using a cross trainer in early pregnancy

[EmmaPP]

I've been doing sport 5 times a week for years - and working out at level 12 on the crosstrainer 3 times a week for 25 mins. Im now 6 weeks pregnant. Yesterday i went on the crosstrainer at a lower level - level 3. I developed an intermittent pain in left hand side of womb which had to get checked out - dr ruled out eptopic pregnancy luckily, pains now gone after good nights sleep. Dr advised no more cross trainer. what a shame. im so used to being fit! cant bear not being able to do cross trainer for 9 months. will try swimming today and see how that goes. Does anyone have a similar experience, or can suggest any other cardiovascular exercise (apart from swimming) that could be gentle enough? is it usual to get some mild twinges in womb area when pregnant? thanks

Hi Emma, Congratulations!
I used a cross trainer about 3 times a week pre-pregnancy but started to get really dizzy when working out, I waited until after the first trimester and was fine after that, stopped about 7 months as I was getting a bit big to haul my ass up and the gym staff looked a bit worried. I did pregnany yoga which was great and I started doing pilates after the birth, which are great for your pelvic floor.

Sorry I don't know about the pain, what did the gp say it was, probably just ligaments etc stretching, maybe someone else will know.

Twinges are perfectly normal, exercise or not. If your body is used to using a cross trainer then there should be no reason not to carry on. I simply keep an eye on my heartrate and try not to let it go above 150.

Seated bike? Agree also that GP over-cautious and taking it slightly easier on the X-trainer should be fine.
Stretching pains are totally normal that early on.

It was probably round ligament pain - happens if you stand up too quickly so nothing really to worry about! Can't see why low impact x trainer would be a big problem, and exercise bike is probably fine too. Running not recommended or rowing, or anything that uses abs. If you are a fitness freak you may find yourself doing lots of swimming! Me, I just lay about on sofas

Thanks so very much to all your responses, really very much appreciated, especially as I can't really talk to many friends about this yet seeing as we won't make our announcement until the 12 week stage. I went for a long swim today and had no problems, will try the exercise bike idea tomorrow, thanks grin

I use the seated bike and have found it very comfortable (am now 6+ months)
personally I might speak to a pregnancy fitness specialist (if I could find such a thing) rather than just give up the cross trainer - aches and pains are normal and it seems a shame to lose the use of this machine if you especially enjoy it
I understand your gp being cautious though

oh I was also advised that the stair stepper is ok, but I don't like it much anyway tbh

yes, your right, a woman who works at my gym is pregnant, so when i hit 12 weeks i might ask her about it. thanks

I have only just stopped running and am 30 weeks pregnant! Only stopped because my pelvis just can't take it any more - was hoping that I would be able to carry on to the bitter end

I will be using the cross-trainer, walking and swimming from here on in.

Would agree with what other people have said re. doctors being over cautious (unless of course they said that there was anything specific that made them think you should stop), my midwife said that so long as you don't start anything new, make sure you don't over exert yourself and stay well hydrated, there is no reason not to carry on as before.

The pains sound like stretching pains - they come and go.

Pistachio - how do you manage the rower?? I tried it when I was about 20 weeks and just found that my bump got in the way!!

I also thought about doing pump as I did it a while ago, but seemed to remember that quite a lot of the exercises were done lying on your back on a step - isn't that a problem too?

Good link you gave there as well, a real voice of reason, rather than "ooo, well, I don't know - couldn't you sit down and do some knitting or something instead?" which is what I feel like us preggos are being told sometimes!

I find the HR thing a bit misleading personally - I only have to step out of the door in my running shoes and my HR is over 150bpm, and that's when I'm not pregnant and my resting HR is

Hi All

Have been training with a personal trainer since just before pregnancy - and was seeing him 3x a week initially - up to 10 weeks then now just see him once a week. I do 20 mins on the cross trainer 3 x a week 20mins at 5 gradient on the running machine and some weights. Was advised the only BIG no no was the stepper. Have only just stopped running at 21 weeks as my boobs have just got uncontrollable . Saying that we kept the running to a minimum in the first 10 weeks.
All my exercise is against midwife advice who believes pregnancy is a time for your bum to get bigger!! She has very strong views against exercise, so I spoke to consultant who said carry on and stop if it feels bad, drink twice as much and rest often.

