ab work

N

newlywed

Active Member
Hi all,

It was confirmed just yesterday that I am pregnant. I am 38 and this is my first pregnancy. When I asked the nurse yesterday about exercise and ab work she said use the talk test for cardio but don't do abs. That really frustrated me since I always understood that strong abs are good for pregnancy. It has taken me 8 months to get pregnant and obviously I don't want to do any harm. So now I am wondering what is safe to do? Since I am still in early pregnancy can I continue with doing crunches and obliques etc? Or is it not worth the risk?
 
Congrats! Doctors don't always know the updated exercise guidelines. It is safe to do ab work with no modifications til the 14th week. After the 14th week, avoid exercises laying flat on the ground(suppine position). There is post recently answered by Sheila about this, hopefully someone can post a link. I did modified ab work until the end of my pregnancy.
 
Hi Newlywed,

Congratulations! You are just a couple of days ahead of me in your pregnancy :) I am by no means an expert, but my DH has collected many books on the subject of exercise and pregnancy for me (My faves are Exercising Through Your Pregnancy by James Clapp, MD - very detailed and study based; The Everything Pregnancy Fitness Book by Robin Weiss - very simple overview that also outlines exercises) and they all say that ab work is very beneficial.

Maybe you should ask your doctor about this - are you considered a high risk pregnancy? it looks like cardio is allowed, so it would seem that you're not ... If you aren't considered high risk and they have no real reason for you not to do ab work, etc. you might want to look for a practitioner who encourages pregnancy fitness (apparently some of the old school still think we should be treated as hot house flowers). Or maybe it was just this nurse and not your doc.

Congratulations again and good luck!

arancini
 
I just wanted to say congratulations!!!! I worked my abs for my entire pregnancy, after 14 weeks I had to modify on an incline instead of lying flat on my back and also did planks. I think some dr.s are not aware of the new guidelines which I think were updated in the early 90's. Keep up posted!!1
 
Thank you all. I am so glad this forum exists and that there are so many knowledgeable people that participate. I am sure I will have so many more questions as this pregnancy progresses.

I do have the book "Exercising Through Your Pregnancy" and it is pretty thorough, however I can't find any reference to ab work in it.

I did do abs this morning but very nervously.

Thanks again and congratulations to you too arancini.
 
Hi newlywed,

I looked in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and they also say that ab work is great and will help with labor - but to modify after the first trimester so that you stop lying on your back. This way the flow of oxygen to the baby doesn't decrease from pressure on the main artery. My pregnancy for pilates dvd and books also say the same thing ... so go do some abs and maybe your labor will be a little speedier :)

I just started doing the moms-to-be weekly check-in recently - hope to see you there!

arancini
 
just wanted to clarify - i thought the lying on your back was so oxygen didn't decrease to the mom via with weight of the baby conpressing the vena cava and decreasong blood flow in mom. i thought baby's blood flow was a constant. if anyone knows i'd love to hear.
 
morris -

at least according to some of my prego books the vena cava runs down your posterior side to the uterus & baby. in theory the weight of the uterus & baby decreases blood flow through the vena cava slowing oxygen to the baby and also lowering mom's blood pressure and blood flow return from the legs. this is called maternal supine hypotension syndrome. but studies differ in what they find - some believe that this is why you shouldn't lie on your back after 3 or 4 months, but some say that many women never experience this problem and that short periods of exercise on your back during later trimesters are ok... so - look out for dizziness, shortness of breath - or passing out :)

hope this helps!

arancini
 
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