Today – I’m officially 16 weeks pregnant – and I’ve been slacking!

Ever since the marathon (Dec. 11^th, 2011) I’ve had a hard time staying motivated. I sort of went though, what I’m calling, Post Marathon Depression! I think that I spent all of last year being so super focused and goal driven that now – being on the other side – having completed my goals…I sort of don’t know what’s next.

 

So – I do what I normally do when I’m unsure of which direction to go in or I need some sort of inspiration to get me motivated… I went to the library, searched Amazon, and even posted a few questions on FB and fellow blogs.

I soon realized that what I really needed to do was to set some new goals. Viola – Happy New Year…Happy New Resolutions!

I found a great book, “Exercising Through Pregnancy” by James F. Clapp III, M.D. and a great review of it here.

I attended a “Vision Board” party put on by a fellow WOOP runner and friend Rachel Luna (life and career coach) and that helped me to be more focused.

I wrote my goals out and have since committed myself to an 8-week Fitness Boot Camp instructed by my trainer Jeanne. Called Body By You.

 

So far in reading the ETP (Exercising Through Pregnancy) book I’ve learned 3 very important things:

1.  Monitoring your heart rate during exercise is a myth
2. Weight lifting through all 3 trimesters is just fine
3. I can do just as much running as I ever did before as long as I’m smart about it
4. The most important thing about exercising when you’re pregnant is the same as when you’re not prego – listening to your body is KEY!

 

I will explain each thing that I’ve learned in more detail but first I want to tell you a little bit about the book and the guy who wrote it. Dr. Clapp has been doing research on pregnant women and exercise for over 20 years. He focuses on 3 groups of exercising women: the beginner, the recreational athlete, and the competitive athlete. He covers more than what is needed to make you understand that he has done his homework – so much so that the book can be quite dry and boring at times. BUT he has to give details about the research and the studies conducted in order to make clear where he gets the recommendations and statements that he is making about your physical well being as a pregnant active woman.

 

He notes in the preface of the book, “I hope the knowledge and understanding of the topic increases confidence and diminishes apprehension and guilt about maintaining or incorporating a regular exercise regimen into daily life during the reproductive process.” (Clapp, 2002) Dr. Clapp has a chapter covering exercise and women who are trying to conceive but I won’t cover that b/c it doesn’t apply to me – obviously we conceived just fine and I was in the middle of marathon training!

 

Like most research the doctors have to test animal subjects first with no adverse affects before they would ever be granted permission to perform the same test on humans… So – they started with near-term pregnant sheep on treadmills…this was in 1976!

So just to put the 1976 date into perspective for women runners – It wasn’t until 1967 (9 short years early) that the VERY FIRST woman, Katherine Switzer, became the first woman to enter the Boston Marathon. Of course she registered as K.V. Switzer and when the race director discovered she was a woman, he tried to throw her out. Women weren’t officially permitted to run Boston until 1972. And only since 1984 have women been allowed to compete in the Olympic marathon.

Back to the sheep on treadmills…

What they found was that exercising these animals (at almost their max speed) rapidly increased their heart rate, body temperature, and decreased the blood flow to the placenta – BUT what they didn’t find was any detrimental affects to the fetus. The unborn lambs handled the conditions well for an hour of continuous exercise… indicating that the lamb and its placenta were able to compensate even under demanding circumstances.

I know you are probably wondering why this is good news – but it was just a starting point for research  – the best news is that there were no indications as to why they should stop the study! So in a field where there was more speculation than true scientific understanding about the effects of exercise on the pregnant women and her baby this was huge.

 

I would honestly say that even though there (obviously) is research available for OB’s to read about the effects of exercise and mom/baby that most of them don’t take the time to educate themselves. It was just in 2009 that I gave birth to Nola and my doctor recommended that I stopped running when I was only 4 months pregnant (the same that I am now). I was disappointed but because I wasn’t educated on this matter myself I listened and started a daily regimen of walking and yoga. I just wanted to feel active but I’ll admit it was depressing to not be active in the way that I truly wanted to be.

 

Over the next 20 years (since the lamb’s on treadmill’s) many more studies have been conducted. There were two schools of thought that dominated the field. 1) “The conservative school, which included most health care providers, felt that exercise during pregnancy was potentially harmful and therefore recommended a restrictive, cautious approach to exercise for healthy pregnant women. 2) The liberal school was represented by young women who had exercised regularly during one or more of their pregnancies. They felt that strenuous physical activity during pregnancy was not only normal but also helpful and recommended it to healthy women to improve the course and outcome of their pregnancies.” (Clapp, 2002)

“These polarized views did two things. First, they generated conflict between active women, their health care providers, and often their friends and families as well. Second, they stimulated many different groups to begin to study the effects of exercise during pregnancy.” (Clapp, 2002) Dr. Clapp uses those studies for his book and for the basis for his recommendations along with may studies he conducted himself.

