What's your excercise routine like?

cindymcd

I haven't had my first doctor's appointment yet but I've been doing a little bit of reading on what you should and shouldn't do for exercise while pregnant.

My routine is sorta the same week to week. I try to run 3 times a week (I'm doing couch 2 5k), hit the gym 4 times a week and while I'm there I do upper body weights and cardio one day and lower body weights and cardio the next. My cardio includes 25-35 min per machine and I usually do the stepper and the elliptical. Sometimes I do a spin class and sometimes I do lap swim and aquascise added on to my other stuff.

I've been using the heart rate monitors on the machines when they're available and my heart rate at my peak is 140-150. I've stopped doing abdominal exercises and the seated leg press.

I'm hoping to keep up this routine for as long as I can during this pregnancy. Anyone have any suggestions or helpful hints?

kellykneppergrundy

I'm 31 weeks now and I still do a pretty wide variety of things, as I'll get bored doing the same thing everyday. The only things I keep the same week to week are 3 days of kettlebells and one aquanatal class. The rest of the time I'm doing barre classes, Zumba, walking, aerobics and swimming. I had just finished C-2-5K when I found out I was pregnant and got about halfway through C-2-10K when my SPD got too bad to continue. I did the 30 day shred when I was 20-24 weeks and really enjoyed that. I've never monitored my heart rate and never really worried about it. If I felt dizzy or anything I would stop but that hasn't happened yet. Obviously I've had to modify some excercises, nothing on my back, and I some kettlebell exercises are a no no, but for the most part I've carried on as normal and I've been glad of it. After all we're pregnant, not ill! I can't weigh in on the weight lifting, but I know lots of women on here do , so hopefully they can chip in.

RBXChas

I am 39w tomorrow and was on pelvic rest (which included almost all exercise) for a while due to a friable cervix that bled (so much fun!!!) and then when it stopped doing that, I messed up some ligament or tendon, which meant that doing anything more than light walking was painful. I don't know what I did, but it still feels all messed up when I turn over in bed or get up from sitting, etc. I'm hoping it is pregnancy-related and goes away postpartum!

Anyway, I did C25K in late 2011, about a year before I got pregnant, and I continued to run 3-5 miles regularly, plus was Spinning 3-4 days/week leading up to my pregnancy. When I had my first OB appointment, my doctor, who is a Spinning enthusiast herself, encouraged me to continue both running and Spinning. She said never to go breathless and not to do any sprints (either while running or in Spinning). I couldn't keep up running due to fatigue, then I had the whole bleeding issue, so I was told to stop Spinning, and then I messed up whatever in my leg.

The sheet I got at my first appointment also nixed anything that involved bouncing, like horseback riding or jumping on a trampoline.

I'd think if you've been doing C25K, you can keep doing it, and good for you if you have the energy for it! Just keep your pace in check. I didn't go by my HRM (because 140 for you may be different from 140 for me) but by whether or not I could keep up a very slightly broken conversation - no pushing past that.

thecakelocker

I had to drop cardio except for walking since any kind of brisk cardio was giving me terrible round ligament pains. I kept lifting weights through pregnancy without a problem, doing mostly a SL type deal. I did have to drop my weights a bit because I just tire out more quickly and didn't want to push myself/strain, so I wasn't lifting progressively heavier weights but just trying to maintain my strength.

These are the main things I've been doing

Bench press - I did incline bench presses to take the pressure off my back/innards and sat up quickly in between sets of 5, I did this at 55-65 lbs.
Overhead press - dropped this since I've read it puts too much pressure on the lower back. I've done seated plate raises instead.
Squats - Back squats are REALLY INCREDIBLY HARD TO DO as the belly gets bigger and throws your balance off whack, holy cow. I kept dropping the weight from my pre-pregnancy max of 175, down to 95lbs, and finally just quit around 36 wks because I could no longer get near parallel due to balance issues. Front squats although more difficult than back squats, are easier to do while pregnant because it's easier to maintain upright posture as you go down. I did these at 85lb as recently as 38 3/7 wks.
Deadlifts - Dropped my weights down to 160lbs, but did these without much of a problem. I would suggest switching to a trap bar, it's a much more comfortable motion. I don't think I would have been able to deadlift up to 38 weeks if I was using a barbell, the trap bar deadlifts are just more comfy. I supplemented these with shrugs at 70 lbs.


I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow and I officially quit the weights as of last week so I'm just going to take it easy and rest up for the big workout.

I think my biggest tip would be to take a short walk if you get hot or flushed instead of standing still. Taking a short walk over to the water fountains at the gym always cooled me down so much more quickly than just standing in place.