Re: HR mine is naturally higher ( 100-110 AT REST!)so I always use HR monitor and never let it get higher than 175 for more than 5 mins.

Sorry for the waffle

I used crosstrainer, level 3, well into the 7th months of pregnancy. Until gym staff told me not to come back until after the baby was out because they were 'scared'

See, that's the problem isn't it - conflicting advice at every turn, how are we supposed to know what is right?

Is especially annoying when on the one hand it has been proven that if pregnant women exercise it is good for both her and the baby and on the other you have people like oopsacocanut's midwife telling you to stop.

Did you know that, apparently, the "no higher than 140bpm" which you often read in pregnancy literature was completely made up by a man (typically) as being what he thought sounded about right!! Fantastic that isn't it - something that is being touted as gospel has no proper basis for it! Outrageous.

The thing I reckon has to be true is that the baby gets first 'go' on all of your resources, so if you over exert yourself, the baby isn't going to be deprived of oxygen, you will pass out! I guess the problem is that they just don't know, so err on the side of caution (similar to the current "no alcohol" ruling?) and tell you to stop everything.

Thanks for all that info pistachio - it might be a bit late for me to start Pump now, but if I go through all this again it is something I would definately do - with those work arounds you mention.

I saw a list published somewhere that someone had taken out of a book, it had a few points on it regarding pregnancy and exercise, and one of them was that if you stopped exercising half way through you were likely to have a big baby!! Will try and find the list - but gives you something to think about / motivate you this afternoon

thanks to all for your advise! After the pain i experienced on monday, i did a gentle swim on tues, no exercise on wed, more energetic swim on thurs and today level 4 crosstrainer (with 5 min warm up on level 1)...so i CAN exercise when pregnant after my scare on monday - yipee! next question - are situps ok (- i mean like 20 situps 3 times a week, nothing major, just want to be in best shape as poss for ordeal that takes place in 7 1/2 months time!)? read sooo much conflicting views on this..."rough guide to pregnancy and childbirth" says no, in their week 16 chapter, but does that mean "no" all the way through or just from week 16 (citing horrid hernia it can bring on!)? all other books seems to say the latter? touch wood ive not had any nausea so far (only week 6 though!), just v. tired and v. hormonal - my emotions are all over the place. do you think i've missed nausea if i havent had it yet (however i'm only technically in week 4, as i know when i conceived as i used ovulation sticks to do so!!). oh, questions questions!

Bit of a hijack, but is there any gym equipment you can use if you were a lardyarse before and did nothing?

I've started swimming a few times a week because everyone seems to think that's okay, but our local pool is a bit grim and I hate smelling of chlorine so was wondering what else I could be doing.

We have a small gym in my office so I have used the cross-trainer/bike/treadmill etc within the past year or so, just not immediately before getting PG!

Oh and tallbirduk - as I understand it, nearly all "recommended levels" (such as units of alcohol per week, five a day for fruit and veg, two litres of water etc) are completely made up!

I thought situps were a no from week 16 or thereabouts onwards. But it is not something I'd push at any stage before that. No you may not have missed nausea if you are not sick yet - many people find it kicks in weeks 7-8 - but you may be lucky yet! Hope you are

There's a good website - www.babyfit.com with lots of info. If you're comfortable you can do practically anything (even sit ups my gynae physio friend tells me). Saying that situps on a fit ball are probably easier and the plank for your core is good.

Just don't over do it (but you wouldn't want to) and lots of water.

I HATE that there's so much rubbish advice out there.

Thanks slinkiemalinki...tomorrow is beg. of week 8 for me, still no signs of sickness, fingers crossed! Managed to do crosstrainer to level 9 with no problems this week (pre pg did level 12), so all is good...think i just had really exhausting week when i first wrote here - and so my body couldnt take any exercise...have learnt to just listen to what my body wants! had a one hour siesta this afternoon for instance :-)