How much exercise is it OK to do whilst pregnant?

[Tittifer]

I'm 12 weeks and do the Pump it Up DVD most mornings, but noticed it said at the beginning they don't recommend doing it whilst pregnant. Are they just covering their ass or should I really not do it?

All your joints loosen in pregnancy so its easier to strain. When I was pregnant I was advised not to do any weight bearing exercise - in fact I recall all I was allowed to do at the gym was walk on the treadmill! I ended up swimming mostly. Were you using this DVD before you got pregnant?

Tittifer, it totally depends on what your body is used to. I did alot of running and going to gym etc before being pg, and midwives advised I was fine to carry on light jogging until I felt uncomfortable. I ran up until 14 weeks, and am now 19 weeks and still go to the gym and use the cross trainer, bike etc, and do a low impact aerobics classes. You should not get to the point of being out of breath though, or where your heart rate is overly exerted... Light weights are fine, again as long as you're used to using them (and be careful not to over extend or strain).

I got all the above advice from midwives and instructors at my gym, so might be worth talkng to them about what you're used to doing, etc

If you're not used to exercise thought it's best not to start anything new, and stick to swimming or walking.

Hope this helps.

good advice as always. Im 31 weeks pregnant and still going to the gym 3 times a week and yoga twice. It does very much depend on what you were used to doing before getting pregnant, and the nature of the exercises? I use the cross trainer and tread mill...did cycle too..but thats uncomfortable now.
You ligaments and joints do loosen, so take extra care..but as long as you are feeling fine, there is no reason why you cant exercise right up until the end,although its good to get advice of a trained instructor or midwife xxx

Tittifer it all depends on how fit you were before pregnancy. I was a regular runner and gym-goer, carried on doing 45 to 60 mins of cardio 5 to 6 times a week, plus a weights programme and specific ante-natal exercises for my core strength right up until 42 weeks (the day before induction!). I did adapt as pregnancy progressed - less running, more power walking on the treadmill, a couple of aqua aerobics classes a week instead of the gym etc. I don't know the dvd you are doing, but wouldn't necessarily be jumping up and down (doing aerobics type moves) - probably power walking or cycling or cross-training machines in a gym are better