Exercise during IVF

kramiemom

What do you guys do for exercise during IVF? My RE said only walking and light weight lifting but no ab stuff. I'm feeling so pudgy! I am usually workout pretty intensely and spin 1-2x a week. One thing I have learned about IF is that you really feel out of control of your body doing all these treatments. Hoping it all pays off

JuneBug629

I don't have an answer for you, but am wondering the same thing. I have an appt with my doc tomorrow for a mock transfer and plan to ask this, ie, when do I need to tone it down andvhat CAN i do? I'm sure she will say now. I just took my last bcp and will start injects once I get the withdrawl bleed. I will let you know what she says.

pblge

Most docs tell you to stop high impact exercise during stims, and to avoid exercises that torque or strain the abdomen. Walking at a moderate pace is always okay.

What docs tell you about the TWW varies a lot, but most ladies here seem to keep up the same low-impact approach.

Good luck!

Puzzlefuz

I pretty much stuck to what your RE said. Mine didn't say no abs exercising, but honestly, during stims for my fresh cycle I was so bloated and uncomfortable I didn't want to do any abs exercises. When I walked on the treadmill I put it at max incline and walked as fast as I could. I still lifted weights as normal. During this 2ww they told me to take it easy. They said nothing but walking till beta. I really like being active so this is gonna be tough, but hopefully worth it. Good Luck!

bayareagirl2011

For me, I just took longer, brisk walks, and some barre. The barre classes were a little embarrassing though because I could barely keep up from being so bloated feeling, so once you trigger I'd definitely stick with power walking. 

gsancho

My RE said the same thing.  I would just take my dog on long walks.  Although since I didn't have a good response to stims, I ended up jogging 1-2 minutes at a time once in a while b/c I barely even felt bloated.  But after O I was too tender to do weights.

emwaiting

I'm a spin instructor and last year when I did IVF I did my normal workouts until a couple days up to the retrieval.  When I would do spin I just might not go quite as hard as I normally would but would still work up a sweat.  During the 2WW I pretty much walked and then when I had my spin class I had to fake it to look like I was working hard so they wouldn't ask questions.  Then when we found out that I was pregnant my doctor wanted me to take it easy for the first trimester since I had a little early on spotting so limited me to walking.  After we got to the 2nd trimester he gave me the green light to go back to running, biking and whatever else I wanted to do as long as I used common sense and listened to my body   Good luck!

kramiemom

Thanks everyone! I am actually losing weight not working out so I must be losing muscle mass since I'm feeling a bit softer everywhere. I might try hopping on a spin bike and putting myself through a workout, mostly moderate intensity with some slight hills. I'll just take it easy and see how it goes.

Sha259

@angjohns99 I feel your pain. I had that problem when I was healing from my myomectomy. I didn't work out for 6 weeks and lost almost 5 lbs due to decreased muscle mass.

For my IVF #1 my doctor said I would likely be fine with my current routine until Day 8 of stims, then he said I will likely start to feel uncomfortable. He said I could continue to work out, but just listen to my body and when it says slow down, to slow down, and to stay hydrated. 

I plan to cut out my typical step classes (too high impact), but will still go to Body Works and yoga, and just modify movements to what makes me feel comfortable. There is NO way that I will stop lifting, but I may stick to the seated machines to take the pressure off of my lower body.

Overall, just the idea of not being at my 100% makes me sad. But I just tell myself it's for a purpose!!

ikrystal

I kept exercising, but I changed what I did.  I used to take long walks with my dog, but shortened my route.  I stopped doing crunches (yay!)  and I kept doing my leg and arm workouts,but at a lesser pace and frequency.  My doctor said as long as I was not straining my body, it would be ok.  But they said absolutely NO ab workouts.  Every doctor is different though. Good luck!