Activity levels in pregnancy

[LunaDreams]

Hi all,

I'm almost 31 weeks with my first and just wondering how active other pregnant women tend to be in pregnancy?

I've gone from working full time in a hospital where I was commuting and then on my feet all day to working from home and do almost no exercise. I read earlier that pregnant women should still aim for 10,000 steps a day which I am absolutely no where near meeting!

I'm trying to go out for regular walks and doing some pregnancy yoga but am getting quite a lot of hip and bump pain now so find it hard. I know everyone will be different but wondering if anyone else is the same boat as me?

My stretch marks and pregnancy weight gain have really hit so just feeling a bit rubbish and guilty!

I’m 34 weeks and try to run 3-4 miles 3 times a week still. It’s a fraction of the running I was doing pre and early pregnancy… and so much slower, but I feel good for keeping plodding on.
But 10,000 steps is a good day for me now. Pre pregnancy, it was nearer 20,000 on a good day! I’ve also totally stopped riding my horse and finding day to day jobs harder work.
Although running feels hard and I ache here and there, I do feel better for getting out in the fresh air and getting a sweat on 😊

You could try seeing a physio or osteopath or massuese to help and advise with the hip and bump pain, then you could still maintain a good level of activity.

I'm my first pregnancy I didn't do very much, second I did a lot of walking and some yoga, on my third now and doing crossfit 2-3 times a week plus 2-5km walks, depending on what my pelvis will allow with my support belt as I'm hypermobile.

I’m 36 weeks & walk about 45 minutes per day as well as yoga & sitting on birthing ball getting my hips moving!

I used to be very active and a cyclist so this is far less than I ever usually do and it’s hard to come to grasps with but you need to listen to your body xx

I’m not sure, but I suspect the two posters above are particularly active people, so not the norm. I think the normal aim would be to roughly maintain the activity level of pre-pregnancy, but since your lifestyle has changed so much with work that would be difficult for you. So I’d say just aiming to stay active, like walking to the shops etc, and maybe one exercise type thing a week, like a prenatal yoga class or a swim would be good. But it varies so much from woman to woman in terms of what is possible. I have a friend with serious prolapse issues who could barely walk in the third trimester and a cousin who was in a wheelchair with the extremity of her SPD. So just being a bit active and keeping moving is enough and will hopefully help you bounce back more quickly after. Good luck with this last slog.

Keeping active just means not lying around in bed/in front of the TV all day - it should be gentle mild activity if you're getting pain from anything strenuous.

I know if I hit the step target on my smart watch (8000 I think) I've overdone it. But I do try to do some walking every day. I am 37+2 now and my doctor agrees this is a good idea!

Swimming is also great, takes the pressure off your bump.

I’m 35+2 and have been going to two Pilates classes a week, plus doing a 40 minute walk every evening. Nothing too strenuous but just trying to keep moving.

I’ve also been struggling with pelvic pain but have been seeing a women’s physio and that has made so much difference. She showed me some exercises that I do in front of the TV each evening and also reiterated the ‘keep moving’ message.

I'm no more active pre pregnancy than I am now during it, exact same amount of crossfit classes and walking, just to the poster that queried it.

I'm 10 weeks and took a 5 minute stroll to a shopping complex near my home. Popped into Superdrug and nearly passed out so had to go home. That was me pushing myself!

I’m 24 weeks & trying to go for a walk every day but nothing more strenuous than that. I don’t drive so do walk a lot generally e.g. I walked to my midwife appointment & back today (20 mins each way) and I am sitting on my birth ball in the evenings as it’s better on my back. I love swimming & used to go in my first pregnancy but I can’t fit it in round my other kids at the moment. Once they are all at school in September I’ll be going on my day off.

I’m with @Anonapapple ! I’m 22 weeks and have been so tired and breathless that I’ve been unable to keep active. Before pregnancy I would walk 10k a day. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself OP you’re growing a tiny human. Do what you can. I potter around the house and use housework to keep me active.

I'm also 31 weeks and have definitely slowed down the last 2-3 weeks. I was running pre pregnancy and so replaced this with long distance walking until about 3 weeks ago. I walk the dog twice a day now but nothing long or strenuous. I think this coincided with the heat.

Pregnancy is completely different for everyone and I am the first to be guilty of googling bump sizes and how much weight should I/should I not have put on. My friend who is 28 weeks carrying twins is running a better 10km than my pre pregnancy time! This morning I had to be rolled out of bed...incomparable.

I would recommend pregnancy massage. My back and hip pain has been constant for a while now but that helps reset for a little while. I also wear a bump band that gives some light relief whilst walking

Everyone's responses will massively vary because it depends on your health during pregnancy and also your pre-pregnancy fitness levels.

Pre-pregnancy I was doing a strength-based women's health exercise class once week, and a fair bit of walking and housework. I got HG (again - this is my second pregnancy) so was then suddenly totally sedentary for about 4 months. Ive gradually built up some activity again - I'm 30 weeks now and I do a moderate intensity pregnancy fitness class once a week, pregnancy yoga class once a week, and try to do an additional recorded physio-led pregnancy strength based session once a week too but don't always manage this. Plus some light housework and some walking. Oh and pelvic floor exercises 4 times a day too!

I've stayed very active throughout except for when unwell with an infection, only did essential stuff when that was bad. I powerlifted twice a week with odd weeks off, slowly reduced the weights and volume as I got bigger. Knocked it on the head before 36wk as baby had got really low down and I don't want to push myself in to labour before my elcs (hubby will be working away, back less than a week before surgery). Spd has got really bad now too so glad of the break tbh, still do gardening, all shopping, walk the dog and all the other household stuff. Got 5 kids already so lots that needs to be done if I feel like it or not.

