Physiology During Pregnancy
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BBeccaJean
Posts: 453 Member
Being pregnant doesn't just increase uterus size...it effects every process in the body. It irritates me when people think I should be able to exercise at the exact same level as when I was not pregnant--there are reasons for losing breath and higher heart rate--it's not just getting out of shape--the body is working hard to make another person. If anyone else has thoughts, chime in!
I found this website
( http://www.gsfitness-performance.com/pre-and-postnatal-programs/physiological-changes-during-pregnancy/ ) that gives a few of the major changes to the Cardiovascular System & Respiratory Function:
The Cardiovascular System:
The cardiovascular system is responsible for pumping blood throughout the entire body. Multiple changes occur in the cardiovascular system during pregnancy in which you you should understand.
1.Blood Volume is increased by 40%.
2.Your Cardiac Output (the amount of blood that pumps through the heart per minute) increases by 40%.
3.Your Resting Heart Rate (RHR) is increased by 10-15 beats per minute.
4.Arteries tend to dilate resulting in low blood pressure resulting in weakness and fatigue.
5.Blood flow to the mother’s liver and brain remain the same, while blood flow to the muscles decreases resulting in a lower aerobic capacity, due to the blood flow to the uterus and kidneys increases.
While blood volume increases, the increase in the number of red blood cells (RBC) falls behind. RBC’s are responsible for carrying oxygen throughout the body and carbon dioxide to the lungs which could result in anemia. Be sure to check with your doctor if you begin to get fatigued and tired and check to see if you are at risk of anemia.
Respiratory Changes and Function
Breathlessness and hypertension are common experiences for many pregnant woman. This is largely due to the enlarging development of the uterus on the diaphragm.
1.The diameter of the chest increases about 2-8cm.
2.The tidal volume. the volume of air inspired or expired with each breath, increases by 40%.
3.The functional residual volume, the volume at the end of expiration, is dramatically reduced in late pregnancy resulting in a decrease in oxygen reserve. This can and will have a significant impact on women attempting to exercise at maximal intensity.
I found this website
( http://www.gsfitness-performance.com/pre-and-postnatal-programs/physiological-changes-during-pregnancy/ ) that gives a few of the major changes to the Cardiovascular System & Respiratory Function:
The Cardiovascular System:
The cardiovascular system is responsible for pumping blood throughout the entire body. Multiple changes occur in the cardiovascular system during pregnancy in which you you should understand.
1.Blood Volume is increased by 40%.
2.Your Cardiac Output (the amount of blood that pumps through the heart per minute) increases by 40%.
3.Your Resting Heart Rate (RHR) is increased by 10-15 beats per minute.
4.Arteries tend to dilate resulting in low blood pressure resulting in weakness and fatigue.
5.Blood flow to the mother’s liver and brain remain the same, while blood flow to the muscles decreases resulting in a lower aerobic capacity, due to the blood flow to the uterus and kidneys increases.
While blood volume increases, the increase in the number of red blood cells (RBC) falls behind. RBC’s are responsible for carrying oxygen throughout the body and carbon dioxide to the lungs which could result in anemia. Be sure to check with your doctor if you begin to get fatigued and tired and check to see if you are at risk of anemia.
Respiratory Changes and Function
Breathlessness and hypertension are common experiences for many pregnant woman. This is largely due to the enlarging development of the uterus on the diaphragm.
1.The diameter of the chest increases about 2-8cm.
2.The tidal volume. the volume of air inspired or expired with each breath, increases by 40%.
3.The functional residual volume, the volume at the end of expiration, is dramatically reduced in late pregnancy resulting in a decrease in oxygen reserve. This can and will have a significant impact on women attempting to exercise at maximal intensity.
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Replies
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no kidding, even early before I got heavier my running was not the same. Now sometimes I crave a good awesome hard workout and that ends up being walking up hill for 3 miles, lol.0
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no kidding, even early before I got heavier my running was not the same. Now sometimes I crave a good awesome hard workout and that ends up being walking up hill for 3 miles, lol.
I agree - even putting aside overall fatigue, I just could not keep up my usual pace during a run at the beginning!0 -
Thanks for posting this! Such good information -- I wish I could tape it up at my bootcamp place.
I love the people I work out with, they are great, but either they continually forget that I am pregnant, or they have no idea of what it's like to be pregnant. Fair enough, my girlfriends there haven't had kids yet. And the guys, well, they just keep asking me if I have an injury when I modify an exercise. It's pretty common to overhear 'are you ok? is your hip bothering you again?' 'um, I'm pregnant.... still pregnant...'
le sigh.0 -
Thanks for posting this..... I have allergies and asthma and I'm constantly out of breath now :grumble:
LadyJacc- I can't believe you're in boot camp! That is impressive to me!!0 -
Thanks for posting this! Such good information -- I wish I could tape it up at my bootcamp place.
I love the people I work out with, they are great, but either they continually forget that I am pregnant, or they have no idea of what it's like to be pregnant. Fair enough, my girlfriends there haven't had kids yet. And the guys, well, they just keep asking me if I have an injury when I modify an exercise. It's pretty common to overhear 'are you ok? is your hip bothering you again?' 'um, I'm pregnant.... still pregnant...'
le sigh.
