I need to get in better shape before pregnancy

[MeadowHay]

Hi! I have 1 DC who is nearly 2. We are planning to start TTC towards the end of the year. I am really unfit and just in bad shape and it has dawned on me that I need to improve before pregnancy or I may have increased problems. Most notably for me is that I have a weak pelvic floor (Oxford scaling grade 2 according to the physio which was about a year ago now), and I have chronic back pain in the middle of my back (just caused by weak core muscles according to the doctor and physio - scan was clear).

I find it hard to be motivated and exercise I have fatigue all the time and I am also very anxious about everything (health and other stuff) too.

Can anyone recommend any specific exercises that would help me get in better shape for my next pregnancy? Or resources?

Pilates or yoga would be good for your core. Brisk walking or C25k are good, flexible ways to build up your cardio fitness.

I wasn't unfit before pregnancy #1, but I wasn't at my peak either. I had a toughtime with nausea, exhaustion in the first half then SPD in the second, plus other inconveniences then a tough labour, EMCS and other complications which left me really unfit as in staggering to the postbox and back to bed to recover after about 300m of walking. So I was on a mission to get fit after for my sanity and for pregnancy #2. I think it did help. The SPD set in a few weeks later and I managed to keep moving on crutches. It kept me down to a 3 stone gain rather than 4 (I was 8st7 mid-pregnancy when I could finally eat again, and gaining over 50% of my bodyweight in 4.5 months was awful)

It was definitely worth getting fitter.

Yoga and to a certain extent pilates need guidance to do it properly. You risk hurting your back more with yoga so I wouldn't advice it without a face to face instructor. It is very easy to do a move wrong and even a slight twist can have bad consequences. In pilates, doing the table top wrong without controlling the pelvic floor can make it worse, so you need to learn to identify it, block it and usually start with one leg up and not to if you lose it. Having an instructor in the room is not possible in lockdown. Have a loot at Sophie Uliano Fitness video her www.youtube.com/user/gorgeouslygreen/videos They are gentle and she has some specific for pelvic floor. She is my age which is probably a lot older than you, but I can guarantee you will feel it.

I do a lot of classic floor barre exercises but all my links are in French sorry here they are anyway

and I enjoy the NY baller workout

Walking at a brisk pace as suggested by previous poster is a great advice. However you need to tackle the route of your fatigue and what you define as lack of shape.
What do you mean by lack of shape. Overweight or breathless? How is your diet?
You fatigue might be caused by some nutrient deficiency, so maybe reflect on your diet and reflect on what you eat and what you might be missing.

Sorry, put the same video twice
this was the one I wanted to add

i actually speak French

Out of shape I mean weak I guess - given doctor and physios have confirmed weak core and weak pelvic floor. And like low general/cardio fitness as I get out of breath easily and fatigue quickly with exercise. I had bloods about 6 months ago which all came back normal so don't think any deficiencies. Am taking a multivitamin with iron when I can remember thanks ladies

Oh diet - not amazing but not awful. Definitely room for improvement. I do eat quite a lot of unhealthy sweet stuff. I'm not overweight, think my BMI is right at the bottom of the healthy range.

If you are not overweight but have shortness of breath, I would book a GP appointment to investigate it before starting any intense workout regime.
In the meantime, start by fixing your diet, remove the sweet stuff and substitute it for good stuff. Even if you are very slim, the ups and downs of blood sugar and insulin resistance can cause fatigue and shortness of breath.

If by removing the "quite a lot of unhealthy sweet stuff" you feel better, you have an easy solution and with a young child in the house, eating the right stuff is better for everyone especially as you plan TTC.

Or last bit, you might just be really really out of shape and need to build up muscle and move more. Browse these videos and see if one or two moves would be suitable to you. athleanx.com/best-workout-program-videos/best-workouts-for-women Every workout has 5 or 6 different moves, some gentle some not. Maybe one of these moves is good for you like rolling a ball with your heels in one of the abs videos.

I've come along to hopefully bump this thread into action. I'm planning on baby 2 this year, at the moment I have a coil in so TTC won't be happening for a few months until quite really the current pandemic is under better control.

I've banished all chocolate from the house and have started to build up to 10k steps a day again. I'm also looking at reducing my calories and generally eating a better diet.

Squeezy app for pelvic floor. I assume the physio who checked you showed you how to squeeze.
Basic core exercises of the kind some units give on a sheet on discharge.
Some physios are doing 1-1 online consultations if you want more specific exercises and weren’t given any when they scanned you.
Just keep all that going really consistently every day.
Then after pelvic floor is stronger you could try
Couch to 5k for general aerobic fitness, slow it down over 16 weeks not 8. Or similarly start some gentle cycling and build up.

Yes I have the squeezy app but my compliance has not been good . It is a lot better now though. The physio did show me how to squeeze/ checked I was doing it ok, so I'm definitely doing the exercises right. However she just told me to do 4 sets of 4 squeezes for 4 seconds 4 times a day. Which is fine but she never told me that I should increase that at any point e.g. hold for longer or anything. I'm managing to do 5 sets of 5 second squeezes 4 times a day atm but it is a struggle. Really down about it when I think about it tbh, I'm only in my twenties. Terrified of incontinence later down the line . I don't have any symptoms at present though thankfully.

Have been doing some excerise at home sporadically, core, leg and dumbell exercises but had very little DOMs so clearly need to step it up. My dumbells are too light I guess. DH has adjustable heavier weights so I will sort those to a bit heavier than my dumbells and give that a go. It looks like upper body strength is better than I expected, it's just my core letting my down I think, and lack of cardio fitness. I can't face couch to 5k I haaaate running hah. Started it years ago and quickly got bored. I can't ride a bike safely on roads etc unfortunately (autistic which affects my motor skills).

Sheep Best of luck to you! I eat so much chocolate . But I'm not overweight and part of me feels I want to enjoy my fast metabolism while I'm still young and still have it! Especially as I will have to reduce my sugar intake in pregnancy because last time I was just under the cut-off of sugars after the GTT so my MW told me to reduce my sugar intake and I wasn't eating any more than I normally do so that was annoying hah.