pregnant and riding

armywife said:

At 38...no less :eek:

Anyway the first 4 months were hell. The depression, weather, isolation (living in germany and most of my original buddies moved), and whole bag of unpleasantness. Then there was an amniocentisis theat hurt like hell for another three weeks.

Starting to feel better and riding helps. My regular hybrid with new elephant bars so i can sit up straight and a new gel seat work wonders. The germans out here are cool with the whole bike riding thing (i have a german doctor), but have not said anything about when/ or if I should stop.

My theory...if it hurts, then don't do it.

Any advice out there? 😕

PS. not much distance, 4 or 5ks tops :

No matter what kind of exercise you do when you are pregnant there is always going to be some sort of risk involved. But I think it is worthwhile taking some of those risks as long as you don't go overboard. Cycling while you are pregnant has a number of positive influences on you and your baby, for example preparing the body for stresses of labour and reducing post pregnancy recovery time.

Only you will be able to tell when it is the right time to stop. You will reach a point where it might be uncomfortable and might feel too unbalanced to cycle due to a shift in your centre of gravity. Once you reach this point you should put your bike up onto a wind trainer and cycle stationary. Make sure your heart rate does not exceed 140bpm.

For further info check out:
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armywife said:

At 38...no less :eek:

Anyway the first 4 months were hell. The depression, weather, isolation (living in germany and most of my original buddies moved), and whole bag of unpleasantness. Then there was an amniocentisis theat hurt like hell for another three weeks.

Starting to feel better and riding helps. My regular hybrid with new elephant bars so i can sit up straight and a new gel seat work wonders. The germans out here are cool with the whole bike riding thing (i have a german doctor), but have not said anything about when/ or if I should stop.

My theory...if it hurts, then don't do it.

Any advice out there? 😕

PS. not much distance, 4 or 5ks tops :

I know of a woman who cycled until a few days before she gave birth and apparently everything was fine. I also know of another woman who stopped riding around 3-4 months into her pregnancy, mainly because of safety concerns about the possibilty of a fall. These women are both road cyclists, and the first woman was probably riding 30+km per ride several times a week during the whole pregnancy.

This shows how individual it can be and my advice is that with the distance you've said, then as long as you take the proper precautions you should be fine. Suggested precautions - helmet (of course), always carry a mobile phone, ride with another person if possible, if riding on your own let people know where you're going and how long you should be gone, and get off your bike and either have a rest or call for a lift if you feel any discomfort that you haven't previously felt on the bike. Don't forget to take any specific questions about unusual pains or differing symptoms to the doctor.

Good luck for you and the baby!