Exercise question

 This may be a weird question - but are you exercising during your pregnancy? Do you exercise even if you are tired and achy? If I wasn't pregnant, I would push myself to do it, because I know I need to, but should I push myself while pregnant? I am trying to keep my weight gain under control, and I really, really want to be exercising, but I feel like I am always achy (back, feet)... any experiences would be great.
Thanks!

I am not exercising during pregnancy.  I had great plans to, but like you I just feel tired and achy!  (I know that exercise would probably help with that...  but I just seriously cannot find the energy to do it.)

I do take walks though.  Not power-walking or jogging or anything, just walks with my doggies & hubby.  And I also still choose to take the stairs over the elevator, and I also still choose to park pretty far back in parking lots, so that I have a longer walk into the store.  Just little things like that to stay a bit active.

I did not exercise prior to pregnancy either, so to be honest I would say my activity level has remained the same, but my energy level has gone WAY down.  So I think it would be kind of silly to start an exercise regimen now...  but I do have a pregnancy exercise DVD that I want to try, and I also would like to join a pool, or take a water aerobics class (but the water aerobics & swimming at the pool would not necessarily be for exercise, but for comfort.)

That has just been my experience.  I do wish that I was physically fit before becoming pregnant though!  I wonder if it would have made a difference in the way I feel?

Alas, I have not done much. I have done some prenatal yoga to stretch and relieve some pain. It is quite a workout sometimes. I figure that I'm working full time in a job that is constant walking. I am going to Grad school full time. I think my body is under enough stress. Then you add a twin pregnancy- I don't feel the least bit guilty about not exercising. I have noticed though that this time around I have a lot less swelling and water retention than pre-op pregnancy, so I think it's going better anyway. Good luck! 

Carrie

I was told to continue doing any excise that I was doing 6 months before I found out I was pregnant. If I was not working out then my options were walking, yoga, or pilates.

Before getting pregnant I was doing Zumba 3-5 times a week (1 hour each time). Now I am doing it 2-3 times a week.

I did at first (after the all-day sickness passed) but once it got cold outside, I stopped. Since it's started to warm up again, I go for walks on my breaks at work. Nothing heavy duty, just a casual stroll around the building with my friends for 15-20 minutes once or twice a day. Now that I'm trying to get the baby to come, I walk a little more. Some days I'll get on the treadmill at home for 15-20 minutes in addition to my walks at work. I can't ever walk for long so I try to break it up into 15 minute incriments. I don't want to think about how much weight I would be piling on if it weren't for that.

When I found out I was pregnant I was working out 6 days a week and 2 days with a personal trainer. I was told by my dr to keep working out but to lessen the intesity with my personal trainer until after the baby was born.  When I started having issues with my pregnancy the dr has told me to stop completely until the baby is born.  Its always a good thing to keep working out to an extent when you are pregnant this helps to keep your heart active and will make it easier when you go back to working out after the baby comes.


Even when I felt to tired to exercise when I left the gym I felt a lot better and had a lot more engergy.  But I would defenitly reach out to your OB and see what his thoughts are and what type of limitations you should have.

I hope this helps!