First trimester and high level gym workouts

[Rose58]

Hi all,

I am 9 weeks pregnant today and have not been scanned yet. I am keeping well with hardly any symptoms whatsoever - missing periods and feeling hungry that's it!

What's your take on work outs? I know this has been posted a million times over. I work out 3-4 times a week doing high intensity classes like insanity / interval training. I've confined to do so up until now but have taken it down a level so I am kit so put of breath that I can't speak. I am really watching my posture and opting for lower otions. Anyone else continuing at this level in first trimester?

I must add I am eating a lot more including more carbs!

Good on you! I continued at this level, and still am doing at 16 weeks. Generally I do two classes a week, plus running and weights.

A few tips from my personal trainer though:
Drop the intensity a bit, so you don't get out of breath (though you're doing that already)
Avoid stomach crunches and abs stuff aside from the plank/core strengthening
Don't do anything rotational (elbow to knee, for example). Hope that helps.

You may start to struggle with your pelvic floor soon, too...squat jumps and butlers now make me wee (though in my case that's exacerbated by the problems from Ds's birth anyway)

Thank you for your reply! I am still doing ab work so will stop the elbow to knee type crunches. I plan to listen to my body and take it down as the weeks go on - possibly take up swimming and walk more as I get bigger. I am just so scared of damaging my baby!

Hi Rose, just thought I'd add the advice from my own PT which was to make sure you don't overheat particularly in the first trimester. If you are already at a high level of fitness this is probably not too much of an issue for you but just be aware of it. PT recommended swimming during first tri as the water helps keep your temp down. I've switched a couple of my sessions to swimming and I love it (I used to swim a lot but stopped a couple of years ago in favour of other training).

To be honest though you are lucky. I did no exercise at all between weeks 6 and 8 because I hit a crazy wall of exhaustion. I literally went from work to bed for 2 weeks.

Thanks for this. This sounds like a silly question but how donI know if I am overheating? Also what damage would it cause? Miscarrage? Development issues?

You'll know if you're overheating! You'll feel hot, dizzy and short of breath.
Mind you, if you're already fit you should be fine.
I'm still running up hills at 16 weeks - albeit very slowly - and have been running all summer with no problems. Just took water with me on hot days, and ran more slowly than usual.
As for what damage it might cause, I have little idea I'm afraid - websites with "official" info are big on scare factors but scant on detail, in my experience.

Just listen to your body. I'm still doing crossfit and running at 21+2 and my midwife and trainer both said because I did it before no real reason to stop, just listing less heavy weights now. If I had to stop I'd go crazy!!

Fwiw, I did lots and lots of ab work in my first trimester...I'm convinced it was the reason my bump remained so compact, I had no stretch marks and honestly look much as I did before at 2 weeks post partum. (DC was 7lb 10oz at birth at 39 weeks)

It was as if my abs acted as an internal girdle supporting my bump. Def recommended.