Exercise advice for 5 weeks gone - lonely and climbing the walls!

[WS]

Hi,

My first post, I've been pretty lonely since I found out I was pregnant - we're really happy about it and were trying but, along with a nasty cold bug, I'm feeling completely de-energised, poorly, sicky and generally completely unsocial and to be honest pretty low.

My family and best friend have been brilliant but as it is so early I've not been able to tell anyone else - hence the loneliness.

I've always been really big into my exercise and know that would cheer me up but my big 'thing', pole dancing, I'm no longer allowed to do as my class isn't insured and my teacher says "The first trimester is the most delicate time for exercise, and anything involving isometric contractions of the muscles (ie: lifting weights and holding muscles contracted) isn't advised. Basically it raises the blood pressure very quickly which puts a strain on your body and the foetus as well. I've been advised that sit-ups are also a no-no, as you must not pull your tummy button in or put a strain on your lower stomach - again, involving isometric contractions. "

I've had some poor exercise advice from my Doctor it seems and I don't know who else to ask.

I've been looking at some exercise DVDs on Amazon, but I'm pretty overwhelmed and I really don't want to resign myself to 9 months of pilates - not yet anyway! I've started swimming but could do with something aerobic - is a salsa dvd an option? I couldn't bear a class at the moment as am feeling hideous and really don't want any men touching me!

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Cosmosis Debbie is lovely, isn´t she? I´ve ordered several things from minxgirl before.

For the cross-country skiers, well to stop you have several choices:
a) snowplow, like you would with downhill ski-ing, if you are ski-ing classic-style you can keep one ski in the track and just snowplow with the other one,
b) if it really gets scary, sit down for a controlled fall,
c) hope there is not sharp bend at the bottom, get into a race-style tuck and shout "wheeeeeee" all the way down the hill!

It´s a great sport and you can choose any pace from "stroll in the countryside" to the sort of race where you have to lie in the snow for 10 minutes afterwards to recover. Even better was the biathlon taster weekend that dh and I did last year.

Yes, she's ace I did originally ask about maternity shorts, as Terry make them, but she said she cycled all the way through, as long as you pic stretchy low soft panelled shorts you are fine.

I have never tried crosscountry ski-ing, it looks really hard - but then I suppose people think that about solo 24 hr mountain bike racing ;)

Ahhh, glad I didn't get shot down in flames for dissing the gentle stroll

CardiCorgi I slowed down a lot in the first trimester, even without any morning sickness. I just felt knackered and couldn't breath then, pretty much spot on 12 weeks I started getting faster again and things felt easier! That lasted for probably 4 or 5 more weeks and then it has been a gradual decline as the bump started to grow.

Advice is pretty patchy (and largely made-up I believe) for exercising pregnant ladies, mostly I guess because they can't really run tests on preggos and see what effects exercise has on their babies (not ethical or somesuch thing). The 140bpm heartrate thing is made up by someone (a man) who decided that was about the right level and while the over heating thing may have some basis, I remember reading that you would need to be in your 22 mile of a marathon before your core temperature got high enough to be an issue!

Also, remember that the baby always gets first dibs on everything we have: vitamins, water, food, oxygen - so if we exercise too hard so that there isn't enough oxygen to serve us and the baby (for example) we will pass out to stop us exerting ourselves anymore. Nature is clever!

Bloody hell, I wish I'd found mumsnet when I was first pregnant. Before I got pregnant I was trampolining, playing football, cycling and rowing: all completely banned by my midwife who was of the 'gentle stroll' persuasion.

I went swimming a lot and kept up some fairly strenuous walking (was out on a walk with the dog when they phoned to say they had a bed to induce me!) but really missed proper sport and exercise.

Does anyone know the deal with trampolining/gymnastics btw? I know there's obviously the risk of falling but aside from that?

Mrsjuan, they banned cycling? It would drive me crackers if I couldn't.

I think trampolining is not advised if you've had any bleeding, but don't see why you shouldn't otherwise. Gymnastics might be a bit impractical after about 20 weeks, I would have thought (but I am the world's least flexible person so couldn't do it even when not pregnant).

