exercise during early pregnancy

[mummypig]

okay... so I am wondering what exercise I can do in the first trimester. I am pregnant with dc3 so you'd think I should know this! But with the first two I was horrendously fatigued and nauseous in the first few months so went from being a gym bunny to doing nothing very quickly, then gradually introduced a little bit of pregnancy yoga and swimming before ds's were born.

This time round I'm probably less fit to start with (okay, I know I'm not terribly fit at the moment, I was going to try to lose some weight before I got pregnant ) but I'm currently not feeling as fatigued and nauseous as I was with ds1 and ds2. So I'm hoping I can carry on doing a couple of sessions swimming and a couple of sessions Pilates every week, and avoid putting on huge amounts of flab and looking like a beached whale once dc3 is born.

But what in particular should I be careful with? I won't do any high impact bouncing kind of activities anyway. I had spd when pg with ds2 so I'm assuming crawl will be better for me than breaststroke as I don't want to over-stretch the symphisis pubis again. I have the Darcey Bussell Pilates for Life DVD which seems pretty gentle in any case, but are there any exercises which I should miss out? I was planning to get the Lindsey Jackson Pilates in Pregnancy DVD when I was about 12 weeks but I'm imagining it's not very demanding so I don't want to move over to it too early.

I'll have to see the GP soon to ask about booking scans in any case, and I'll probably go and see a physio again soon because of my plantar fasciitis, so I'm not going to do anything stupid, but I'd like your opinions please.

Hi,
Same pb here!
The rule is carry on with your routine if you are already fit and exercise re-gu-lar-ly. Stop all impact sports wich ou are not doing anyway.
NO yoga untill past 12/16 weeks as stimulates blood flow to organs and you don't want to muck up on that level. I think meditation/prayanama OK though. just tell instructor.

Now with SPD, this time my Dr said don't do anything!!!
Had it at 16 weeks with DS1. I'm now 12 weeks and can already feel some occasional shooting pain.
TBH it was bad last time but did not stop me from doing yoga 3 times a week. I found it very helpfull but I had a good teacher who new the pbml and directed me so as not to oversttretch or avoid positions. I don't think you'll find that with a DVD.
Definitely NO breastroke.
Definitely no weights.
At the end of the day, some Pilates with your legs kept strictly parallel and walking may be the best bet.

Oh, the pregnancy pilates DV is really not challenging.

what is plantar fasciitis???

i'm really needing to bump this thread, because i had my stomach muscles separate with dd2, and i would NOT want a repeat of that.

I have a rebounder as I have dodgy knees and anything like stepping/jogging is too much stress for them and I was amazed that I can't use that in pregnancy (am TTC at the moment as it's very low impact.

I have a rebounder as I have dodgy knees and anything like stepping/jogging is too much stress for them and I was amazed that I can't use that in pregnancy (am TTC at the moment as it's very low impact.

I am 5 weeks pg and going to see someone at the gym for advice at the weekend. I am hoping they will say carry on but gently.

I was told not to let my pulse go above 150bpm. I ran every day until 30 wks......

But then the call of the sofa got me

see, how come you can run but not bounce??

lilbet I read your post as TTC is very low impact

I was advised against impact-bearing, was told cross-trainer at gym puts less stress on muscles than running... think a lot of the time its a case of listening to your body.

sadly mine is currently saying 'lie on the sofa and eat cake' but then I am past 31 weeks and have low iron and a stinking cold (haven't been up to going to gym for a while now though - am fine while there but then need to sleep for 3 days after...)

ooh thanks for all the answers, I didn't expect so many

I would like to know what your gym people say F&Z.

I think I'm pretty good at listening to my body, but then I did go and get spd in my last pregnancy so I obviously overstretched it then - that was even with an excellent pg yoga person. I'll obviously have to be very careful about that later on but I would hate doing 'nothing' as slim22's GP advised. . I'm pretty suspicious of advice to do nothing. I was reading about back pain recently and how the old advice to lie on the sofa until you felt better was pretty much the worst thing you could do (apart from going and digging up the garden or something like that ).

