If you worked out during pregnancy...

How often and what exercises did you do?

Did your body bounce back relatively quickly after birth?

I am a regular exerciser (1 hour 5 times per week with some serious running for 1-3 hours once a week). I am wondering on how to proceed now that I am PG. I realize the long runs are over but what else should I change?

thanks!

Re: If you worked out during pregnancy...

I went to Curves 3x a week, skipping the stomach machines. My body did not bounce back, but I had medical issues after and PPD pretty badly.

Flo Jo (I read) ran her whole pregnancy, not as hard but still ran. You can talk to your doctor but you will not have to really cut back for many months, unless you have pregnancy related health issues.

Re: If you worked out during pregnancy...

I'm pregnant now (32 weeks) and worked out 3 - 4 times a week the entire pregnancy. I did the elliptical and weights up until a week ago - I had a scare and was dilated from being dehydrated and run down. I'm uncomfortable now doing the treadmill and elliptical - plus I'm scared b/c of what happened last week. soooooo.....I'm taking it easy now. I've heard from others who were regular exercisers pre-pregnancy they did much of the same stuff (sometimes at a little less intense rate) up until 7 or so months.

what do you do now?

Re: If you worked out during pregnancy...

I read about your scare - I hope everything works out well!

I do the treadmill, bike, and row. For weights I do light stuff for total body (less than 20 lbs) and pilates. I already got a video on pilates for pregnancy.

I just worry because I've been doing this for 12 years straight and exercise is the only thing that controls my headaches and it keeps me fit and happy. My job will be uncompromising if I have bedrest (it will reduce my leave time) so I will just have to balance the two I guess. I've learned to listen to my body well so I hope it won't be too difficult knowing when to turn it down...

Thanks!

ETA: Even though I do a lot, it doesn't show physically except for being healthy (low BP, heart rate, don't get tired with a physically demanding job), that's all I care about - not how I look but how I feel...

Message edited 3/15/2006 11:00:42 AM.

Re: If you worked out during pregnancy...

I did Yoga up until the week I had Emma.
Nothing at all like you girls, but it kept me balanced mentally, and was a great workout.

Re: If you worked out during pregnancy...

I worked out until about my 5th month I think. I did the elliptical and free weights (up to the 40lbs limit only). I was told I couldn't do the leg press after my first trimester. Also I was told to avoid exercises where I have to lie on my back in general.

Dr. also told me to keep my heart rate at or below 120 but that was impossible for me. I was always at 150 no matter how slow I went so I just went with it. Everything was fine.

I bounced back ok, not great... but I would have done better if I had kept it up until 9 months but the hormones got the better of me.

Re: If you worked out during pregnancy...

Before I got pregnant I worked out 5 days a week for 40-60 minutes, either running, using the elliptical or pilates. I had been doing this for about 6-7 years.

I had a miscarriage immediately before I got pregnant with my daughter so I was overly paranoid about not working out too much once I did get pregnant, so I opted to tone it down. I stopped running, and stopped doing pilates. I did order a pregnancy yoga dvd, but it was so lame that I never used it. Instead, I ended up taking a 45 minute walk every night with DH and our dog, and on the days I couldn't walk outside, I would walk on our treadmill.

I lost all the pregnancy weight within 12 weeks post-partum, and I started working out again at about 6 weeks post-partum, though I stopped working out when I returned to work because I just didn't have the energy or time because my daughter rarely, if never, slept until recently. Now that she started sleeping, I've started working out again, this week, and hope to continue as I did before. Now I workout about 40 mins a night, right after she goes to bed.

Re: If you worked out during pregnancy...

I worked out all the time before I got pregnant and continued with a slightly scaled back routine until the day before I gave birth.

On average I would go for a slow jog 3 -4x a week and lifted very lights weights. The last three months of my pregnancy I added pilates and I swear this helped me so much during labor and to bounce back. I was in pre-pregnancy clothes about 4 weeks after giving birth and lost all the weight (28lbs) by 10 weeks. Plus I felt really good throughout my pregnancy and had lots of energy.

You can continue running but you may want to get a heart rate monitor and be sure to drink lots and lots of water.

Re: If you worked out during pregnancy...

I was an avid runner before getting PG, so I ran up to about the 5th month, but at a MUCH slower speed!

Drs. only recommend doing this if you were a runner before, but I read an article in Runner's World of a woman in her eighth month running passed the high school where her father coached football and he pointed her out and said if she can do it, you should be doing it!

I lost all but 5 pounds pretty quickly (and I gained ALOT - even with the running - your genetics do factor in), but I didn't run until about 12 weeks PP (had a c/s and was uncomforatble with the idea - plus bigger boobs)

I don't know if it was beign in good shape or the breastfeeding that helped drop all the weight.

Re: If you worked out during pregnancy...

I run an avg of 1 marathon per year for the past 5 yrs and 5+ 1/2 marthns a year so I'd call myself a runner even though I am SLOW.

I "run" so much that my family's suspecting something's up because I'm NOT running a 1/2 marathon this weekend And it's killing me, but the first of many happy sacrifices!