With some healthy lifestyle choices and the OK from your doctor did you know you can stay quite fit during your pregnancy? It is in fact a very good idea to exercise during a healthy normal pregnancy and it is safe for you and your bump with many benefits. If you’re tempted to eat whatever you want and not exercise throughout your pregnancy you will gain extra unnecessary weight and it will be harder to get your pre-baby bod back. If you have been inundated with advise from well meaning folks that were thought to be facts in the 70s, we have learnt a lot more since then and with your Doctors OK you can do so much more than you probably think.
For some reason pregnancy is treated like an illness, it’s just ingrained in us, I guess it’s seen as such a fragile time having a life inside you that you do not want to do anything to compromise it. With Mr 8, I had to have fertility treatment to create that little sucker, and I remember the day I found I was pregnant I had come back from a 7km run! Panicked I didn’t want to do anything to hurt him so I gave up all exercise, and ate whatever I wanted and I gained a whopping 20kgs with my first and 23kgs with my second, not the smartest thing I’ve ever done. It was uncomfortable, it hurt my skeleton to carry that kind of weight, so I had huge motivation to lose it both times.
Above is me fit and 8mths pregnant with Mr1 (10lbs2oz). Wasn’t like this with the other two let me tell you that, but I learnt the hard way to stay fit during pregnancy.
With Mr 1, it was a very different story. I did have more time as I was now a stay at home Mum, and I had discovered the benefits of going to the gym each day. I worked out most weekdays and I stayed incredibly fit through out the pregnancy. I did RPM you might know it as Spin class most weekdays up until I was 8 months pregnant. The only reason I stopped was the last few weeks of the pregnancy was Christmas time. I stayed really fit and healthy during this third pregnancy which I credit to getting my body back for the third time after my third c-section. There are common thoughts about not getting your heart rate over 140bpm or not getting too hot, these can be over come with common sense. I worked out hard with Mr 1 and my Obstetrician said that is part of why I ended up with a 10lbs2oz bouncing baby boy as he had an abundance of nutrients and oxygen being delivered more efficiently due to the exercise. The day’s I wouldn’t go to the gym I’d just lay on the couch and feel heavy, pregnant and tired. When I did go, I felt amazing full of energy and life.
If you are pregnant do not be scared to work out, get your Drs OK and don’t be scared to break out a sweat! It is so good for your circulation and bubs even gets to feel the endorphins you release while exercising. If you are new to exercise then this is a great time to start, even if you start walking or swimming, just do something, get your pregnant butt off the couch, you are not sick you are pregnant so get active and enjoy it.
Renee
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Did you monitor your heart rate or temperature at all when you exercised while pregnant? I’ve just found out I’m pregnant again – this will be my 4th pregnancy however the 2nd & 3rd ended in miscarriage – with both of those pregnancies I scaled back and stopped running (my fave exercise) and I still miscarried so this time I’ve decided to just carry on without getting silly about it.
I have a HR monitor which I sometimes use but recently read its unreliable when pregnant as your resting HR is naturally higher etc etc. I’m not really as concerned about the heart rate as the overheating – I always get really hot and very red in the face and since I’ve been pregnant I’ve noticed I’m sweating way more than normal but I don’t feel I’m exerting myself that much so I’m trying to work out if my core temperature is actually higher or if I just get beetroot face easily!
I also had gestational diabetes withy first pregnancy so keeping active and my weight down will hopefully help prevent me getting it again or at least reduce my risk of needing medication to manage it.
I do plan on talking to my Ob about this but I’m away on holidays for another 2 weeks so trying to come up with a sensible plan until then!
I did monitor my heart rate at first then I thought what am I doing why am I over thinking this? I did get hot and sweaty in RPM and Pump class but they are air-conditioned and I stayed near the fans. I too am a red hot in the face kind of girl, I just keep up the water and high water content foods (fruit n veg). Watch the carbs as you won’t be able to burn as many as you normally would. If you do get the all clear you will find the Doctors and Midwives actually prefer you to workout it really is that good for you. Sounds like you are a great candidate for the pool, find an aqua class of some sort or just swim and get a work out in the water this will take a load off your skeleton and keep you cool. Good luck and I really hope everything works out for you! R
Thanks 🙂