Exercising While Pregnant

I am a midwife. Please do not do sit ups. This can lead to a condition called Abdominal Diastasis, this is where the abdominal muscles will separate. Once this happens it is very difficult to get them back together. The best book for exercise in pregnancy is called, Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Years by Elizabeth Noble. You can get it on Amazon.

Lisa

I'd say swimming and going for walks.

Those are the main exercises I did with both my pregnancies...and I never had any problems with my belly hurting or anything like that.

Many prenatal moms enjoy prenatal yoga. Prenatal yoga classes provide opportunity to network with other moms. There are resources for prenatal moms at www.birthlink.com
If you use a prenatal yoga dvd, don't feel that you need to do all the poses...if it does not feel good, then skip the pose.
The breathing exercises from prenatal yoga help with labor.
C. L

Hi SD,

I specialize in pre and postnatal fitness and speak nationally to other fitness professionals on the do's and don't of prenatal fitness. I am a master trainer for www.healthymomsfitness.com and have my own pregnancy health column at http://www.examiner.com/x-29454-Pregnancy-Health-Examiner I have written a couple of articles that pertain to exercise including the exercise heart rate and diastasis recti (DR)...

Some nice videos are by Stott Pilates or Giam prenatal yoga DVD's if you are looking. A good book is Exercising Through Your Pregnancy By Dr. Clapp III who has done extensive studies on exercising through your pregnancy (hence the title).

Yes it is safe to do abdominal crunches vs. sit ups if done properly. You cannot get a DR by doing crunches alone, you can easily get a DR by coughing too forcefully or vomitting in during your pregnancy. I've had clients that have coughed themselves open during the winter months. Please read the article for more info on DR.

A new site just launched called Fit Bottomed Babies www.fitbottomedbabies.com I think you will like it.

Hope this all helps, feel free to DM me for more info.

J. W. MPH, ACE-CPT
Maternal, Infant and Family Health Educator
Perinatal Fitness Trainer

Hi SD, congrats on your pregnancy! I am currently 23 weeks pregnant with my third child. When not pregnant, I run 4-6 miles a day and weight lift 3 days per week. From my knowledge, sit-ups are not a good idea while pregnant, especially after the first trimester. Maybe consider some exercises that can be done sitting upright on a balance ball. I would definitely ask your MD about which exercises are safe while pregnant and at what stage (trimester) they are safe. I am currently "high risk" so my exercise routine has been drastically slowed down and altered. I know that it is hard to give up what we are so used to doing for our bodies, but just make sure that it is safe for your baby. Just remember, you can resume your old exercise routine about 6 weeks after the baby is born, usually in full capacity. I am a huge fan of exercising while pregnant, it is so much easier to take off the baby weight. Because I worked out with both of my previous pregnancies and breastfed I was back to my pre-preggo weight (within three pounds) at my six-week post-partum checkup. Best of luck to you, check with your doctor and keep on moving!

I exercised all through my first pregnancy 6 days a week until the week before I gave birth. My second was different since I was ordered to keep it to a minimum during the 3rd trimester due to issues. If you exercised before you were pregnant, there's no reason you can't now. Just take it down a notch. If you were all-out running before, take it to a jog now (at least until the baby is so big that you can't comfortably do it anymore!), and then move to walking. I highly recommend the pregnancy support belt that you can get at Babies R Us. I used it every time I went walking/jogging since it helped support the baby while I did something good for both of us.

If you didn't workout before, walking is a GREAT way to start! If you're looking for little exercises to do around the house, I had the book "Expecting Fitness" by Birgitta-something.

You can lift whatever weight you feel comfortable with. Your body will tell you when enough is enough. Just make sure you don't get too hot or feel faint, nauseous, or weak. If so, stop, drink water, relax a bit.

Take care!

I just ended my 2nd trimester and have been working out the entire time. Sit ups at this point are a big no-no. Your stomach muscles are starting to separate so you do not want to do sit up. Also, you should avoid laying flat on your back from now on. And as far as weights, I've been told to try to do more stuff like restriction bands instead of weights. But when I do use weights, I limit it to 6 lbs and just increase the reps. I've found a lot of good advise and excercises in the magazine Fit Pregnancy.

I found that taking a water aerobics class was a great way to get some exercise and the water was great at supporting my increase stomach size. I continued to take the class up until a couple of weeks before delivering. I would have continued until birth but did not want to pay for another month of class with due date so close.

Hi! The Denise Austin is Fit and Firm Pregnancy. I loved it. 10 Minute Solutions has a Prenatal Pilates that felt sooo great on my back. Leslie Sansone's Walk Slim videos are pretty gentle, too, if you are used to moderate exercise. The main thing is, get the OK from your OB. Ask her what you can do. I did sit ups (very moderately) until I couldn't anymore, and I personally didn't have a problem with contractions. I also slept on my back the whole 9 mos. (which is not recommended). Listen to your body; like your food cravings, do what feels good. (within reason, I mean. I wanted to go skinny dipping everywhere which my husband assured me was just plain inappropriate) And stop if it doesn't feel good. Have fun and relish your roundness! Congratulations!

I was told keep doing what I normally do and if it hurts stop. As for sit ups you can do them until the baby gets bigger in the third trimester. Do you work out at a gym or YMCA if so talk to the trainers they will be a great resource. Congrats on the baby and good Luck
J.

I did a Denise Austin pregnancy workout video (sorry, the name is slipping my mind!) It goes through each trimester, but I didn't even get it until late into my 2nd trimester. Looking back, I wish I would have started earlier and stuck with something every day. The days I did work out I felt so much better and had much more energy! I had a few other pregnancy workout videos as well.

There is definitely something you can do! I am a prenatal/postnatal trainer specializing in Diastasis Rehab and Maternal Fitness..

Maternal Fitness is both a book and a DVD (by Julie Tupler). It is designed to bring the diastasis recti together DURING pregnancy so you have perfect muscles to push. Most women have a split in their abdominal muscles, especially in the latter part of their pregnancy, called a diastasis recti. This creates the not-quite-right asthetics of the “mummy tummy” after birth– but even more it creates back problems, and can cause a hernia if not treated.

And the other posts were correct about NOT doing sit ups. Since you have a forward forceful pressure during pregnancy, you do not want to ADD to that – the forward forceful motion of the abdominals that occur during crunches or sit ups. In the Maternal Fitness video there are only a couple of back-lying abs – the main one being HEAD LIFTS.

I also have a blog with some pregnancy results you can read about:
www.beautifulafterthebelly.blogspot.com

If you are interested in private training during pregnancy, the program is set up to do every 4 weeks or so during pregnancy until delivery, and then 3 times postpartum to restore the prepregnancy midsection and splint the abdominals if necessary. I train women to do the specific exercises during pregnancy that bring the stomach muscles together, and then also encorporate those into a full body workout. My women have had great results.

You can also get Julie Tupler’s book, “Maternal Fitness” and go to her website:

www.diastasisrehab.com

to learn more about the technique. I am the only one certified in the state – please let me know if you have any questions. There are definitely steps you can take now to prepare yourself for the best possible labor and even get you into your pre pregnancy clothes much sooner AFTER labor.

Good luck,
B. Wayne
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