abdominal exercises in pregnancy?

[teuch]

Hi,

I am quite overweight and always had a belly but persistant 'fab abs' classes kept it from being too wobbly.

I was told to stop doing any abdominal exercises and already (9wks) my tummy is really flabby! I am also concerned about maintaining core strength (laterals and back) which I am sure would be useful during birth and for supporting the extra weight!

Any ideas folks?

There is one I used to do get on all fours in front of a mirror, make sure your back is straight and breathe out you'll see your stomach go huge, then as you are breathing in keep pulling your stomach up towards your back. This works the inner abs supporting your spine not the ones on the outside of your stomach. I did these all through last pregnancy and really must start on this one.

Hi there,

bit of a gym freak myself and so have a few ideas. As you are only 9 weeks you can do all the sit up things till 3 months but listern to your body.If you get hot or it feels funny stop. I started pilates which is brilliant for core stability and i do an nct yoga class. I also got a pilates DVD which you can do after 16 weeks. It sounds like you belong to a gym. Ask there they should know these things.

thanks Lexi & Chuffed...

My gym closed down a few weeks ago! Doing sit-ups, plank or even lateral plank makes me feel queasy...

I like the idea of yoga or pilates but how sensible is it to start it at home with little experience?

Can anyone recommend a DVD?

Teuch - I have got my gym to give me a new programme as I am pregnant. The Personal Trainer says I can still do ab work until the end of th first trimester but can't from then on - so I've got another 4ish weeks to get a washboard stomach - not (unless I have some serious lipo)

As long as I feel O.K. I can pretty much carry on what I ws doing until the end of the first trimester including running etc (as I was doing this before) the main advice is that my heartrate shouldn't go above 140 bpm. HTH

hi,

the DVD i have just says pilates for pregnancy and it was one of the top ones on amazon. Most will talk you thought exactly what you can and can't do and how to do the moves. To be honest with you it's mostly about breating for labour. The one i have does nothing too physical anyway so i wouldn't worry about hurting your self.

What i can also recommend is doing some work on a fit ball (stability ball. You can get them in most shops now and they will strengthen your core really well. You can also get dvd's for pregnancy exercise on stability balls. If you have never used one before i would be careful to begin with as they do take some getting used to. As you are finding sit ups too much this will be good for core and less impact than the plank as that's really quite a powerful position.

Hope this is helpful.

Good luck.