Hello! I've been lurking around here for quite some time, getting information and inspiration from all of you. Thank you!

I've been lifting weights, somewhat consistently, for about a year and a half. I found out recently that I'm pregnant, with my 3rd, at 40! My nurse-midwife said to go ahead and do whatever I was doing, but I wondered if any of you know of any exercises I should avoid.

Hey Pear Welcome!

I weight trained through both my pregnancies with no problem. When I started to get bigger I stopped doing abs, just cause it was uncomfortable. My doctor advised for me to continue doing what I was doing, since I had been at it so long before hand, 5 years... He had jokingly said just don't drop a weight on your stomach or your toes... I did weight training till the very end, I modified my workouts for myself, I listened to my body, if it was uncomfortable I didn't do it, if I was too tired also...

There is also something about cardio that if you get too overheated it's not good for the baby... Maybe someone else can clarify this, I can't remember the details...

I just Googled "exercising and pregnancy"... and some great sites came up...



Hope this helps!

Hi Pear!
I concur with Lanaii. My Dr. said to go ahead and continue . I had been weight training for 2 to 3 years prior to my first pregnancy. I have an 8 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. What I was told is that doing certain excersises and/or heavy cardio takes blood supply from the fetus. It is for that reason that I did only light weight training (I noramally go as heavy as possible) and very light cardio. I was not concerned with gaining strength or muscle as much as I was interested in staying healthy and fit. I enjoyed the weight room during both pregancies and, in fact was in the Gym the day before both my kids were born. I went back when my first was 10 days old and when my 2nd was 3 weeks old!
Congratulations on your pregnancy!
Blessings to you
XO
L2L

Congratulations, Pear!
I train women up to about month 9 depending on their conditioning going into pregnancy. You sound like you are in good shape, and fit to continue. The changes I make are no prone exercises (lying down), no direct ab work, and no lifting to failure. As L2L said, this is not a time for building muscle, but keeping what you have. If you lift to failure you can momentarily cut off or lower the blood supply to the foetus. Of course, listen to you doctor! The only other tip I have is that if you do weighted exercises that require a lot of balance, be careful. As you get bigger, I'd switch from free bar squats to the smith machine or just leg extensions eventually. You'll discover what is and isn't confortable or doable as you get bigger.

Mel

Congratulations!
One advantage you have is that you have had two already, you know what to expect. I was working out when I got pregnant at 39 the first and only time, and didn't have a clue as to what to expect but kept up the workouts and would modify as size and summer weather got to me. Water water water is also a key to being pregnant and working out.

L2L impressed you got back to quickly. That is great.

Thank you all for the great information, again. You ladies are great! I'll keep lifting then, and be sure to listen carefully to my body...

Hey Pearhead - so glad to see you *finally* come out of lurkdom!

Ladies - she's a very close friend of mine - we were college roommates, and have done BFL together (long distance!) for a while.

Funny story - we were having a surprise 40th party for her in August, and I had to be really careful not to mention that I was going to Michigan for that party to you gals, as I knew she was reading here! And that was hard!

Again, welcome to LWL Pearhead!
Cindy

I've heard the advice about no lying down exercises, does that include leg presses - the plate-loaded kind where you are sort of V-shaped? Obviously I won't be able to do that once I have a big belly, but wondering if it's still a problem in the first trimester. Also I want to make sure I keep my lower back strong throughout my pregnancy, I'm worried about that belly pulling on it. But most low back exercises I know involve lying tummy-down whether on the ball or ground or hyperextension machine, and that won't work for long. Any suggestions? Great info so far by the way.

I'd also be curious to know what people think of this book which claims to make labour easier by working the tranverse abs... I think it's usually the kind of thing I would be skeptical of, but I *want* to believe! Not that I want to do 90 minutes of abs every day, I hate abs.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...=UTF8&v=glance

When I was pregnant I did the leg press with a very wide stance so that my belly would be between my legs...Oh what a visual, eh girls? For lower back I used to do dead lifts with a light barbell, again wide stance for the belly...

Thanks Ilene, those are good tips.