I workout at home. I'm still lifting-just not as heavy. I was doing SLs 5x5 prior to finding out I was pregnant and had gotten to a point where every lift was very challenging. I loved it and didn't want to give it up.

My Dr told me that I can continue to lift, just no more pushing the strength gains and to work in the 10-12 rep range. I've deloaded my weights significantly, but am still performing the same lifts-DL, squat, OHP, bench, and row. If you use too much weight, you risk tearing the uterine lining. I'm actually going to deloaded a bit more this week, I'm incredibly exhausted and the weights I was using last week just sound too heavy right now!

I'm also continuing with my PiYo, a few other cardio DVDs, and LOTS of walking. Jogged for about 15 minutes last week, and had to stop because my boobs hurt too much. As the pregnancy progresses, I will obviously need to make adjustments. My goal is to keep moving and focus on nutrition.

I should add that I'm still overweight, and my Dr would like to see my total gain to be no more than 25lbs. So for me, continuing to move by at least walking, will play an important role.

Talk to your Dr to find out if it is ok for you to continue your normal routine. Good luck to you! I hope you have a happy and healthy pregnancy!

I wish :-( I wasn't lifting regularly enough to feel confident enough to lift

Nor was I. I have a small set of hand weights which i used with Jillian Michaels but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was proper weight lifting! I will be making a concerted effort to change that once I'm back to full workouts!

I crossfit and am now well into 2nd trimester, going 6x a week. I have reduced my squat load to doing multiple reps at about 70% of my max. I am still lifting heavy for overhead press and deadlifts, though I think my coach may tell me to scale back on the deadlifts this week. At this stage in pregnancy, I have been feeling full of energy and very strong, so it's hard to keep reminding myself of why I need to reduce load. Otherwise, I'm still doing all my supplementary resistance training as well - push-ups, pull-ups, air squats, burpees, etc.

Pre pregnancy i was lifting 6 days a week. Now i simply dont have the energy to do it so often (props to all you amazing ladies who do)...i have been trying my best to get to the gym at least 2-3 days a week and when i do go i still lift but not as heavy.

Right there with ya! I was doing 5-6 days a week pre-pregnancy. Now Im doing 3 days of full body.

I crossfit and am now well into 2nd trimester, going 6x a week. I have reduced my squat load to doing multiple reps at about 70% of my max. I am still lifting heavy for overhead press and deadlifts, though I think my coach may tell me to scale back on the deadlifts this week. At this stage in pregnancy, I have been feeling full of energy and very strong, so it's hard to keep reminding myself of why I need to reduce load. Otherwise, I'm still doing all my supplementary resistance training as well - push-ups, pull-ups, air squats, burpees, etc.

I love reading this! I almost didn't train during my first tri (I'm only 10 weeks now) and I can't wait to have more energy in 2nd trimester. I miss my hip thursts, deadlifts, squats... But right now I barely have enough energy to go through my work day I was also doing 4-5x a week... My goal is to get back to 2 days of weights and 1 day of cardio starting in the 2nd trimester.

Oh the first trimester was hard for me! I could barely manage 3 workouts a week (down from my usual 7/week) and just making it through the day was hard. I hear you! For me, it got better almost instantly in week 13. Hang in there!

I had my first appointment with the nurse yesterday. It went well... She didn't do an u/s or anything, just took my heigh weight and all the usual stuff (going over medical history and etc.).

BUT... She asked me what exercice I do, which is dance and weight lifting. She basically told me I should stick to 20 pounds weight or so... I didn't say anything but I don't plan on following that advice. Is that bad?! I mean, she also told me I could do everything I was doing before.

I did deadlifts the morning before the appt, now I can sometimes deadlift 160 pounds but I stuck to about 85 pounds that day (especially after a month off the gym). Am I the only one who still decides to lift more than 5 pounds dumbbells? If the doctor sees I need to slow down because there is something wrong with my pregnancy, I'll do it. But now it was just general advice, and I don't feel it applies to me.

What do you think?

My first visit with the dr, he asked if I exercise, I said yes. He said, good keep it up. Then asked what do I do? I answered P90x and Insanity. He was quiet for a second and then said, Oh those are really intense aren't they? You probably shouldn't do them but you can run and swim. Now, I do run some, but haven't for awhile because of foot problems so I didn't feel comfortable re-starting running after getting pregnant. But I felt totally confident modifying P90x and continuing with that.

