Pregnancy & Exercise, what do you do to keep fit?

[CloverHeart]

I started exercising (and finally eating a healthy diet) back in October when we started trying for a baby.

I am now 10 weeks pregnant and just getting some energy back after a bout of morning sickness. Up until now I have been going on a long walk with my toddler every other day to get my heart pumping and keep some sort of fitness routine going.

I want to start running again now, but I'm not really sure how long/what pace to keep to or if it would be better to swim or attend an antenatal Yoga class as an alternative.

I'd also like to return to the gym but I'm just not sure. So what I would really like to know what other mums do to keep fit and maintain a healthy diet throughout their pregnancy?

[ILoveDHIDo]

I do my prenatal dvds - What to expect when you're expecting which I ordered from Amazon. I also do modified squats and lunges to build my lower body strength and modified core exercises.

You can find all that on YouTube really. I also go on walks every evening or use my treadmill on a low speed if the weather is crappy. I have gained 3 stone (36 weeks) so it's not about losing weight for me but just to keep fit

[learnasyougo]

the advice for activity during pregnancy it's too keep up what you've been doing (what your body is accustomed to) but not to start anything new. this is for two reasons: a new exercise may make you more likely to ignore aches or pains that would (if you were a seasoned runner, say) recognise as unusual and then not scale back the intensity, and secondly a new sport requires your body to build and strengthen the infrastructure (blood vessels, tendons, ligaments) which is less effective when pregnant (relaxin hormone, but also the other things you've got to build: a whole baby, a new organ - the placenta and the blood volume to facilitate all that) so your body will be stretched for resources. weaker tendons and ligaments also put you at greater risk of injury.

do gentle, low impact things (swimming, cycling) and activities your body is already well-adjusted for, physically (like that walking you do). that way you can hero avoid injury and will be able to tell when you've been overdoing things. congratulations on your pregnancy, too

[RaRa1988]

I don't think you're supposed to take up anything new when pregnant, so probably best not to start running again, especially as it's high-impact. You might find you wouldn't be able to do it for long anyway: despite all best intentions, I had to give up running at about 21 weeks due to extreme ligament pain .

I'm still going to the gym though: I use the treadmill for walking on a steep incline, and go on the bike, x-trainer, hill-climber, and rowing machine, and do various weights. I also swim a lot and do yoga and pilates. I'm planning to start aquafit as I thought it might help with my ligaments as it's very low impact.

[SandwichBag]

Im 12 weeks and was very fit before BPF: rode my horse everyday and did quite high intensity fitness DVDs (Insanity, TurboFire etc) 5/6 days per week. Went running on imp day (unbeknown to me) and had 0 energy and since i've just been unable to do anything high impact - just havent had the omph.

Stopped riding the horse as soon as bfp but now walk him 30 mins every day and do aerobics or pilates or Yoga DVDs 4 days per week.

I don't build up a sweat but think that's because I was quite fit before. I havent had ms (thank goodness) and havent really gained any weight either, despite eating like a pig so it seems to be working :)

I did try a pre-natal DVD but felt a fraud as havent got a hint of a bump yet and to be honest I really didn't feel like it was excersise... bet I feel different when I have a huge belly in the way tho!

[patsy375]

Im 33 weeks now and still going to the gym 2x a week.
Pre pregnancy I would go 3-4x usually to high impact classes I had to give those up at about 20 weeks as running and jumping became impossible (esp from a pelvic floor point of view )
I now tend to do 1 weights based class eg body pump using lighter weights than usual and making sure the instructor gives me low impact alternatives and go into the gym for the other session.
I walk on the tread mill at a speed that gets my heart pumping for 20 mins then on an incline for 10 then I finish with weights, squats and lunges.
I think the main thing is to listen to your body and stop or slow down if you're in any pain.
Keeping physically fit is meant to really help during labour and with your recovery so its worth keeping it up if you can x

[CloverHeart]

It's good to hear I don't have to give up what I am doing and can continue doing a bit of exercise at least.

I forgot to mention I cycle twice a week to and from work (bumped it down to once the last 3 weeks for morning sickness though) and that I stopped going to yoga for the same reason.

Will look into some low impact stuff, like aquanatal and swimming and speak to my fitness instructor about some safe, gym-based stuff I can do, too :)

[Cariad007]

I used to do pump, body combat, body attack and spinning, about 6-7 classes a week when I became pregnant. I had to give up spinning fairly early on as I suffered from coccyx pain but kept up with the others as best I could through first trimester and the very hot summer we had. Once I hit trimester two I felt much better and did pump three times a week and combat and attack once a week each til about 36 weeks and then dropped to just pump at 38 weeks. I gave that up two weeks ago in favour of daily pregnancy yoga and a one mile walk to the yoga studio and am still doing that 2 days past my EDD. Which I'm convinced the hospital got wrong but that's another story!!