Looking for completely safe exercise ideas

AUTHOR:

MESSAGE POSTED:

CATHY_CRAM_MS
Posts: 9315
6/26/12 9:00 P

Great ideasJGMOOSE! Also want to add that Amazon.com has lots of used exercise DVDs for sale at much reduced prices.
Cathy

Catherine is the co-author of "Exercising Through Your Pregnancy" with Dr. James Clapp, and author of Fit Pregnancy For Dummies, published by Wiley Publishing in 2004. To learn more about these books or buy them online you can find them on www.amazon.com.

Cathy also provides Prenatal & Postpartum Fitness Information and certification courses to Healthcare Professionals. Click here to learn more.

JGMOOSE
Posts: 205
6/26/12 12:51 P

Hi there, sorry to hear the obstacles you've had to exercising. Just wanted to give a few suggestions that may sound silly - but worked for me.

First one is Walmart. Or Kmart, Target, even the grocery store. You can walk up and down the aisles for 10-15 minutes before doing any shopping and it helps to get you walking in a safe & comfortable environment. No need for fancy workout clothes, just comfy shoes. (I learned this while driving across the country at 31 weeks - had to stop every 2 hours to walk, and there are Walmarts everywhere!)

Second suggestion is to ask around - friends, family, work, church - to anyone who has young kids if they have workout DVDs they used during pregnancy. Several people I know have videos sitting around and would be happy to let others borrow or take them. We have some "mom swap" groups here in my small town where people post online what they need and others will sell for cheap or just give away. Does your town have something like that?

Good luck... and I hope you are feeling good! :)

Edited by: JGMOOSE at: 6/26/2012 (12:52)

- Jen in Wyoming :)

MINISAMSON
Posts: 19
6/25/12 8:20 P

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately our library doesn't rent any dvd's or videos and I haven't been able to find any maternity exercise DVDs at the store's around here, but I'm thinking of maybe ordering some online.
And unfortunately our closest mall is about 40 minutes away and not a very big one. I'm trying to talk my hubby into maybe small walks with me, but so far it hasn't gone too well.

Edited by: MINISAMSON at: 6/25/2012 (20:21)

CATHY_CRAM_MS
Posts: 9315
6/25/12 10:47 A

Great advice ROGGEDANCE, and I think an exercise DVD is a great way to fit in exercise in a busy schedule.
Every pregnancy and every woman is different, so you need to use your body's signals to tell you whether an exercise feels comfortable and safe. If you feel good while doing it then your baby is doing fine. As long as your doctor has given you clearance to exercise (as I see your's has) then you can try a low intensity exercise DVD like the Shiva Rea yoga.
Also, if there' s mall near you think about doing mall walking for a safe alternative. Ask some friends to join you to make it more fun and social!
Cathy

MINISAMSON
Posts: 19
6/21/12 9:54 A

I've been reading through the post's and trying to figure out a good excerise routine, and I'm still not sure. I was walking a lot in the fall, and then in the winter I tried to work out to the wii fit, etc. but it wasn't as regular, and then in February I hurt my shoulder and wasn't allowed to do any exercises for 8 weeks, because the doctor told me the problem to begin with is that I was straining the muscles too much lifting the daycare kids (I run a daycare out of my home). During that 8 weeks, I found I was pregnant, and my doctor never said I was high risk pregnancy, but I did spot on and off, cramps on and off, and I'm a total and complete worry wart, so I worried the entire time about overdoing it and so I didn't exercise very much throughout my pregnancy to this point.
But I really don't want to become completely unhealthy during my pregnancy, and I definitely want to make sure I'm in good enough shape for the L&D, but still really paranoid about exercising and not sure what to do. I asked my doctor, she said walking and swimming are good, but the water's still too cold to swim yet, and although we live in a small community we've had a lot of drug related crimes going on lately and so they don't recommend woman walking alone, and I don't know anyone close by that would walk with me (including hubby he has really bad knees, and back that get worse after walking), and when I told her that she said just make sure you stay active and that was it. And I just don't know what to do. I love to walk, last fall I actually lost 15 lbs walking but like I said i don't want to walk alone. I am somewhat active since I do run a daycare so the kid's don't let me rest all day and my house has to be kept super clean since they do inspection's on my house all the time for my daycare license, but still would like to know I'm in shape for me the baby and just not sure what's completely safe, especially after not exercising regularly right before I got pregnant.
My eating is also still very small meals that have to be spaced very far and inbetween, because my morning sickness is still awful. I lost 10 lbs in my first 6 weeks, and then since then I've stayed pretty much the same weight. I'm usually one or two pounds thinner each visit but thats about it, but my meals still don't stay down. I had to stop taking my prenatal, and it's just a hit and miss if my food will stay down or come back up most days.

Edited by: MINISAMSON at: 6/21/2012 (09:59)

Thread URL: http://babyfit.sparkpeople.com/archive_posts.asp?imBoard=18&imparent=8350841