Yep- on the grounds of falling - grrr. I think next time round I would ignore the cycling ban - obviously use common sense but I really missed it.

Now I have a healthy 10 month old daughter I will admit something here that I have never admitted before when I was 10 weeks pregnant (and hadn't told colleagues) I took some students trampolining and just couldn't resist did a few basic moves and a couple of somersaults and then spent the rest of the pregnancy worrying that I had somehow damaged her by turning upside down!

The issue with most UK pregnancy advice is that it's very poorly researched (as someone pointed out, it's hard to do double blind, randomised trials on pregnant women)and largely based on retrospective studies which cannot, by their nature, isolate certain lifestyle factors. As a result, actual risk has not been isolated and quantified and so advice is skewed based on a lack of downside risk associated with following the advice, even if the advice is bogus.

e.g. There's no harm (beyond minor inconvenience to dinner party hosts)in not eating unpasteurised cheeses and a minute risk from eating them, so the advice is "dont eat it". Similarly, sushi and caffeine.

My chances of getting listeria from cheese are probably lower than me being in a head on collision in my car. However, the inconvenience of not driving is so great that it outweighs the risk.The government cant say "dont drive whilst pregnant because you might crash".

Thinking about exercise, some women who exercise excessively do miscarry (although it's hard to say that that is the reason). Many don't. Again, we dont know what the risk factor is or even what constitutes "excessive exercise". However, doctors do concede that women who are fitter tend to have easier births so there is an offset. How those two factors sit in the minds of the pregnant woman would vary between women. The government takes the view that the priority is to avoid miscarriage. For some women, the upside of exercise in terms of mental and physical well being might offset that risk to them.

I think it's entirely a personal thing but dont be afraid to challenge healthcare professionals on the advice they give- particularly in the UK they are hamstrung by DoH guidelines but if you actually ask them what the evidence is they get all sheepish and admit there isnt any.

WS how are you doing? Any luck with finding some good activities?

My gynae said that the reason to avoid falling was less the fear of damage to the baby - it´s pretty well cusioned, but more that if you injure yourself then they can´t give you an x-ray (and presumably a lot of painkillers are out).

There is a nice chapter on the pregnant cyclist in Gale Bernhardt´s "The Female Cyclist" and it cites some of the studies that do exist on exercise during pregnancy.

I did actually have a missed miscarriage at 11weeks the first time I was pregnant and I had run the London Marathon 2 weeks post-conception (I didn't know I would get pregnant quite literally first shot, so I didn't even think about it) and of course I wonder whether that was to blame. Either the effort of the marathon (and it was a HOT day) or the amount of ibuprofen I took before / during / after but I will never know.

That experience didn't stop me running when I got pregnant again though mostly because that was an extreme situation and 2nd time round I wasn't doing anything so strenuous.

I am finding cycling a bit tough already at 26 weeks, just the practicalities of leaning over to my bars (bump is in the way!) - I guess lifting them or having a more upright bike would be the answer.

Trampolining is interesting. I was banned from urban rebounding because apparently the bouncing is no good for you if you are pregnant. No idea if it is true or what evidence they have, is possibly more about arse covering.

What you say is very sensible Arcticfox regarding the risks and 'advice'.

I am a fitness instructor and you can do what you normally do until you feel that you need to stop/cut down, subject to keeping your heart rate down to about 65% of your MHR. This means being able to talk and exercise at the same time. With pole dancing, if you're used to doing it, carry on. And what is your instructor doing teaching a class with no insurance?!!!

You may want to be careful about the more complicated pole dancing moves - may not be a good idea to hang about with your legs above your head.

Ab exercises can be done till 12 weeks (some places recommend till 16 weeks but I stopped at 12). The main reason for not doing abdominal work during pregnancy (apart from its discomfort from having to lie on your back) is that it can cause your abdominals to split vertically (called 'diastasis') which is a bugger to put right.

I am 38 weeks pregnant and am still teaching BodyPump and was teaching BodyCombat till last week. I only gave it up because I am so tired.

I think your pole dancing instructor needs to do some further research and get some insurance!

I'm a personal trainer and completely agree with peachey.!