Hi there. Me again. I wanted to write a continuation of my previous post. The purpose is to offer an enthusiast level perspective on lap swimming through pregnancy. I’m a life long swimmer, currently a member of a masters team, but never a high level swimmer. I can’t find much out there between Olympic level athlete and novice athlete, so I’m trying to fill that niche.
Please comment with your experiences so that others reading get a fuller picture of what they might experience.
Here is a linkto post I wrote at 23 weeks summing up my lap swimming experience until then.
Body wise:
Its pretty funny now that I thought I was so huge back then. Here is a current picture. I’m 5ft 7in. Pre-pregnancy I was pants size 4, Speedo size 32, and weight around 140lbs +/- 5. Currently I’m up 30lbs and defiantly a size Medium in Motherhood pants. I feel like I gained in my hips/thighs/butt, then belly, and then arms and face. I am pear shaped, so no shocker there.
Work outs:
23-25 weeks is when I really started noticing the belly in the water. Somewhere in there I was having a crap workout, feeling like I had no power, and feeling like I couldn’t get a good ‘grip’ on the water. It wasn’t until near the end of the workout that I realized I was letting my belly just sag, rather than engaging my core and “hugging baby up and in” like they talk about in yoga. It made ALL the difference in the integrity of my stroke. My workouts at this point were still hit and miss. Some felt great and some I battled shortness of breath and low energy. I was still able to push my speed and keep up with my regular group, as long as it wasn’t sprints. Some days I got out early because my abs had all they could stand. I did start ‘over doing it’ more often at about this point. I was just be totally dead the whole next day after what felt like a good work out. I had transitioned to doing mostly freestyle at this point. No full on butterfly. Breaststroke just depended on how my hips were feeling that day. Backstroke I could do 25s or 50s, but not more because of the lower core engagement. Kick without fins and pull without a buoy were still a go.
26-30 weeks is when I started counting myself lucky to swim more than an hour or more than 2,000yds (pre-pregnancy a normal workout was 3,500-4,200yds in about 75min). My suit started to get pretty tight toward the end of this period. The circle cutout on the back sloooowly morphed into an oval. Still swimming what I can and taking at least 1 pee break a practice. I felt more and more like I’m wielding a belly back and forth while trying to get proper stroke rotation in. I’m still doing flip turns, but they’re more of a slow barrel roll with a gentle push off the wall. I never felt worse after swimming, but I didn’t always feel great after either. So, it was always worth the effort to get in and move my body and elevate my heart rate.
30-33 weeks my swimsuit is getting too tight, but I’m being a tight wad about spending money on a maternity suit. It becomes clear that I can’t make it through the rest of this pregnancy with the suit I have. The suit is coming up lower and lower on my chest and its downright smashing hard baby parts into my soft parts until I get in the water and the fabric relaxes a smidge. I still couldn’t bring myself to spend $80 on a maternity 1 piece lap swimming suit, so I bought a workout bikini during the black Friday deals. My workouts are almost never more than 2,500yds or an hour. I’m plodding along, but really I’ve only added 10 seconds or so per 100yds to my pace, though I do need more rest between sets. I’m lagging way behind my normal lane mates, so I’ve moved in with other people so I don’t feel rushed or pressure to overdo it.
I’m planning to keep swimming as long as feels right with my body. I’m still doing a prenatal yoga class, which is getting so much harder for me. I’m trying to walk my dog most days, but some times baby is too low in my hips and its not at all comfortable. I don’t feel that same limitation in the pool because baby shifts when I get going.
Swim Suit:
0-8 weeks I was in my regular lycra endurance suit
9-18 weeks I switched to a spandex based suit in my pre-pregnancy size
19-32 weeks I was able to wear a spandex based suit two sizes up from pre-pregnancy
33 weeks I’ve switched to this suit that I got for $40. I don’t love it, but it’s a lot more comfortable on my belly. I’ve life guarded before and wore a lifeguard bikini and lap swam in it no problem. I didn’t get a lifeguard bikini this time because they only come in solid colors and I wanted a pattern to hide my much more pronounced pregnancy nippage. The suit I bought doesn’t come up high enough on the chest to not scoop water, which is a bummer. I’m also so used to not having any material in my arm pits that the slight rub while I’m swimming irks me, but I’ll get over it. I do like that the top and bottom have a draw string, though the bottoms are tight enough I don’t need it. I’ll probably need it post pregnancy, if I keep using this suit. I didn’t go with a maternity suit because 1) they’re $80 and I couldn’t justify it for the up to 2 months I’d get to use it and, 2) I read a bunch of reviews and it seems like large bust ladies love them and I am small bust.
