- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Health & Exercise
tokenhoser
member
Why are so many women proud about not exercising while pg?
tokenhoser
member
It seems like every post about exercise on the main boards gets lots of "what's a gym? lol" posts.
And then lots of "my back hurts! I can't sleep! I have no energy!" posts.
Put it together, people. It drives me nuts.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Why are so many women proud about not exercising while pg?
I wouldn't say that people are particularly "proud" about not exercising but are almost happy when someone else post about not having the energy to exercise because they feel the same.
Prepregnancy I was pretty active, and had just finished 2 rounds of P90X when I got pregnant. There after, I was very sick and could have grown roots into the couch until almost 17 weeks. I still get very sick now but at least my energy is up and it's more tolerable I'm actually able to exercise again.
Good for you if you've never experienced feeling like you've been hit by a truck this pregnancy.
Oh I've felt like doing nothing but sleep for 9 straight months. I don't have to want to get my butt in gear. I just have to get it done.
Natural Birth Board FAQs
Cloth Diaper Review Sheet
In general, now might be a good time to practice not being judgy of other moms, because the first time you're really struggling with something (a colicky baby, PPD, breastfeeding difficulties, a child with possible physical or speech delays, or whatever else may come your way) and someone wonders aloud why you can't suck it up and handle it the way THEY do/would, you'll realize how crappy that feels. I truly mean that as constructive advice, not in a snarky way.
Kiwi Fruit, 10.2.06 & Ellie Bug, 4.5.09
My blog: Bear With Us
Ideas on Teaching Your Toddler/Preschooler at Home
OP, I want you to know that your comments on the main board were very inspiring to me. I am familiar with the tone you have in writing so I don't think you meant this in a judgy, mean way but rather blowing off steam on a board where more likeminded people are. Or. maybe you do hate all of us who whine and don't go to the gym! but I don't think so.
Maybe you inspire other women, too. It wasn't anything in particular that you said, but just the comments you'd make when the topic came up. I was like...she's awesome!
Before being pregnant - before, before, when I lived in a city far away I had started to train with the intention of one day becoming a PT. Then I got really, REALLY bad plantar fasciitis in both feet. I had to crawl around the house on a regular basis. It was terrifying. The pain was intense for two years and then it started to lessen. Now it's faint...so faint sometimes I think I'm over it but don't want to let myself think I might have some relief (jinx!).
There was a pg woman at my gym (before the PF) who was 8.5 months pg. She was fantastic! I never thought I'd have a child, but I thought if I did I wanted to be like her.
Last June I stepped on a very large piece of glass and couldn't walk for a month (PF annnnd a severed foot - I was doing great!) so again I had to quit the gym. Now it's January, and while I work a very physical job I felt like it wasn't enough. It's easy to fall into a pg-state of mind where you let yourself slide and slide...but I'd rather not! Even if I just wind up being a cardiobunny, it's better than not being one.
So vent, but keep in mind when you're over on 2nd tri or wherever, that hearing 'you can do it' really is a motivator.
Perhaps it's not that they are proud of it, but frustrated and trying to make light of something that they *thought* they'd be able to keep up with, and realize that they cannot. Whether that is because they never went in the first place, because their morning sickness isn't just in the morning, or because their priorities have changed, does it really matter? Is a gym really necessary? I think not. I don't go to the gym, but am I active? Very much. Was I active during pregnancy? I had no choice given my job.
And yes, being active *may* make it easier during childbirth. But some women are going to have difficulties for a multitude of reasons regardless of their physical health. There are women who struggle for so long to get pregnant that they aren't going to take ANY chance that something might cause a problem during their pregnancy. And there are women who have suffered loss or had a problem during pregnancy that they cannot or will not exercise, in or out of the gym. Do I think they are lazy or have no right to complain? NO. I think you have to know a woman's situation or have walked in her shoes to even begin to understand.
Man, people are defensive. I absolutely am just blowing off steam - and in the future, I'll take it to a board that values exercise. Clearly, this isn't it.
I get that experiences vary. I get that women get frustrated when their body lets them down. That's not the comments I'm seeing. Not at all - it's people that don't understand that moving makes you feel better, and people that are 100% capable of moving if they choose to.
Natural Birth Board FAQs
Cloth Diaper Review Sheet
Are you kidding , I can't wait to get out of 1st tri (dr's orders) so that I can get my butt back to the gym. I know that I would feel so much better right now if I was still running and being active.
I worked out regularly throughout pg and pushed for two hours. I've been told by doctors that I have strong abs, too. Sometimes birth canals are small and heads are big.
Sorry, but I felt like the implication was that easy labor = fit mommy and longer labor= lazy slug. Had to defend myself.
