Being Pregnant and Exercising

[Ayteenexwray]

Alright I'm not pregnant, I'm a guy. This question is regarding my sister. She is 7 months pregnant and thinks she needs to do some type of fitness. I don't blame her but as far as being pregnant I don't know what's good. I would atleast like to get her out of the house and walk. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

[Ayteenexwray]

Is this the right section? Never posted here before.

Edit: ^^dumb question, of course its the right section.

[9ine]

That's something she should discuss with her doctor.

[Ayteenexwray]

That's something she should discuss with her doctor.

She has, he said it was up to her just not to overdo it. Just seeing if there were other females on this forum that have been pregnant and what they did.

[norinicole]

At seven months there is no way she can do any core exercises really, so my suggestion would be walking. As long as she doesn't feel any pain, it's a go. Have her try swimming as well. Swimming's really good since it takes the pressure off the spine, she won't feel as heavy, and can get a good cardio workout in if she likes.

Bottom line, as long as she stays a little active, her labour will be easier and her body will bounce back faster.

I did a lot of walking when I was pregnant, and it helped a lot.

[joangel32]

My best friend is 7 months pregnant as well and she has continued to go to the gym throughout her whole pregnancy. She has eased up on the weights, though, and does not do any core exercises. She does go consistently to a yoga and pilates class twice a week though. The instructor will sometimes tell her not to do certain poses, but she really seems to enjoy the classes. As for cardio, she does the elliptical, bike, and the rowing machine.

Hope that helps some. If your sister didn't work out much prior to her pregnancy I would recommend starting off slow. My friend went to the gym regularly before her pregnancy. Just a thought....

[Ayteenexwray]

Thanks for the responses. I will pass this on to her, I think she'll be happy to hear what others did during their pregnancy, somewhat reassuring.

[pirouette]

I've always heard that you can be about as active as you were when you became pregnant. So if she wasn't working out before hand now would not be a good time to start anything too intense....but walking and such would be a good idea.

[biochick]

Cardio is fine, just have her work on keeping her heart rate below 140. Much higher than that and the baby won't like it.

[imperfectly_lou]

The main issue is whether she was active before her pregnancy. Pregnancy is NOT a time to start to get fit.

[Stoofinoof]

Alright I'm not pregnant, I'm a guy. This question is regarding my sister. She is 7 months pregnant and thinks she needs to do some type of fitness. I don't blame her but as far as being pregnant I don't know what's good. I would atleast like to get her out of the house and walk. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

I'm currently 6 months pregnant and am still working out however, its limited and i was doing weight lifting BEFORE i became pregnant.
she can do her basics that her body is already used to, walking swimming... etc. for me i've resulted to doing arm, back and MINOR leg work outs and cardio. you don't want to do anything that will contract the stomach to much because you CAN put yourself in early labor.
Just make sure she stays very well hydrated and eats plenty after she works out, ( trust me she WILL be hungry lol)

[Ayteenexwray]

I'm currently 6 months pregnant and am still working out however, its limited and i was doing weight lifting BEFORE i became pregnant.
she can do her basics that her body is already used to, walking swimming... etc. for me i've resulted to doing arm, back and MINOR leg work outs and cardio. you don't want to do anything that will contract the stomach to much because you CAN put yourself in early labor.
Just make sure she stays very well hydrated and eats plenty after she works out, ( trust me she WILL be hungry lol)

She is the same way. Worked out, ran, what not before she got pregnant. Her doctor, however, was pretty vague as far as what she is limited to. Yall have been very helpful. We went walking for a bit yesterday, and finished with a light jog. And to stoofinoof; you two stay healthy.

[Ayteenexwray]

Cardio is fine, just have her work on keeping her heart rate below 140. Much higher than that and the baby won't like it.

Your sig is my new motivation. lol

[LatinaLoca]

I loved walking when I was pregnant! It was such a great stress reliever for me and was something I looked forward to on a regular basis. I cut back alot on the weight lifting though..aside from carrying 50 lb bags of dogfood lol. My doctor told me it was safe for me to continue doing my normal activities (aside from skiing but thats a no brainer lol)however I cutback anyway just out of my own misplaced fears. I really feel like being active during pregnancy helped with labor and recovery too...all three were unmedicated, unassisted and quick

sorta OT...tell her not to forget about herself after baby is born, that is the mistake I made. I focused so much on my kids after my third child was born that I put myself at the very bottom of the list. Now I've realized that by allowing myself the time needed to improve upon myself everyone in the family benefits I don't grouch around as much lol.

[S7R31F]

make sure she is not over-eating, women way way overdo it...eating for 2 lol...in the first trimester your only suposed increase your calorie intake by 300 so for a 5'6 woman thats like 1200 calories give or take...Just that my sister did put on alot of fat she is going to have to work hard at losing in her pregnancy, she gave birth last week....I didnt wanna tell her though and cause friction.

Even after birth for the first 7 weeks my sister told me she had to take it real easy still and just do a little bit of walking and really basic core exercises

[BootyCamp]

I only did walking, swimming, & yoga.

[HisLovely]

It's great that she was active before pregnancy. But now being in her 7th month, her body is different, pressured, and changing constantly. As long as her Dr. is ok with everything, she should work up to whatever she is comfortable with. She will be the one who knows what her body can handle if she listens to it. Good luck and tell her to enjoy the pregnancy

Having recently found out that my husband and I are expecting, I've been very interested in what others have done to keep their bodies in shape while having a healthy pregnancy. It's great to have all this information!

[Eileen]

Basic rule is that any activity you did before you were pregnant and that you are good at, you can continue during pregnancy, but don't start anything new.

I cycled all through all my pregnancies. Towards the end, I found walking very uncomfortable, but I could always cycle, so I did.

One thing to take into account is that she can't do any exercises that involve lying on her back, or the weight of her uterus will call on the vena cava and may comprimise blood flow to the baby.

[Ayteenexwray]

It's great that she was active before pregnancy. But now being in her 7th month, her body is different, pressured, and changing constantly. As long as her Dr. is ok with everything, she should work up to whatever she is comfortable with. She will be the one who knows what her body can handle if she listens to it. Good luck and tell her to enjoy the pregnancy

Having recently found out that my husband and I are expecting, I've been very interested in what others have done to keep their bodies in shape while having a healthy pregnancy. It's great to have all this information!

Thanks a lot, she's taking it very well. Congratulations on your pregnancy! Wish you the best!

Basic rule is that any activity you did before you were pregnant and that you are good at, you can continue during pregnancy, but don't start anything new.

I cycled all through all my pregnancies. Towards the end, I found walking very uncomfortable, but I could always cycle, so I did.

One thing to take into account is that she can't do any exercises that involve lying on her back, or the weight of her uterus will call on the vena cava and may comprimise blood flow to the baby.

Thanks, I've recently learned that she has to sleep on her side probly for that very reason. Seems uncomfortable. Lots of respect for women for having to go through all of that. Lord help me if I get kidney stones.

[Eileen]

To be fair, lying on your back gets very uncomfortable pretty early on. Which makes it even more mind boggling that maternity hospitals expect women to lie on their backs to have their babies. The one thing I found really painful about labour was the time I tried to lie on my back while my midwife examined me. Didn't do that again.

[Ayteenexwray]

Havn't been on in a while but thought I'd update. She had the baby!! No problems whatsoever besides ofcourse the pain and she got a small infection in the breasts but I wont go into that. She's fine now and so is the baby.

She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. on March 23! Did I mention she was beautiful? Must have come from her uncle's side of the family

[Eileen]

Congratulations. Delighted to hear it all went well. Best wishes to you all.