Hi guys... have been away for awhile, but I thought I'd stop by tonight
Gina...
Prenatal exercise is HIGHLY individualized... so my first advice to you is to listen to your body.
That being said, kickboxing is perhaps the worst choice for pregnant women after about the first trimester. You have increased amounts of a hormone called relaxin in your system... it allows the muscles and connective tissue in your tummy and pelvic region to spread to make room for the baby, but it is non specific, so it is also in your knees, ankles, elbows, etc. With all of the sharp thrusting movements/kicks that are central to kickboxing routines, you could easily find yourself with a joint injury. BTW, you may have elevated amounts of this hormone for as long as 4 mos. postpartum. IMHO, better safe than sorry... if you hurt your knees, you may find that you can't exercise at all, and may even have problems after the pregnancy is over!
If you choose any sort of high impact routine, be aware of your pelvic floor... if at any time during your pregnancy, you find yourself tinkling during high impact moves, you should take it down. Think of your kegel muscles as a trampoline with your bladder, bowels, & growing uterus all sitting on top... if that trampoline is weak and gets overstretched but you keep jumping on it, it's only going to get in worse stretch. Not to worry, though, you have a growing weight plate, so your workload is increasing throughout your pregnancy, and should you need to take it down, you will be able to get a great workout choosing low impact variations. BTW, I wrote an article on pelvic floor rehabilitation that was in the October issue of Pregnancy Magazine...
If you choose a step routine, be aware that your hip flexors may be tightening as you become more pregnant. Spend more time warming up and stretching these muscles. Also, with their changing body, pregnant women often lack kinesthetic awareness; thus, you need to be more careful than usual not to fall (and, remember, all of that relaxin in your joints makes you more prone to sprains).
As for weights, you'll be doing your back and body a favor if you stop the unsupported moves as you start to show. Things like rows may be done on a bench (get your back straight!) if you are very careful -- although now is not the time to increase your weights.
Squats are fine (in fact, they are good preparation for natural childbirth... where many women find that squatting helps in the pushing stages of labor), although plie squats cause some women pelvic discomfort. In my prenatal exercise classes, I have my moms do their squats against a stability ball (placed against the wall). It saves them some strain on their knees.
Some women can do amazing feats with their ab work while they are pregnant. I always found that my belly was in the way. Supine work should be kept to a minimum, as the weight of your growing uterus can cut off blood flow to you and the baby(but don't worry... you'll know it if you've done it... you'll feel numbness, heart palpatations, or lose your breath). If by incline work, you mean elevating your head, then, yes, by all means. If you mean head down pelvic lifts or crunches, then no, no, no! :0) Other great alternatives as you get bigger are to do belly breathing exercises wherein you take a deep breath and then blow out, taking your navel to your spine as you do so. You can also go on all fours and contract your navel to your spine (keep your back straight... isolate your abs rather than cranking your pelvis)... the exercise requires concentration, but you get a decent ab workout using your baby as your weightplate. You can also do abdominal contractions into a stability ball or pillows that are placed between you and a wall or couch. Ab work is very important during pregnancy -- strong abs are at the heart of efficient pushing -- but sometimes you have to be creative in order to get them worked! (BTW... I also had an article on this subject in the October Pregnancy Magazine...)
The best advice I can give during pregnancy is to always have an alternative exercise sort of waiting in the wings... then you never get discouraged and quit altogether. For me in my last pregnancy, I continued running through my first trimester. I did step minus the power moves until almost 7 mos. pregnant. I taught prenatal (low impact) classes until about 36 wks. I did the elliptical trainer until about that same time. I swam up until the last two weeks of my pregnancy... at that point I found that swimming was exhausting me rather than energizing me, so I stopped altogether. (That, by the way, is a good indicator as to whether you are doing too much -- in pregnancy, you don't want to exercise to exhaustion!) In my first pregnancy, I exercise until the day before my due date and gave birth about 36 hours later... it all depends on how you are feeling.
I'm sure Sheila would have more specific hints, but she may be out of commision -- she tells me that she is sick with pneumonia :0( Hope this helps!
Susan Hyde
Healthy Moms Certified Perinatal Fitness Instructor
