Any super fit mamas? I need advice!

[nicem815]

All right, so I have about 13 weeks to go. I have been doing VERY OCCASIONAL light exercise. I am a person who is familiar with hardcore exercise, but have not been keeping up with it since I had a baby. I did some for a while, but fell off the bandwagon.

However, my thighs are getting pretty large and I'm starting to get the "chub rub", as people call it and it's starting to kind of hurt. My arms are also losing tone and I feel my back and core getting weaker which is making my pregnancy harder since I also have an-almost-2 year old.

How unrealistic would it be for me to cautiously and safely jump into a cardio and strength training routine at this point? Only ones that are deemed safe for pregnancy, of course. I don't want it to be extremely difficult for me to get back into shape after and I would like to feel more fit now because I still have like 3 months to go.

 

[dan-o]

Well I'm hardly super fit, but I think anything deemed safe for pregnancy would be great! Are you low risk?

I'm only 14 weeks but have managed to continue running this time so far, I've still put on a stone with the sickness keeping me indoors for a few weeks tho . Back to a nice run every other day now, hoping to keep going until it no longer feels good! I won't have time for gym classes but am planning on doing some YouTube workouts like hiit and Pilates for maintaining my strength.

 

[nicem815]

Well I'm hardly super fit, but I think anything deemed safe for pregnancy would be great! Are you low risk?

I'm only 14 weeks but have managed to continue running this time so far, I've still put on a stone with the sickness keeping me indoors for a few weeks tho . Back to a nice run every other day now, hoping to keep going until it no longer feels good! I won't have time for gym classes but am planning on doing some YouTube workouts like hiit and Pilates for maintaining my strength.

Thanks!! I am low-risk, just a little bit of thyroid issues but nothing that I need to avoid exercise for.

That's awesome that you are still running! My husband and I are looking st adjustable weights to purchase at home. We have a gym membership but we are going to cancel it because we never use it since it doesn't have childcare!

 

[IchigoMewMew]

I would think pregnancy safe workouts will be ok. Do you have Aquanatal classes nearby? I did one that was fairly intense and we used float dumbell things as well as doing cardio. Was fab for keeping cool, i'd overheat quickly exercising out of the water

 

[nicem815]

I would think pregnancy safe workouts will be ok. Do you have Aquanatal classes nearby? I did one that was fairly intense and we used float dumbell things as well as doing cardio. Was fab for keeping cool, i'd overheat quickly exercising out of the water

That sounds great! I don't really have access to an aqua class but my hubby and I will be working out together at home, I think.

 

[jessmke]

Sigh, I used to be super fit, lol. Before getting pregnant with DD I was a long distance trail runner (could easily go for a 30 km trail run up a mountain on any given day without training) and triathlete. I was so incredibly sick when pregnant with DD that I didn't exercise as much as I would have liked and I gained 37 lbs that pregnancy. After she was born I was desperate to get back into shape so I started training for Ironman Canada, did too much too quickly and ended up with a very injured SI joint in my back and a pinched nerve in my foot. And during this time I barely lost any weight, I am one of those unlucky women who actually hold onto fat while breastfeeding. So when I got pregnant again when DD was 10 months old I still had 10 lbs to lose from the first pregnancy. Although I am not nearly as sick this time around, I am pretty exhausted from working 10 hr shifts on my feet all day and looking after DD, but when I do have the will to exercise I typically do youtube videos from Glow Body Personal Training. The workouts are all safe to do while pregnant and broken down by trimester. They are fairly short but quite intense workouts, so when I am short on time I do just one short video, when I have more time/energy I will repeat the same workout a few times or do two or three videos back to back. I am planning on following her 12 week post-natal workout program after this baby is born, but I am going to take it easier this time around as I am afraid of hurting myself again. I haven't actually done any of the prenatal workouts in quite a few weeks, I find that taking the dog for a 5 km walk per day is enough for me at this point, by the end of every day my pubic bone and hips are killing me. I'm trying not to stress too much since this is definitely our last baby so I have all the time in the world to get back into shape once baby is born. Good luck and try not to stress too much about the weight gain, it will come off eventually! I would say that so long as you listen to your body and don't push yourself too hard (make sure you can talk through the workout) then it's fine to start a pre-natal routine now.

 

[nicem815]

