Early Pregnancy and Exercise

Im not an expert but im 4 months pregnant and work out every day and have done a little research on the subject and contacted doctors.

At first you dont have to change anything but you should pay close attention to your body getting overheated and needing water., After 3 months you want to lay off twisting and jarring motions. Dont have too much impact , lower the height in which you jump. You can work on abs but lay off the lower abs during the second trimester and all of the abs during the third.Dont lay on your back much during the last trimester either. You can still work abs during other routines, but dont target them. If you kick box, lower your range. If you do yoga stretch away from the baby, not towards and of course dont do anything that could easily end in injury like mountain climbing and combat and dont lay flat down on the tummy (obvious i know)

If you were a jogger before you can still jog but overexerting yourself is a worry because your body can be low on blood and therfore oxygen during certain periods during your pregnancy. A good rule of thumb is too keep your heart rate under 140, or be able to hold a conversation during every point of exercise.

I am LOVING yoga right now, its a common finding that pregnant women become more bendy because of the body changes.

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I am not an expert but am an avid exerciser and just had my 3rd child in 4 yrs in may :) I ran till I was 32 weeks with this one, did plyometrics till it felt uncomfy with a support belt (started w support belt for running and boot camp classes around 22 weeks this time around-highly suggest Gabrialla one available on amazon for about 30 bucks- I did a lot of research before buying and used it for last 2 babies), did ab workouts up until delivery this time (with my first, she was stretched out and it became uncomfy around 6 mos, do not lie flat on your back for exercises starting around 5 mos- use an exercise ball to get at an incline angle or stick w planks/hovers, etc. You should lower the weights you use if you lift heavy- I dropped from benching 105 to 75 for first trimester then moved to fitness ball and incline with handweights. My OBs also operate on a "start when you feel ready after birth exercise plan"- I started 13 data postpartum w #1- vag delivery and 12 days w #3- VBAC...# 2 was csection so that is a different ballgame. I just completed a sprint distance triathlon last weekend :) my baby isn't 4 mos yet! Keep in shape, but do not sprint and if your body is telling you to, slow down- believe me, you will be thankful you kept it up (I did boot camp on my due date- delivered 2 days late)....best wishes!

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I did abs up until the day of delivery. Working out throughout pregnancy will make delivery easier & you bounce back faster. You will just need to modify certain positions, wider stance, lighter weights & incline bench if laying down, & rehydrate yourself more. Good luck!

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No abs, that's the babies home now. A rule of thumb with pregnancy is if you did it before your pregnancy and your body is used to it, then you will be fine as long as you don't push it to hard. You'll be fine.

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this is really a question you should be asking your OBGYN.

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I have always heard that you can and should continue with whatever levels of exercise your body is accustomed to. Just not increasing it. Pretty soon you will find these ab workouts and such too uncomfortable to do anyway. Soon you will have your first OB appt and so you can ask but you are fine to continue until then.

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As with the others, I would check with your doctor. I was doing aerobics 4 days a week before becoming pregnant and continued through my pregnancy - modifying as I went along. I think I did 3 days a week once I was pregnant (doing abs through the first trimester ) and it widdled down to twice a week. For the last two weeks, all I did was walk. I just didn't feel like I could heft the bulk around anymore.

Good luck!
L.

You can safely do abs through your first trimester. After that you need to modify those exercises...no crunches, and basically leave space for the baby in any exercise you do. The main thing is staying hydrated. Other than no crunches and no kickboxing, you should be good to do any exercise as long as it feels good. Just ask your OB for advice.

my doc always told me to do whatever I normally do, until it becomes uncomfortable b/c of the growing baby bump.

Hey Girl,

How long have you been doing Insanity? It is always best to check with your Dr concerning an exercise program. However, typically you can continue to do what you were doing prior to becoming pregnant until it becomes uncomfortable for you. I would not recommend to a pregnant women to start Insanity if she has not been doing any exercising or plyometric type of work. At some point your energy level will not be able to keep up and you can modify the moves. Do squats instead of jumping for example. I am a coach with Team Beachbody so if you would like to talk about this more you can send me a message.

you should not do anything that makes you lie flat on your back after a certain point. also, as long as you do things you are used to, they should be fine. i take ballet, and my dr. said do it as long as you are already used to it, and friends in my class danced all the way through while pregnant too. dr. said no leaping! don't want to lose balance or twist ankle and fall. keep in mind that your balance will change as you grow, so don't trust your balance too much.

I second what Henrysmama1 said. Your body will let you know when you need to take it down a notch. The baby is suspended in a sac of water to keep it safe. As your abdominal muscles pull apart you will no longer feel you can do the abbs. Also, a lot of abbs will be a waist of your time so skip it for that reason alone!

I'm no expert, but I can tell you about my experience. The first time I got pregnant, I was lifting weights 2x week and doing something aerobic 3x week, plus being generally active on the weekends. I ended up miscarrying and felt on a gut level that the weight training contributed. I cut out that part, switched from the treadmill to the elliptical and kept up the weekend fun and the next pregnancy went beautifully. After my delivery, I bounced back really fast too. I'm now 6 mos with my second kid and following the same protocol - still working great for me.

Bottom line - listen to your body and do what feels right.