**disclaimer: experiences with exercise during pregnancy are highly individual, and the following accounts should not substitute for medical advice.
One of the most important things to stress while exercising when pregnancy is not to overheat. Be very careful not to get too hot -- causing a lot of stress on baby and can also have long-term effects. Just be careful!
From: Julianne Johnston
I'm about 14 weeks pregnant now and due March 14.
I've been continuing to workout, however I feel that I need more consistancy. During my first pregnancy (this is my second) I only walked and did a few pregnancy tapes.
So far during this pregnancy I've been walking more than I usually do, but I am also still doing some of my regular tapes about twice a week. Sometimes depending upon the tape and how I feel, I only do part of the tape, but I make sure that I get alteast a half an hour in.
Part of the reason why I've been walking so much is that I friend of mine (a neighbor) has been wanting to walk with me , so I have a walking partner. As Fall progesses, I know that I will be walking less and I feel pretty confident that I will be able to modify plenty of my regular tapes plus use some pregnancy tapes if I want.
I'm starting to feel a little bit better now that I'm passing the first trimester, so I'm hoping that I can add some consistancy to my workouts, though so far I've been doing pretty well and I have been doing more than what I did during my first pregnancy. My husband has been traveling alot and I use many of those days
as rest days so that I can conserve my energy to keep up with my 21 month old even if that gives more rest days than I want during a week.
From: Helen Solomon ([email protected])
For the first couple of weeks I was too tired to do anything, but now that I'm feeling better I'm walking more and trying to work out 2-3 times a week. Last night I did Elle/Karen Voight Personal Best and I thought it was a great pregnancy tape!! You get your cardio mixed in with your weights. None of the weights you use are that heavy so I think it worked perfect. My heartrate didn't elevate too much and I felt GREAT when I finished. I didn't do the ab portion and I did the pushups against the wall. My doctor said not to do any "high impact" so I modified the jumping jacks and jump rope parts. My other non-pregnancy workouts right now are Firm Not So Tough Aerobics and Firm 6.
From: Susan Schamber ([email protected])
My most successful exercise schedule was during my second pregnancy: I did 2 days of step or aerobics classes at the gym, 2 days of home exercise to videos (I ended up doing Kari's Fitness Formula over and over) and walked every single day. I did very light weight work twice weekly and then went to doing all the exercises without the weights. I lowered the step to only 1 riser and cut out the propulsion moves around the 7 or 8 month mark. I also took it very easy during the first 13 or 14 weeks.
My recommendation would be to find an intermediate-level workout that is FUN with good motivating music and to do that one at a comfortable level.
As much as I love Cathe, I can't imagine doing her workouts pregnant because of the quick tempo. The only exception to this would be MIS because it's slow, but you'd have to really go light on the weights.
Oh yeah and I wore double exercise bras! (Went from a 36C to a 42DD in the first trimester in both cases! This was the WORST!!!)
I call this my most successful schedule because I felt energetic and comfortable right up until c-section day of my pregnancy (with the exception of my usual first trimester brain fog and fatigue.) I took a hi-lo class the day before birth with no problems, other than a visibly nervous instructor. My weight gain was a healthy
and easy to cart around 25 pounds. I recovered quickly from surgery and the baby weight was completely gone within 3 weeks. (The flabby stomach is another, sadder story ... sigh)
During my first pregnancy I tried pregnancy videos and didn't like them and was out of the gym routine but I walked my two golden retrievers for several miles daily. I'll never know if it was the lack of higher intensity exercise or just the fact that every pregnancy is different, but during my first pregnancy I gained a total of (hold on to your hats, girls!) 50 pounds. I ate healthily, often and small-to-moderate portions during each pregnancy, so draw your own conclusions.
Before you panic and think that that means you have to do more intense exercise, I'll mention that every single one of the 50 pounds was gone within 4 weeks of delivery! Two days after my c-section they weighed me and I'd already dropped 30 pounds. The rest came off quickly due to breast feeding. I ate more after the birth (more room in my stomach) than I did while pregnant and lost weight anyway. I focus
on the weight not because of appearance concerns, but because of the associated miseries that come about with more weight/pressure on your lungs, bladder, spine, legs, stomach, esophagus, etc. Although I think it's important to feel positive about your appearance, I think it's more important to have a healthy baby to hold
in your arms. Still gets me misty-eyed to remember those moments.
From: Daphne Magnuson ([email protected])
I worked out during both of my two pregnancies. Unfortunately, this was before I learned about VF and before I was into weights. I would do any workout that felt comfortable but do it lower impact. I used the stair climbing machines at the gym a lot. I would workout with Step Reebok - the Video and the Buns of Steel 2000 series - even the toning sections. I continued to use an 8 inch step - only because the step videos I had were so basic they didn't bother me. I still keep these videos in my collection for the next potential pregnancy. During my second pregnancy I felt so good that I continued running (slowly) until I was almost 5 months along. When my belly started bouncing too much and my pelvic floor started to be sore I stopped. My doctor would say to do whatever I felt up to doing, my body would tell me when to slow down. I worked out 4-5 times a week. I like the idea of 2 sports bras, I wish I had done that.
I know that working out during my pregnancies helped me tremendously. I gained a reasonable 20-26 pounds with each pregnancy and dropped the weight quickly. With my first pregnancy I was 20 pounds overweight and within the first 2 months I dropped the 20 lbs I gained with the baby and the additional 20 pounds. You will get advice and criticism from people who never worked out while pregnant if you are around them - be aware.
From: Heather Y ([email protected])