Most people, unless they've been there, don't get it. I had to re-explain to my husband (this is my second pregnancy, after all) that being pregnant is exhausting. Putting aside any physical discomfort and/or morning sickness, it's simply tiring. Sometimes you are tired for no good reason. I would love to sleep all day (or moreso than usual). It finally came down to my bringing it up during a fight that he just. didn't. get. it. I told him I had no way of proving it to him, that he just had to take me at my word, and he basically said he didn't think I was serious when I mentioned how tired I was. After having my first and having trouble getting up off the floor because of back pain and whatnot, I remember thinking that this is how it must feel to be really old!0 -
Most people, unless they've been there, don't get it. I had to re-explain to my husband (this is my second pregnancy, after all) that being pregnant is exhausting. Putting aside any physical discomfort and/or morning sickness, it's simply tiring. Sometimes you are tired for no good reason. I would love to sleep all day (or moreso than usual). It finally came down to my bringing it up during a fight that he just. didn't. get. it. I told him I had no way of proving it to him, that he just had to take me at my word, and he basically said he didn't think I was serious when I mentioned how tired I was. After having my first and having trouble getting up off the floor because of back pain and whatnot, I remember thinking that this is how it must feel to be really old!
Ha! I love that he just didn't think it was serious when you mentioned how tired you were. Did he think you were just saying it for fun? Pregnant passes are well deserved, and we should totally get points for being 1) showered, 2) dressed and 3) at work. I'd say that's enough.
I mean, it's not like that cup of decaf coffee is any reward.0 -
Thanks for posting this..... I have allergies and asthma and I'm constantly out of breath now :grumble:
LadyJacc- I can't believe you're in boot camp! That is impressive to me!!
Wow, asthma and allergies and pregnancy? I can't even imagine the shortness of breath.
And thanks. Though, bootcamp is getting pretty funny these days - I've get a few people each class following me around and doing my modified exercises with me (I'm sure the instructors hate that) and I can't shake them! I want to be like 'you're not pregnant, you're lazy, get to work!' 0 -
Most people, unless they've been there, don't get it. I had to re-explain to my husband (this is my second pregnancy, after all) that being pregnant is exhausting. Putting aside any physical discomfort and/or morning sickness, it's simply tiring. Sometimes you are tired for no good reason. I would love to sleep all day (or moreso than usual). It finally came down to my bringing it up during a fight that he just. didn't. get. it. I told him I had no way of proving it to him, that he just had to take me at my word, and he basically said he didn't think I was serious when I mentioned how tired I was. After having my first and having trouble getting up off the floor because of back pain and whatnot, I remember thinking that this is how it must feel to be really old!
Ha! I love that he just didn't think it was serious when you mentioned how tired you were. Did he think you were just saying it for fun? Pregnant passes are well deserved, and we should totally get points for being 1) showered, 2) dressed and 3) at work. I'd say that's enough.
I mean, it's not like that cup of decaf coffee is any reward.
I think he just thought that I was saying it, like some people say, "I could use a nap right now." They may or may not mean that they're actually that sleepy. He didn't realize that when I said I was tired, I meant that I felt tired and would like to sit down and rest! In his defense, I wasn't this tired during my first pregnancy. But yes, most guys do NOT get it, and not getting to enjoy a glass of wine at the end of a long day SUCKS!!!0 -
I can relate, I was shocked by how I felt during more aerobic exercise once I was pregnant. I always thought it was more about deliberately limiting your exhertion because of the associated risks. Instead my body forced me to slow down. There was just no way I could have pushed myself as hard as usual, even if I threw caution to the wind. That being said though, I have really felt strong during pregnancy. If I was stupid enough to actually attempt maxing out my lifts, I think I would have got PBs. All that growth hormone is apparently great for muscle building... Naturally occuring in us pregnant women, it's a banned substance for male athletes its that good...0
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Complete drop in energy was my first sign of pregnancy, and it's getting hard now just to walk around for any extended period of time much less run.
I know my RHR has gone up a good 15 BPM as well.
Being pregnant really is absolutely exhausting.0 -
I'm really glad this was posted because I honestly didn't know it was normal to have it affect my exercise like this! This is my 4th baby and I knew all the added blood supply stuff, but this is my first pregnancy at a healthy weight and working out. I've been really frustrated with myself at Zumba class because it used to be so easy to go an hour and now I feel so EXHAUSTED about 30 minutes into it. I'm only 18 weeks along so I felt like that shouldn't be an excuse for not being able to keep up any more, but now I SEE it's normal! AHHHHHH! Thank you! I'm going to stop beating myself up now and thinking I'm just no longer fit. (I feel so stupid for having thought so!)0
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@kori333 ...no problem! I noticed another thing that contributed to my exercise issue was being REALLY dehydrated. I'm 20 weeks and I have had pretty bad all day sickness and liquids wouldn't stay down at all until the past week or so. So, if you have morning sickness, that could also be a factor!0
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@kori333 ...no problem! I noticed another thing that contributed to my exercise issue was being REALLY dehydrated. I'm 20 weeks and I have had pretty bad all day sickness and liquids wouldn't stay down at all until the past week or so. So, if you have morning sickness, that could also be a factor!
Dehydration has been an issue for me this whole pregnancy not because of nausea though. I just can never seem to get enough water in sometimes
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@kori333 ...no problem! I noticed another thing that contributed to my exercise issue was being REALLY dehydrated. I'm 20 weeks and I have had pretty bad all day sickness and liquids wouldn't stay down at all until the past week or so. So, if you have morning sickness, that could also be a factor!
Luckily I really wasn't that sick this pregnancy and I'm well past that stage now. I always do need to drink more water though. I had 2 kidney stones during my last pregnancy and dehydration was possibly partially to blame. I really should be better at carrying a water bottle around with me.0