I hope this is of value to someone out there. Please add your 2 cents on how your pregnancy swim work outs are going/went.
Please comment with your experiences so that others reading get a fuller picture of what they might experience.
Here is a linkto post I wrote at 23 weeks summing up my lap swimming experience until then.
Body wise:
Its pretty funny now that I thought I was so huge back then. Here is a current picture. I’m 5ft 7in. Pre-pregnancy I was pants size 4, Speedo size 32, and weight around 140lbs +/- 5. Currently I’m up 30lbs and defiantly a size Medium in Motherhood pants. I feel like I gained in my hips/thighs/butt, then belly, and then arms and face. I am pear shaped, so no shocker there.
Work outs:
23-25 weeks is when I really started noticing the belly in the water. Somewhere in there I was having a crap workout, feeling like I had no power, and feeling like I couldn’t get a good ‘grip’ on the water. It wasn’t until near the end of the workout that I realized I was letting my belly just sag, rather than engaging my core and “hugging baby up and in” like they talk about in yoga. It made ALL the difference in the integrity of my stroke. My workouts at this point were still hit and miss. Some felt great and some I battled shortness of breath and low energy. I was still able to push my speed and keep up with my regular group, as long as it wasn’t sprints. Some days I got out early because my abs had all they could stand. I did start ‘over doing it’ more often at about this point. I was just be totally dead the whole next day after what felt like a good work out. I had transitioned to doing mostly freestyle at this point. No full on butterfly. Breaststroke just depended on how my hips were feeling that day. Backstroke I could do 25s or 50s, but not more because of the lower core engagement. Kick without fins and pull without a buoy were still a go.
26-30 weeks is when I started counting myself lucky to swim more than an hour or more than 2,000yds (pre-pregnancy a normal workout was 3,500-4,200yds in about 75min). My suit started to get pretty tight toward the end of this period. The circle cutout on the back sloooowly morphed into an oval. Still swimming what I can and taking at least 1 pee break a practice. I felt more and more like I’m wielding a belly back and forth while trying to get proper stroke rotation in. I’m still doing flip turns, but they’re more of a slow barrel roll with a gentle push off the wall. I never felt worse after swimming, but I didn’t always feel great after either. So, it was always worth the effort to get in and move my body and elevate my heart rate.
30-33 weeks my swimsuit is getting too tight, but I’m being a tight wad about spending money on a maternity suit. It becomes clear that I can’t make it through the rest of this pregnancy with the suit I have. The suit is coming up lower and lower on my chest and its downright smashing hard baby parts into my soft parts until I get in the water and the fabric relaxes a smidge. I still couldn’t bring myself to spend $80 on a maternity 1 piece lap swimming suit, so I bought a workout bikini during the black Friday deals. My workouts are almost never more than 2,500yds or an hour. I’m plodding along, but really I’ve only added 10 seconds or so per 100yds to my pace, though I do need more rest between sets. I’m lagging way behind my normal lane mates, so I’ve moved in with other people so I don’t feel rushed or pressure to overdo it.
I’m planning to keep swimming as long as feels right with my body. I’m still doing a prenatal yoga class, which is getting so much harder for me. I’m trying to walk my dog most days, but some times baby is too low in my hips and its not at all comfortable. I don’t feel that same limitation in the pool because baby shifts when I get going.
Swim Suit:
0-8 weeks I was in my regular lycra endurance suit
9-18 weeks I switched to a spandex based suit in my pre-pregnancy size
19-32 weeks I was able to wear a spandex based suit two sizes up from pre-pregnancy
33 weeks I’ve switched to this suit that I got for $40. I don’t love it, but it’s a lot more comfortable on my belly. I’ve life guarded before and wore a lifeguard bikini and lap swam in it no problem. I didn’t get a lifeguard bikini this time because they only come in solid colors and I wanted a pattern to hide my much more pronounced pregnancy nippage. The suit I bought doesn’t come up high enough on the chest to not scoop water, which is a bummer. I’m also so used to not having any material in my arm pits that the slight rub while I’m swimming irks me, but I’ll get over it. I do like that the top and bottom have a draw string, though the bottoms are tight enough I don’t need it. I’ll probably need it post pregnancy, if I keep using this suit. I didn’t go with a maternity suit because 1) they’re $80 and I couldn’t justify it for the up to 2 months I’d get to use it and, 2) I read a bunch of reviews and it seems like large bust ladies love them and I am small bust.
I hope this is of value to someone out there. Please add your 2 cents on how your pregnancy swim work outs are going/went.