First trimester fitness failure?

[LateNightTalk]

Currently around 8/9 weeks pregnant with my first.. normally I lead a very busy lifestyle of shift work on my feet and going to the gym 3/4 times a week. Last few weeks I've not made it to the gym I'm floored. I went for a run and cried because I only managed half of it (I was taking it slower). I feel exhausted all the time.. Will this pass? I'm hoping to gain some energy back second trimester?!

I never got that 'energy surge' people talk about, but lots of people do! Maybe switch to yoga or pilates or gentle static biking or something. You can get some lovely pregnancy yoga on YouTube. It's horrible feeling tired all the time. I had low iron as well so that didn't help. Your midwife should be able to tell you if you have low iron from blood tests. Just take it easy and remember you're growing a whole human!

I have really struggled with a lack of energy. I use to go gym 4 times a week now I'm exhausted taking a short walk. I'm in the first trimester so hoping this is a short phase. It's hard to remember that you are creating a life from scratch. Definitely feel lazy and unfit but hoping once I get to 14 weeks I can be back at it

Failure isn't a very helpful way of thinking about it.

Your body is doing a LOT right now to grow a placenta. It has different needs from pre-pregnancy. Adjust your workout to what you can do and stop beating yourself up.

I was knackered and nauseous from weeks 4 - 14, felt fine 2nd and 3rd trimester (but obviously has to adjust a bit).

The thing I wish I'd kept up was glute and quad strength

First 12–16 weeks were absolutely horrid. I was too tired to do anything. I slept any second I could. It will get better in the second trimester, don’t push yourself, your body is going through a lot. It’s growing a human!! You can pick up your work out routine later.

Hi
hoping this will make you feel better….i was a semi pro athlete when i got pregnant, training 5 times a week on a scheduled programme and eating all tracked foods as set by a coach. 6 weeks was the last time I entered a gym for my whole pregnancy as it turned into such a rubbish experience for me of feeling frustrated and like a failure. I am petite (5’2 9 stone when I got pregnant with lots of muscle) I put on nearly 4 stone. When I’d given birth and the intial wow look at my baby passed I felt disgusting and didn’t recognise what I saw in the mirror. I steadily got back in the gym and think that due to my previous fitness level I was able to stay sooner and get into sooner than others, I am not 6 months postpartum and 5lbs off my pre pregnancy weight. I have regained muscle where I lost it and aside from my boobs being much bigger (I’m breastfeeding) and slightly looser skin on my stomach I look pretty much the same. I really wouldn’t overly worry although like you I did, I thought I would be big forever. If you’re determined to get back to it and have a history of exercise. And eating well like you do you will be fine. X

thinkjng you’re failing is really not helpful. You’re growing a person! I had an awful first trimester and I did get back some energy but never to pre pregnancy level. I’ve still managed daily walks, pregnancy yoga and swimming. But learning to slow down has been a big adjustment for me, now at 32 weeks.

It hasn't come back for me unfortunately, and I'm now 24 weeks. I was really looking forward to more energy in the 2nd trimester, but it's not translated into feeling normal.

I really suffered with fatigue for the first 16 or so weeks (asleep at 8pm most nights, needing a nap in my lunch break). Whereas now I make it through the day, but feel drained by the end of the working week. I also suffered with hip pain at the end of my first trimester, which has eased off, but I have to be careful not to walk too much or I am sore the day after.

Change your mindset. you didn’t ONLY manage half - you went and you did XXX metres/minutes. Celebrate that. A short workout is better than no workout (former professional swimmer talking here)

It took time but I managed to get and try back arouns 16/18 weeks even with a toddler. It variew woman to woman. You may need to change activity depending on how you feel. 30min walks and 20min ball work a day is fantastic

Unfortunately the same happened to me, I'm 35 weeks, and feel like an abject failure. I did get a lot more energy in my second trimester but I also got PGP at 15 weeks and another complication at week 30 so I have been confined to the sofa for most of the prgnancy. I can barely walk, or sleep, let alone do any cardio exercise. I've gotten really fat and depressed and in a lot of pain.

You think that because you're really fit, you'll breeze through pregnancy. It's a humbling experience.

Thank you all for your comments.. I am not being negative by saying failure because I'm still walking and in my feet for my job etc. I know my body is going through the biggest change and baby is taking all my energy. I'm okay with that I am trying to adapt but it was nice to hear I'm not alone.
I did think because I was fairly active pre pregnancy it may have been slightly easier but first timer over here so I was wrong! Thank you all for your support and sharing your stories x

I was running 3 times a week before I got pregnant with my daughter Dec 2019. Since then I have done about 5 runs!
I had sickness through the first and third trimesters and had bruised ribs and sternum during the second trimester after a car crash on the motorway. After my daughter was born I developed severe pnd which took 2 years to recover from. Where we live now is too hilly so I haven't managed to get the momentum into running again.
That said I walked for 3h a day with mum daughter until she was 1 then 2h every day I wasn't at work. I did a yoga class for a while and now I do a regular pilates class. I would like to take up swimming again as I did that regularly during my PhD but I'm pregnant again and have awful sickness.

All being well once you get through the first trimester, building that placenta is very energy demanding, you should be to get back into regular exercise but maybe with some readjustments about what you can manage.

I've really struggled. Just before I got pregnant I trained for and raced a 50k race. However, I found running tough right from conception because my hormones were making me excessively overheat (that's how I knew I was pregnant way before I tested) and my energy levels were through the floor very early on. Since about 16 weeks I've just about managed parkrun most weeks, with hardly any other running during the week and an antenatal pilates class. Whilst I can still get round parkrun respectably and am not yet experiencing too much discomfort, the Saturday routine now includes a non-negotiable lunchtime nap as it takes a lot more out of me!

I've just joined a gym with a view to trying to do some swimming during the week to keep fitness levels up a bit because I've got into a bit of a cycle of being sedentary which hasn't been great for me mentally or physically. I thought swimming would feel less different, but I swam this morning and to be honest that felt like harder work than I expected (although to be fair I haven't swum regularly for about 2 years so that probably didn't help) and the pool felt frigging hot as well so the idea that it would be cooler than running didn't seem to pan out. I had to have another nap this afternoon in front of the Olympics!

I don't see it as a failure though - I'm not the person smashing it through pregnancy that I hoped I'd be, but I recognise that my body is growing a human, weighs several kg more than when I conceived, and therefore that any exercise is going to take more out of me and my body will require more rest and looking after afterwards, and so what I do and when I do it is going to need more careful management to make sure I keep enough energy in the bucket to manage everyday tasks, work etc... However, I know that doing a bit of something when I feel up to it is ultimately good for both me and baby.

I was basically sofa bound until 14 weeks. It was horrible. And prenatals made me so uncomfortable. So my husband had to cook and clean. Weeks 6-10 particularly I was sleeping 12 hrs a day! It all went away with the flick of fingers at 14 weeks