Pregnancy Column: Do’s and Don’ts for the Third Trimester
With the beginning of the third trimester, unpleasant complaints such as nausea and Co. are fortunately over and your baby has already grown a lot. You feel fit now and want to continue to be active in sports? Birte Glang explains what you can still train in the third trimester and how to prevent stretch marks and water retention.
“We are on the home stretch”, this is probably the sentence that best describes the state of the third trimester of pregnancy. The tension rises, the nest building is in full swing and movement itself is becoming more and more exhausting, because right nowexpectant mothers gain even more extremely: about 500 grams per week! This is one of the reasons why many women get out of breath faster and suffer fromshortness of breath.
In my previous columns, I have already reported that I myself have experienced on my own body that with the right training during pregnancy you can gain healthy weight, build up condition for the birth and regenerate much faster afterwards. An active soon-to-be mommy also has a proven positive influence on the health of her unborn child.
The last trimester of pregnancy
But what to do if you become more and more sedate, especially inthe last trimester of pregnancy, and feel like a medium-sized walrus? Should pregnant women really continue to exercise? As in the first and second trimester, there are also many half-truths, well-intentioned advice and myths from the28th week of pregnancy, which again unsettle and rather shy away from sport.
First of all: There are also enough fitness exercises for the last trimester of pregnancy! The right fitness program helps you feel fitter, healthier and more powerful.
3rd trimester: These are taboos
But before we get to that, I would also like to make it clear that some things should really be taboo and others, depending on the waist circumference and personal well-being, can only be done to a limited extent. Just recently I gave an interview in which it was about the fact that an American woman ran a short distance on time a few weeks before the birth: She was fit and definitely physically able to do so, but completely out of breath when she reached the finish.
Pregnant women should make sure that they do not train in such a high pulse range so as not to expose the baby unnecessarily to a risk of possible oxygen deficiency. Instead, they should always be able to have a conversation during training (“talk test”).
Avoid supine position
Another question is whether exercises should actually no longer be done in the supine position, because here too the oxygen supply of the child could be endangered, as one often hears or reads. A rather heavy baby may press on the inferior vena cava (vena cava syndrome) and reduce blood flow to the heart.
But before it will really come to an oxygen deficiency of the baby, you will be dizzy, nauseous and you get bad air or suffer from tachycardia. Your own body gives you a sign, so to speak. So as long as you listen to your body, everything is in the green.
However, in my “Move it Mama” program, I personally decided against training in the supine position in the third trimester in order to prevent possible wrong decisions. That’s why I would like to introduce some abdominal exercises for which you do not have to lie on your back.
Adapted abdominal muscle training
But are women with a large baby bump still allowed to train their core at all? It is clear that you should no longer actively train the straight abdominal muscles during the second trimester. In the third trimester it is absolutely taboo.
Does this mean that you simply do not train the core muscles anymore and have to do without abdominal muscle training until after birth? At this point, I was almost completely desperate: On the one hand, I couldn’t imagine that you shouldn’t do core training anymore.
On the other hand, however, my abdomen was already showing the first signs of rectus diastase. This means that the straight abdominal muscles drift apart to make room for the growing abdominal circumference. This is also quite normal during pregnancy. Nevertheless, this must not be additionally favored by wrong or missing training.
With the right exercises, on the other hand, you can strengthen the core of the body and counteract back problems, instability in the lumbar region and digestive problems. Exercises for the lower back are just as important as for the lateral abdominal muscles.
Here are my four favorite exercises for “Mama’s Strong Middle”:
1. Leg lift in lateral position
Design: In the lateral position, move the stretched legs up and down with closed feet.
Repetition: 30 seconds, 2-3 times, then page change.
2. Leg lift in lateral position with running movement
Design: Move the stretched legs alternately back and forth in a lateral position. Meanwhile, always count to three, then bounce briefly the fourth time.
Repetition: 30 seconds, 2-3 times, then page change.
3. Rainbows
Design: Describe a semicircle in a lateral position with stretched legs and closed feet.
Repetition: 30 seconds, 2-3 times, then page change
For the very sporty I recommend the following exercise, which I also enjoyed doing very much, as it is really a bit more challenging:
Bonus exercise: Lifting knees in the quadruped position for trained people
Design: From the bear position, the quadruped position, detach the knees from the mat and pull alternately forward (towards the elbow). Once per side, then put the knees down briefly.
Note: It is important to imagine that the baby wants to press against the back and upwards. In this way, you also activate yourpelvic floor muscles.
Repetition: 30 seconds, then 30 seconds pause, two passes.
Stretch marks and regeneration
These exercises have the positive side effect that you are fit much faster after birth and your straight abdominal muscles find their way back to their original position.
The strong, lateral abdominal muscles also have a visually beautiful effect during pregnancy: The trained pregnant woman carries the abdomen “only forward”. That is, the lateral waist usually remains firm and narrow and is the best prophylaxis againststretch marksin this area.
To stay with the topic of stretch marks: Here, too, sport is the best prophylaxis. Because exercise helps to stimulate the blood circulation of the skin and make it more resistant to annoying stretch marks. I myself also started very early to rub my stomach, thighs, chest and buttocks with oil twice a day. So overall, I was actually “lucky” not to get any cracks and streaks.
But this is also a matter of predisposition and stripes should never be seen as a blemish, but as completely natural and perhaps also as a nice memory of pregnancy.
4 tips against water retention and heavy legs
Another typical symptom in the last trimester of pregnancy: water retention and heavy legs. I was also blessed by luck here and had neither deposits nor heavy legs despite 30 degrees and constant heat in Los Angeles.
That’s why I want to share my best tips here:
- Stick to regular, coordinated training.
- Avoid cutting socks and tight shoes. I had it a little easier in the summer with open, flat sandals and light summer dresses.
- Contrast showers – really try to shower pleasantly warm and then really cold.
- Eat ahealthy dietand drink plenty of water (at least 2.5 to 3 liters) to boost your metabolism
When training, it is no longer so much about the quantity: You do not have to train six days a week, but should only come to a total of about two to two and a half hours of training per week. Additionalwalksare a bonus and of course welcome.
The movement helps to stimulate the blood circulation and also to remove the fluid from the tissue. But don’t worry if you still suffer from water retention: after birth, they disappear quickly.
My third trimester
Even though women usually feel more and more sedate in the third trimester of pregnancy and exercise is more difficult, exercise continues to be the miracle cure to survive this phase without complications and to be well prepared in starting position for childbirth. The birth, a marathon that can sometimes turn out to be a sprint.
I myself had the first contractions at five o’clock in the morning. At ten o’clock I was walking for an hour in the Santa Monica Hills in Los Angeles, at 11.30 o’clock I was convinced despite contractions that I still had to eat a proper breakfast and at 13 o’clock we arrived, just in time, at the hospital.
Two hours later, Cooper was born – without PDA, without further complications and we could enjoy the most beautiful and unforgettable moment of our lives!
Birth without PDA
What? Without anesthesia andperidural anesthesia (PDA)? Yes, because sport also helps to cope better with pain. Of course, it is not a guarantee, but I had the feeling that I was well prepared and I think that this gave me security and the right mindset for the birth!
I hope I was able to motivate you a bit to overcome the inner pig dog during training and also to push your worries aside. Listen to your body and make sure that your workouts are now scientifically substantiated and tailored to your particular stage of pregnancy. Then you can feel fit and ready for the birth – and everything that comes after!
Until next time – then it’s about nutrition during pregnancy – and keep it moving!