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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

30min exercise at 190bpm while pregnant

9 replies

LittleJumpingBean · 13/06/2022 13:27

Just putting out here because I'm worried, but I also feel incredibly stupid for putting myself in this position and not thinking twice.

Not too long before pregnancy I used to run quite frequently and at a relatively fast pace. I took up running for about a year and I would run 4 to 5 times a week between 5k and 10k sometimes throwing 1/2 or a marathon in. Everytime I ran my average HR would be around 185bpm throughout the entire 30mins-1hr which is considered very high (I'm 32 and my max supposed to be 188 which is basically a sprint pace and can only be sustained for a very short time). Aside from overheating quickly and thus only ever running in t-shirts regardless the snowy weather I felt fine and always wrote it off as my bpm range being outwith what is considered normal. My rest HR was about 43bpm wich is also considered low. I have never done any medical tests with regards my HR.

Around September 2021 I had an injury and stopped running. Then in February this year got pregnant. I had an awful first trimester majority of which I was bedridden anytime I wasn't at work. This only has improved about a week or two ago, I am currently 18+5. I never had any stomach aches or spotting at all, I mostly struggled with digestive issues and nausea.

I felt very guilty having done 0 exercise and having gained a little over the recommend amount throughout the past few months and so I decided to do something active. I googled and it did say if you ran regurarly you would be okay running while pregnant provided you dont push yourself too much.

Being midful of not having had any exercise for a period of time I thought a light jog would be appropriate and not too hard. I set of on my usual 5k. I went VERY slow, I could've speed walked at the same pace but wanted to keep the bounce of a jog as it's something I find easy to zone out to. I felt fine for the most part, muscles were out of practice and I did feel a bit warm but with a sunny day I just kept to the shady parts of the path.

When at home I felt fine, drank loads of water and had no issues in general. I checked my run's stats and saw that the entire 34 minutes were spent between 185-190bpm which is just mind blowing considered I felt so fine. Then before bed I noticed a couple of broken capillaries and kinda freaked out a little. I had no other pains other than headache so went to bed as usual having cried to DH about being worried.

About 2am I woke up with stomach pains throught the entire abdomen and bad headache. The pain wasn't severe but enough to wake me up and keep me awake. I started to panic. It went on for maybe 2 hours at which point I took painkillers and decided to call the duty midwife.

The pain has passed after the painkillers but I was too wired up to sleep. Midwife advised to call back if the pain returns but otherwise not to worry and to not jog again, saying that I just overdid it. I have my next scan on Wednesday morning but feel like until then I will just drive myself mad thinking the worst, although the stomach pain has never returned.

I now feel I should've gone to GP first time by HR was that high before I ever got pregnant but at the time I felt more than healthy and I loved running, and hate myself for not checking HR during the jog.
I'm so confused and worried by this.

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Flederjo · 13/06/2022 13:36

I believe they do advise keeping your heart rate below a certain level when pregnant....I want to say 160 but that could be bollocks, you'll have to check. It also depends on how fit the person was before pregnancy.

And yeah you're correct, generally it's fine to continue whatever you did pre-pregnancy, but you did have quite a long gap of no exercise.
Maybe just stick to walking for a bit and see how you get on?

LittleJumpingBean · 13/06/2022 14:41

Yeah, I do think its around 160 too, I have read that somewhere. I'm generally quite fit and active (aside from pregnancy when i could not do anything) with or withour running, but running is the only exercise that ever raised my bpm to max.

The reason I was so oblivious and not concerned (and probably should've mentioned in the post) is that I did go for a few jogs back in March (before the sickness had hit me), at a much faster pace than yesterday but a lot slower than I used to do. I did monitor my HR then which was around 165 throughout and felt just the same. It didnt even occur to me this this jog could possibly be worse because I felt like I was walking.

I now wear my fitness watch at all times and pay attention to my HR and realise it had gone up so much since getting pregnant (90-95), I imagine this would be the reason behind high HR. Its so hight that I think a brisk walk will raise it to 160. I'm not sure if thats normal either but I will ask on Wednesday.

I'm definitely going to be more mindful now, just hope everything is okay.

OP posts:
TheVolturi · 13/06/2022 14:51

I'm sure you'll be OK now but do keep an eye on your hr in future. I have had episodes of racing heart after I've over exerted myself on a run, it always calms down but now I make sure my hr stays below or around 160ish and it's better. I am not pregnant though and I'm older than you (41)

randomsabreuse · 13/06/2022 15:06

In the absence of other signs I'd query if the watch was "right" - as an experienced runner your running cadence is likely around the 185 mark especially if you're trying to get in a rhythm so if your "HR" was consistently at that level rather than building up to it over the duration of the run as you get more tired I'd want to check that the watch wasn't shifting in time with your stride.

If it's a chest strap one obviously this doesn't apply.

My HR does tend to go high on a run and I can sustain "max" HR longer than you theoretically should (most of a 10k race...) But it tends to vary somewhat rather than sit at the consistent rate for the duration.

One of these was an easy run, average 152, low maximum Other one got up to 182 (I'm in my 40s but not pregnant) on a very hilly parkrun and was mostly in zone 5.

I'd keep an eye on things and see if you can check how accurate the HR on your watch is when exercising - chest straps are better or you could do a manual pulse to check recovery time as well.

30min exercise at 190bpm while pregnant
30min exercise at 190bpm while pregnant
LittleJumpingBean · 13/06/2022 17:09

Thank you, I needed to hear this and it made me feel much better.

I did just get a new watch in around April time and haven't really used it until yesterday, and thinking of it - it consistently shows higher hr that the one before even if i consider the bump up in hr due to pregnancy.
I wanted to get the chest strap but left it for after the pregnancy, now I think it might be worth getting one.

I also think I having a case a pregnancy anxiety as I get really worked up about all things baby related. I still feeling great and have no further stomach aches so who knows 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
LittleJumpingBean · 18/06/2022 09:33

Baby is healthy! Im told to not jog again, and go for a brisk walks instead.

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ZooMount · 18/06/2022 18:26

Interesting reading this as I'm in a similar position. Run regularly but my heart rate is always high, and can randomly spike in the day. I ran parkrun today and although I tried to stay at a steady pace my HR was between 185-196 the whole way within 5 mins. I was pretty red in the face when I finished. My midwife said I needed to call the GP when I mentioned it to her but I still haven't been as I can never get an appointment. Id be practically walking if I kept my HR below 160. I've always run, completed a marathon recently and HR is always high so I'm just going to continue taking it down a notch and hope it's ok. I'm 11 weeks.

ZooMount · 18/06/2022 18:31

Glad you've been checked and baby healthy!

WorkEvent · 18/06/2022 23:36

The numbers to keep below have been plucked out of the air as far as I could tell when I researched this in my pregnancies. I know that when I run, I can sustain a high heart rate for a significant period with no I’ll effects. My body is used to this. Looking back at Strava, I can see my average HR for runs during my last pregnancy was around 170-180 with a max HR of 203 in my last run at 39+ (It was an interval session so short bursts with a lot of recovery between).

It sounds like you pushed yourself harder than you realised, and were probably dehydrated and/or a bit low in sodium. I always knew if I’d overdone it when I was pregnant if I started getting braxton hicks midway through a run!

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