Getting fit during pregnancy

[NCforpoo]

16 weeks. Starting to feel vaguely human again after horrible first trimester but SPD starting to return with a vengeance.

Pre conception was on a plan to get fit but hadn't really kicked it off yet. Now not sure what to do. I was about 2 stone over weight and just wanted to get healthy. All the advice says you can do what exercise you did before- but that was hardly anything.
What can I do to get fitter during pregnancy
And
What exercise can I do to make my SPD better/not any worse!?

Watching with interest. I did Zumba through most of my first pregnancy, roughly once a week and no jumping. Haven't really exercised since and now DS is 15mo and I'm almost 12 weeks into my second pregnancy. Considering gentle (very gentle!!) jogging and maybe taking up weekly Zumba again. I think the risks of being unfit and unhealthy, esp for the birth when you need as much stamina as you can muster!, are worse than those of gentle exercise- brisk walks, very light jogging, exercise classes where you can go at your own pace (and tell the teacher you're pregnant).

Swimming
Ante natal Pilates or yoga
Walking with plenty rests/stops

I’m walking daily, slowly increasing the amount, and plan to start pregnancy Pilates soon

I walk a lot. I love walking. But todays walk has totally fucked up my pelvis.

Dont start anything new when pregnant unless it's very low impact. I.e swimming is fine and walking etc but dont start up new things like boxing or running etc. Just be healthy and enjoy your pregnancy, you can do the hard work in terms of exercise after baby is here.

I don't want to be unfit during pregnancy though.
How can I be healthy during pregnancy without exercising?
Pilates seems to be the only option

Pilates won’t do much for your overall fitness, just your strength. To be fitted you need to be do things that get your heart rate up. Obviously whilst pregnant you shouldn’t take up high impact activities (like HIIT, etc) that you weren’t doing before, but you’d be fine doing some extra walking, swimming or as PP suggested Zumba.

Gentle exercise, such as walking, cycling (preferably on a recumbent bike as you'll probably find it more comfortable), and swimming are usually fine.

The biggest rules that I'm aware of:
-don't lift weights over your head (compresses your body; has NOTHING to do with the baby's cord)
-don't get your heart rate above 70% of maximum (maximum is generally defined as 220 minus your age)
-if you can't talk, it's too strenuous
-nothing on your back after 4 months (pressure of the uterus on the inferior vena cava decreases blood flow)
-no He-Man weight lifting

I don't think I can walk- my SPD is really bad today and I only walked 3 or 4 miles.

Why do you need to "get fit"? Just focus on being as well as you can be and happy during your pregnancy. Swimming seems a good option for you or just bouncing and doing small moves on a big yoga/pregnancy/inflatable gym ball will help. Honestly just chill out - there is a time to get fit and it's not at 16 weeks+ pregnant.

3 or 4 miles is really far at 16 weeks pregnant. Give your body a break.

I had PGP and basically did no exercise apart from pregnancy yoga, which was gentle to say the least

Personally I couldn't walk far at all, I was in a lot of pain afterwards and it wasn't worth it.

Swimming is the best option if you can manage it, but not breaststroke - you shouldn't separate your knees too far.

Pregnancy Pilates too, apparently it's very good for preventing/relieving PGP, pelvic floor issues etc.

Also see pelvicpartnership.org.uk/treatment-exercise-and-pgp/

If you can’t manage walking there’s probably not much else by way of exercise you could do.. except swimming, Pilates or yoga

I have terrible SPD as well and it's just agony some days! Walking seems to be the worst thing. Swimming is good, as well as things to strengthen such as squats. Also, I spent about £5 on a theraband and do these exercises every day which help massively:

I'm in the same boat. I want to be fit for labour. I think swimming will be the best as it is completely non-impact, and the weightlessness is lovely, although I would avoid breast stroke legs if you have pelvic issues. I keep intending to go but need a kick up the arse! I'm 13+3.

Running is very high impact, I would avoid this unless your body is very used to it.

"Fit for labour" why?! I am totally confused by this notion. Your birth will be however its going to go whether your an Olympian or a couch potato. Be healthy maybe but fit?! Whilst growing a human? No.

@Famalamaringwrong I struggled with stamina during the first phase of ds's birth. It didn't go well and ended in emcs. I want to optimise my chances of a vbac by being fitter this time. Its something I can control and may well help. I don't understand why you'd have a problem with that.

There’s some evidence exrevise can shorten labour duration, reduce c/s and instrumentation rate. And improve feral cardiovascular health after birth. I’ll take that 🤷🏻‍♀️

But theres also evidence that over exerting yourself or starting a new exercise regime whilst pregnant could be potentially harmful to you and baby? So I guess it just comes down to personal opinion from there.

@Famalamaringwrong hence the advice above about gentle, low impact forms of exercise. No ones running a 10k or signing up for bootcamp here!

Swimming is good, I found it harder to swim with a big bump though. I really liked pregnancy yoga which really helped my sore hips and back.

In my first pregnancy I was really good and every day I did a couple of workout videos - just whatever youtube threw up (pregnancy cardio, pregnancy workout etc). I lost lots of weight as I ate well too (was lucky I didn’t have many cravings Or aversion). I was lighter after giving birth than upon conception.
Second pregnancy was another story and I’m still having trouble losing it 18 months on so definitely try and avoid putting it on in the first place! Good luck!!

As I didn't do a huge amount other than long walks before pregnancy, I was advised that changing this could potentially cause an issue in pregnancy.

Continued the walking. Also developed SPD so this meant that on some days I couldn't do it, and when I did do it, it was gentle and 30 mins max.

Physio helped the SPD so can now do about 45 mins (third trimester) still very slow because baby is high and I'm struggling with shortness of breath. Can do longer with stops, yesterday we were out for 2 hours.

Gentle swimming has been lovely and I found that it got me using muscles I feel like I haven't been able to use in a while.

To be honest I think now is possibly the wrong time to be looking at getting fit. Stay active, but worry about fitness etc after baby is here.
Honestly I have been shocked at how hard I am finding it to breath now because I have no lung space. You need to look after yourself, baby, and body in this time.
If you didn't do a lot regarding fitness before pregnancy, it's probably not wise to change that now.