My goal was to get to 32 weeks with lifting light weights and doing squats/lunges with light weights. I've reached that goal and feel pretty good to continue to do so but I just worry that the further along that I get into my pregnancy that I'm hurting my baby someway. After the 32 weeks, I just planned on doing cardio until I gave birth. I worked out a lot before getting pg and definitely have toned it down alot but now I just feel as if I should be back down even more. People can't believe that I'm continuing to work out. My bump is pretty small and I guess that is why I continue to worry that something is wrong. Per my OB though, I'm measuring on track. For what it is worth, I try to do 4-5 days a week of 30 mins of cardio on the ellipitcal and then 20-30 minutes of light weights after that alternating days between legs and arms. Too much? Just enough? How long did you continue to work out and what did you do?
Re: How long did you workout during pregnancy?
I did pilates right up until the end for all three with little modification. I also danced (belly dance) and tried to get in some walking..... For the last 2 pregnancies, I also chased around little kids:)
You need to do what feels right for you/your body. If your body isn't telling you to slow down, then you are probably fine.
I was induced at 39 weeks, 4 days. Every day up till that point I ran, went to the gym for strength training or to get a few more miles in, and then did 10 minutes of prenatal pilates.
My labor took forever (because of the induction), but the delivery part was pretty easy. I was an awesome pusher, probably because I kept up exercise during the pregnancy. Our son was a good healthy weight, and I got back to my prepregnancy weight the first week home.
Im on a similiar routine but only 21 weeks. I work out 5/6 days a wk with 35-45 min of cardio on the eliptical and light weights as well as bands and alternate days btw upper and lower body too. I also do ab excercises daily. Prior to being preg I used pretty heavy weights and just feel like Im not getting a great workout now, but I suppose its better than nothing.
I say work out until you feel uncomfortable. Have you tried bands? I had a personal trainer for a few wks and she showed me some great excercises to do with it that you can do pretty much till the end for the most part. Though Im not "sore" the next day, I feel the burn while I do it.
I plan on working out till the end, or until my body tells me to stop. If that then because the case I will too just do cardio on the eliptical or fast walking up hilll on the treadmill, also perhaps using my body as my weight to do excer., such as arm and leg circles, etc.
***Work it Mama***
With DS I worked out until the day that I went into labor... I was walking and using the elliptical. I was in labor for 46 hours and my doc said that my exercising helped prevent a c-section.
With DD I was in better shape than I was when I got pregnant with DS. I ran throughout my pregnancy adjusting my distance and my pace as I got bigger. I ran a couple of hours before my water broke and had a super easy labor and delivery and recovery.
As long as your doctor does not place you on any restrictions I would encourage you to exercise. It really helped me emotionally and physically during my pregnancy, for labor and delivery, and especially post-partum.
I was at the gym up until my due date, and then continued to go for long walks at home until I went into labor 4 days later. I followed crossfitmom.com, scaling workouts as needed throughout my pg, even after I developed a couple of inguinal hernias. My dr knew I was working out and encouraged me to continue. By the end I was doing elliptical or incline treadmill walking on fairly low speeds, and still weighted squats and modified pushups and whatnot. I just kept tweaking my workouts as I needed to the further along I got.
Just do what feels OK for you and listen to your body. I fully credit working out my whole pg as the reason I had a relatively easy pg, L&D, and quick recovery. I was pretty much "all baby", and back to my old body (more or less) within a few weeks pp.
I was on the elliptical the day before I had DD (scheduled c-section and I had too much nervous energy to just sit at home).
After DD, I became a group fitness instructor so I taught classes while pregnant with DS. I taught to 41 weeks and he was born 3 days later (I was actually planning to go to the gym the day I went into labor with him, but he finally came).