Structured exercise has been a consistent part of Laura’s life for the last 12+ years, in fact, the majority of those workouts have taken place at this particular fitness establishment. At 31 weeks pregnant with baby number 2, she shares about her experience training the least amount for the longest stretch of time in her life. She shares a few thoughts on what helped her through a time that was significantly more challenging than expected.

How has training this pregnancy been the same or different from your first?
Across the board, this pregnancy has been VERY different. The first time around, I was lucky enough to feel great for nearly my entire pregnancy, apart from some food aversions and light fatigue at the beginning, and some complications at the very end. It really didn’t impact my day-to-day in a significant way which meant I had the time and energy to keep up with my regular exercise routine. Up until 36 weeks or so, I was training 5 days a week, and feeling really good while doing it. 

This time around, there hasn’t been a single week where I’ve trained 5 days and felt good while doing it. The first trimester knocked my socks off with persistent nausea. The most helpful strategy for me was to eat small meals/snacks every 2 hours day and night which meant I was waking up 4 times/night to dig into my bedside cooler for something to curb the wave of nausea. This went on for just over 8 weeks. Between the lack of sleep and the continued day-time nausea, there wasn’t a whole lot left in the tank for training. Instead, I patiently waited for times I felt good enough to “get some movement in”. On a few occasions - that I can probably count on one hand - I felt recovered enough to push the intensity, and let me tell ya - it’s an amazing feeling. It feels so good, to feel good. I was reminded of just how lucky many of us are to get to feel the thrill of working hard in the gym as part of our regular routine. 

What helped you navigate this time being out of your typical routine and feeling less than fantastic?
Besides blaring my ‘liked songs’ in the car and singing dramatically by myself, there are few thoughts I kept coming back to..

The first one is ‘it’s not forever, just for now’ - a phrase I used to say to clients all the time while I was working in the physio clinic. If I was ever recommending that the person reduce or avoid a particular activity, it felt so important to emphasize the temporary nature of the recommendation. No one wants to be told not to do something they want to, even when they can appreciate the sensibility of it.

The same has been true for this - when I tell myself ‘it’s not forever, just for now’, I’m reminded that it makes sense why I have been feeling less than fantastic, and that it’s not a forever thing.

The second thing I think about a lot is a simple question, what’s the ‘and both’? What two (seemingly opposed) things are true at the same time? Sometimes it sounds like:
I feel less than fantastic most days, AND I’m really grateful to be growing another tiny human.
I am significantly less fit than how I feel usually AND I’m strong enough to carry this baby and take care of a little person at home. 
It’s a huge privilege to have medical care and a doctor keeping a close eye on me and baby #2, AND I’m honestly tired of having so many appointments to go to. 

I think it helps me relax when I acknowledge that multiple things are true at the same time, I can look for the positive things and I can keep some room for the harder things, it’s not all one or the other. 

The last thing that has helped a lot in the last while, is having my people celebrate wins along the way. Whether it’s sending a text to share that I only got up to eat “X” number of times last night, or having someone shine a light on everything I’m still doing instead of what I’m not, it makes a huge difference.

I’ll also say this, it’s not always intuitive to share seemingly unimpressive updates or milestones, it can even feel fairly audacious to bring attention to them. BUT it feels much less lonely when you let people in on the experience. I feel very lucky to have people to meet this little updates with love and enthusiasm.

What parallels do you see between pregnancy and other life events as they relate to fitness and training?
People are going through big things all the time - whether it’s a challenging pregnancy, navigating injuries, recovering from surgery, grieving a loss, changing careers, ending a relationship - you name it, these things all impact how fitness shows up during that period of time. Independent of the specific life event, the following ideas are probably true if you’re in one of those times: 

1) Recovery matters even more than it did at baseline.
2) Where you think you should be is irrelevant, where you actually are is what matters.
3) Your body will tell you when it’s ready for more, your job is to listen. 

Are there any movements you’re particularly excited to return to on the other side of this pregnancy?
Just about everything! And all in good time. Strict pull-ups and pushups have a special place in my heart, but more than anything I am most looking forward to finding my groove with training again, whatever that looks like with two little lovebugs around.

Laura is a coach at Queen Street Fitness. She works 1-on-1 with clients looking to overcome injuries, longstanding pain and other obstacles that have been keeping them from being able to do the things they want to. You can find out more about Laura, and the other members of our coaching team here.