I don't think I can keep it up...

[Winter]

Hello, I am 22 weeks pg and until today have been managing to get to the gym 3 times a week for circuit & combat classes. I have been modifying the exercises to suit myself and still managing to get a good sweat up and have fun.

But today...after running laps around the basketball court and squats, my uterus went into huge contraction like spasm and stayed like that for ages ~ about an hour. It was quite a low down sharp pain and it hurt!

I finished class early and came home & put DD to bed and laid down for ages, getting more and more worried, uterus still hard, but lessening and baby not moving. After about an hour and a phone call to the ob and organising my friend to have DD for a couple of hours, baby decided to give me a few little kicks so panic is off, thank goodness!

But I think this is the end of me still trying to keep up the classes. I just can't do it anymore. I'm going to have to find my own thing to do now. It's such a shame because I love all the girls in the class and its a social outlet for me as much as workout.

So...what do I do now? I'm so not a yoga or pilates girl, I love cardio and find them too slow even though they are great workouts and fantastic for strength training. Maybe I just have to embrace the slower speed and relax a bit.....

Thanks for listening girls, really this is part vent as much as advice seeking.

[tellytubby]

Hmm could you try water aerobics??

[onthefly]

LIsten to your body Winter. I'm sure there's still lots you can do and it won't be long till you're out there running laps again
Do you like swimming? That's great when your pregnant

[ladybird11]

What about low impact options in the classes hun? E.g. always leaving one foot planted on the ground, (walking instead of jogging etc).

What other classes does your gym have? I enjoyed doing Body Attack low impact style . But you know I'm an attack junkie lol!

[berrme]

Once you are past about half way there really isn't much you can do cardio wise other than brisk walking. I would LOVE to go for a jog but it has been too much for my organs and joints since about 20 weeks.
I am still training with my PT who is also pregnant. The exercises were fairly normal until about 5 months but now involve weights and lots of squatting and lunging type exercises. If you do light weights and high reps or something like walking lunges you can still get your heart rate up and feel like you have done a good workout. Just avoid things that involve too much jumping or require alot of abdominal involvement.

[Laranna]

I found aqua aerobics brilliant when I was pregnant. My hospital's physio dept ran them specifically for pregnant ladies so I was able to claim the cost in my health insurance. I did that, walking and pilates.

[Pandora]

I found aqua aerobics brilliant when I was pregnant. My hospital's physio dept ran them specifically for pregnant ladies so I was able to claim the cost in my health insurance. I did that, walking and pilates.

Me too. Our local pool has a physio run ante natal aqua class, and some hospitals either run their own or can put you in touch with physio run classes.

[~me~]

I was a water mums girl too. I did see a girl do pump the other day and she was quite pregnant.
Body Combat low impact and wear a hear rate monitor? Our original instructor did this and would just lower the impact when her heart rate got too high.
I believe body balance is tough going. My Attack instructor takes the body balance right after our Attack class and he says it's quite intense. Perhaps give one a go and see what you think.

[Winter]

I wish our gym ran Body Attack classes or as I like to call them "Fat Attack" classes. I used to do them before I fell pg with DD and they were fantastic. We have

-Combat
-Pump
-Step (was doing this but think its beyond me now...)
-Zumba (too slow - too much time previewing steps, not enough time doing them)
-RPM (hate with a passion)
-Balance
-Ladies Circuit (like Biggest Loser classes - awesome for fitness, not so great for pg ladies...but my favourite)

I'm thinking the swimming thing could be a winner. I'm not a very good swimmer so its hard work & would be a cardio workout while being low impact.

Thanks for the suggestions about the physio led aquarobics. I tried them when I was pg with DD but they're not that convenient to get to and I already pay for full gym / classes / pool membership so I'm going to keep trying to make the most of that money.

[Phteven]

Swimming laps is great exercise and it will help position bubs too. Also being in the water is really calming.
I miss doing laps but the closest gym with a poo is miles away

[C~Q]

Hun keep doing Combat just modify...seriously you are fit enough. I was doing Combat up untill 36 weeks and Pump till 38 the key word is MODIFY!!

Combat - No jump kicks lol, no jump knees, level one, if you need to walk don't shuffle. Umm...thinking...in the new one don't do the switch shuffle (step, kick, foot down turn and walk back...it'll make sense when you do it), march don't skip or cross jack, in the Muay Thai (current release) take out the bounce in the step over cross...and do NOT do the conditioning track on your toes, infact i'd say stay away from the hovers all together and just go to the loo lol.

Why don't you do Pump?

I would say that Les Mills classes are waaaay safer for pregnant women than classes like circuit. The freestyle classes are put together by the instructor (who may well be great) but LM classes go through a LOT of different levels of safety via Drs and other professionals. The instructors are trained in what to look for in a pregnant participant. I can let you know the options for Pump too if ya like xx

Unlitmately it's your decision but speaking from my own experience, my body bouced back so much quicker after DD2 and thats because of my fitness.

Also be careful when stretching as you're probably hyper flexible too x

[UsPlus2]

swimming was great when I stopped jogging. Also deep water walking/jogging was great, espec as it took the pressure of my joints. Make sure you listen to your bod hun, I didnt when I was pg with my DS and I am forever questioning if that played a part in his prem birth. I had even just got back from a jog when my waters broke, super fit or not, listen to your body, if you get those pains stop. just spend the rest of your pg maintaining your fitness level not improving it.

[Winter]

CQ I attended a combined launch today for Pump, Step, Combat & Balance and to be honest, I think I could keep doing all of them. I managed to modify everything and work hard at the low options. Was a taste of everything and I found them all really good & doable.

Just one question, for Pump - what can I do for the chest tracks when we lie down on the steps? I did it today but my lower back is paying for it now, right on the coccyx. I didn't think at the time that I shouldn't have been flat on my back either.

Am yet to do any swimming - working up to it, I promise!

[C~Q]

Sorry I should have said! Incline the bench so you have...(depends on your height and comfort) but maybe one riser under one side and two or three under the other...same for Triceps. Clean and press might be tricky with a belly in the way so I just used to row...hard in this one with the Power Press and you might get bored of rowing lol so you could use the back track to skip out and go to the loo

Umm what else...in the conditioning track do not do the hovers and the taps on your toes! Knees or nothing missy!

Yay, have fun!!!

[Winter]

Thanks CQ! That totally makes sense, the inclined bench. Will definitely do that. We did the Power Presses today and I found them good, could still do them easily. Belly feels enormous, but it's only going to get bigger! Can still get the bar over the belly so far! Thanks for your tips, I'm going to make sure I do a class next week. And the instructors were really great too & I could feel their eyes on me quite often, and the step instructor made sure that I knew that she would modify the abs etc for step if I wanted to come along. I felt quite welcome!!!

[Winter]

Did Pump today CQ and loved it! Thanks for the tilted step suggestion worked a treat! And for the abs / obliques track at the end, I did more lunges. Followed the same rhythm as the instructor, down for 3, up quick, 2 & 2 and singles then did bottom half lunges for the pulses. Legs were well and truly worked out at the end, but I felt great. The biceps was a killer! I put too much weight on and had to take some off - ouch!

[Sopdet]

You could also try water running

[Trillian]

Swimming laps is great exercise and it will help position bubs too. Also being in the water is really calming.
I miss doing laps but the closest gym with a poo is miles away

awesome typo