Posted on January 15, 2018 by Jenny Cromack

I posted a blog a few week’s ago about exercising in my first trimester. If you read my blog you will remember that I didn’t really need to change my exercise too much. I still did interval training, I was still happy cycling outside and to and from work, I even did some racing….admittedly not at full pelt but it was nice to get a final triathlon under my belt before the race season finished.

However, I can remember the day I realised that I needed to start adapting my training slightly.  I was in my second trimester, around 15 weeks. Now, before I continue, if you are pregnant and reading this I do not mean you have to stop training altogether, I mean you just have to adapt it, so panic over!

Anyway, back to that day….I was about 1 mile into a 6 mile steady run and I glanced at my watch to check on my pace. I’m pretty good at knowing my pace without looking at a watch and I felt I was doing about a 7:30-7:45 min/mile pace. However, when I looked at my pace I was doing an 8:15-8:30 min/mile pace….how could this be?! I felt like I was working much harder! I checked my heart rate and it was much higher than it would normally be running at that type of pace, not baby-dangerous high, but probably around 15 bpm higher than normal. It hit me…..not only was there me demanding more energy and oxygen whilst I was exercising but a little someone else was demanding it from me too. I continued my run at that steady pace, but knew I needed to start re-thinking my training.

I’m going to share some tips of how I adapted my training during my second trimester with you. I’m basing this on my triathlon training (I’m determined to get a triathlon in next year at some point so I’m still classing myself as triathlon training, albeit at a steadier pace than normal!) and I’ll also share some general pointers with you.

Running

  1. Don’t get obsessed with pace….I dropped the intervals and stopped obsessing about my running pace, I ran at a pace I felt comfortable with and was working in an aerobic training zone so I knew I had plenty of oxygen not only for me, but for baby too. I wore a heart rate monitor to keep an eye on this, but if you don’t have one then I’d recommend working at an intensity level of 5-7/10 with 1 being easy, 10 being max effort.
  2. If you feel comfortable running outside then do it! I remember when my bump first started showing, I got a few funny looks from people but I was confident I wasn’t doing my baby any harm so it’s none of their business. However, many people will know I’m pretty clumsy, and at 22 weeks when my bump started getting bigger and I was worried about falling due to the change in my centre of gravity, I decided to stop running. (I will be honest, I had a little cry about this, I’ve had a love affair with running since I was 14 years old, it was like a break up!)
  3. If you don’t feel comfortable running outside then you can still run on a treadmill. This is what I do now, the bonus is that I can run faster on a treadmill outside and if the weather is cold and icy then it’s much safer….every cloud and all that!
  4. Finally, if you don’t have one, get a decent sports bra and make sure your trainers are supportive and cushioned.

Cycling

  1. I cycled outside until I was around 20 weeks pregnant, and do you know what stopped me? Not the physical changes to my body…..other drivers on the roads. I am a bit of a loner when I train so I cycle a lot by myself. I remember my last bike ride outside, whilst I was on quiet roads, I constantly looked over my shoulder worried about cars. To be honest, I wasn’t bothered about me, but the safety of my baby. That was it, my second love knocked on the head (another little cry!)
  2. Again, I brought my cycling indoors and just use my turbo trainer more. Yes it’s boring, yes it’s not as nice as being outside, but if I want to keep my cycling fitness up then I need to get those sessions in. I do miss my head-clearing cycles into work though!
  3. If you decide to continue cycling then just make sure you have your bike set up correctly. As my bump grows I’ve had to raise my handle bars otherwise, he just puts too much pressure on my lungs and I can’t get enough breath whilst on the bike and my heart rate is through the roof!
  4. If you go spinning, and you’re happy to monitor and control your own intensity then I would say keep it going! Maybe, just drop the intervals and stick more to steady state training

Swimming

  1. This is one activity which I haven’t adjusted too much. I still spend time doing drills and sets focused on developing my strength, technique and stamina.
  2. Personally, I still do some intervals in the pool too. Not 100% effort intervals, but I can play around with my speed a little more. I just make sure I take adequate recovery between the faster sets.
  3. For me, swimming is my weaker element of the triathlon so I’m using my pregnancy to focus on becoming a better swimmer through improving my technique and efficiency in the water.

exercise pregnancy

 

General

What general tips would I give someone who is in their second trimester and still wants to exercise?

  1. Listen to your body, you know it better than anyone else. You know the days you have more energy, the days you need to take it easier. There are days when I still train twice in a day but only if I feel up to it.
  2. Consider starting Pilates if you need to strengthen your core or yoga if you need to work on your flexibility (I did my first class last week!)
  3. Continue to do strength training, I include two strength sessions per week and then do a daily pelvic floor, glute and core workout for 10 minutes.
  4. Buy a decent sports bra and trainers!
  5. Make sure you stay cool, I’ve found that I my body temperature seems to get a lot higher during my pregnancy.
  6. If you’re goal driven (like me), still set yourself goals and targets….being pregnant doesn’t mean this has to stop….see my goals below.
  7. Follow the tips on my previous blog too.

As I sit and write this I’m 25 week’s pregnant – what are my current aims….?

  1. First and foremost to keep fit throughout my pregnancy. My triathlon coach always moaned at me that I worked too hard, not enough aerobic training. He is loving it that I’m pregnant and doing more aerobic training as this will have a positive effect on my training post-baby!
  2. Improve my swimming, in a ‘steady session’ I currently do around 2k when I swim, I have a goal of adding an extra 4 lengths each week so I can build this up. I’m also using my swim session to focus on technique so I can get my overall times down too.
  3. Stay ‘triathlon’ fit so I can do at least one triathlon before the end of the season in 2018. This doesn’t mean I’m aiming to push my pace on the bike or at running now, but I want to be in prime shape for when I can restart training post-birth.

One final thing to finish with is that everyone is an individual, I’m just sharing my experiences with you. You may have different experiences but hopefully this blog shows you don’t have to wrap yourself in cotton wool and stop exercising just because you have a little being inside you.