I was super active before pregnancy - walked every day, did weight lifting, HIIT, yoga etc - but I was on a baby health kick to try to get pregnant so not really the 'real me'.

I've had a really hard couple of months with moving house and then catching a flu which knocked me for six (and all during the heatwave!), now finishing up for mat leave at 30 weeks. Planning to start swimming at the local health spa every other day, and get back on the yoga, and get back to more walking.

I try to be mindful of my position, laying on the side if I am chilling or sitting forward or on the ball, that's the main thing to look out for.

I have also been seeing an osteopath and acupuncturist to keep me in check through the pregnancy.

I also massage the sore bits on my body before bed (or get my boyf to do it) and just give myself lots of TLC. Warm baths with Epsom salts too,

I think you just got to be compassionate to yourself and be realistic. You can't do everything all the time, but prioritising feeling healthy and rested going into labour is key. I am 30 weeks now and know that rigorous exercise would be OTT for me, and it's more about feeling relaxed and allowing baby to move freely.
X

I was on bedrest for months. It was fine afterwards and I felt back to normal a couple of days postpartum, didn’t gain any weight either.

I saw a physio last week for bad hip pain in pregnancy. She advised me to rest. She said that she sees pregnant women all the time who have overdone it and exhausted themselves. Look, as long as you’re not a couch potato at risk of getting a blood clot just listen to your body. It sounds like it wants to rest and take it easy. So let it! Personally I think you can do all the yoga in the world and still have a difficult birth, or do bugger all and push the baby out in a few pushes.

I'd love to exercise but I struggle with breathlessness just from sitting down. Walking up the stairs or any hill leave me light headed

In 25 weeks with twins and honestly I've never been so sedentary in my life. I used to walk at least 10k steps with my first.

I normally do around 15-20k steps per day not pregnant.

First pregnancy I managed to keep up fine until the last few weeks.

This pregnancy I’m trying my best but I’m struggling. I’ve had weeks of brutal sickness followed by even more sickness.
My pelvis hurts when I walk, my bump is double the size it was last time at the same point and after walking for 20mins or so my whole bump tightens and really hurts.
I’m managing to walk my dogs for half an hour and that has me half dead for hours.
All of this moaning and I’m only 29 weeks
I feel like I’ll be the size of a whale by the end

Don't worry, two pregnancies with terrible spd so never moved from the couch from 24 weeks!!

No over the top weight gain and had two natural births easily.

This time I'm overall more active anyway so will be trying to stay so until spd raises it's ugly head again! However not 10k runs active 😂

I'm in the first trimester and have had to drastically cut down on my activities due to health concerns (sooo many appointments and people telling me to rest more). I used to go cycling or jogging most days, as well as being really busy running around at work. Now, though, I get dizzy after about 10-15 minutes of gentle exercise (combination of blood pressure issues and medication effects). I just have to pace myself though and keep reminding myself that it's to protect this baby as much as I can. The bike and running shoes will still be there in 7 months' time.

I wore a belly band for support and massaged daily with mama mio tummy oil.
I walked my Labrador a fair bit - three times a day. That was my only exercise, no weights or anything. If it hadn’t been for him, I probably wouldn’t have done much at all.
I ate very healthily most of the time, drank lots of water, I did enjoy crisps and chocolate thinking about it… Put on just over a stone.

12 weeks here!

The last few months have been a little crazy. I was maybe the most exercise-active I’ve ever been in my life, last year. In January I got pregnant and was kind of confused about what I could keep doing, so I cut the intensity way down. I MC’ed which caused a damn MUSCLE SPASM in my pelvic floor muscles (guess my core never came back online after laparoscopic surgery a few years ago). I pretty much just stopped exercising and had to start physical therapy.
In April, we moved from a rental with great walkability and bought a house in the steep, lovely hills.
I found out I was PG again in May. My step count is a fraction of what it used to be because of the new neighborhood. I’ve been doing my PT, and aiming for a workout like yoga or weights 3 times a week. I go one one 20 minute walk a day but it is STEEP - even our dancer friend commented that it should count as “leg day.”

I think I want to get an at-home spin bike to get more/stay active. I think it would help a lot once the seasons change, and I’m sure that as I get further along, the walk will get more difficult.

Embarrassed to reply after the first responder mentioned running 3 times a week... as someone else said I suspect they may be particularly active rather than setting the baseline!

I am 34 weeks and only really get exercise on my 4 days off work a week, usually get a good hour of walking in on those days. Working days, I have an hour commute by car and usually just veg out when I get home. So basically 4 hours of walking a week is my standard and I am quite happy with that.

34 weeks and doing 1 PT session a week which is gentle core work mixed with correctives and strength training for me arms and legs.
Walk the dog 40mins every morning and do the horses am and pm which is poo picking, mucking out. Stopped riding at 5months due to back pain 😞
Only thing I struggle with is anything that involves bending over because it makes me feel so sick.

I didn't mean to shame anyone by being active!! I just meant to say that I was marathon training and horse riding 6 days a week pre pregnancy... so yes, I am still trying to be active... but it's a fraction of what I was doing prior.
The way I view it, pregnancy is not the time to take up new sports or activities and you will get more limited, but you can modify the majority of sports or exercises to do a version of them during pregnancy!