Tracy Anderson Method DURING pregnancy?

[legalwannabe]

I can't find any info as to whether you can do this in pregnancy (mat workout). I've googled, but all I can get is that she has a post pregnancy workout BUT, I want to do the mat work out and I'm pg.

Has anyone done it before pg and do you think it's safe to do.

I emailed her website two weeks and no response, so I'm asking here - Thanks, x

How pregnant are you? Looking at the description on Amazon I'd say it looks OK in early pregnancy but the abs and some of the floor exercises might not be suitable for second trimester onwards.

I did my normal high-impact DVD workout (Nell McAndrew) and kept up with my running until 16 weeks with no ill-effects, but I did exercise very regularly before pregnancy. After that I started to feel uncomfortable so I switched to a pregnancy DVD workout (Erin O'Brien) and cycling.

The thing is, as you won't be able to keep it up throughout pregnancy, is it worth starting with it now? You need to do these sorts of workouts very regularly for a couple of months plus to see any real improvements, and then obviously you need to keep up with them. You might be better off with exercise you know you can sustain in some form throughout your pregnancy.

I'm not sure it's a good idea to start a new exercise programme like this if you haven't done it before pregnancy. Like EmmaBemma I was very fit before pregnancy (training for half marathon and very advanced mat and machine pilates). I've managed to keep up the running (although am struggling to get to even 2.5 km now and I'm only 9 weeks!) and going to the gym. Although I'm keeping up with pilates there are certain things that I've needed to change to accommodate the changes that happen to your body during pregnancy. So no exercises in an inverted position. Much less emphasis on deep abdominals. More emphasis on pelvic stability and maintaining ankle and wrist strength (to counter the effects of relaxin that loosen your joints). No exercises that stretch the joint too much (again because of the relaxin). And at a certain point nothing that involved lying on your back. I'd also echo EmmaBemma's comment about not being able to keep it up for very long during pregnancy, so why start it now.
I know that most of the pregnancy fitness DVDs are a bit annoying and "tame" if you are already pretty fit and strong and are used to more advanced workouts. You could wait to hear back from her website, but I suspect that they'll tell you that you shouldn't do the exercises during pregnancy because they won't want to leave themselves open to a potential lawsuit if you did yourself a mischief. If you, or a friend, belong to a gym is there a trainer there who you could approach for some advice?

If you've been doing TA method for a while already then you'll find there are bits that you can do and bits that you can't. From memory the TA method has quite a lot of ab work that is very intense - do you have an instructor type person that knows you and who could help you work out what is and is not suitable for your stage of pregnancy? That would probably be the safest bet as everyone is different.I did body step and worked out with a trainer until 30 weeks with my twins, but adapting some of the exercises. Since then its been just swimming, walking and pilates (only 3 weeks to go yeah!).

Like cardamomginger says you really need to watch your pelvis and joints, its not just about keeping up (if you're fit you'll still find you can keep up quite well for a while) but you have to respect that there is pressure on parts of you that are already starting to "give" and you don't want any long term problems from this.

I found it quite hard in the sense that I still felt at about 20 weeks that I wanted a really intense cardio burn but I'd had a lot of good advice about the problems you can get afterwards/later with SPD and your pelvic floor if you overdo it on the impact side of things. So it's worth getting some advice from someone who can assess you and the exercises even if you just go to a local exercise class. Good luck!

I'm coming to the end of the first trimester, but you've sort of scared me off a bit, so I think I'll just stick to swimming and beginners pilates!

Thanks for your advice!

If you do the pilates in a class make sure you let the instructor know you're preggers Good luck!

Have you chatted to a midwife or doctor about it?
I think it all depends on how much you exercised during pregnancy and whether your body is used to it.
This site have a fitness expert that you can ask, maybe that would help?
www.fittamamma.com/forum/