Fitness tips for pregnancy

[MeredithGrey1]

I'm currently 15 weeks pregnant and starting to feel much better as far as sickness and exhaustion goes.

I'd always had a vague idea in my head that before I got pregnant, I would get fit, but I guess like a lot of vague plans to get fit it didn't happen.

I'm not overweight at all, in fact I am underweight (and always have been, but have no underlying health issues that cause this) so I really don't want to lose weight, but I am unfit.

Given that I'm now starting to feel better are there any tips for increasing my fitness? I do walk every lunch time for about 45 mins, but other than that I don't really do any physical activity. I've taken up jogging several times before (pre-pregnancy) but its never really stuck more than a few weeks and I don't know if its ok to start it slowly again now?

pg is bad time to start new things, your body has enough to contend with.

If you can keep up with the 45 minute walks that would be great and a lot more than most women manage. Don't overheat or dehydrate are the other guidelines.

When you say fit do you mean build stamina? or muscle?

Long time chubster here so I only ever exercise to lose weight! Becoming fitter was just a pleasant side effect but it also meant I have to work harder to achieve the same effect!

You could (don’t laugh) carry small weights as you walk on lunch break - my friend was pregnant with twins and carried a tin of beans in each hand and pumped them as she walked! Great practice for holding the baby.

pg is bad time to start new things, your body has enough to contend with.

That's what I was afraid of. The walking I do at the moment is just in my lunch break, around the nearby town centre, although I do try to keep up a good pace (this is what I've always done, including pre-pregnancy). Would adding a more exercise-y weekend walk be ok - half an hour of pretty speedy walking in actual proper trainers for example? I know I shouldn't do too much and I will listen to my body, but I just genuinely worry about how I'll cope with the third trimester, and labour because I do feel like I am physically a bit weak and feeble! But maybe I'm just being silly - really unfit women must give birth every day.

Id agree, keep up with your walking & add a brisk walk if you want to. Your other option is pregnancy yoga, its great for stretching and stregthening the pelvis - I found it useful. I was fairly fit and still found last trimester hard but could manage to plod along with the dog on a walk as Id walked all the way through. Don't get too hung up on it, theres so many variables throughout pregnancy just take it as it comes x

It's correct that pregnancy is a bad time to take up new things that your body isn't used to. However, carry on with your walking and possibly take up swimming? Swimming is very low impact and even if you haven't been doing it regularly before you got pregnant it will benefit both you and your baby.

I am trying to incorporate walks and will start pregnancy yoga once out of 1st trimester, which seems safe to start by all accounts.

by new stuff I meant things like 1 hr+ sessions body surfing or skating or footie or rowing, etc. Activities you didn't already do and would require plenty effort.

Weekend walking for short-med spells (< 1.5 hrs) should be fine to add, it's hardly more than you're already doing. Same for anything you can do gently, really, like Yoga or gentle swimming or even short easy-moderate spells on a cycle trainer.

Important to listen to your body, though. If it feels like too much, it is too much.

Prenatal yoga or there are some water based classes ? Ask your midwife but as far as I'm aware so long as a workout instructor is pre and postnatal trained they would know what you can and can't do. I plan to exercise throughout my pregnancy and go to a boot camp we're my instructor has the knowledge to ensure this is done safely x

Sorry but pregnancy is not the time to “get fit”. Maintain fitness, yes, sure - do as much as you want. Walking, swimming etc all good. But remember your cardiovascular system is going bananas, all your internal organs are moving around, your joints are loosening. Not the time to try to improve your fitness. Just be patient and you can throw yourself into a fitness regime once baby is here.

@stealthbanana well, no perhaps the phrase "get fit" wasn't quite what I meant, I'm not looking to end the pregnancy transformed into a super fit gym goer, or even a slightly fit gym goer (and as I said I'm absolutely not looking to lose weight, and I'm also not looking to prevent weight gain).
But while I'm feeling quite good, have a bit of an energy boost, and have a low risk pregnancy with no issues so far, I just wanted to know what sort of things I could do to raise my activity levels a bit to maximise my health and fitness - with the knowledge that during pregnancy "maximum" fitness will be limited to not far above where I am now, and that the point where exercise becomes counter-productive and potentially dangerous to health will be much lower than when not pregnant. That should be alright shouldn't it?

Walking is totally fine, I’d up that if you can - I’ve even been on some more strenuous outdoor rambles since being pregnant, as long as you take it easy and don’t go powering up hills etc then all is good. Swimming also fine as pp suggest. Im going to take this up myself!

Any low impact exercise, cross trainer on lower levels and resistance, static cycling, spinning all on lower resistance and keep a close eye on heart rate and how you feel. Swimming is great especially as pregnancy progresses. I did have a good level of fitness but gained weight in previous pregnancies, had just started to exercise again when I found I was pregnant again. My midwife advised due to my now high bmi, to crack on but listen to my body and monitor heart rate. I spin, cross trainer at gym, four/five times a week, swim twice if possible, walk daily and do a prenatal yoga DVD twice a week now. It feels good, and my BP is improved, bmi lower. I am no medical expert but as long as you listen to your body, and don't overdo it I don't think you have to be restricted to walking.