Pre-natal exercise classes, or just exercise?

[G1nger]

I'm a member of my local gym/swimming pool and am staying fit so far (13 weeks). I also have access to a pilates class and zumba class, as part of my membership. My question is this: should I, later in my pregnancy (and when?) cancel my membership and pay to attend specialised pregnancy classes? Is there a specific benefit to these, or is it just important to keep fit/stretched?

Thanks.

Hi G1nger,

I'm 18 weeks pregnant for the first time at the moment so can't answer your question about what is ok / a good idea for later in pregnancy in terms of continuing your usual fitness activities, however having just this week attended my first pregnancy specific yoga class I can say that this was quite a lot different to the usual ones!

The class I went to is run by a midwife, who is also a yoga teacher, and covered lots of points about breathing in labour, what it's ok to do in the different stages of labour, what exercies are good for birth preparation etc and it was extremely informative. If you can find classes like this I would highly recommend them in addition to your normal fitness routine as I can't imagine where else I would be able to find out such information relevant to childbirth.

Thanks, LearningFast. I'll definitely aim to attend one then.

At about 12-14 weeks, your uterus will grow beyond your pelvis, and that is the time to start thinking about what is prudent to do. You might be able to keep going with regular classes, but it is vital you speak to the instructor and find out if they are qualified in ante-natal exercise. If so, they should be able to tell you if you can keep going (with adaptations) and for how long. I would look to leave any classes which cannot provide this, and change to proper ante-natal ones.

The most important thing is to stop doing anything which makes you feel uncomfortable in any way (directly physically, too tiring, or just not sure about it).

I'm 33+3 now and only stopped going to my regular gym classes about 2 weeks ago - I was doing Pilates and Bodypump, and the main reason I stopped was that my bump really started to get in the way.
I've spoken to my midwife and the gym instructors, and everyone agreed that you can keep doing what you've been doing as long as you're comfortable with it. Obviously, listen to your body and take care because your ligaments will start going soft and your balance will change, but apart from that, there is no reason not to exercise. Don't start anything new, except of course the pregnancy-focussed classes.

I started pregnancy yoga at about 24 weeks, in parallel, and it's great - completely different from normal yoga. I'm still going to the gym now, but have switched to really gentle expercise, just some walking on the treadmill and crosstrainer - and even that is getting pretty tough now! Swimming is meant to be very good when pg, so will give that a try.

Talk to you gym instructors, mine were brilliant, kept an eye on me and gave me alternative exercises in the classes. But they all agreed that exercise is good in pregnancy!

This is great, ladies. Thanks very much. I'll find out about the local classes and get signed up for one later on. I'll also aim to keep up my gym/swimming as long as I can. I've already adjusted to a lower-level of workout and am good at listening to my body and knowing when to stop.

Thanks :)

37 weeks tomorrow and still doing bodybalance (with significant adaptations) and aqua class. Tried aquanatal and another pregnancy fitness class but it was all a bit meh and I didn't feel like I was exercising IYSWIM?

I agree that if your instructor can't give you antenatal options (and possibly postnatal ones as well!) then I wouldn't continue with that class because it probably means that they're not aware of your needs during pregnancy etc. I don't think I know of a single class aimed at people of normal fitness wanting a workout which has no modifications at all during pregnancy.

I carried on going to the gym during my 1st pg, just modifying what I did and also did a specific pregnancy yoga class which was fab for all the reasons learningfast says.

defn speak to your regular teachers to make sure they know what you should/shouldn't be doing & if they don't know stop going!

This pregnancy I haven't had as much time to exercise as I used to, but am still doing my regular yoga class, the pg yoga class again, and an aqua-natal class which is fantastic & would highly recommend - I'm 37wks tomorrow (snap with snap!) & it's great to be able to get the workout (she brings the evil elastic bands along some weeks) while having bump supported - lots of ladies come back to the class post-birth to check everything's working ok before starting to do regular classes again!

I wouldn't.... I am 33 weeks and still go to a regular yoga classes at my gym 3 times per weeks. The instructors are my friends, and I do a modified practice. I also swim regularly there. I do to a pre-preg yoga once a week and it is really boring, and makes me feel like i am on my death bed... it is nice to come to regular classes... Not sure about zumba after 26, but before that time, why not, if you feel ok?

Only thing I'd say about Zumba is that I find it hard to scale back what I do there - find myself getting carried away!!! But maybe you've got more self control than me!