Exercise whilst PG what's the deal?

[swaye]

Please can anyone help with their experiences of exercising whilst pregnant. Im a keen cyclist and want to continue as long as i can. I live near a forest so its not through heavy traffic or towns. I read somewhere about heart rate not increasing too much during exercise.... Perhaps someone can recommend a website or a book that offers good advice. Thanks so much in advance ladies xx

I think the advice is to not start some vigorous regime anew when you're pregnant. You can continue with your existing routine or take up something more gentle if you're new to exercise. You're not supposed to overheat.

I was pretty fit so kept up my 5+ times per week, with one session of pt per week.

I did spinning, body pump and gentle running/incline walking on treadmill and cross trainer sessions.

I kept it up until I was 39 weeks, the last time, and had what's known on MN as a 'sneeze' birth and was back in the gym at 6 weeks, feeling fantastic.

Hello and congratulations. Here's my story: I'm seven months in, quit cycling at 12 weeks because that's the nhs advice ( tho lots of people cycle for much longer and are fine, and I had a pretty hairy London commute). Since then have walked and swum a lot as well as doing maternally fit aerobics classes. Oh, and pregnancy yoga, which is great when it's yoga but can be too much about relaxation for me. I made a conscious decision to keep moving and I'm so glad I did. I feel better - happier and more energetic- every time I do exercise and am really enjoying being pregnant. Swimming in particular is bliss.

Having said all that, even in my smuggest moments I know 90% of this is luck. I haven't had morning sickness or sciatica or spd or heartburn. I haven't even been that tired. If things were different I guess I'd feel differently.

Thx Porkster and Caladria. So its not about heart rate but it is about not over heating and just stick to the stuff ive done before. Feeling better already and my cycling partner will be pleased to hear at tooo no doubt :-)

I only got to 12 weeks. Cycling after that made me feel sick (the jiggling to the not even bump was just uncomfortable. I just couldn't bear to cycle.)

It is a little about heart rate - heavy breathing means you are taking in more oxygen because your body needs it. So you don't want to go overboard. If you are breathing too hard and start feeling dizzy, you need to stop. I haven't read up on oxygen transmission to the foetus, but I know there's loads of research about, and general advice suggests not to work too hard, but moderate exercise beneficial.

It's very individual though. I ran during a couple of pregnancies, but oddly not the one where she suffered brain damage due to hypoxia.

(Caladria's exercise was all maternity friendly - not heavy breathing stuff)

I've read that the heartrate thing is misleading, because heartrate is such a personal thing that unless you use HR training a lot before pregnancy you will not know what's normal for you. My husband is killing himself at 140bpm whereas I can hold 160bpm for a whole 40min run.

I have given up racing, but I am still running at a 'long slow run' pace, and possibly controversially I am still mountain biking but I am only 7 weeks and the mountain biking i'm doing is very 'safe', I am not doing anything that I would normally wear pads for, nothing where I'd expect to crash and nothing where I am working super hard to keep up. I am doing almost all my exercise outdoors which helps avoid overheating. I did a spin class but am avoiding them now because of the nausea and I don't want to risk puking in class, but i'd quite like to go back to the exercise bike when I can't trust my balance outdoors on the bike anymore.

Sweating is not a sign that you're overheating, it's your body controlling your temperature. I reckon in pregnancy and in our climate you would feel dizzy and light headed long before your core temperature increased. So I am just listening to my body and for now only exercising alone or with my husband rather than with people who don't know.

I've just ordered this: www.amazon.co.uk/Runners-World-Guide-Running-Pregnancy/dp/1579547478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358680572&sr=8-1 and I seem to remember that Liz Yelling did a good thing on pregnancy on the podcast 'marathon talk' where she interviewed researchers and sports scientists.

thx badguider, madwoman , very helpful
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