Sigh, I used to be super fit, lol. Before getting pregnant with DD I was a long distance trail runner (could easily go for a 30 km trail run up a mountain on any given day without training) and triathlete. I was so incredibly sick when pregnant with DD that I didn't exercise as much as I would have liked and I gained 37 lbs that pregnancy. After she was born I was desperate to get back into shape so I started training for Ironman Canada, did too much too quickly and ended up with a very injured SI joint in my back and a pinched nerve in my foot. And during this time I barely lost any weight, I am one of those unlucky women who actually hold onto fat while breastfeeding. So when I got pregnant again when DD was 10 months old I still had 10 lbs to lose from the first pregnancy. Although I am not nearly as sick this time around, I am pretty exhausted from working 10 hr shifts on my feet all day and looking after DD, but when I do have the will to exercise I typically do youtube videos from Glow Body Personal Training. The workouts are all safe to do while pregnant and broken down by trimester. They are fairly short but quite intense workouts, so when I am short on time I do just one short video, when I have more time/energy I will repeat the same workout a few times or do two or three videos back to back. I am planning on following her 12 week post-natal workout program after this baby is born, but I am going to take it easier this time around as I am afraid of hurting myself again. I haven't actually done any of the prenatal workouts in quite a few weeks, I find that taking the dog for a 5 km walk per day is enough for me at this point, by the end of every day my pubic bone and hips are killing me. I'm trying not to stress too much since this is definitely our last baby so I have all the time in the world to get back into shape once baby is born. Good luck and try not to stress too much about the weight gain, it will come off eventually! I would say that so long as you listen to your body and don't push yourself too hard (make sure you can talk through the workout) then it's fine to start a pre-natal routine now.

WOW!! Sounds like you are AWESOME and such a motivated and healthy mommy! Even with the setbacks you experienced, you still persevere and are doing a fantastic job.

I am trying not to stress about it. I am these "inner moments" where I feel like my confidence is fading and it gets to me, but I try very hard to not let the outside world see that--a) I don't want people to pity me, b) I don't want my daughter seeing that because I want her to see me loving myself and c) I realize this is all so temporary and, like you said, I will have time to get back into shape after baby is born. I feel grateful to be able to conceive and have children and this is something that comes with it--our bodies change! However, 9ish months isn't forever and the joy we receive is soooo worth the weight gain.

I AM really motivated, though. My husband also knows he needs to lose weight for health reasons and honestly, if he does it with me at home, I will be more motivated. So here's hoping we start to stick to it NOW because after baby is born, momma wants to be hardcore haha!

 

[jessmke]

I also never say anything about my appearance around my daughter. She is only 18 months so she is still quite young, but I want her growing up knowing that we exercise to be healthy, not so that we can look a certain way. I tend to get fat arms when I'm pregnant, my arms don't really get any larger, they just get all jelly and cellulite looking which drives me crazy! I just try to ignore it and not let it get me down. My OH also has some weight to lose, he tends to gain baby weight along with me, lol. He has always been motivated by seeing me exercise, so the more I do the more he does. Once baby is born he will get back on track with me. Especially since the other day my DD lifted up his shirt, pointed at his belly, and said "baby". He was mortified!

We do almost all our workouts with our daughter, I run with her in the jogging stroller, or she is in the gym or living room with us while we exercise. When she was about 9 months old my OH and I did a 45 day yoga challenge and she did almost all of the yoga workouts with us and would try to copy us, it was super cute! Now that I am hugely pregnant and pretty lazy she keeps bringing me my running shoes and pulling out the yoga mats because she thinks its fun to exercise, but she is making me feel really guilty about not doing more activity!

 

[nicem815]

I also never say anything about my appearance around my daughter. She is only 18 months so she is still quite young, but I want her growing up knowing that we exercise to be healthy, not so that we can look a certain way. I tend to get fat arms when I'm pregnant, my arms don't really get any larger, they just get all jelly and cellulite looking which drives me crazy! I just try to ignore it and not let it get me down. My OH also has some weight to lose, he tends to gain baby weight along with me, lol. He has always been motivated by seeing me exercise, so the more I do the more he does. Once baby is born he will get back on track with me. Especially since the other day my DD lifted up his shirt, pointed at his belly, and said "baby". He was mortified!

We do almost all our workouts with our daughter, I run with her in the jogging stroller, or she is in the gym or living room with us while we exercise. When she was about 9 months old my OH and I did a 45 day yoga challenge and she did almost all of the yoga workouts with us and would try to copy us, it was super cute! Now that I am hugely pregnant and pretty lazy she keeps bringing me my running shoes and pulling out the yoga mats because she thinks its fun to exercise, but she is making me feel really guilty about not doing more activity!

Sounds like we have a lot in common! OH also gains with me and gets motivated when I jump into it. That's awesome that y'all did the yoga challenge. I used to love love love yoga--still do--but again....I've been pregnant and lazy lol!!

Also--totally agree--we want our kids to know we exercise to be healthy--NOT to look a certain way

 

[lilmisscaviar]

I used to be a runner as well before I had my first baby. Now that I'm on my fourth, I've pretty much said goodbye to my six pack that I'll probably never see again and I've already assumed that my running days are over since I had bad SPD during 3 of my 4 pregnancies I gained a lot of weight too (57 lbs with #1, 52 lbs with #2, 65 lbs with #3 and already 32 lbs up with this one) most likely because I was so thin before that I needed it. I've felt the way you described with each one. It was hard carrying my other kids during pregnancy when 20 lbs - which was nothing for me before - feels like 70 lbs. It makes me feel like my arms are so weak now. Thankfully my strength would come back a few months postpartum when I lost the weight. If you feel like you could continue your work out, then by all means go for it! I personally have a hard time even keeping up with the house chores so I envy you in that sense.