Getting Back Into Exercise After First Trimester

At 17 weeks I had a good cry about my changing body and what had been ingrained in me for my entire life (staying a certain weight). Turns out that watching the scale going up at each appointment gave me mixed feelings, and some major emotions bubbled to surface. 

This was something I did not expect at all. 

I’m so excited to be pregnant, to grow a baby, to get a belly. But turns out the weight side of things and my changing body triggered some deep underlying emotions I didn’t expect. 

And while I’m not doing it for the vanity of it, getting back into exercise now that I’m in my second trimester has been a positive change for many reasons. 

I have so much more energy when I’m exercising regularly. 

Turns out it’s really good for not only you but that baby you’re growing too. 

It makes me feel better about my changing body knowing that I’m keeping it strong and fit, ready for birth and life after that. 

Right before I found out I was pregnant I was doing my 30 Day Morning Challenge, which consisted of me exercising first thing every single morning. And it was a great little routine I had going. 

But then the anxiety of a recent miscarriage led me to stop exercising all together. I was so worried that pushing myself too hard, lifting too much weight, or squatting was somehow going to hurt my chances of keeping this pregnancy. 

And at the time for my emotional well-being the best thing to do was take a break from it. 

Well, then I started feeling really crummy in the morning, as most pregnant women do. And this led to the morning not being the time to do my exercise anymore. 

And then beyond nausea was my worst pregnancy symptom, exhaustion. I was so unbelievably unenergetic throughout the rest of the day. That made doing anything was hard. Looking back I know exercise would have helped my energy level, but I was just trying to stay afloat back then. 

But now that I’m here, and my energy and motivation has returned, I’m so happy to be getting back to exercise. 

I checked with my midwife to make sure I didn’t have any restrictions on what I could do. The only thing she said she didn’t want me doing was a really intense ab workout. Michael laughed at that and said don’t worry. 

The main thing I wanted to make sure I could do was run when it got warmer out. I really want to do a 12k in May when I will be around 30 weeks pregnant. I always said that one of the first things I wanted to do when I found out I was pregnant was sign up for a race. I need something to work towards and a race provides that for me. 

But for now, since it’s still pretty cold out, and I know I won’t go out and run until it’s above freezing I’m limited to what I can do inside. 

I started off by just going down to the gym in our building and walking on the treadmill for 10-15 minutes. 

Now, I’ve worked up to 15-20 minutes at an incline as well as some weighted or body weight exercises after that. No abs, don’t worry. Just a lot of squats and leg exercises as well as some arm stuff too. 

I can’t wait to get outside when it gets warmer and I’m so thrilled that it will be August when baby comes so I can go out on walks with them. 

What did exercise look like for you while you were pregnant, and how did that change with each trimester? 

Fall Exercise Ideas

I thought it would be fun to sit down and brainstorm different activities and exercises to do now that it’s fall. 

I’m the sort of person that is great at consistency if there is something I am training for, but it is much easier to talk myself out of something if I’m not. 

Make a point to do things that were "too hot" to do in the summer. Don’t use the excuse that “oh man it’s too cold out now”. Going for runs  as an example. I was terrible at waking up early to go running before it got hot, but now it’s crisp but I just need to grab a pair of gloves and a hat and I’ll be fine. Plus I’m a much better cool weather runner. 

There are also plenty of great indoor activities to do for those days that it might be a bit too crisp outside for you. So, in no particular order, her his my list of brainstorm list of fall exercises: 

+ Go to your apartment gym or try out some at-home exercises. There’s no excuses if you don’t even have to go outside into the cold. And this is a quick thing to do if I need a break from work for 30-45 minutes. I’ll just go down to my apartment gym and do a focused workout.  I just look up a workout on Pinterest depending on what area I want to work that day.

+ Go running. Either on the road, bike path or trail running has been my favorite recently. You actually warm up pretty quick so you don’t even need to wear that many extra layers. And because it’s not overly humid with the sun beating down, you might actually be able to enjoy it more. 

+ Go to a hot yoga class. I need to get a punch card for the one here in Des Moines because there really is nothing like warming your bones and even working up a sweat when it’s frigid outside. And yoga is great because you can take it easy or push yourself just by tweaking how far you push the moves. And you can always just lay in child’s pose and soak up the heat. 

+ Go on a walk outside to enjoy the changing leaves. You can walk around your town, hit up a park or even find some trails to hike through. Walking gets your blood pumping but is great for those days that you’re not feeling very energetic. 

+ Go to a rock climbing gym. This isn’t a frequent one for me but I always love it and man my arms do too. You can go alone and do some bouldering, make a friend to belay you on the walls or bring someone with you. 

+ Go to a swimming pool. Our local YMCA just finished theirs, and I haven’t gotten over to try it out yet. Swimming isn’t one of my strengths but what better place to just practice than a pool? Then maybe I wouldn’t feel like I was drowning when I decide to do a random triathlon out of the blue. 

