A fitness fiend getting pregnant?

LegacyUser

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else has been in this position, and how did you cope?

I'm 32 years of age and happily married - we've no kids at the moment but this will change hopefully over the next year or so.

My issue is this. I'm a fitness fanatic. My non-work life revolves around strength training, cycling, running, basically everything and anything sport related. I train at the gym 4 days a week, and am usually doing something outdoorsie every weekend - on top of commuting to work on my bike. I *love* keeping fit and trim, and it's my way of coping with a stressful office job and staying energtic, getting good sleep etc.

What is going to happen when (if!) I get pregnant!!? I'm really terrified of going into a state of depression with not being able to do any of the above. I also don't want to lose what health benefits & fitness I have now after training so hard for so long. Have any of you been in the same position? What did you do? Did you continue to train during pregnancy? I fully realise I wouldn't be in a position to be as active as I currently am but with the help of a personal trainer, I'd hope to at least maintain some level of fitness and strength (obviously without risk to the baby).

Looking forward to hearing about some of your experiences?

Thanks

January

Moved to the pregnant forum, you'll get more answers here OP

caprilicious

Its a lot time since anyone could accuse me of being fit so probably not best positioned to answer however I would imagine when you do start trying for a baby that your first port of call would be your gp & he/she could advise you what level of exercise you could maintain.

This article gives quite a good guide & you'll be happy to know cycling/running are part of the list It seems to be just very physical contact sports or one where falls are likely (horse riding/skiing) are not recommended.

http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/exercise-during-pregnancy

I didn't exercise per se but did remain quite physical during my full time job throughout the pregnancy & I felt it did stand to me when I reached labour & had a very easy labour.
This could be coincidence though.

HTH

How Strange

Ok I was never as active as you but in the last few years I'd started running and loved it. I'd done a marathons, a few half marathons, joined a running club, really progressed and couldn't imagine life without running.

I was also quite worried about putting on weight as I'd worked hard to lose a few pounds and keep it off.

I got pregnant straight away and had very low blood pressure so I was too nervous to keep running. I could have gone back to it after 12 weeks but it was last summer and it was very hot so I was afraid of overheating and fainting.

That said I had a very active, healthy pregnancy. I walked most days, did pregnancy yoga and at 20 weeks went on a walking holiday in Italy and walked for a few hours everyday.

My little fella is 7 months and I'm back up to a slow 6k run. I don't get out running as much as I'd like but I'm back to work now so I'm hoping to run home from work 2 or 3 times a week.

I really missed running when pregnant but I know lots of women who kept up running to some extent during pregnancy. It's very possible and definitely recommended that you be active during pregnancy.

Hope that helps

JDD

Hi Sporty

My doctor informed me that anything that I was doing already I could continue doing, apart from kettlebells - or indeed any sort of weight lifting. Your heart rate naturally increases the moment you get pregnant (in order to pump the increased blood volume around your body) and anything that would put undue temporary strain on your heart can be bad for your pregnancy, especially in the first three months. You will have to expect to lose some muscle tone from a lack of strength training during pregnancy, but there's nothing to say that it can't be recovered after birth.

Cardio work is fine, as long as you aren't training for anything - i.e. pushing yourself that bit harder each week to achieve a target. As my doctor said, if I was doing 6 minute kilometres before getting pregnant, I could continue to do that, but not push for a quicker time. In reality, because of the tiredness/nausea during the first three months, and the increase in my heart rate, I had to run at a much slower pace- sometimes walking - as my body couldn't take it. It's initially frustrating, but I realised that it wasn't necessarily that my body was getting less fit, just that it was carrying out a lot of new extra jobs that didn't leave much energy left over for fitness activities. As long as I was outside and getting fresh air, I found I was getting the same mood boosters as I got from a "proper" run.

Cycling is also fine until around the fifth month i.e. until the time you have a noticeable bump. The bump will alter your centre of balance, and makes cycling more difficult and therefore more dangerous. Also, as the baby is now directly "out there", any fall on the bump would cause more damage than in the first three months. You might have to look into alternative ways to get into work at that point.

Contact sports are, for obvious reasons, a no-no at this point too.

As time goes on you might need to alter the types of activity you do. If your gym has a swimming pool you'll get a lot more use out of it. It's great to take the weight off your back. Yoga and pilates for pregnancy, while not as hardcore as you're used to, are also very beneficial. It becomes less about your individual fitness, and more about

a) exercise to ward off pregnancy symptoms, like backache, numbness, insomnia etc.
b) exercise to prepare you for labour - lots of stretching involved here
c) exercise to assist recovery after labour.

You can concentrate on getting your pre-baby body back after that. If you get a personal trainer at the gym, make sure they're trained in pre-natal fitness. With a few adjustments you can stay fit and non-depressed for any pregnancy!

