Hey there! I posted this on the exercise enthusiast page, but didn’t really get a response. I got some great feedback about ab exercise modifications/suggestions and I was so thankful for it, so I wanted to share this post here too!

So I’m currently 18w2d pregnant and lately have been thinking a lot about my diet/fitness for during and after this pregnancy. I have always participated in lots of sports and been very active. This last summer was probably the close to the best shape I’ve been in. I was regularly running steep trails for 15-20 miles, doing long climbs outdoors with big approaches carrying lots of weight (climbing/backpacking gear), and pushing my limits in shorter more technical climbs. I was really flexible and did a lot of yoga for recovery and strengthening. I felt really great. 🤙🏼

In the fall, I was trail running and sprained my knee (a long time recurring injury for me), and that’s when my fitness started to decline. I did my best to continue with other workouts (arms and abs) while my knee was healing, but definitely struggled to keep a positive mindset.

After a month of letting my knee recover, I was feeling good and set out on a bike ride to jump on a super easy climb just to see how I was feeling. Well, on one of the first couple moves I had to step up onto my right leg and felt shooting pain in my knee. It caught me off guard, and I slipped and broke my wrist. 🙁 I couldn’t believe it. I was so discouraged after all of this and so my fitness continued to decline. My wrist was now broken and the cast kept me from climbing how I regularly would and my lingering knee injury kept me from running comfortably, and even biking or walking comfortably some. I had my cast on for 6 weeks, and got it off in early November.

In the weeks following, my fiancé and I found out I was pregnant, and also began seeing several doctors about an injury (that we later discovered was very serious) that my fiancé had. His injury/medical condition has limited him a ton as well. It’s been super super tough because we are really active together and always have been and so it’s been an incredibly hard season. We still haven’t received a diagnosis for him, and it feels like we are at a stand still. 🙁

Since November, I have been feeling not so great because of the pregnancy and he has been limited to walking (though often on crutches) and mustering up the courage for upper body “prison workouts” in the house, as we like to call them.

Anyway. I am 5’5” and this summer I weighed 115 and felt very strong. Now, I weight about 130 and despite my attempts to eat better and workout more like before, I feel so crappy. I am struggling mentally with the weight gain and losing the tone all over my body. Not because I’m scared to gain (I know weight gain should be expected to happen during pregnancy), but I really badly want to be able to jump back into shape after I deliver and stay as toned/strong as possible throughout my pregnancy and make sure the weight I am gaining is healthy. My fiancé and i have a lot of climbing goals for after I deliver, and I want so badly to be able to catch up to him quickly when that time comes! I know that it will make a difference after I deliver if I stay in better shape now. Just struggling a ton!

Last summer:

Now:

Just looking for encouragement/tips on modifications and healthy pregnancy workout habits for an active person! Thank you 🙏🏼❤️