pregnancy and max hr

[RoadRaven]

Hi there Vigg, having been pregnant before I got cycling, I can offer you no personal experience/stories.

I suggest you go to a local gym and ask them to recommend a sports doctor... or ask around a few obs/gynos...

I think calculating just by a text book may be inaccurate, but I would hesitate to offer much more in the way of advice when it yours and your baby's health at stake.

I think we have a few nurses and midwives here - hopefully they may have more specific thoughts.

Congrats on the new human you are growing too. I loved being pregnant.

[Lise]

Hi, vigg, welcome, and congratulations!

I cannot be of much help here, because I would've told you about the same thing as your doc. I'm a midwife, and I spend most of my time begging pregnant women to stop eating donuts and drinking whole milk and soda, and to walk a little, please, just walk around the block! Sigh. So I have no experience with the very fit pregnant women. RR's suggestions are good.

An exercise physiologist, trainer, or even physical therapist who works with pregnant women might have some research/info you can bring back to your doc. She's trying to give you the best info she has.

Best wishes, and take care,

Lise

[doc]

I'm always envious of pregnant women who can exercise. I couldn't do anything at all while pregnant. I would immediately puke. Do a search on this website because this topic has come up many times before. But avoiding breathlessness is a very good guide. You should avoid being anaerobic. If you remain aerobic, you should be good to go for as long as you like.

[btchance]

I'd also watch carefully to make sure you don't overheat. As far as what you can do physically, I would go with what your body feels comfortable with. For example, I had two close friends who were pregnant at the same time, due within a month of each other, and they both were horse trainers. One had to quit by 4 months because it physically hurt her. The other was riding up until she delivered.

Otherwise, I would talk to another ob/gyn. I've heard numerous different recommendations, but from my understanding the main thing is to remain aerobic (which the threshold will lower during pregnancy I believe) and to stay cool. I hope you can find the answers you want.

[RoadRaven]

bt raises a good point about body temperature.

When you're growing a new life, your blood volume increases because you are catering for the child's life oxygen supply as well. The extra blood volume raises your core temperature as a matter of course. So def watch how hot you get.

I did low impact aerobics (video/telly - 1/2hour 3-4 times a week) right up til the week 4 of my 5 babies were born. Well worthwhile from my perspective in terms of aerobic fitness during labour, as well as overall fitness for recovery afterwards.

[doc]

Oh my gosh of course. Staying cool is critical. Studies have clearly shown that elevated temperatures (1st trimester I think) significantly increase the risk of birth defects. By which they mean temps over 101. Avoiding sauna, steam room, or whirlpool use is recommended.

[Jennifer]

vigg-

Congratulations!

I just had a baby, and while my MW was very laid back and realistic about the my almost everything (sushi, traveling, etc) she also felt pretty strongly about me not overdoing the excercise. She gave me a max HR of 135. I gave up riding around 5 months because I was more concerned about falling, and it wasn't really very comfortable. I did remain really active throughout. yard work, gardening, etc.

You may find in a month or two that the HR restriction doesn't really bother you that much. I thought it was rediculous at first, but once I hit about three months, it was no concern. 130-145 was as high as I could do comfortably anyway.