Exercise/weight lifting at 5 weeks

[Alle1991]

Hi everyone, I’ve tried google but got a few different answers. I’m only 5 weeks pregnant and first time so it’s all very new to me. I use to workout 3-5 times a week, mainly hiit, weights and running. Am I ok to continue with these? It really helps with my anxiety but I also don’t want to do any harm with it being so early on.

I think running will be OK since you're used to it. Maybe not hiit and weights though. They advise not to lift heavy things, though I'm not sure what the exact reason is. If it's just light weights it will probably be fine.

Has a quick Google. Weight training is OK, just don't exert yourself too much, but they don't advise hiit.

If you are used to lifting, Hiit and running then it is safe to continue - the advice about not lifting 'heavy weights' is very outdated! The general rule is not to work till exhaustion, not to get too hot, again working to max and keep breathing rate to the point you could have a conversation if someone walked over to you!

I lift and do Hiit and only stopped as I felt so crap I physically couldn't! 15 weeks now and back to lifting and gym workouts!

I recommend bumps and burpees on insta and their book too! 👍🏻

Carry on as long as you feel comfortable OP. Just listen to your body as your pregnancy progresses. You'll soon find that you get breathless more easily (increased blood volume in pregnancy!) so stop to rest when needed.

The advice about lifting is more about reducing the risk of injuring yourself, as your ligaments get looser etc. But if you are used to lifting then I presume you do it with good form already! Just don't go chasing any PBs.

For what it's worth I am still Olympic lifting at 36 weeks :)

I’m 18 weeks and still running/weights/HIIT 5-6 days a week.
I’m running much slower now and going at less intensity than HIIT but I’m still doing it. I’ll increase intensity again after I’ve recovered from birth.
My ob was fine with this. The only thing I’m conscious of now is my pelvic floor and may swap running for walking in a few weeks

There was a thread on here recently about power lifting during pregnancy which was quite interesting as lots of people continued.
I spoke to the trainer at the gym and for the first 12 weeks they left my gym routine the same (mostly weights and a bit of cardio) then as I got bigger I changed to only using the weight machines and just using my body weight for squats. There’s a certain point where you’re supposed to stop lunges.
I feel like my body recovered much better from my first DDs birth because I was exercising and generally in good shape

You're fine to continue your usual exercise routine so long as you aren't working too strenuously. Keep an eye on your heart rate and make sure you can comfortably talk during whatever you are doing - you might just need to drop the intensity of some of your workouts a bit. Nearly 30 weeks here and still running!

All perfectly fine to continue with. Use the breathlessness test to ensure intensity is not too high, you should be able to talk during/after exercise. Listen to your body, if you have any niggles or pains you should scale things back or take breaks.

Avoiding heavy lifting is very outdated advice. I'm still powerlifting at 60-80% of pre-pregnancy weights. I'm 28+4wk now and have spd but still managing pretty well.

Thanks everyone for your advice, really appreciate it. Just been looking at bumps and burpees on Instagram and watching their videos. Exercise really helps with my anxiety so pleased I can continue

I spoke to my GP about this when pregnant with DC2 and I was doing spin classes and pump (weights) class at the gym before being pregnant. They said as long as I felt ok to continue, it’s safe to do so but listen to your body when it’s time to slow things down. I continued to go spin class until 28 weeks and pump class until around 30 /31 weeks.

Look up Meg squats/ stronger by the day on insta