May I join you ladies?

P

PennStater

Cathlete
I'm very newly pregnant, and am getting anxious about exercise.

I'd like to joing you ladies as you continue on this journey!!

I love Cathe, so it will be difficult to change the tone of the workouts from high intensity to lower to moderate. But I can do it!

Today I picked up the book Cathe recommended, Fit to Deliver. I'm anxious to read it tonight after I do LowMax.
 
Welcome aboard and congrats! Is this your first pregnancy? I look forward to getting to know you! :)
 
Congratulations!!! It's always fun to see a new face here. I look forward to hearing the details of your pregnancy. Keep us posted!

Sandra
 
Welcome! I look forward to hearing more about your pregnancy as well. The ladies on this board are full of interesting and helpful information.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome :)

When I say early, I mean early!! The doctor would say I'm in week 5, but the real age is week 3. I actually got pregnant during the Road Trip!! How's THAT for a souvenier? LOL!

This is my first. DH has 3 kids from his first marriage, so I'm a bit anxious about how the kids will react to our news. We're going to wait a few months before telling them, to make sure that this little bugger "sticks."

I'm nervous about exercise. I read one place that pregnant women shouldn't do lunges and squats, but that seems absurd to me. I read somewhere else that high impact anything is out, even in the first trimester. Another book said that working out could raise your temperature to dangerous levels. It just seems like there is a great deal of conflicting information.

But, I'm going to continue exercising. What kind of modifications do you guys do -- less weight, nothing on the back? This sounds dumb, but how do you lower the intensity of some workouts -- keep it really basic, avoid plyometrics, etc.?
 
Your body will tell you when you've done to much. In pregnancy it's all about taking it day by day. Cathe has plugged the book Fit To Deliver several times, so you may want to check it out. Basically here are the guidelines by the ACOG:

http://pregnancytoday.com/reference/articles/ACOG.htm

The intensity is ok as long as you don't work yourself up to exhaustion or so hard you aren't breathing well. If say Imax takes everything out of you now to get through - then either modify it in pregnancy so you aren't so winded, or put it away for later after the baby is here. Many women run in pregnancy, I jogged up till week 22 since the weather wasn't so bad. That's techniquely a higher intensity workout than many workouts, but I never depleted myself. You can't push so hard that your oxygen is being held in during say heavy weightlifting reps. But trust me your body will let you know what is to much. You don't press yourself anymore to finish up if you've had it. Your energy will bounce up and down so many times in pregnancy that you have to take it one day at a time. As far as weightlifting it's ok to keep up, decreasing when your weights when your form is suffering. You may be forced to lower your weight in the 2nd and 3rd trimester due to your ligaments loosening making your hips and legs less stable. You never want to compromise good form as you could really hurt yourself much easier than when your not pregnant. But unless you ignore your body's cues, this won't happen. I took down my step height when I got partially in my second trimester. I could feel myself being less stable due to a growing belly so I took it down. Plyometrics will not be really duable past the first trimester when your belly is big - but you'll know when that is. But if plyometrics make you breathless now, you should skip them. Remember it's all about the oxygen the baby is getting. Don't worry about your heartrate as you no longer by ACOG guidelines have to monitor it. As far as temp goes - keep well hydrated and in a cooled area and you'll be fine. I crank up my a/c when working out and put it back down when done. Well I hope that answers some questions - good luck :)

eta: oh squats and lunges are fine and GOOD for you - especially helping in labor (the squats that is). Your bigo belly will tell you how far down you can go!
 
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