I did pretty much stop Insanity because my heart rate skyrockets too quickly. I also started adding in some Bodybeast (weightlifting) and I feel great. I modify where I feel it is needed and take a few more breaks than I used to. So I am going against Dr's advice. I am NOT telling you it's ok to do that, you need to make the decision for yourself, but my body is totally used to working out hard, on Saturdays I would run a few miles after doing Insanity. that is what I was used to doing and was still doing it before I knew I was pregnant and a few weeks after I found out, then I stopped when nausea and fatigue hit me. Now I am working out more again, but being careful because I definitely lost strength when I was taking it easier. I think do what feels ok for you, but don't push strength gains.

I had my first appointment with the nurse yesterday. It went well... She didn't do an u/s or anything, just took my heigh weight and all the usual stuff (going over medical history and etc.).

BUT... She asked me what exercice I do, which is dance and weight lifting. She basically told me I should stick to 20 pounds weight or so... I didn't say anything but I don't plan on following that advice. Is that bad?! I mean, she also told me I could do everything I was doing before.

I did deadlifts the morning before the appt, now I can sometimes deadlift 160 pounds but I stuck to about 85 pounds that day (especially after a month off the gym). Am I the only one who still decides to lift more than 5 pounds dumbbells? If the doctor sees I need to slow down because there is something wrong with my pregnancy, I'll do it. But now it was just general advice, and I don't feel it applies to me.

What do you think?

Again, as a researcher, I am not happy taking "conventional wisdom" to heart without knowing the science behind it. I have devoted a lot of energy to researching workout intensity and effects on pregnancy and have come to the conclusion that the warnings doctors give are based on old wives tales and not on science. The only study that found any negative outcome on fetal development from high intensity exercise was done on elite athletes who were regularly and consistently training at above 90% of their max heart rate. These women tended to have healthy children with slightly lower than average birth weights.

What I have taken from the innumerable other studies on heart rate, intensity, and pregnancy is that, provided you do not consistently or for long durations exceed 90% of your max heart rate while exercising, you should not be concerned. For me, that is 170 bpm. I use a heart rate monitor during workouts with an alert set to sound if my heart rate exceeds 170. It usually does once or twice a session, at which point I back off, take a break, and resume when my HR is back down to 160 or so.

PS. when it comes to lifting, I am sticking to 70-80% of my 1 rep maxes for squats & deadlifts, but have been given the green light to go as heavy as possible for overhead presses, as these are actually helpful for strengthening your core, including your pelvic floor muscles so vital for birthing. This week, my deadlifts were at sets of 5 at 145lbs. My squats were sets of 5 at 100lbs.

I'm at 28 Weeks now
I went to the gym and had a personal trainer write a fitness plan for me last week. (It's free where I go! woop!) My usual workout routine is intense - but I took a break from the gym starting right when I got pregnant and now I'm a pile. (never doing that again). I plan to use the routine she gave me for a couple weeks and then go back and hopefully tell her it was way too easy and increase the intensity slightly. Obviously this is going to depend on if my baby and body agree with me.

My first pregnancy I worked out HARD through the first trimester. TONS of push ups, P90x videos, strength training,yoga, etc. I had a great workout buddy and I didn't want to tell her I was pregnant until week 12. It turned out to be the BEST thing I've ever done and I wish I would've done that with this one.

I did keep working out throughout my first pregnancy but just didn't do the exercises to their fullest. (i.e. knee push ups, no moves requiring laying on your back, not increasing weights, when I felt tired I took a breather) and that seemed to work out great. I also didn't do much but prenatal yoga for the last month or so.

Are you serious? I need to do some of my own research also, because I have been modifying to not do anything laying on my back and trying not to sleep laying on my back. Ok, I am a researcher too, I need to go do my own research!

I did keep working out throughout my first pregnancy but just didn't do the exercises to their fullest. (i.e. knee push ups, no moves requiring laying on your back, not increasing weights, when I felt tired I took a breather) and that seemed to work out great. I also didn't do much but prenatal yoga for the last month or so.

Just another myth to dispel: you can do things laying on your back - there is no risk here unless you are one of the unfortunate women who experiences dizziness/nausea while laying on your back.

sara_m83 wrote: »

Is anyone getting pain/discomfort from ab exercises, particularly in the plank position? I don't know if it's just that the uterus is getting in the way now or what. During abs and in lunges, I get the oddest sensations/discomfort.

I'm not doing a whole lot of abs right now, but Yes, if I am in plank and do plank twists or bring my knee in to my forehead, and when I do lunges and sometimes squats I feel pressure/something pushing in my abdomen. I figured it was my uterus getting in the way so I just back off on the depth of my movement. It definitely is an odd feeling.