Curious Question: How much exercise should you being doing during pregnancy?

I always understood that women should only do very light exercise. Today at the gym, I saw a woman who was probably 6 or 7 months pregnant on the stepper and seemed to be working faily hard. I know that it really isnt any of my business, but I must admit I was concerned.

Do you think the stepper is too hard of exercise for a woman this far along in her pregnancy?

It depends a lot on your pre-pregnancy fitness level. I did a lot compared to most and I did it it right up until the week before I had my daughter. What kinda workouts are we talking about? There are certain things you should avoid.

The stepper is fine as long as she feels good and her heart rate stays at a safe level. You have to listen to your body. Exercise actually helps ease labor pains and aids in the delivery.

Edited to add: Congrats on your weight loss so far. You're down about 50 lbs?

Thanks for your response. I guess I was a little surprise that all. I feel better now.

And thanks for your comment on my weight loss. It is so nice to get encouragement, which is why I love CC! Almost 55 lbs down and 30 lbs to go!

Edited: Congrats on your daughter. I just had a look at your pictures and she's beautiful. And you have already lost all the baby weight. Great Job!

Yeah, I would echo Shill - if you're already working out and in good shape, there's no reason to stop or slow down when you're preggers - unless you have a high risk pregnancy.  That's what my midwife and trainer both told me and I'm okayed to keep going with my workouts, which are basically the same now as they were before I got pregnant, and my workouts are pretty heavy on the cardio, plus weight training.  Pregnancy is no time to be trying new things or working harder than you usually would, but it's also definitely no time to just sit around and do nothing.

That said, some things you shouldn't do when pregnant are obvious like downhill skiing, mountain biking, kickboxing, or anything where you can lose your balance and fall down or get hurt.  Less obvious stuff is any exercise where you have to lay on your back and lift weights - that takes blood/oxygen from your middle and brings it to your extremities.  Plus it squishes blood flow in general.  Bad for baby.  So no bench pressing.  Or anything where you have to hold your breath.  I also read you're not supposed to do stuff that makes you grunt, which I just think is funny.

I'm not so pregnant that I'm really showing yet, but I am watitng for the day when I walk into the gym and someone tells me what I shouldn't be doing.  I understand being concerned, but pregnant women have so much going on and so many strangers wanting to tell us things/touch our bellies/bug us in general that it's probably best to just let her do her workout and leave the concern to the doctors.

Original Post by dog_lady:

 I understand being concerned, but pregnant women have so much going on and so many strangers wanting to tell us things/touch our bellies/bug us in general that it's probably best to just let her do her workout and leave the concern to the doctors.

 First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy! <<touches belly>> (LOL. Sorry, couldnt resist!).

I agree with what you said. I personally hate it when people comment on what other people are doing. People should be left alone to do as they please. So I had no intention of commenting to the women on something I wasnt very knowledgeable about as I in no way wanted to offend the woman. I guess my post was more for my own knowledge for my future pregnancies (years down the road). Thanks for the insight girls.

If she doesn't look like she's gonna hurl, then I don't see the issue. I was just told to not raise my heart rate too much. Like in the 135-150 range. Thats moderately sweating.

During the first eight weeks of both pregnancies, before I found out, I was playing co-ed soccer! I quickly stopped that when I found out, of course. My oldest sis kept playing until she was about 6 months! Everyone would just let her have the ball, though!

It is sweet of you, but really. you should not be concerned.  a few years ago when I was religiously going to the gym, this (fit) lady ran 30-45mins throughout her WHOLE pregnancy.  Needless to say I ran into her in Target post pardum and she looked great.

Like everyone says, it depends on your fitness level. 

Hi, i agree that if you exercised b/f pregnancy than you can keep the same intensity. I exercised everyday vigorously right intil i gave birth with my first and i am doing the same with my second. i am almost 6 months and exercise for at least an hour a day and do things all through out the day.

It really helps with delivery and recovery.

It depends on the woman and the pregnancy. I just listen to my body. I am in my last month now and I walk 30-40 minutes a day and sometimes I try to jog. My jogging lasts only a couple of minutes before I feel pain and therefore I stop. A stairstepper or eliptical sounds ideal because there isn't so much pressure on the knees & joints. 

I read recently in What to Expect When You're Expecting that women who exercise during pregnancy tend to have smarter babies (the kids score well on IQ tests in the future, which could be due to other factors as well) but also their babies tend to get less stressed out by labor and delivery.  So there's two more reasons to exercise when you're pregnant! 

My doctor has encouraged me to continue exercising, but did want me to back off the intensity.  My heart rate easily goes between 170-190 (if my treadmill's monitor can be believed) when running; it's normally about 60 bpm.  I was asked to back it down to about 150 and to stop doing any ab crunches or ab work that deeply works the muscles.  Everything else is a go.  I've had a couple of miscarriages, so it's possible my doc is being conservative, but I'm willing to back it down if there's even a chance it'll make a difference.

I'm more concerned with the well-meaning relatives who already tell me I shouldn't be running.  I plan on keeping how much I exercise to myself.  :)