Hoofnagle.org

Ok, so finally after 2 months of literally coming home (or back to the corporate apartment in Charleston) and falling into bed to sleep 14 hours when I could get it I am sleeping like a normal person again. I still want a little more than 8 hours if I can get it, but I am not a zombie like I was.

The moment of truth arrived. This morning, after 3 months, I went back to the gym. And I am a big sissy. Now I can safely say that I am a sissy because I am pregnant not JUST because I've been inactive for 2-3 months, but still. Ten minutes of not-even-a-muscle-burn cardio caused me to not just pant, but almost faint.Dammit. I scaled back to the big-fat-wuss settings on the bicycle, but it sure was an eyeopener. I could do more cardio-wise on my worst day before I entered bootcamp than this. Good god.

Now, a word on the dumb ass things they tell pregnant women about exercise. Everyone agrees you probably CAN workout as long as nothing scary has been happening with the pregnancy. That's all they agree on. All.

One popular guide advocates laying back on the couch, eating bonbons and doing nothing because quot;Nothing helps with labor anyway.quot; Now I grant you, labor is mostly run by your involuntary muscle structures. Ok, fine. Nothing you can say to me, however, is going to make me believe that you will not have more energy faster after it's all over if you work out. Nothing you can say to me will convince me that I will not benefit from a few extra endorphins during my pregnancy. And further: working out is not something I yearn for an excuse to avoid. It's hard to go some times, but I genuinely enjoy it and I would seek it even if it was a little bit of a chore anyway because I feel so good after I do it. This woman is a popular author and her basic philosophy just made me want to scream. I don't believe people work out because they feel they must. People work out because they see personal benefit in their lives, or they quit.

So the next school of thought is DONT DO SITUPS BECAUSE LAYING ON YOUR BACK IS WRONG. Excuse me??? I know I'm not supposed to lay on my back for long periods of time after about 5 months (can cause a whole bunch of potentially ugly intestinal annoyances you don't want to hear about), but 10 minutes for 3 rounds of variations on crunches? Oh bite me. Reasonable care is sufficient. I don't think I could do a full situp right now if my life depended on it and I'm not inclined to try. I spend longer on my back at the OB/GYN office for godsake.

The third voice, of idiocy seems to be DO ANYTHING. If I had tried to do the aids ride 3 months pregnant, I wouldn't have finished a single day. I probably would have harmed the pregnancy because hydration and heat are such a problem.

So what's a sane girl to do? The things that seem to match up with reality here are as follows:

You MAY NOT shove your heart rate over about 140. If you can't talk while performing an excercise it has to stop or scale back. Technically, that's always been a good rule, but now I have no choice. I hit a wall.

I sweat more easily in the gym and drink about twice as much water.

I can lift weights but I'm not really able to acheive a good burn. My heart rate spikes too quick.

The situp thing may become true. I already see myself using my ab muscles differently (and for the record, I don't like it). No kidding, you really can't do a full situp without pulling things.

Posted by karen at April 30, 2002 12:00 AM