Gym / Exercise help

[DestinationSofa]

Looking for some advice about getting moving again, im approx 11 weeks and haven't been to the gym for over 2 months.

I used to do some exercise classes such as aerobics before hand as I can't cope with just using gym equipment.

I've gained loads of weight (possibly over a stone :( ) through being bedbound and eating loads of carbs and fat and sugar to stop myself being sick.

I really want to try and go back to the gym maybe twice a week as I will soon be obese otherwise. Is it ok to do classes and just get the instructor to advise ? (Do most of them have knowledge about pregnancy) or is it best just to use equipment alone ?? Which I hate!

You're not supposed to exercise your abdominals really so gym may not be ideal. Ever tried Pilates or yoga? Pregnancy versions especially. If you search YouTube there's a series of short yoga videos from Tonic (not sure this link will work http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNTIDk6mjdSNGLILGC9PG9bJj5PZlIw6j ) - especially start from the 5 key modifications for safe practice in pregnancy.

I'm exactly the same! And 11 weeks too. Feel so fat and tired and useless. A good friend is forcing gently encouraging me to go swimming with her tomorrow which I'm hoping will help. Telling myself that I only have to do one length. I've been feeling really overheated and uncomfortable so hopefully the cool water will help.

I think lots of gym classes say you can only go after 13 weeks, which is probably more to cover their own backs than anything else. But Body Balance is quite gentle yet still active, if your gym offers that? Lots of people seem to do it throughout pregnancy!

Good luck. Let me know how you get on and if you have any tips... Feel like such a whale!

Most gym classes cater for pregnancy. Just make sure the instructor helps you to adapt the routine to your pregnancy. It's true you shouldn't exercise abdominals when pregnant but that just means sit ups/crunches etc (once you have a bump you physically can't do it anyway). There is so much else you can do. So many exercises are great for your core, which you'll be grateful for once you have the baby! I see a PT every week and do classes as well as my own gym work and I'm 29 weeks pg and still feeling good. Good luck getting back into it! :)

Thanks all, not tried yoga before but have heard it's popular.

My gym does offer body balance so I will check out videos to see what happens!

I am such a whale honestly I've never eaten so much in my life and I have a big appetite usually. I looked down one day and saw my huge wobbly stomach, which is no where near where the bump will be !!! Swimming sounds good too and hopefully relaxing. So hard to get back into things :/

When I was struggling with sickness I couldn't manage anything except a swim. Since about 15 weeks I've been running 2/3 times a week, spinning and gym 2/3 times a week and a swim most days. My gym routine consists of 20-30 mins of cardio (bike, cross trainer, treadmill), some of the weight machines and I do a 30 minute circuit of whatever I fancy (usually involving a kettlebell, box jumps, dumbells, squats and lunges and sometimes TRX straps). I had an hour with a pre natal qualified personal trainer a few weeks ago who helped me and I know what my body is comfortably capable of. I can feel my body naturally start to slow down now so will ease off slightly in the next couple of weeks. I'm 24 weeks pregnant.

I carried on with a couple of low impact gym classes until I was about 5/6 months but to be honest the instructors were so paranoid - "don't do this move! Or this one!" - that I felt quite unwelcome. I think they were glad to get shot of me to be honest!

I continued with spin, it's a great low impact class! Just let your instructor know you pregnant, dial down the intensity (no anaerobic efforts) and sit up straighter to avoid pressure as the bump gets bigger! I'm 22 + 4 now and have not gained much! I have (very sadly) lost lean muscle, so the scales dont really give a proper measurement of what I have gained.
My instructor (a good friend) has 2 kids and did spin classes right up to the day before giving birth, that's my goal if I ever get rid of this damn cold...

Try swimming. It's one form of exercise you can do right up until your dd - and it feels wonderful to bob about in the water when you are 3rd trimester.

Why have you been bed bound for 2 months?

I would recommend starting easy, maybe swimming or a light jog on the running machine (or cross trainer). If you have been bed bound you will have weaker ligaments and tendons due to not using them so just take the introduction easily but in a few weeks you should be back to the exercise regime you had prior to the bed rest.

Just wanted to update that swimming today was amazing and made me feel a million times better, so I recommend it!

