Exercise during two week wait

JuneBug629

Im in the two week wait after my first IUI on Friday. He told me to take the weekend off and then can get back to light exercise. What do you usually do?

Lizarella82

I have asked this question and received a variety of responses; after my IUI I felt TERRIBLE- cramping, shooting pain down my legs, etc. This continued for 5-6 days and during that time I didn't do anything more than walk a bit, but everyone responds differently to IUI so I would say listen to your body and take care of yourself. What do you normally do? I was training for a half marathon so I was running ~15 miles a week, increasing every week. My RE told me to half that, at least, if I felt like running at all. I was also doing Bikram yoga before this IUI, and he told me absolutely no more- I've heard that even gentle yoga can be questionable if you're doing a lot of poses that require twisting and deep squatting. Another girl on this site recommended that I get a heart monitor and discuss an upper limit with the RE based on your weight and fitness level, so I did that and I feel much more comfortable about running with the monitor. Good luck! I ran for the first time in over a week on Saturday and it felt fantastic!

ksgsmu

Mine just said light activity was fine ( walking etc)

JuneBug629

What kind of heart rate monitor did you get? Where? That may make me feel better about it. I'm fine now. I was only in pain, cramping, the night I ovulated. My ovaries felt like bowling balls. Today was my first workout since IUI on Friday. I walked on the treadmill for 35 minutes, got a little bit of a sweat and felt good. My doc said not a lot of twisting and take it easy. I've been taking barre classes once a week for a couple months. I may refrain from that during the two week wait.

absolutelymaybe

Exactly what @lizarella82 said. Ask your doctor and do what you feel is right for you. Not everyone responds the same way during an IUI cycle and it can vary a great deal (especially if you are on medications or injections). I would err on the side of caution, though. 

I was running 5ks and interval training (really high heart rate) 3-5 times per week before IUI #1. Obviously, that needed to be cut down, but I felt OK to do some walking/light jogging. I bought a heart rate monitor at the local sporting goods store (can't remember the brand but I think it was like $80 or something) and tried to keep it around 160 bpm (this will vary person to person). 

IUI#2, however, I had significantly more response (more follicles) and I didn't feel like doing jack during my 2WW. 

(Side note: I really love my heart rate monitor!  I use it even though I'm not in a cycle. It's a great tool for maximizing your cardio workouts.) 

Lizarella82

The heart monitor I bought was a MIO drive-the cheapest I could find that didn't require a chest strap- but now I may be regretting the decision to be frugal as I can only get it to work about half the time. The instructions say that it should get more reliable as (yuck) sweat builds up on the back of the watch (for electrical conduction purposes?). I think I paid about $45 for it at Academy, but you can get them on Amazon as well. 

@absolutelymaybe, I'm curious to know if you have one with a chest strap and if it's as uncomfortable as I imagine

absolutelymaybe

@lizarella82 I got one with a chest strap monitor and whatever feature that allows it to sync up with most treadmills like the ones at our gym. It's not uncomfortable at all. It sits just below the built in bra in my workout top and I don't even notice it's there.