Does exercise feel different to you in your pregnant body?!

I have been a hard core exercise for a long time now but had NO CLUE how different my body would respond to exercise when I became pregnant. You body goes through extensive changes when you have a baby in your belly and many of those changes can affect your exercise routine. Click on the links below to see why your heart rate is sky high, being out of breath is common place and exhaustion comes more easily when you have a bun in the oven.

Cardiovascular Changes and Effects

Respiratory Changes and Effects

Knowing what’s going on with your body is the first step to figure out how hard you should be working out so that it’s beneficial for your baby AND you!

Your heart is pumping overtime...

Cardiovascular fitness depends on your heart’s ability to pump blood throughout the body efficiently delivering oxygen to your organs, lungs, etc. When you become pregnant, your heart works overtime pumping extra blood (50% more blood than you normally have!) The biggest physical change that you might notice is an elevated resting and working heart rate. The average pregnant woman’s heart beats about 15 beats per minute

Cardiovascular changes during pregnancy*:

• Increased volume of circulatory system
• Increased blood volume
• Increased heart rate at rest
• Decreased blood pressure

Effects of cardiovascular change on your daily exercise

• Increased fatigue and reduced stamina
• Heart rate response will be higher for same workloads compared to when you are not pregnant
• Blood pressure may drop with changes in position such as laying on your back and standing up quickly

Effects of exercise on the cardiovascular changes of pregnancy

• Increased blood volume
• Improved oxygen delivery
• Increased blood vessel growth
• Increased circulatory reserve

*adapted from the Prenatal and Postpartum Exercise Design curriculum by Gwen Hyatt, MS and Catherine Cram, MS

Depending on what your doctor tells you to do, you might want to buy a heart rate monitor to see how your body is responding to your workouts. Click here for more info on heart rate monitors.

Why am I breathing so hard!?

Sometimes, just walking up the stairs makes me feel like I've just run a marathon. So you can imagine what it feels like when I'm actually exercising. For the first 10 minutes, I feel like the oxygen levels in the room has been reduced dramatically and I'm huffing and puffing like a crazy person. This just started to happen when I became pregnant...and there is a reason why! So if you have a baby in the belly and are feeling like you just can't catch your breath, here's why...and also why you should continue to exercise!

Respiratory changes during pregnancy*:

• Increased over breathing
• Increased O2 consumption, even when at rest

Effects of respiratory change on your daily exercise

• Shortness of breath happens more easily
• O2 consumption increases

Effects of exercise on the respiratory changes of pregnancy

• Increase availability of O2
• Improved VO2 max for up to a year after giving birth!

*adapted from the Prenatal and Postpartum Exercise Design curiculum by Gwen Hyatt, MS and Catherine Cram, MS

So what can you do to make sure that your breathlessness doesn't affect you or your baby adversly? Listen to your body. you should be able to carry on a conversation without gasping for breath.

FRE to drink

So on Friday, Nate and I had a bunch of people over to celebrate his birthday with a BBQ. Normally, I would have popped open a nice bottle of wine with some of my girl friends to celebrate with while the boys drank their beer. But this year, I was chugging down water like a good pregnant girl until it happened...Our friends Bill and Tracie brought a bottle of alcohol removed wine...maybe the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me...okay...maybe not ever, but at that moment it was totally the best.

The brand is Fre and it's delicious. Their alcohol removed wine comes in 7 flavors ranging from white and red to champagne. Plus, it's made with real wine (hence the alcohol removed) so it has a wine, not just grape juice, flavor. And though it doesn't taste exactly like wine, it's close enough, especially when you see how many calories you save with this tasty drink.

Normal wine: about 25 calories per 1 oz (150 calories per 6 oz pour)

Fre Alcohol Removed wine: about 9 calories per 1 oz (54 calories per 6 oz pour)

With that information in mind, this is also a fantastic drink for those who want to trim down their "drinking calories" to practically nothing!

Cheers!