+ Go on a bike ride. This is another one of those things that you might put off when it’s too hot out, but can be great when it starts to cool off. Just put a thin hat on under your helmet and some gloves should do the trick. 

+ Go run a 5k. Get your family to sign up for a turkey trot on thanksgiving together before you go home and fill up on food. If you’re here in Iowa that’s where I’ll be Thanksgiving Day (downtown putting on the race). 

+ Go do your own sprint triathlon at your local gym/YMCA. Ok, so this one might seem a little out there, but if there’s a pool, stationary bikes and a treadmill or a track you could totally do it. And you can even change in between your swim and the final two legs to make it more comfortable. Do a 750m swim, 20k on the bike, and finish with a 5k run.

There are so many fun things you can do for exercise this season, and these are just a few of the things I want to try out. What type of exercise are you exited to do?  

Intuitive Exercise Throughout Your Cycle

The only time that I’ve ever stuck to a “work out plan” was when I trained for my marathon last year, and these past four weeks of training for a half-marathon at the start of June. 

Other than that I have always just kind of gone through spurts and phases of exercising. 

Things like yoga, weight lifting, biking, but the most of what I’ve done over the years has been running. 

Have you ever noticed that you’re drawn to different types, or amounts of, exercise at different points in your cycle? 

Leading up to and during my period I find myself wanting a much slower form of exercise, whether that be yoga, hiking or simply going for a walk. I’ve still go running during this, but I don’t push myself too hard. Thankfully, our pace this year hasn’t been very intense at all so it works out great. 

I don’t base my exercise on where I am in my cycle so much as just listening to my body as I go along. Because I’ve got a training plan to follow I usually stick to that for the most part. 

But last week around ovulation I found myself wanting to get outside more than once, or go further than originally planned. Three days in a row I ran 6 miles. 

Wednesday I went on a run with my mom, and then Michael asked if I wanted to go with him so I did. The next day I ran around two miles with my mom, and then decided to run the 4 miles back to my apartment. And Friday we had six miles to run. 

I’m more likely to head out on an unplanned run, hike, etc. because I get this urge to blow off some steam or excess energy (or lack of energy). 

One thing that I’ve discovered I enjoy a lot is running on trails. Not bike paths, but dirt trails through the woods, or when we were in Phoenix is was through the desert. 

Once I get into the habit of being active again (when it’s starts getting warm out) I just really try to focus on what my body feels like, combined of course with what I have for a training plan. 

I don’t necessarily switch up the type of exercise I do depending on where I’m at in my cycle, I just change the amount and intensity of running I’m doing that week. 

I do find that when I’m feeling in a slump, tired or things like that, getting out for a run really helps to balance me back out again. 

What is your go to exercise, and do you switch it up at all throughout your cycle? 

My Winter Work Out Plan

This summer the majority of my “exercise” was running because I was training for a marathon. 

The next time I train for a marathon I will definitely “cross train” more instead of only focusing on running (while that is still obviously important). 

It’s been a month since my marathon, and while it’s good to give yourself a break afterward I don’t want to “lose” all my training and hard work. 

But I do want to switch it up a little. So I took a look at what I’ll have available to me over the winter, and what I’ll actually enjoy doing. 

And the three main activities I want to focus on are yoga, running and lifting.

Yoga — I dabbled in yoga in college, and consistently went every day for a six month period after graduation. But the circumstances that led me to have an affordable pass to that studio ended and I can’t afford to hand out that chunk of cash every month. Although hot yoga is delectable in the winter. My compromise has been hitting up a yoga class every now and then but then utilizing videos online for a little yoga session in my living room. I don’t have to trek to a studio and I save myself a lot of money.

Running — I’ve come to realize that it’s more work to get myself dressed and outside when it comes to running in the cold. If I bundle up appropriately it’s all fine and dandy. Your lungs burn a bit, but it’s manageable. And I’ve been running for months so why stop now just because it’s getting cold? Running is a great way to get outside and have some time to just freely think without needing to have some form of entertainment. 

Lifting — While I sometimes feel like a monkey lifting weights I do actually enjoy the challenge. Our apartment building has a decent little exercise room with a few machines and a full set of weights. And just like with living room yoga, I’m not forced to go outside to get to the gym so that’s a major perk. I want to focus on getting stronger overall but also focusing on my joints or whatever it may be so when it comes time to train again my knees, and such, are stronger. 

Ideally, I would like to do each activity two or three times a week. So, one sample week would be: 

Monday: Yoga

Tuesday: Run

Wednesday: Lift

Thursday: Run

Friday: Lift

Saturday: Run

Sunday: Yoga

I find that having a “plan” really helps to motivate me and be consistent with exercise. If I can look at something and say “Ok, today I’m going to go run 5 miles, or today I’m going to do these arm exercises in the gym” I find that actually getting there and doing it is much easier. 

I’m curious to hear if you have a particular work out plan as well as the winter, and if where you live has had an impact on what you plan on doing.