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Can I still run?

Here's the nitty-gritty on working out and playing the sports you love during pregnancy

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Originally published in Today's Parent December 2007

I ran up until the eighth month of my pregnancy,” says fitness trainer and avid marathoner Fiona Marshall. While Marshall admits this level of exercise is unusual for most women, the desire to keep doing a physical activity she loves is not. “I’ve always been a runner. I love running. It’s a stress reliever for me and, when I was pregnant, I really needed it.”

Whether your feel-good fix comes from running, cycling, swimming or working out at the gym, you can keep it up during pregnancy as long as you get the green light from your physician or midwife first. In a healthy normal pregnancy, there are few real cautions around exercise, says Karen Nordahl, co-author of the book Fit to Deliver and practitioner of family medicine and obstetrics at BC Women’s Hospital in Vancouver. “Most of them are common sense.”

“What happens with activities like running is that women get to a point in their pregnancy — some during the second trimester, others closer to their due date — where they just don’t feel comfortable doing it anymore,” says Nordahl. “So they switch to another activity they feel more comfortable with.”

That’s what happened to Marshall. She gradually switched over to a run/walk system. “It really helps with breathing. So it’s great for the pregnant runner,” says Marshall. By modifying her routine this way, Marshall continued to run anywhere from five to 10 kilometres three times a week. When that no longer felt good, she quit and focused on strength training at the gym.

Many types of exercise besides running are safe for moms-to-be. Walking and swimming, which always provide a simple but effective workout, top the list. Read on to find out if your favourite activities get a green light, a proceed-with-caution warning or a stoplight during pregnancy.

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