First all congratulations. If you're reading this I can assume you are either pregnant or you have made the decision to start a family and want to know more about exercise and the next 9 months. Now I cant explain why you may one day have a pregnancy food craving like mustard on everything that you eat. What I can do is try to put your mind at ease about what you can do fitness wise.
Remember this is your baby and your pregnancy, follow the guidelines but above all else, listen to your body.
So with the whole pre natal training we have some great guidelines in the world of training pre natal,
However nothing is confirmed, every one is different and every one will respond differently which is why the whole subject is such a grey area for most people & trainers. Whats best is to look at what is the least likely method to cause harm and to falls in line with your goals.
Trimester 1: is really a get to know the changes in your body as your baby grows and avoid exercise that puts excessive strain on you ( more than normal, if you have been training a while you may be aware of some moves which now feel harder )
Essentially this trimester sets you up for the level you can work at in Trimester 2 and 3. The fitter and more active you are now, when you have to take things down a notch as it gets later on in the pregnancy. You’ve done most of the hard work and its more a controlled and safe maintence level of work now to see you through.
Tip: If you are new to exercise as you have become pregnant, do not think of this as your chance to become mega fit for your baby. This will have to wait until after you have given and been given the all clear to exercise again by the Dr. The best thing here to always be in a maintence mode. If your daily steps has always been over 10,000 then there’s no reason why you still can’t aim for this ( maybe with a few more sit downs of course ). If you have barely done a few hundred then edging this up to a couple thousand at most over a slow period of time will be ok but again, listen to your body.
Trimester 2 and 3:
Relaxant in your body starts to be more abundant and is worth being very very cautious of stretching in these trimesters as it can be easy to over stretch muscles due to relaxant aiding in your body getting ready for the birth. Hopefully that is similar to what you have heard as not to add any more confusion to this wonderful time in your life. If you were thinking that avoiding the weights was the best decision and heading to any old yoga class I would make sure you find out a few things.
a) Is this yoga class for beginners and pre natal women?
b) Has the instructor trained any one expecting a baby before?
c) Have you looked in your area for any specific pregnancy yoga classes?
Looking in to who you are working with and if it really is the right choice for you is imperative. I've met my fair share of 'yoga' people in the past. Who can be pushy, arrogant and just a generally have high stress feel around them. All things you don't need as your new bundle of joy is probably already treating your bladder as their new favourite kicking bag.
Summary: If you are at a gym or joining one soon, inform any trainer of your concerns before a session and only do what feels like normal difficulty and not increased strain or stress particularly if you have some experience with these classes and you know what is a normal level of muscle work. Weight training, yoga and some cardio machines are fine ( avoid the cross trainer and rowers ) they just have to be adapted, regressed and assessed all through your pregnancy. If you have very little exercise history previous to this pregnancy, try not to think of this as a chance to be super fit, more the chance to make your pregnancy and birth as smooth and easy as possible.
Hope this helps all you mums to be destress.
If you still have questions or concerns, why not contact me and we can arrange to discuss everything that relates to you, your training and your pregnancy.
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