Hi! I am new here so I apologize if I am posting in the wrong forum! I am pregnant and in my third trimester currently. Have had all sorts of vein and leg issues with this pregnancy and was forced to lay off the weight training and working out for several months. I have been miserable. I have since found that (against drs. orders) that the recumbent bike was my best friend and that it seemed to help immensely. Well, now that I am doing that I can’t help but wandering over to the weights. I swear I feel better!
Anyway… I have worked out for 15 years and lifting so lightly is quite a challenge for me. I know that now isn’t the time to worry about gains but really I just want to maintain some tone. I plan to go on Indigo this coming Spring and was wondering if anyone had any advice on things I should be doing now that would make getting back into shape easier.
I currently drink at least two scoops of protein a day which helps me feel better too. Prior to pregnancy I was a super clean eater. These last few months have seen a lot of indulgences but I feel stable enough to start eating clean again with the pregnancy caloric amount in mind.
Any advice you can toss at me is appreciated! Looking forward to getting to know you all. Hopefully I’ll be brave enough where can post some pictures. Pretty sure you all don’t need to see me now.
[quote]Lemurbean wrote:
Hopefully I’ll be brave enough where can post some pictures. Pretty sure you all don’t need to see me now. [/quote]
I always think that pregnant women look so beautiful. And I felt that way during my pregnancies even though I gained a lot of weight for my size. Is this your first?
I can’t chime in on training during pregnancy because I didn’t start lifting until after I’d had my kids.
A woman I know who recently gave birth (aug 25) kept training the entire time she was pregnant. Still doing pullups and squatting 135x10 at 38 weeks.
If you’ve been laying off the weights, now isn’t the time to try to hit PR’s. Keep listening to your body and do what feels right… push away the lazy but don’t go crazy.
Aww, the Buddha Belly shots are so pretty. If you haven’t taken some nice pics of your belly then do it! You’ll look back on that time and wish you had.
I didn’t lift when I was pregnant so take this for what it’s worth…some of it depends on how much you feel your joints have relaxed, particularly your pelvis. That softening of the ligaments is happening everywhere so I think I’d be very careful about going heavy now. Bear’s advice about hill walking and listening to your body is good. Also, I’ve said this before, and now I feel like a public service announcement, but be careful with your abs afterward. If you have a Diastasis Recti (split down the center that doesn’t heal back together), you can make it worse by doing leg raises and crunches, and actually make the rounding forward problem a lot more pronounced. You can Google Tupler Technique if you end up with that problem. She’s got some ideas about exercise and splinting which can help it heal properly. I wish I’d realized that all my ab work was actually making mine worse and causing an umbilical hernia.
“Push away the lazy but don’t go crazy” I LOVE IT!
Thank you all for your responses. I guess I was just hoping for some magical advice that would make this all easier to recover from after delivery. Guess I am learning what I knew all along. Don’t do anything too much. This time needs to be about the baby and that there will be plenty of time to hit it hard again soon enough.
Oh, and this is my third child. My other two are older and this one was a big ole fat surprise because we were done having kids. Ha! However, I didn’t train as hard back then and expect as much from myself. This pregnancy falls at a time in my life that is very different.
I joined here yesterday because I was SO tired of the other websites out there and their half-ass advice towards women and fitness. I lift weights, eat right, work hard and therefore I look good. It really is that simple to me.
After snooping around on the forum a little I am floored by what you all have accomplished. What a perfect place for support, additional drive and motivation. Just reading some of what you all are doing made me want to go to the gym today even though I was tired… and I did! Now I feel better! Magic!
I just came across this picture yesterday and thought about you. This woman did 135 pound DLs and squats for reps just a month before giving birth. She did a figure comp one year after her baby was born. Just Wow! Anyway, here’s the article. I hope this works. Some sites are not allowed, but I think this one would be OK so I’ll try. The John Berardi site is really, really good if you aren’t familiar.
It mentions that she didn’t do anything that made her lay flat on her back (like benching) but she did do an incline bench. Made me think of you with the recombant bike. Maybe not a problem if you are inclined enough.
Thanks, girl! I AM familiar with John Beradi but I haven’t looked it up in a while! Again… My legs keep me from doing anything like squatting but wow that girl is impressive! The bike I do is positioned so it looks more like an upright chair. This keeps the pressure off my legs but let’s me do SOMETHING! It’s really helping too. I’ve been lIfting again every day too. Pretty much just machines or free weights from a seated position. I wish I had been doing this all along even if it was against doctors orders. Just gotta listen to your body sometimes.
Oh… So get this… So now I am not gaining enough weight. WHAT? I gained 15lbs in the first few months (most in my currently size F boobs! Yikes!) Baby boy is growing fine at least. I am adding Metabolic Drive and Udo’s Oil to just about everything. Just in order to get my calories in for the day! I just can’t eat! To be little I carry big and I have no room for food! I bet you were the same way! I want to gain weight without eating crap too. Helps that I don’t crave sweets. Tricky, Tricky!
Why are these third pregnancies so hard? Please tell me your third was at least a good baby!
Sorry to hear you are having such a time of it. And now you have to PM me the pregnancy pics.
Yep, my third was the one that gave me the hernia! I wish I could tell you that she’s just a little angel, but the little horns would give it away. She’s the most spunky and active of my kids.
About weight gain, my body seemed to sort of run a “pregnancy program”. I gained 30 with my first two. It was a lot on my frame. I was in my 20’s and didn’t workout then. My last one I was a little more careful, but still put on 25 lbs. I did drop it all off within about 6 or 7 months every time. I think you’re on the right track. Eating junk has no nutritional value for the baby anyway and it will just end up on your thighs when you’re done.
About the weight gain, here’s another one from Berardi. I find this stuff just fascinating. Maybe I should do something that specializes in women’s health and fitness.
Just to make you feel better about your lower weight gain.
This one is about some of the backlash with high birth weight babies, and maternal obesity. And I read another recent study (wish I could remember where), but it showed that high birth weight babies are more likely to develop diabetes. Another reason to not eat a lot of refined sugars during pregnancy. You want to gain enough to build a healthy baby, but a lot of women go nuts and gain 50-60 pounds. Maybe not only bad for the mother’s health, but also giving their babies a higher risk of obesity and diabetes.
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
Yep, my third was the one that gave me the hernia! I wish I could tell you that she’s just a little angel, but the little horns would give it away. She’s the most spunky and active of my kids. [/quote]
Ohhhhh goodness! We’re expecting this one to be huge like his dad and rowdy enough to handle the older two! He’ll be a mess for sure.
I gained 36 and 38 with my other two. I think total I have already gained 28lbs so far so it isn’t a bad thing that I haven’t really gained in the last weeks. I usually drop the weight wicked fast. The problem is that I get too skinny. Gotta watch that this time. There is so much more to looking good than just being thin.
[quote]Lemurbean wrote:
Oh and thanks for the links! Good stuff! [/quote]
Sure. Oh, and I was curious about the pregnant woman doing front squats up there. She’s the petite Amanda Graydon who also writes for Precision Nutrition, and she’s married to John Berardi.