I might have bribed myself to go with fancy new shampoo

I carried on with Zumba til 25 weeks (I'm now 27), am still going swimming. Ask your aerobics instructor if the class will still be suitable for you. Most advice suggests you can carry on doing exercise you're used to, but tone it down a bit to suit your energy levels and changing body. So for example I took out jumps and some twists from Zumba routines.

Hooray for swimming kraken

Does your gym do aquaerobics? That would be ok, I think.

Just be aware that your joints and ligaments will be soft so you are at greater risk of injury, when you start exercising again.

What about spinning, if you take it at your own pace? That's fairly low impact.

I swam up until the day I went into labour! If you are going to go a lot I thoroughly recommend a waterproof iPod shuffle to alleviate the boredom of laps! Also did spin up to 30 weeks (but was barely breaking a sweat by the end!) and reformer pilates up until my due date. I genuinely believe keeping fit helped me recover from the c section so much quicker. And I felt so much better about myself when mahoosive!

I was bedbound due to sickness and nausea. After thinking I was feeling better it's come back really badly since yesterday arghhhh! Deffo going to head to the pool as soon as I can.

OP please don't do body balance! It was created so that fitness instructors can teach yoga and Pilates without getting proper qualifications. I'm training to be a yoga teacher and it takes a lot longer to train than instructors do for that. Pregnancy yoga would be perfect if you've not done yoga before as it's very safe and should only be taught by someone with qualifications in pregnancy yoga specifically, it will take account of your growing bump and loosening ligaments as well as strengthening your pelvic floor. Some teachers may also run or know of classes specifically for breathing and keeping calm during the birth.

In terms of general advice, wait until the second trimester to take up classes or do any aerobic exercise. Walking is perfect in the meantime. Once past 13 weeks then you can start other exercise so long as you don't over exert yourself or overheat. Measure exertion by how you feel, you should be able to hold a conversation. Don't do any core work at all unless you're already strong and with an instructor. Most cardio equipment at the gym is fine: treadmill for walking, bike, cross trainer... but no weights or rowing. The staff should be able to help.

Suzie, why no rowing please? I see no reason, as an experienced rower and coach why that would be ruled out (not that anyone does it properly in the gym anyway)

Because of the strain on the back for pregnant ladies... for exactly the reason you just said, no-one does it properly! Being pregnant is not a good time to start and the OP said she hasn't been to the gym in over 2 months but it didn't sound like she used gym equipment much anyway.

I started body balance at 13 weeks, and have been given modifications particularly for the core sections of the session, and different poses to avoid squashing my bump when the rest of the class are on their bellies. The instructor is really good at signposting the alternatives for me, and has given me a leaflet aimed at pregnant women who choose to do body balance. I'm interested to find out why you don't think it's suitable in pregnancy suziepink? I find it relaxing but still quite challenging, and I have noticed my posture is better and I feel more focused after a few weeks of classes.

I also try to do maybe 40 minutes on the cross-trainer a couple of times a week. I make sure I stop and have a drink every ten minutes or so, as I am not particularly fit and have been sedentary before getting pregnant.

I don't think anyone should be doing body balance, not just pregnant women. When I went to a class I was shocked at how much had been lifted straight from yoga but without the instructor going through the necessary years of training to teach the postures properly. This isn't to say there have not been issues with yoga classes I have been to but if I don't feel the teacher is teaching safely I will stop going.

The people behind body balance have got around the restrictions on who can teach Pilates and yoga by giving the class and postures different names. It's a truly commercial enterprise that has, in effect, stolen many years of knowledge from yoga practitioners. You may be lucky and have a good instructor but I would still be wary and compare it to a good yoga class.

I would recommend looking up any yoga teachers you are thinking of going to. The British Wheel of Yoga is the best as teachers train for 500 hours over 2-3 years but some teachers may have 500 hours of training with Yoga Alliance, which is also ok. I'm usually a bit wary of teachers who have only done 200 hours of training but if they are good and have a good amount of experience then they are worth trying. Yoga Alliance also offers month long 'intensive' training for 200 hour qualifications which are nowhere near as good as the usual 11 month training.

Sorry for the rant, bad yoga teachers and exercise instructors are a bit of a sore point with me. I once had a teacher who injured her hip in a workshop abroad and I thought if she can't keep herself safe then she can't keep me safe.