Workouts vs. preconception help

G

Grace10209

Cathlete
Hi All
Im not sure where to post this so Im hoping I can get some feedback here from those with more experience than I have in the subject..

I have been working out strong for 10+ years. Mostly at home doing Cathe, JM, a ton of beachbody programs, etc.

Currently I am doing a P90X/INSANITY hybrid.

I have done several rounds of insanity before - NOW my hubby and I recently decided we want to try to conceive and Im wondering if doing INsanity can prevent conception OR even cause miscarriage in early pregnancy.

I know they say dont ride rollercoasters if you are or COULD BE pregnant and I dont want to do anything that could prevent or hurt a potential pregnancy.

I already discussed with my OB and she said I CAN keep up working out once I am pregnant, as long as I modify and am smart about it. No high jumping, etc.
But what about preconception, can being athletic prevent you from becoming pregnant?
and what if I dont know im pregnant yet? like say im just 1 - 4 weeks pregnant, could doing insanity hurt the pregnancy?

On one hand, i want to be in the best shape of my life prepregnancy but on the other, i dont want the workouts to end an early pregnancy.......

any thoughts??????
 
i can only speak from experience....i have always been athletic since i was lil bitty.....always played sports so i was always required to workout....gained a lil weight during my freshman and sophomore years and then started working out again and have been ever since....i've been doing pretty advanced workouts for a while now and i have two children and it didn't have any effect on my getting pregnant or the pregnancy....i continued to wokout thru my first pregnancy still jumping and doing high impact workouts and running until i was about 8 months, which at that time i just began to modify but kept doing the same high impact stuff just not jumping as much....with my second pregnancy i was just so fatigued so i didn't workout much with that one....but both of pregnancies were normal with absolutely no problems...so what i would say is listen to ur body and i think u will be just .....i personally believe u can still do insanity and other workouts, definitely at the minimum until u start "showing" significantly....and after that just do what u can and think u and the baby will benefit:)....HTH
 
THANKS for sharing your experience. I just dont want to do anything that could slow down conception or that could cause miscarraige.

wish me luck and please others............share! thank you!
 
I went through ten years of fertility treatments, six miscarriages and two live births. I have an incompetent cervix, so I have to be on complete bed rest while I'm pregnant; however, during the preconception phase I was given the okay to workout at my same intensity. My pregnancies were extra precious to me, and I didn't want to do anything that might hinder conception or a new pregnancy. I was told more than once that keeping my workout schedule was one of the best things I could do for my fertility- something to do with blood flow to my uterus. Best wishes as you try for a baby! There is nothing better!
**My miscarriages had nothing to do with exercise. I was already on bed rest when they occurred. I carry two genetic mutations that likely caused them.
 
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My only advice would be to make sure that you are ovulating properly. With me, the high intensity exercise caused my body fat to drop too low and I wouldn't ovulate at all. When we were trying to conceive it was very frustrating, because I loved the high intensity exercise and felt proud of my 6-pack abs....but it wasn't so great for getting pregnant. Once I backed off the intensity and incorporated more yoga and walking, I began to ovulate again.

Of course, if you have no issues with ovulation, then I'd say it's fine to keep up with your exercise routine. I worked out with Cathe during all of my pregnancies and though I had 4 miscarriages, the exercise is NOT what caused them.:)
 
thanks so much for your responses!!! really appreciate you sharing your stories.

Im 35 so I am worried that it may take me longer to conceive.........
WISH ME LUCK!!
 
nkhansen1 said:
I went through ten years of fertility treatments, six miscarriages and two live births. I have an incompetent cervix, so I have to be on complete bed rest while I'm pregnant; however, during the preconception phase I was given the okay to workout at my same intensity. My pregnancies were extra precious to me, and I didn't want to do anything that might hinder conception or a new pregnancy. I was told more than once that keeping my workout schedule was one of the best things I could do for my fertility- something to do with blood flow to my uterus. Best wishes as you try for a baby! There is nothing better!
**My miscarriages had nothing to do with exercise. I was already on bed rest when they occurred. I carry two genetic mutations that likely caused them.
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My story is similar to Natalie. 7 miscarriages under my belt and 1 live birth. I was on bed rest also for 4 months with a low lying placenta which thankfully did not result in Placenta Previa which was a risk factor.