As a footnote: be kind to yourself for the first three months. I found that I had to sleep most days coming home from work and even the short 15 minute walk to the bus stop was a struggle. When the hormones wear off in the fourth month that's when you can go back to regular exercise. I'm in my fifth month and swim twice a week, walk an hour every day and do yoga twice a week. I know I've lost some of my fitness but that's okay - I'm giving myself six months after babs is born to get back to my pre-baby fitness.

Cat Melodeon

A girl on my antenatal course was a fitness instructor and continued giving classes right up until the 8th month. Like the previous poster said, she had to cut out anything with weights and any strenuous ab-work, but kept up all the cardio work. You do need to be careful if you're using any gym equipment like treadmills etc as your centre of gravity does shift. My own GP advised giving up cycling due to the risk to the baby after the 4th month (when they are no longer protected by the pelvis) if I fell off at speed. I'm no fitness freak myself, I stick to the daily dog-walk and pregnancy yoga.

Mink

JDD wrote: »

I'm in my fifth month and swim twice a week, walk an hour every day and do yoga twice a week. I know I've lost some of my fitness but that's okay

This is brilliant, this is ideally what I'd like to be doing when I'm preggers (some day :rolleyes:). At the moment I try run 5k a few nights a week (I'm a million miles from the fitness level of the OP!!) and it's really the only way I can keep weight off & also get great sleep.

So it's great to see that the walking & yoga & swimming is working out for someone. I'd feel awful if didn't do any excercise for the whole pregnancy

AMPT

I train a number of pregnant women. To be honest - everything in moderation. As long as you dont put strain on the body you will be fine. Light running, cycling ( 2 a point) and swimming are as good as you will get.
Also after 12 weeks pilates and yoga are great for strenthening back and pelvic area.

LegacyUser

hi again - OP here.

Thanks all for your replies, it makes interesting reading.

I imagine half the battle will be following all the reems of conflicting information out there about excersise during pregnancy - especially regarding lifting weights. Doing a google for 'lifting weights during pregnancy' gives so many articles about how it's safe to do so (avoiding certain exercises!) but above you mention that your PT is doing cardio but avoiding lifting weights at all! I suppose the safest thing is to go with the doctors advice as the last thing I'd want is to put the baby at risk.

I think i'm most worried about managing the changes that will happen to my body (mentally) - I'm a bit of a control freak and having no control over how my body will change that dramatically is pretty scary

I really appreciate the replies, thanks

hunnymonster

OP, 4 days a week, pah, amateur! Only joking. I had exactly the same concerns as you before I became pregnant. I was in the gym twice a day, regularly competing in ironman triathlons, marathons, ultra-marathons. Indeed baby HM did 3 marathons and an ultra in utero early in my pregnancy. Everyone's experience is different but what I found was that my body automatically knew what it was able for. The volume and intensity went way down but I still ran 30 miles the week baby was born. For me, the middle tri was actually the worst as I had some lung problems. The upside of being active was that I onlt gained 5kg so was actualy lighter leaving hospital than pre-pregnancy. the major downside was the loss of lean muscle mass. I might be lighter but I look like a blimp.


the pregnancy is one thing to consider but the post pregnancy time is actually having a bigger aspect on me. a broken tailbone from delivery made any exercise difficult for a while. breastfeeding places significant demands onyour body ( extra fat stores, having to feed every 2-3 hours, heavy boobs etc, no caffeine allowed) and of course there is the emotional side of actually getting out the door and leaving baby with someone else.

littlemissfixit

I think you'll just have to be very aware and listen to your body in a different way. I was very active, running, boxing, cycling and had the mind set of training nearly until pain level and its basically more my mind set I had to change rather than the time I spent being active.
Obviously I swapped some activities, boxing was just something I wasn't going to do and cycling something I just couldn't do after a while (still commuted to work until about 4-5 months gone). Went for the pool instead, and there was nothing I liked better as the weeks went by.

I had talked to my gp, but she didn't seem to be that much informed on the subject. Be aware that your body is much more prone to injuries because of the hormones loosening your joints, don't get to the point of exhaustion, hydrate and keeping active will definetely keep you sain and make the whole pregnancy much easier on you!
Good luck!

dedede

hi there, ive started doing rip60 it very good but for 3 clases a week it 21 euro,i think it very dear.ive been looking on line to see does any gym have this, as it would be cheaper. i cant find one. if any one knows of a gym that is doing rip 60 or a fitness studio that is cheaper then 21 euro for 3 classes, could you let me knoe. thanks

GoerGirl

Don't worry- your life doesn't have to end just cause you are pregnant! Like you, I enjoy being active.

I was in the gym til I was 36wks on the last baby

this baby I am still doing my aerobics class (she has modified the movements slightly for me) and train once a week (football) - I do all the drills, jog instead of sprint, and am not playing matches due to contact - but am still involved and active with the team
I'm 28wks on my 5th baby.

I will stay at it until I feel uncomfortable and no longer enjoy it - then I will just keep to long walks until I give birth.

I have had normal vaginal births so am able to re-gain my fitness from pretty early after having the baby also.

Hope that gives you some reassurance