(BlackFitness101.com) I was excited to get back in the gym after being away due to a mild back injury. While I was away I found out I was 5weeks pregnant with my 2nd child. I was absolutely excited as this was a long time coming. I immediately began to feel the effects of the first trimester fatigue. All I wanted to do was sleep all day, but with a family and work that was not an option. I needed to get moving in a way I did not with the first pregnancy. I told myself I would need to give up my Red Bull, it wasn’t effective against this fatigue anyway, and get back into the gym ASAP.
My first pregnancy was riddled with ailments, stiffness, and a hard delivery. I basically let the fatigue take over, and I let some tell me that working out was not a good idea. I would take a few walks, but not enough to be effective. I promised myself when I got pregnant with my 2nd I would make it my mission to get, and keep, my body moving. This time I know better.
Determination took over as I begin making adjustments to my diet and beginning to stretch more. I was itching to get back in the gym to keep my promise to myself. My focus was to push past the fatigue and it was a tunnel vision kind of focus. I knew my obstetrician appoint was a couple of weeks away for I figured if I didn’t do too much resistance I would be quite okay. I pushed through the morning sluggish feeling to make it to the gym and I was ready. In this moment my attention was more on doing better than last time and pushing myself past tired. However, I wasn’t thinking about my lower back which was just getting better. I wasn’t thinking about listening to my body and taking it easy. This proved to be a great mistake.
The 45 minutes on the treadmill at a brisk pace left me feeling a bit of a burn in my lower back but I pushed on to the elliptical which really wasn’t a good idea. I was being to feel a bit nauseous, so I got off the elliptical after 15mins. I should have stretched and spent some time in the massage chair. My body was trying to tell me it had enough for the morning. Instead of listening I told myself I could do the 30min circuits if I just did low resistance. Once I reached the 3rd part of the circuit I was lightheaded, my back was in excruciating pain and my head was pounding. In that moment I had enough sense to stop.
I did not listen to my body and I was pretty grounded the rest of the day. I am thankful everything is in working order and the baby is fine. However, I realize I can keep my goal of staying active without hurting myself. If you are just getting back to the gym, or just found out you are pregnant take it easy. Keep your body moving but pay attention to when your body warns you it has had enough. You don’t want to put you or your baby in jeopardy working out to hard. I definitely learned my lesson; from now on I will not push my body over its limit.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.