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Working out question....

LindsaywilloLindsaywillo
in 2nd Trimester
Is anyone still doing ab exercises?  Do you know if you are supposed to?  I thought I read something about the separation of the ab muscles if you do them while pregnant....just wondering.  And also, I was hoping to do this body pump (weight lifting class to music) class at the YMCA and some of it requires you to lay on your back. My doctor said unless I am having issues laying on my back it's fine to do but he's a little quirky so I don't always take his advice!  Anyone else continuing their regular workout routine or have taken this workout class??
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Re: Working out question....

  • hepcatshepcats member
    I've heard and read that you shouldn't do ab exercises at all after being pregnant and there are recommendations to steer clear of weight lifting (depending on how heavy it is and how much you have to exert yourself) since many of your joints and ligaments are softening up in preparation for child birth. Plus you don't want to strain yourself and cause placental tearing. But I'm lazy so maybe that's my excuse!! lol :)
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  • lovelymissautumnlovelymissautumn
    I also read you shouldn't be straining your ab muscles. No crunches. At 4 mos you shouldn't be lying flat on your back for long periods of time. As far as weight lifting goes, it should be under 10lbs my dr said. I have been sticking to yoga and walking for my exercises.
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  • SarahPLizSarahPLiz member

    My doctor said that as long as I wasn't laying on my back for over 20 minutes at a time, then it was fine. I should avoid double leg lifts from the lying position. ANything else I should just listen to my body. If it feels wrong, don't do it. 

    If you were working out before, then my doctor assured me it was ok to stay at the same level of weight, cardio, etc, and to adjust when I felt like i needed to. She cautioned against going up in weights or starting something new. Since I was already lifting heavily and going to bootcamp, I continued, and I've just cut back a lot depending on my comfort and fatigue levels. She has never said anything about my abs separating, but I don't think I'm to that point yet. Mostly I'm doing side crunches, planks, plank twists, cat &cow positions, and standing ab work.  

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  • tiff012982tiff012982 member
    Every doctor and pregnant women is different and I think that it's really important that you know and listen to your body whether you are just walking for fitness or spinning or taking bootcamp classes.  I have been teaching gym classes for 11 years and am very active have taken workshops on prenatal fitness.  I belong to a practice with 7 doctors and all of them continue to tell me to do what I have previously be doing.  As for abdominal exercises go, I have not done sit ups since 16 weeks, but I do other core exercises to keep my mid section strong like planks and side bends.  I have taken my exercises down a notch, but am still at the gym 4 days a week for 2 hours at a time.  It makes me feel good and helps with the normal aches and pains that pregnancy brings.  I just make sure to hydrate more and take more breaks, but I am lifting the same 18lb barbell and teaching other classes like kickboxing and spinning.  GL to you!  
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  • jntaylor11jntaylor11 member
    Yea I was told not to be doing ab exercises after the first trimester. And as far as the muscles streching apart, it is actually the fascia which is the connective tissue that connects both sides of the rectus abdominis muscle. Unfortunately a majority of things that I have read say that no amount of exercises will keep this from happening or help the fascia go back together after the baby is born since it isn't a muscle. As with everything, everyone is different so some people have a more elastic fascia so theirs will go back to normal and some people's never will:-/
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  • JP419JP419

    Hi!  I have mostly just been lurking, but I teach bodypump classes and wanted to help out with this question Smile

    I work for a gym and am a certified personal trainer.  I would not reccommend the bodypump class for the first time while pregnant.  It is pretty intense and endurance based, making it very different from lifting weights on your own.  As for lifting in general, my doctor told me it was absolutely fine as long as I felt no pulling or tearing sensations.  He said ab and core work is fine as long as I don't feel out of breath or pulling.  The one thing to avoid is the double leg stretch (lying on your back and extending both legs at one time).   

    Good Luck!  And once you give birth, bodypump will be a great way to shed some baby weight!

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  • browniechicbrowniechic
    I took bodypump the whole time I was pregnant with DD.  I did take it prior to becoming pregnant so it wasn't a new routine.  I wouldn't suggest trying it for the first time while pregnant.  One of the trainers told me that one of the women that helped create bodypump was pregnant but I don't know how true that is.  This particular trainer did show me how to modify the exercises for the pregnant body.  When you use the step to lie down, elevate one side higher than the other so you are not lying flat on your back.  Also, becareful with the lunges.  I did have to lower the weights I was using as I got further along in my pregnancy.  I also opted out of the ab section.  The only abs I have been doing now are planks other than tightening my core while lifting.
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  • Kml9876Kml9876 member
    My doc says no ab work. They also said I shouldn't start a new exercise routine. So if you haven't been lifting weights be careful. My doc says nothing over 25 pounds. I have done body pump at golds and it messes with my knees when I am pregnant.
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  • mvhydemvhyde member

    My doctor only said no lying horizontal on back and no situps.

    Anything else that I usually do would be ok. I do a class at the gym called LIFT (one hour of total body resistance training with barbell plus planks and leg lifts and other things during the abs circuit). Plus I try to jog/walk 2 miles twice a week (of course, I am also lazy so I don't always workout as often as I would like).

    To switch up an exercise that has you on the back you can lie on an incline or a step bench with an uneven raisers and your head higher than your heart. All the stuff I have read (like the book Origins that is a compilation of different studies on pregnancy) has said that working out is great for pregnant women if you don't have any risks (like incompetent cervix). 

    I have a classmate who is ~18 weeks pregnant and just ran a half marathon with her doctors ok. If you are used to intense workout you can try to keep it up but I suppose eventually our bodies will tell us to ease up. 

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