Did you exercise in pregnancy?

[Mummybear8]

If so, what exercises did you do? Do you recommend it? Would you have done things differently in hindsight?

I've just reached 24 weeks pregnant and desperately want to go for a run. Nothing too hardcore or strenuous but I enjoy running and ran all last summer before I got pregnant. I quit smoking prior to having this baby and feel like a combination of that and the growing person inside me are making me want to start being more active and healthy again, but I don't want to overdo it obviously or cause any harm.

Any advice for me? Thank you

I'm doing spinning, gym sessions and Pilates.

Swimming saves my sanity! I love the weightlessness.

I carried on with the same type of exercise, just a modified more gentle option.

Non contact kickboxing til 20 weeks, yoga, gym equipment and pilates all the way to the end. Really glad I was able to manage it, my sections meant I had 12 weeks out post birth but it wasn't hard restarting after that.

I was quite fit in pregnancy (very fit before it) I zumbaed to 28 weeks and then did swimming or aquanatal 3 times per week.

I always felt great after it and I stopped whenever I needed a breather.

I think the advice though is not to take anything up in pregnancy so if you're just taking up running at 24 weeks I'd think it might be a bit much.

Maybe try some swimming or a brisk walk?

I ran only to 14 weeks when it started feeling too hard. I cycled right up to 38 weeks. I adapted my bike s lot to a more upright position moving the seat and shortening the stem. I found it very comfortable particularly it relieved the pressure I felt on my back when standing.

I also did two different pregnancy yoga classes. Each once a week.

I did pregnancy yoga, which I loved, and got a workout DVD, "Expecting More" by Sarah somebody. It was actually good- I'd be out of breath and it got the heart rate up nicely, which wouldn't have taken much, granted. It was way too morto to have done in front of anyone else though, and also I doubt I'd have had the time had it not been DD1 I was expecting. But I'd recommend it.

I also did a bit of decently paced walking- I was a "jogger" (loosest sense of word) before pregnancy but became irrationally fearful of newly implanted fetus falling out if I ran too heavily. That, and I decided I would sacrifice myself and several kilos of Dairy Milk to building up fat stores for breastfeeding. Ha!

I think once you start off slowly, pace yourself and listen to your joints you'll really enjoy it. And being reasonably fit definitely helps with labour and recovery.

Congrats and best of luck!

I was doing body combat and body pump until I was just over 30 weeks! Xx

Thanks for all the great advice, pregnancy yoga sounds very relaxing and I'm tempted to try it, as does swimming. I like the idea of being weightless!
Read an article recently stating that apparently exercise during pregnancy can reduce labour times by up to 2 hours. I am sceptical of this but would be interested to know if you exercised through pregnancy and found this to be true or not?

I exercised with all 3 of mine, just carried on with my normal aerobics classes (no jumping though) and swimming. 2nd was concurrent with my aerobics teacher's 3rd - she was criticised all the way through her pregnancy by healthcare professionals as she was teaching 2 classes a day, continuing to do sit-ups way past 20 weeks, etc, and baby was measuring small, but she & I both trusted our instincts and what felt right, and both babies were fine. It helped that we'd both had pregnancies before, to know what it should feel like. Exercise in pg is encouraged, and does you good (though for me all labours were long & needed help!)

I've been doing swimming a few times a week and want to start a pregnancy yoga class. I was doing aerobics/ dance classes before I got pregnant and wanted to carry on but I was paranoid about jumping around and felt so exhausted in the first trimester :( Now I feel like I have lost too much fitness to go back at this point x

Well, I was induced and had an emLSCS for FTP so I couldn't really comment on the old labour duration one there.

But I would say that although pregnancy yoga is deliciously relaxing for the 15mins of complete chill out at the end, the sessions themselves were surprisingly tough:"breathing into the discomfort" apparently being the idea. And it WAS bloody uncomfortable at times. But also ace. And I did get comments from the midwives on how great my breathing was and how well I handled the back-to-back baby/syntocinon driven contractions (until I decided life is too short and fell upon the anaesthetist for an epidural- I would marry her tomorrow if this referendum passes).

Aw Got don't worry. Sign up to the yoga and remember you've got your whole life to get back to fitness. Mine went relatively to pot during pregnancy but with one baby who only catnapped unless walked for an hour a day in her buggy and I got right back to fit in no time. Embrace the squidge and congratulate yourself on anything you DO do.

Did any of you find that exercise helped with morning sickness? I've noticed that I feel less nauseous after a walk.

Haha Covered, I did the ironing the other day and congratulated myself. I didn't even do that before I got pregnant!

I walk briskly quite a bit every day in the nearby park, especially now that the weather is so good most of the time. However I still feel like I've put on too much weigh in the first tri as I'm insanely hungry all the time

Can't really tell about the labour yet, as its my first one.

Yes, did all my Les Mills classes til 36 weeks and then dropped to just body pump til 38 weeks. Then 2 weeks of yoga and walking a mile to the yoga studio everyday. Only put on 6kg, had a straightforward water birth and was back in my pre-pregnancy clothes in a week or so. I definitely think all the exercise helped!

First pregnancy did everything (combat, tae bo, zumba, dance aerobics, running etc), this one just Bodypump, simply because I have less time with full time job and toddler. But I'm teaching it, so no slacking. 7 weeks to go, planning to teach at least a few more weeks.
Yes, certainly helped with the morning sickness as well.

I can't imagine so. My labour was 36 hours of contractions; 12 hours in active labour.

As in it took me 12 hours to go from 4cm to fully dilated. Two hours more and I'd have cracked and begged for the epidural!

I'm 28+1 and still going to the gym and three spin classes a week; I think the advice is as long as you were active before, you can carry on most exercise.

rubie no, I was floored with HG for a bit when I was pregnant with dc2. leaving my bed was a herculean effort. It was fine being back at the gym when the sickness had settled down by week 12 though.

3 stone gained in both pregnancies too.

I did Body Attack until 37 weeks. Bloody glad I did as labour was hard work! Went back at 7 weeks post birth.

Played netball for 20 weeks with first baby but not allowed with second for insurance reasons. Went swimming and loved the pregnancy yoga. Both very short labours.

I just stopped zumba at 32 weeks due to hip pain :(

That was only last week and still gained almost three stone so far

I planned to exercise but totally failed. Sheer exhaustion and nausea for 15/16 wks kind of put paid to it. Oh and pgp which is MUCH worse if i overdo it was

I am though pretty active in general, and still looking after my horses twice daily (no riding)

I take the stairs at work which is becoming noticeably harder at 30wks.