Working out pregnant (15 weeks)

Yes you read right i am 15 weeks pregnant (16 weeks on Friday) I still can't believe it some days:) I even zipped up a hoody last week and was like why is this so tight around my belly and looked down and was like oh yah...i can't believe i forgot for a split second i was pregnant. It is definitely strange going from a flat stomach and abs to a little bump. But i am loving my little baby bump.

I only just announced my pregnancy to the world via facebook and twitter at 13 weeks. It was so fun letting our secret out finally. The first trimester went pretty well. I had some major nausea all day every day and was exhausted but luckily never actually got sick. And despite the nausea and tiredness i still managed to get my workouts in and they made me feel better and energized. To deal with the exhaustion i simply went to bed earlier (and still do, i find i need 9 hours of sleep a night) and took naps as needed. It actually is beneficial for the mom to keep working out even if she feels tired as it is seen to help improve with the tiredness and nausea as well as other pregnancy symptoms.

The first thing i did when i found out we were pregnant was go out and get two working out while pregnant books. I want to do this right and not endanger me or the baby but i want and need to stay active for my health, baby's health and my own sanity. I went out and got. "Exercising through your pregnancy" by Dr  Clapp as well as "The runners world guide to running and pregnancy" by Chris Lundgren. Both books have proved so helpful. The Runners world book is based on a lot of information from Dr. Clapp's book. Dr Clapp did case studies on many pregnant women. Athletes, women who had been working out consistently for a number of years, women who just started working out while pregnant and women who didn't work out at all during pregnancy. All his research and studies show that women who work out and run while pregnant have fewer pregnancy symptoms and have a much better pregnancy, labour and delivery. I like those odds:)

I am not quite done the books yet but the main message and advice is to just listen to your body when exercising while pregnant. That is the only restriction if you can even call it that. Basically as long as you can still hold a choppy conversation you aren't pushing it too hard. And for those working out in the summer while pregnant you should try to avoid running or working out in 29 c or above as you over heat and so can baby. So this meant 6am runs for me this summer to beat the heat! Which i loved. Now it doesn't get light until 7am and i don't feel safe running at 6am in the dark:( I miss it. Now i could run on my treadmill but i do love running in the crisp fall air so i opt to run outside after work. I have been running 6km and 8km during the week with my long runs on Saturdays with my friend Steph who doesn't mind my slower pace and much needed extra walk breaks:) She's a trooper!

Now back to Dr Clapp and the method i have been using to gauge my workout efforts and ensure all is well for me and baby. I use the BORG rating of perceived exertion scale in order to measure how hard i should be working out and/or running. The heart rate measurement is outdated and should not be used anymore as it takes nothing in the first trimester to raise your heart rate and takes a lot of work in your third trimester to reach the "ideal" heart rate. So after discovering this i opted for the BORG method Dr. Clapp uses and so far so good:)

Source: http://www.nycrunningmama.com

 It is recommended to stay between 12-15 on this scale when exercising while pregnant which is what i follow. During my first trimester i found my pace slowed a lot and i found it harder to breath while running so i adjusted by doing the 10 and 1 running method. Where i ran 10 min and walked a min and for some runs i would take more or longer breaks if i needed them. I really listen to my body it's good at telling me what it needs. To me this is the hugest key to working out while pregnant. Luckily my OB agrees with this as well and said i can pretty much do anything as long as i feel ok. Even work out on my back as long as i don't feel dizzy. Dr. Clapp evens states that there only appears to be an issue when you are lying on your back and not moving. If you are moving and performing glute and/or ab exercises you shouldn't feel dizzy. If you do simply roll on to your left side until it passes. The reason why women would feel dizzy (and are told not to lie on their backs or perform exercises on their back in 2nd and 3rd trimester) is that the increased weight of your uterus presses on the major vein that returns blood from your legs to your heart. So for this i am going with what my OB and Dr. Clapp suggest. Simply stop if i feel dizzy. I want to ensure my abs are still strong for an easier delivery and don't want to neglect my booty as a strong booty, hamstrings and lower back mean you are less likely to have lower back pain.

In the second trimester i have a lot more energy and lucky for me my all day nausea stopped at 11 weeks! I am now running again straight through however i still follow the 5 min/500m walking warm up at the beginning of my run and the 5 min/500m cool down as i have since i first found out i was pregnant. I feel that this is very important as well to really ensure my body is warmed up first and has a chance to cool down. Especially important for those of us who sit at a desk all day; hello tight hip flexors!

Another thing to be careful of and mindful of when exercising is that your body is now producing a hormone called relaxin. Which relaxes a women's joints and ligaments. Therefore it can be easier to hurt yourself if things are looser. So your running gait will more than likely change which causes running to affect your body in different ways than it did before. This also means that you shouldn't practice Yin yoga during pregnancy i have learned. As that practice stretches out the joints and ligaments instead of the muscles. Which can be too much stretching for a women who is pregnant. Which saddened me last week as i really wanted to go to a class! Oh well. I can still do power vinyasa yoga, as well as running, circuit training with weights, biking and pilates. So i think i can suck it up.
 .
Well this turned into a longer post that i intended. I still have lots more to talk about however i will save that for more posts. I will try to blog more and keep you up to date with working out, running, etc while pregnant. Currently i am still working out 6 days a week. Two workouts a day 4 days a week 30 min in the morning and 30-45 after work. With Fridays being a full 60 min workout before work so i can just relax when i get home Friday night:) Saturdays are still my long runs. My current max being 16km. After 16km i feel like i have run 20-25km and i seem to need a nap after all my long runs 12-16km. So right now i don't feel like i need to push it km wise and do more. I may end up increasing at some point to test it out but not now. I am comfortable and happy with a max 16km distance.