It’s going to be really hard to sum-up all the amazing info the Doc has in the first chapter explaining the adaptations the heart and circulatory system goes through in the initial stages of pregnancy – BUT I WILL TRY!

Adaptations to Pregnancy (The Heart and Circulatory System)

During pregnancy (literally – right after the sperm fertilizes the egg) the woman’s circulatory system begins to change. The cells that eventually become the placenta initiate changes by releasing hormones that initiate change in her muscles cells of the blood vessels. “The result is that the elasticity and volume of the entire circulatory system (heart, arteries, and veins) increases virtually over night.”

Because of these expanded arteries and only the same amount of blood volume flowing we experience an under-filled vascular system. This leads to: waves of sudden fatigue, a racing pulse, nausea, sweating, and dizziness (especially when you go from sitting to standing). These symptoms all improve progressively as the blood volume expands and are typically gone by the end of the 4^th month.

With all of this in mind (and specifically measured) it was found that, “Exercise increases blood volume, heart chamber volumes, maximal cardiac output, blood vessel growth, the ability to dissipate heat (through the skin – the glow of pregnancy!), and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues.

SOOO – what does this mean? Well, it means that the “changes produced by regular exercise actually complement those induced by pregnancy.”

 

Exercise Heart Rates During Pregnancy

Before we’re pregnant we use our heart rates in multiple ways. Ever hear of your “target heart rate?” This was from the American College of Sports Medicine back in 1994 and it advises you to subtract your age from 220 and viola – you have your target heart rate! I have used it before – when I ran the Kinser Half Marathon (Oct. 2011) – I wanted to be sure that I maintained a safe but high heart rate to ensure that I was consistently pushing myself. BUT – our heart rate response to exercise changes when we are pregnant. For a very long time now people have advised pregnant women to not let their heart rates go above 140 bpm (I think that’s the number). I remember hearing that not very long ago from a fellow runner who is also a mother who ran through pregnancy.

My biggest problem with that number is…it’s insanely low! I think my HR probably goes above 140 when I’m wrestling an arm-full of groceries up the flight of stairs to our house!

Because everyone’s resting heart rate is so different, everyone’s anaerobic threshold is so very different – so isn’t our hearts ability to work hard during exercise therefore making HR monitoring during pregnant exercising “not a reliable measure of safety, health, or fitness. It turns out that a pregnant woman’s perception of how hard she is working is a better index.” (Clapp, 2002) Dr. Clapp suggests using the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale, which he explains later – and I haven’t gotten to Chapter 3 yet! ;o)

Still not convinced…

 

Taken directly from the book

Here are some reasons you should not rely solely on heart rate response:

1.  A woman’s genetic makeup can create a 15-to30-beat per minute difference in her heart rate while exercising at a moderate to high intensity. Thus, individuals with low resting heart rates have lower heart rates at any exercise intensity, and vice versa.
2.  A 20-year-old’s exercise and THR (target heart rate) can easily be 10 to 20 beats per minute higher than a 35-yr old’s at the same exercise intensity.
3.  A person who trains regularly (unless she has over trained) will have a lower HR at the same workload than one who does not.
4.  When an individual is well hydrated, her exercise HR is lower than when she is behind on fluids, and late in an exercise session when plasma volume normally decreases the HR will be higher than at the beginning (this is what distance runners call creep).
5.  The magnitude of the HR response to exercise is exercise-specific. It is greater during weight-bearing activity (running as opposed to biking or swimming) and when an individual uses more total muscle mass in the exercise or uses the arms vigorously (cross-country skiing or aerobics versus running).
6. Both resting and training heart rates vary with time of day, in relation to eating, anxiety, poor sleep, and so forth.

“The superimposed effects of pregnancy on HR vary at different times in the pregnancy, making monitoring HR response even more confusing.”

 

Clapp, J. F. (2002). Exercising through your pregnancy. Omaha, NE: Addicus Books, Inc.

 

I hoped this proved to be informative and not boring! I know I’m really enjoying learning about this.

 

Today was my very first day of the Body By You Boot Camp. There were 14 women in the group and we did a great combo of exercises. Started with an active warm-up, then was did 9 min of (1 round) 200 meter sprints & 10 squats – for as many rounds as we could do. Then we did 9 min of (1 round) 10 push-ups, 25 sit-ups, 50 jumping jacks – for as many rounds as we could get.

 

Good stuff! I really surprised myself with how well I performed even though I literally took a month off after the marathon. Can’t wait to see everyone’s transformations over the next 8 weeks of boot camp!