Prenatal Workout: 1st Trimester

You just found out you’re expecting a baby (congratulations!) and now you’re wondering how you proceed with working out while pregnant. First things first, ask your doctor! I’m not a medical professional and because every mama’s needs are different I do not suggest working out unless you have your doctor’s approval. In this post, I’ll be sharing what I did for my pregnancy workouts and my 1st trimester prenatal workout tips.

 

 
For me, my doctor gave me great advice that I hung onto: “everything you’ve been doing for workouts prior to getting pregnant, you can continue now that you are pregnant. Of course, make adjustments when your body needs and slow down the intensity a bit. Overall, whatever you had been doing, you can continue but now isn’t the time to pick up something new. So, if you weren’t a runner before now isn’t the time to start.”
As you probably know by now, I’m releasing prenatal and postpartum fitness plans this spring. The exact workouts I did while pregnant will be in those plans, so in these posts, I want to discuss the fitness challenges I encountered each trimester, how I worked through them and the tweaks I made to my workouts.
 
MY 1ST TRIMESTER WORKOUT CHALLENGES
FEAR: this was definitely not a challenge I expected but it was very real. I feared my workouts. I was constantly thinking: “can I do that?” and “should I really be doing this?” I worried about how I was moving and how it affected my baby. As some of you may remember, I stopped running not because my doctor said I had to but because I just feared the bouncing.
WORKOUT SOLUTION: ask your OB! I didn’t care if I came off a bit crazy… if I had a question about my fitness routine, I asked my doctor. And, I gave into my fears. Because running worried me, I stopped. Now, if my fear was working out in general, I wouldn’t have “given in” but I think it’s important for every pregnant woman to only do workouts she feels comfortable doing.
 
FATIGUE: I expected some fatigue, but I didn’t know the extent. Pregnancy fatigue feels like the flu mixed with feeling like you got hit by a car. It’s beyond “I am sleepy” because for me, it was like physically I couldn’t get myself to move. Plus, then it gets in your head. The first trimester was actually more challenging than the the third to get myself to workout.
WORKOUT SOLUTION: home workouts! The first trimester I worked out a lot more at home because I would take advantage of when I had energy and just go to my home gym space (I use my garage). I would get in a workout and overall, it saved so much time by not commuting to the gym… more time for the couch haha!
 
NOT FEELING WELL: the first trimester is also when some women expereience morning sickness, nausea and some other unpleasant symptoms. I didn’t have any morning sickness
WORKOUT SOLUTION: kind of like fatigue, I just took advantage of the times when I did feel well. If you were used to working out almost every day, embrace the switch up in your routine. In the first trimester, I was lifting 3-4 days per week. I would make those workouts count! Then, on days I didn’t feel as energize/as well, I would walk! Walk. Walk. Walk. It does wonders for the pregnant woman!