I'm feeling pretty good at the moment, with only a little bit of nausea, so I'm hoping I can carry on pretty much as I am for another month at least.

I suspected as much about the Pilates in Pregnancy DVD, thanks for letting me know slim22. Is it worth getting it at all?

glad to hear that ttc is low impact lillibet . Strange that your rebounder is still disapproved of, perhaps it's just because of your dodgy knees?

if you really want to know about plantar fasciitis you can read my moans [http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/138/415803?stamp=071102230545 here]. Currently it means i can't walk even half as much as usual, hence my worries about having an unhealthy pregnancy.

thanks again everyone

oops forgot the double brackets in the link

here it is

Ouch! so looks like walking is off the menu then.

the pregnancy pilates DVD is mainly about

• standing and doint pelvic tilts and back stretches
• kneeling and doing pelvic tilts and back steetches
• standing on all 4 and guess what?....yes same again but also kegels!

So it does remind you to stand straight and suck in your tummy but that's pretty much the only challenge.

I decided to go for normal pilates and do it at my pace. And I'm still going to go to pregnancy yoga and try and avoid lateral stretches.

take care

Mummypig I went to the gym today and was advised:

low impact stuff only, no running and no stepper machine. Walking on treadmill, or biking, or stair machine, or rowing, all fine.

Work at no more than about level 5 or 6 of perceived exertion

no lying supine after 16 weeks
no exercises with arms over head after 16 weeks
no crunch types of abdominal - could use fit ball for core strengthening

no extremes of stretching and no thigh machine at all

go for lighter weights and more reps rather than heavier weights

can't remember if anything else

oh yes longer cool down and warm up, about 7 - 10 mins each time

i had a personal trainer when pg and was told running ok, but i had to wear a heart monitor and couldn't go over 145.

after a few months, i couldn't run without it going over 145 so gradually became walking on incline.

• very careful stretching as you can stretch further but you don't want to iykwim
• gym ball is good for core stability but no stomach crunches etc.
• no lying on back

take it easy really, but doing any really maintains muscle tone and helps you get back in shape much faster after.

thanks v much for that feedback F&Z and amidaiwish. Do you think the 145 bpm was based on your age, i.e is it a certain percentage of your max heart rate?

After my smug posting a few days ago I have been feeling very nauseous and my swimming lesson was cancelled so I haven't done very much recently but still want to be a fit pregnant momma instead of an inactive blob

I might have to cut out several exercises on my pilates DVD, and I shall wear my heart monitor when on my exercise bike. I might pump up the gym ball as I'm sure the boys will love having it around the house and if I manage to get it off them it will be good for optimum foetal positioning.

i don't know about the 145bpm. i think that is just a set limit over which it is uncomfortable for the baby.

i was 32 when i had DD2. She didn't do a fitness/bleep test or anything to work out my maximum heart rate so i guess the 145 is a set figure.

I'm 35+2 with first child and just started maternity leave, does anyone know how much is safe at this stage? I used to go to gym 5 times a week by hyperemisis killed that! Just doing a few exercises in the house now, also thought about swimming???

kelbel, swimming would be good. i went into labour with DD1 whilst swimming!

as long as you don't get out of breath or hot, then you should be fine.

be careful not to overstretch though at this point, you'll be very bendy!

pistachio - bodypump , did you find there was quite a bit you couldn't do? wasn't your bump in the way!?

amidaiwish - did you waters break then?! Bet that was scary, were you overdue? do you think breastroke is best?

no, waters didn't break until i was well into labour luckily. i just started getting contractions, that is this it / isn't it feeling where your tummy tightens then loosens, over and over, more and more strongly!

i'm not sure about breaststroke... i'm not a very good swimmer so don't know about swimming. i was just doing front crawl/paddle.

i was 2 days overdue btw. but when she was born the midwife said she was premature as she was covered in vernix. so, maybe the swimming brought it on, don't know for sure.

respect!