I will quote Natalie here "My miscarriages had nothing to do with exercise. I carry two genetic mutations that likely caused them".

All the doctors, clinics and radiologists which observed me before/during my pregnancies agreed that the miscarriages in my case were chromosomal related and bad luck. In fact, the pregnancy that stuck (my daughter) the month that I conceived her, I was very active (it was summer) bike riding long hours, going on rollar coasters, hiking ect. I even drank more beer than I should have. I never intended to get pregnant let alone carry a child to term. But here she is, healthy and happy.

Good luck & take care,

Natasha
 
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Bethany, my friend, Mandi, is a trainer and dietician and runs a website called Trainer Momma.. It's a fabulous place for training and diet advice. She had her fourth baby in October, and she documented her whole pregnancy including her workouts and her diet. Really, really good stuff for when your wee one decides to make an appearance. :)
 
I just had my 3rd miscarriage, she had Tripoldy and I also went through a battery of testing including full blown genetics testing. I have a condition that can lead to miscarriage (clotting mutation) and the 3rd was really bad luck. My doctor at this point has said that as long as I was active before, I can be active during the pregnancy. He did however warn me, he's a reproductive endocrinologist, that certain types of exercise can increase the stress hormone called Cortisol in the woman's body. This can make it more difficult to conceive. So if you're the type of person that like hardcore exercise 5-7 days per week, you might want to switch a couple of those workouts to something lighter to help avoid an influx of the stress hormone. Other than that, I have not been told to cut anything out or do anything differently. I may have to lower my intensity with pregnancy, but again that would be based on my genetic disorder and the type of injections I have to take daily as it can cause spotting and thinning of the blood and intense exercise can boost some of the risk factors in the first trimester.

Talk with your doctor. He/she will know your body better and what your risk factors are for conception and pregnancy. After having several miscarriages and no live births, I'm just airing on the side of caution. Losing one baby was hard enough, I can't lose a 4th.
 
I am a little younger, and have not had as many problems. As long as your body fat is high enough that you are continuing to ovulate, exercise is not a problem in ttc. Be sure to get plenty of folic acid in your diet even before you are pregnant. Other than that make sure that your calories are high enough that you are not losing weight.
I cannot do any high impact after about 3 months preggo, but that is about a baby bouncing on my bladder, not any danger. Healthy mommys make healthy babies as long as your body is not in any kind of caloric or nutritional deprivation.
 
Grace10209 said:
Hi All
I recently decided we want to try to conceive and Im wondering if doing INsanity can prevent conception OR even cause miscarriage in early pregnancy.

she said I CAN keep up working out once I am pregnant, as long as I modify and am smart about it. No high jumping, etc.

But what about preconception, can being athletic prevent you from becoming pregnant?

and what if I dont know im pregnant yet? like say im just 1 - 4 weeks pregnant, could doing insanity hurt the pregnancy?

On one hand, i want to be in the best shape of my life prepregnancy but on the other, i dont want the workouts to end an early pregnancy.......
Click to expand...

In terms of conception: it is possible to be too thin. You might want your gynecologist to run some panels on your hormone levels (she will know which ones.) If you are underweight, you may wish to put on a couple of pounds. Not having enough fat in the diet makes it harder to make an egg (the old notion that we are born with all the eggs we will ever have has been proven to be false.)

If you are overly stressed from your workouts you might have a harder time conceiving.

That said, if you are used to these workouts, feel good, have a good hormonal balance, and are generally happy most of the time, I don't see any real issue with conceiving.

