Advice please

[godlesstc]

Hi everyone!
I’m 5 weeks pregnant. So far the nausea and fatigue aren’t too bad. I’m sticking to my normal workout schedule for now. Everyday I try to stretch in the morning and before bed. I do twenty five jumping jacks daily. Monday to Friday I walk to the gym. It’s 0.4 miles away from my house. At the gym, I power walk at 4 mph for 50 minutes. I usually get to 3.31 miles. I know I shouldn’t try to add too much to my routine, but is there anything you would recommend I do? I’m going to add two sets of kegels a day. Thank you in advance!

 

[morganpettit97]

@godlesstc The muscle groups I tried to focus on strengthening were core, shoulders/back, upper body, and also worked on my squats. You’ve got a while to go so stay active and have fun!

 

[godlesstc]

@morganpettit97 Thank you! Any specific exercises you could recommend other than squats?

 

[morganpettit97]

@godlesstc Glute bridges (lower body, core), planks (whole body), push ups (upper body, core), lunges and split squats (lower body), bear crawls (upper and lower body), clamshells (lower body), monster walks (lower body). Add weights or resistance as needed. Make sure to keep doing mobility work (trunk rotation, yoga/stretching) too!

 

[godlesstc]

@morganpettit97 Thank you so much!

 

[nebensonnen]

@morganpettit97 I did most of these too! Just watch out for any pelvic pain! I started to get SPD which gave me a sharp pain whenever I did a single leg exercise OR moving my leg from a position away from my body to closer. So clam shells or monster walks could agitate but do what you can whole you can!

 

[katrina2017]

@godlesstc I would suggest weight training. Cardio you're on fire so good job.

Start with bodyweight squats, work up to goblet squats and eventually barbell if you are strong enough. Split squats and kettlebell RDLs too. Scope out your gym's Smith machine, squat racks, leg extension machines, hack squat and leg press.

I would also put some effort into strengthening your back, biceps and shoulders, which you will need carrying around a baby and (if you choose) breastfeeding. Dumbells are a good place to start, but there are a ton of machines at gyms which will show you what to do via diagram.

 

[godlesstc]

@katrina2017 Thank you! I’m a little worried about upping my workout so much. I’ve heard before that if you couldn’t do something before pregnancy, you shouldn’t expect to do it during pregnancy. What kind of gains would be reasonable? Like 15 lb weights?

 

[katrina2017]

@godlesstc I would still do it, it sounds like you're not starting from absolute zero since you have a lot of cardio. I would start with 5 lb weights (dumbbells), bodyweight squats and very low weight on the machines. You're mostly going to be started by getting used to the movements and working up slowly from there, if you're comfortable and your body is agreeable. I do think there's value in "slightly and safely pushing yourself" during pregnancy. The squats alone will help tremendously with childbirth.

 

[godlesstc]

@katrina2017 Awesome! Thank you so much!

 

[2myronic]

@godlesstc You're doing awesome!! I'm at 29 weeks now, and the muscles I'm counting on the most are my transverse abs. I wish I'd been a little more diligent with prenatal pilates leading up to now!

I also have been doing yoga regularly for years, and my OBGYN and pelvic floor PT always say "Oh that's so great, keep doing all the yoga!!" So, apparently yoga is a good idea too.

 

[godlesstc]

@2myronic Thank you! I used to do a lot of yoga, I’ll look at YouTube

 

[mp6789]

@godlesstc I recommend everything on pregnancyandpostpartumTV on YouTube.

 

[godlesstc]

@mp6789 Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll look them up

 

[randy229812]

@godlesstc I'd see a pelvic floor physiotherapist before adding kegels. A lot of women (myself included) naturally have a tighter pelvic floor and doing Kegels would just tighten it more.. not helpful! Read up on transverse abdominals, pelvic floor and pregnancy safe core work, and really focus on that. A PF physiotherapist is the real expert on keeping your pelvic floor strong so you can avoid diastasis recti, and peeing while laughing/sneezing etc after giving birth!

I'd definitely work on your back, as you need a strong back to carry so much extra weight, but really you should be working out every muscle group - squats for sure (so many variations - switch it up), shoulder press, cheat press, rows, etc. It'll make your recovery so much easier and will be helpful when you need to lug a heavy car seat around and are constantly bent over nursing/feeding a baby!

 

[godlesstc]

@randy229812 Thank you!

 

[victo09grac]

@godlesstc If you feel fine you don’t need to change anything you are doing the whole first trimester. In terms of adding - strengthen your back and add in yoga. Figure out how to engage and relax your pelvic floor - that will help a lot

 

[godlesstc]

@victo09grac Thank you!

 

[nebensonnen]

@godlesstc I focused a lot of squats, lunges, arms and back strength. I was a runner doing a lot of whole body core strength with balance exercises (one leg, glute strength, and hip strengthening) pre-pregnacy.

At about 30weeks weights got harder to do the normal routines due to belly and core limitations. A recommendation made to me was to do more "single joint" exercises (bicep curl) versus something like a plank. Walking/running got hard due to SPD/hip pain but weights were still okay

 

[lovejoy76]

@godlesstc Just stopped to say be careful with kegals. My Pelvic Floor Therapist told me not to do them and that they would make labor more difficult and painful because i have a tight prlvic floor. Many other women do too.