exercise for pregnancy

mmr

Hi,

I am six weeks pregnant on second baby and quite fit. I am running a few times a weeks, and will continue for the moment-watching my heart rate and drinking lots of water to avoid increasing core temperature., then I ll switch to cycling and swimming in second and third trimester... god willing. am avoiding all floor exercises for the moment...except for pelvic floor exercises However I would like to continue doing a few weights... but I'm a little nervous - I had moderate prolaspe the last time round - . All fine again now. do any of you fitness expert types have some advice for me and baby ?

arybvtcw0eolkf

mmr wrote:

Hi,

I am six weeks pregnant on second baby and quite fit. I am running a few times a weeks, and will continue for the moment-watching my heart rate and drinking lots of water to avoid increasing core temperature., then I ll switch to cycling and swimming in second and third trimester... god willing. am avoiding all floor exercises for the moment...except for pelvic floor exercises However I would like to continue doing a few weights... but I'm a little nervous - I had moderate prolaspe the last time round - . All fine again now. do any of you fitness expert types have some advice for me and baby ?

Wow, I'm not slagging off anyone here. But taking your previous pregnancy history into account I wouldn't be looking at any internet fitness site for advice.

I'd advise you to go and seek professional medical advice.

Transform

Just finsihing off training one of my clients who is about to give birth next week (have worked with lots of pregnant women). She trained with weights and has done cardio throughout her pregnancy.

The program adjusts through each trimester and in the first 12 weeks just take it fairly easy and use a heart rate monitor. You can still do some core work e.g. side bends, axe chops, plank etc in this trimester. All upper and lower body exercises are as normal but just keep an eye on the heart rate and make sure that you are eating well before and after exercise to keep morning sickness away and energy levels up.

There is soooooooo much you can do and most trainers are afraid of training pregnant women as they think there is not much you can do. Just do not do a bloody spinning class and as the pregnancy continues you can really focus on the arms more as its one of the few areas that will be least affected.

All the best and as i said take it fairly handy for first 12-16 weeks and you can train a little more after that initial period.

cowzerp

mmr wrote:

Hi,

I am six weeks pregnant on second baby and quite fit. I am running a few times a weeks, and will continue for the moment-watching my heart rate and drinking lots of water to avoid increasing core temperature., then I ll switch to cycling and swimming in second and third trimester... god willing. am avoiding all floor exercises for the moment...except for pelvic floor exercises However I would like to continue doing a few weights... but I'm a little nervous - I had moderate prolaspe the last time round - . All fine again now. do any of you fitness expert types have some advice for me and baby ?

Training is important while pregnant but has to be done right, keep your heart rate under 140 and weight training low to moderate intensity-more about maintainance than improvement-the heart rate thing is frustrating for people used to training hard but is necessary because when your heart rate goes over 140 your body temp increases over the reccomended temp for pregnant women, the baby's temperature will be much hotter due to the oven effect (bun in the oven!) where cool clothes for the same reason,and avoid overhead exercises like shoulder presses as they elevate your blood pressure which is not good for pregnancy. thats all i can think of for now!

Transform

The heart rate is more relevant to your age and experience. Yes you should be looking for maintenance but as i said before there are areas where you can work harder, like the arms, as most arm work will not tire you excessively.

EileenG

Go by your own body. You can exercise in pregnancy, and studies have found exercisers are more likely to deliver close to their due date than non-exercisers, but you have to take your level of fitness, strength, flexibility and balance into account.

I cycled 100 miles a week through most of my first pregnancy, not so much by choice as every time I got on a bus I threw up. But we both coped and I had a three hour labour.

noieralc

Can I butt in on this post for some advice?
I'm currently trying for a baby, and currently exercising pretty hard - I do a high intensity kickboxing class, a spinning class, two 90 minute gym sessions with weights and at least 60 miles of cycling every week - and I do tend to push myself hard.
Now, if I do happen to get pregnant, I may not actually know it for three to four weeks. So would I be in danger of harming the baby that early on in a pregnancy?

EileenG

Very little.

Actually, you may know very early on that you are pregnant because you are suddenly completely exhausted. I knew before my pregnancy test, because I was totally shattered, and all I could do was lie on the sofa for about three days. And that was less than a week after I got knocked up.

Once you are pregnant, your body will make the baby the priority and you may find that you either don't have energy for stuff you usually do, or you need to eat like a horse to keep doing it. But as generations of women know all too well, it's very hard to dislodge a healthy pregnancy by exercising.

noieralc

Thanks EileenG.
I think I needed just a little reassurance...I'm in danger of becoming a very neurotic woman!!

EileenG

Hate to tell you, it will get worse. There's hardy an activity or food under the sun that some expert somewhere won't tell you to avoid while pregnant. As far as I'm concerned, labour and birth was a breeze compared with all the worry of juggling the various bits of advice I was getting.

In the end, your body will tell you what you need and what to avoid.

Transform

Agreed.
Do take the intensity back in the first 12 weeks though. You can do wayyy more weight training as it tends to be less intensive. Just get instruction first