Oh, and despite cardio, weight training, water aerobics and yoga, I was tired, my back hurt, and I couldn't sleep. Sometimes pregnancy is like that. Happy for you that you had an easy one.
If you had said it like that initially, people wouldn't have gotten "defensive." When you sound holier than thou people will try to "defend" or at least explain how other people feel.
lol
I worked 12 hour graveyard shifts all through pregnancy and had to take prednisone for Bell's Palsy which gave me all kinds of lovely side effects. I'd like to see you drag your heiny to the gym after working 5:30pm-5:30am 4 days a week.
Would I have liked to work out all through pregnancy? yea I would have. But it just wasn't in the cards for me.
But if I'd said it nicely, none of you would have answered.
My other pet peeve is that this board is dead. It adds to my feeling that no one wants to talk about exercising during pregnancy. I mostly hang out on the Nest version - I come here to refute garbage advice like "No abs while pregnant!" and "You can't start anything if you didn't do it before! Not even walking!".
Natural Birth Board FAQs
Cloth Diaper Review Sheet
I love how supportive women are of each other.
I've been getting the "just you wait!" since I got my positive test. Still waiting to be miserable...
Natural Birth Board FAQs
Cloth Diaper Review Sheet
Well what do you even care that this board is dead? Shouldn't you be out exercising? hahaha
I didn't mean to offend you and I'm sorry if I did. I wasn't trying to imply that a long labor was due to being unfit because I know every woman is different and each pregnancy is different. I didn't have an easy pregnancy by any means. I just worked through the pain, because exercise was the one and only thing that made me feel better. While I know that there are other factors to having an easy labor, my doctor believes that mine was easy because I was still in shape. I worked out up until the day before I delivered and because of this, DD head was extremely low and ready to come out. I'm not a very large woman and I delivered a 9 lb 1 oz baby. I heartily believe that if I hadn't stayed in such good shape, my labor would have been exhausting.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't agree with token...because sometimes I do feel this way. I wonder to myself--why aren't pregnant women active? Hell, why weren't they active beforehand?
However, I have stop myself and remember that every pregnancy is different, every person is different and their ability to stay active varies widely. I've been incredibly blessed with a wonderful pregnancy so far. I'm able to continue my workouts and run. However, I know it will get harder. How could it not get harder when you have a huge stomach and you try to walk, run, swim, do yoga, strength train, ect..???? And I also know not every women has it easy from the get go. Some women get really sick, on bedrest, have complications that prevent them from staying active.
I guess I can see both sides of the coin but I think what everyone has to remember is that every pregnancy has it's ups and downs and that will impact the ability to stay fit. Period.
Like!
I wasn't heckling people on doctor mandated bedrest or with honest health problems.
I was heckling people that didn't ever make their fitness or health a priority and have just carried that through their pregnancy, only now they complain even more about how crappy they feel. The attitude frustrates the hell out of me.
That said, I'm the first person to offer realistic, helpful advice to anyone that asks for it. I never attack anyone personally. Ever.
Natural Birth Board FAQs
Cloth Diaper Review Sheet
YAY! It's nice to see another graveyard person made it through that schedule: I'm 4 pm - 4 am. SO EXHAUSTING!
I wasn't heckling people on doctor mandated bedrest or with honest health problems.
I was heckling people that didn't ever make their fitness or health a priority and have just carried that through their pregnancy, only now they complain even more about how crappy they feel. The attitude frustrates the hell out of me.
That said, I'm the first person to offer realistic, helpful advice to anyone that asks for it. I never attack anyone personally. Ever.
You have to realize that some women just have a HARD pregnancy, even if they aren't on bedrest or if they have health problems. I have friends who had such HORRIBLE morning sickness that they physically couldn't stay active. Also, it's not easy for everyone to get to the gym 5 days a week. It's just not feasible for everyone.
Like I said, I do agree with you to an extent. I have limited tolerance for anyone who bitches and moans about their fitness, heath or weight and does NOTHING about it. But that's not limited to pregnant women---that's just everyone in general.
Actually I was sleeping just fine every night until my daughter was born at exactly 40 weeks. Again everybody's experience is different.
Can you imagine what it would have been like if you HADN'T been in good shape going into labor? Or how badly your back would have hurt during late pregnancy if you HADN'T done your cardio, weight training, water aerobics and yoga?
No-exercise doesn't guarentee an EASY labor or pregancy, but most likely it will be easier than it would have been without it. I stayed in good shape my whole pregancy and pushed with all my might for the longest most frustrating hour of my life, and my Dr. started to think that my baby wasn't coming out on her own. If I hadn't been in good shape going into that, I would most definately ended up on an operating table getting her cut out of me - which was my number one fear (not that c-sections are bad - I was just terrifed of being awake and cut open at the same time). Was delivery easy because I exercised? NO WAY. But I believe that it saved me from a c-section.