Exercise Question

*~Danielle~*

I asked my dr. about how high I can let my heart rate go while I am walking on the treadmill cause I wanted to get back on to walking again.  But he said if I was not doing it before, don't start now.  I feel like I need to do something or I am going to gain soo much weigh!  Has anyone else been told this before?

sunflwra

Usually i would say go with what your Dr suggests.  That being said, unless you are having or have had some issues with the pregnancy, every baby website and book seems to suggest walking as a great form of exercise.  Maybe the issue is trying to push your heartrate- most things say not to go hard enough that you can't carry on a conversation.  If you walk 30-60 minutes multiple times as week at a reasonable rate and eat a reasonable diet, you should be able to maintain a steady and healthy weight gain with the pregnancy.  Just don't go powerwalking and you should be all good.  Good luck!

iluvmylab

I would find another doctor.  Almost everyone can benefit from some type of exercise during pregnancy, especially walking.  If you don't have complications or other health problems, I just don't get why your doctor would say that.

mary548

I used to do a lot of running before getting pregnant and was told to stop. My doctor did suggest for me to do low impact exercises like walking, swimming and yoga. I was told it was good to do a 30 min walk at least. I would get a second opinion from another doctor because I've heard walking is good for pregnant women.

gina_bo_bena

sunflwra:

Usually i would say go with what your Dr suggests.  That being said, unless you are having or have had some issues with the pregnancy, every baby website and book seems to suggest walking as a great form of exercise.  Maybe the issue is trying to push your heartrate- most things say not to go hard enough that you can't carry on a conversation.  If you walk 30-60 minutes multiple times as week at a reasonable rate and eat a reasonable diet, you should be able to maintain a steady and healthy weight gain with the pregnancy.  Just don't go powerwalking and you should be all good.  Good luck!

This.  Unless you have some other condition or reason he doesn't want you to walk, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn't.  Walking is one of the best things you can (and should) do during pregnancy.  I can say this with confidence from everything I've read and from what my dr told me.  Just start out slow because you will get out of breath much quicker.

capulet

I don't understand why he would discourage you from walking.  It's a great form of low-impact exercise and safe for practically everyone.  My doctor advised me to keep my heart rate under 150 and not to do anything that could cause me to fall, but walking is perfectly fine on both counts.

Now I have heard that if you haven't been doing more vigorous exercise (running, etc.) before your pregnancy, then you shouldn't start once you're pregnant.  I ran for a while last year but fell out of the habit last fall/winter, and had been thinking of starting again, but decided not to once I found out I was pregnant.  But I can't imagine that starting a walking routine would be harmful.