With #1, I was able to do a light pregnancy cardio workout until about mid-way through the 3rd trimester. With #2, I was down to nothing more than a lap or two of the neighborhood by the start of the third tri...it was way too hot (late August baby) and I had issues with one leg that caused pain if I stood for too long and landed me in EXTREMELY uncomfortable full support hose. I did go back to exercise the day after she was born, though, by doing laps around the maternity floor. The nurses cheered me on every time I passed them. :-)
FWIW, I'm afraid of CF and I'm not PG, so kudos for doing it at all, especially now!
The CF part isn't bad at all, everything is modified. Box jumps are step ups, I don't do pullups anyway (ring rows), and bar work is either from the rack, lifted off the ground so I'm not bending over all the way, or just using kettlebells.
Thank you for the experience! I'm hoping to be up and walking the maternity floor as soon as I can.
I had plans to continue all the way to the end, but I gradually cut back as my body told me to slow down. Stopped lifting around 20 weeks, stopped running at 31/32 weeks (it just wasn't fun anymore and I was concerned about falling), and walked/did prenatal yoga til 38 weeks. And then I was tired and decided rest was more important than exercise. Pregnancy is the perfect time to cut yourself some slack, but it can be hard to do that if you are used to setting goals and pushing yourself.
I ran through 32 weeks and did low impact workouts up until the day my water broke. I really liked doing Barre workouts in those final months.
PP, I started running again (using a Couch to 10K program) at 6 weeks after the baby. I have no idea if working out helped, but I had a long, complicated labor resulting in an emergency C-section followed by post-surgery infection, but after all that was over I found that my strength and endurance was pretty good. It still took some time for my body to re-adjust to working out again, but overall it was a pretty smooth transition.
Post by chitownbelle on Oct 27, 2014 11:41:18 GMT -5
I am 40+1 today and my body ACHES! Going in for a non-stress test in a few, and plan to go to the gym and walk on the treadmill for a while following. I wish I had been into prenatal yoga because that would feel amazing right now.
HR limits are no longer a thing. You can do whatever you want, but pay attention to your body. With both babies, I lifted up until the day I delivered. But, that lifting went from heavy in the first and second trimesters to maintenance and quite a few more machines rather than free weights, in the third try.
I guess I didn't feel like I was slowing down, per se... more like trying to keep up with being pregnant. I still did cardio (intervals, even), but I did get out of breath faster.