I don't think that a good pregnancy will be damaged in the first few weeks by any kind of workout. The baby is attached, its not just free floating. If it hasn't properly attached it won't be a viable pregnancy anyway. Under those circumstances you might never have known you were pregnant anyway. So, when you do find out that you are pregnant, don't worry. Follow your doctor's advice: exercise, eat plenty of healthy food, drink water, get rest, and do the low impact series ;)
 
RapidBreath said:
In terms of conception: it is possible to be too thin. You might want your gynecologist to run some panels on your hormone levels (she will know which ones.) If you are underweight, you may wish to put on a couple of pounds. Not having enough fat in the diet makes it harder to make an egg (the old notion that we are born with all the eggs we will ever have has been proven to be false.)

If you are overly stressed from your workouts you might have a harder time conceiving.

That said, if you are used to these workouts, feel good, have a good hormonal balance, and are generally happy most of the time, I don't see any real issue with conceiving.

I don't think that a good pregnancy will be damaged in the first few weeks by any kind of workout. The baby is attached, its not just free floating. If it hasn't properly attached it won't be a viable pregnancy anyway. Under those circumstances you might never have known you were pregnant anyway. So, when you do find out that you are pregnant, don't worry. Follow your doctor's advice: exercise, eat plenty of healthy food, drink water, get rest, and do the low impact series ;)
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Thank you for posting, You know I was looking at the low impact series and had a question, i workout in basement on a black mat on my cement floor. It is not hardwood and stuff dosn't slide easily on it, i saw a lot of disk work on the floor where they slide their foot across floor and im just not sure i can do that in my basement on the mat??? does cathe sell the disks,? i tried with paperplate and it did NOT work at all :(
 
nkhansen1 said:
Bethany, my friend, Mandi, is a trainer and dietician and runs a website called Trainer Momma.. It's a fabulous place for training and diet advice. She had her fourth baby in October, and she documented her whole pregnancy including her workouts and her diet. Really, really good stuff for when your wee one decides to make an appearance. :)
Click to expand...

HUGE THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!! checking out now!
 
Grace10209 said:
Thank you for posting, You know I was looking at the low impact series and had a question, i workout in basement on a black mat on my cement floor. It is not hardwood and stuff dosn't slide easily on it, i saw a lot of disk work on the floor where they slide their foot across floor and im just not sure i can do that in my basement on the mat??? does cathe sell the disks,? i tried with paperplate and it did NOT work at all :(
Click to expand...

You can get the discs from Cathe online. You can also just use dish towels which is what I used for years doing Tracie Long's workouts. The disks are nice though! They don't slide well on rubber, so you might have to experiment with some different "slidey" items. :)

I meant to put this in my last response, but you really don't have to worry about high impact hurting your pregnancy. Trust me, the size of your belly, your nausea/exhaustion levels, and the feeling in your hips and round ligaments will determine your workouts! I have friends and cousins who run marathons while pregnant, and I know several women who did high impact step up until they delivered. You do have to modify a bit and not lift quite so heavy, but for the most part you can continue on as before (per your dr, of course). The Low Impact Series would be really great for the last couple months for sure; however, you won't be able to do those Dixie cup lunges with a baby belly in the way! :)
 
Thanks again.
And thats the trouble, i looked at the disks at Cathe's store, but I dont think they will work for me.
Im on a rubber mat = on a concrete basement floor.
So they wont be slippery on either of those surfaces.

oh well, my biggest goal right now is CONCEPTION!! thanks all

Im glad to know keeping up my workouts now wont hinder me conceiving!!

My clock is SCREAMING and I dont want to take any chances on delaying the process :)
 
Grace10209 said:
Thanks again.
And thats the trouble, i looked at the disks at Cathe's store, but I dont think they will work for me.
Im on a rubber mat = on a concrete basement floor.
So they wont be slippery on either of those surfaces.

oh well, my biggest goal right now is CONCEPTION!! thanks all

Im glad to know keeping up my workouts now wont hinder me conceiving!!

My clock is SCREAMING and I dont want to take any chances on delaying the process :)
Click to expand...

I just remembered that there are mats made for sliding workouts. The gym I used to go to had them over the non-slip flooring for the folks who did speed skaters with the disks. I'm sure if you googled it you could find one. :) Good luck with conception! Lots of baby dust your way!!
 
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