Pregnancy ab work

All of my fit pregger friends gave up traditional ab work and exchanged it for balance based workouts that activated the core that are conducted upright. Stand on a bosu while doing free weights or sit on the ball while doing the cable cross machine. I know one friend who was heavily dissuaded from doing anything in the prone position. Good luck sweetie! Congrats on the bun in the oven!

I've always heard it is fine to do what you did before but absolutely NO stomach/ab exercises allowed.

I agree. That is what I was told too

I am curious about this one too. I teach water aerobics and every once in a while I get women who are preg. and asking me about ab exercises (since I am not a dr. I tell them to consult their dr) but I would like to know if anyone has talked to a dr. about this specific topic and what was said.

I do like the stability and core idea and I often tell them to just do suspended moves in the pool because my ab exercises in the water are very much like they would be out of the water but less stable because there is no ground below you.

How far along are you? My doctor told me it's fine in the first trimester but not after that. Your body can handle anything you're already used to, but don't start anything new while pregnant.

You can damage your muscles if you do ab work while pregnant, to the extent that you may end up forcing the muscles apart and end up with perminantly damaged abs. Don't do it!

All of my fit pregger friends gave up traditional ab work and exchanged it for balance based workouts that activated the core that are conducted upright. Stand on a bosu while doing free weights or sit on the ball while doing the cable cross machine. I know one friend who was heavily dissuaded from doing anything in the prone position. Good luck sweetie! Congrats on the bun in the oven!

Please don't ever stand on a bosu while pregnant. Pregnancy makes women's balance change, and it's hard enough to balance properly on them regularly - that's the challenge after all! You could easily lose your balance and fall and hurt you and your baby. Congrats on the little bean!

I see lots of pregnant women in spin class. The position of the bike makes you lean forward and engage your core throughout the entire workout. It is also very easy to maintain an intensity that you feel comfortable with, and there is no risk of a wipe out. But talk to your doc for sure!

I have also heard that it is not a good idea to START a workout program during pregnancy but it is usually safe to work out if you are already hitting the gym regularly, you just need to take it down a notch. I work at a gym and many of the class instructors (boxercise, step, etc) continue teaching at a lower intensity until up to a week before they're due but keep in mind that they are very fit to begin with. Yoga can be easily modified to suit pregnancy as well, just let the instructor know and they will let you know when a position is unsuitable for you and offer alternatives.

I miscarried once before... I only did 4-5 mins on it...now I am freaking out! I didn't think I was doing anything stressful-it didnt feel that way! OMG!

Please try not to freak. I am sure it's a large rarity for ab work to cause any problems. But if you are worried, stop doing it and go see your doctor to make sure everything is still on track. I am sure everything will be okay.