me after about 12 weeks as he has no pre-natal training and he was worried. He's self employed, and was worried about his insurance I guess!

I do mainly arm things, bicep curls, chest presses, lateral raises etc, and I do squats, and use some of the legs machines in the gym. When I do classes I adapt what they do at the end, so I do press ups and leg extensions against the wall, and tricep dips holding onto the side bit, and I sit on the gym ball for some things.

I didn't really exercise in my 2nd pregnancy, but I think your body remembers it was once fit as I had a really easy labour and birth.