Biking at 36 weeks Pregnant

This is a series where I document exercising while pregnant. You can see the last post at 32 weeks here

I’m happy to say that even though I’m 36 weeks along - I’m still biking!! In fact, I biked ~ 75km in the last 4 weeks! Most of this is from running errands around town. I do not really bike for leisure.

Apple fitness showing my bike mileage for April - 75.04km in April!

I’m not as energetic or mobile as I used to be though but I definitely enjoy biking more than walking, especially when using my cargo bike.

Here’re some things that I’ve noticed changing in the last 4 weeks:

1. Clothes not fitting well

   
   

This is expected but it still sucks to witness in real time. Around the 34 week mark, I noticed that the zipper to my windbreaker unzipping while I was riding. 😢seems like my belly is big enough that it’s starting to keep my shirts/jackets closed. At 36 weeks, I can squeeze myself into my jacket but it is uncomfortable and I don’t want to break the zipper. The weather is becoming warmer though so I’m grateful that I won’t have this particular problem much longer.

Besides the jacket, I’m still wearing most of my pre-pregnancy clothes. Though the tops are usually not long enough because my belly has grown and my pants are not clipping in where they used to 😅.

2. Riding rental bikes are less comfortable

Our local rental bikes are usually pretty comfortable for me but they are slightly more forward leaning than my own bike. I’ve definitely noticed that my thigh is coming closer to my belly and it’s just not as comfortable to ride them. It’s possible but I’ll probably be avoiding longer rides on them now.

3. Speed is 🐢

My average speed is now 12km/hr, down from 15km/hr earlier. Not the end of the world since it’s faster than walking but I’m definitely one of the slowest cyclists on the road. I do try to leave a bit earlier for my appointments so I can get to places in time.

🤰Other Pregnancy Symptoms

Now that I’m in my final stretches of my pregnancy, I definitely notice a decrease in energy. It’s a bit like being in the first trimester again where I napped a lot. Because of this, I’m working from home more often and doing less ‘strenuous’ exercises. Still lots of yoga every week but less heavy lifting strength training. I’m definitely trying to listen to my body more and just rest when I need to. One thing I try to do every day - rain/shine/snow/sleet is to go for a 30 minute walk outside and I’m proud to have been able to keep it up.

Also now that the baby is pretty large and has no more room to move, I’m finding sitting to be uncomfortable and have developed a bit of pelvic pain. According to my pelvic floor physiotherapist - the root cause of the pelvic pain appears to be because my glutes are weak though so I’m back to doing daily glute bridges to remedy this.

Hopefully all will continue to be well and the baby is here in a few weeks. Regardless, I’m pretty grateful for having had a very uneventful pregnancy and I think being able to stay active really helped with managing a lot of the physical symptoms that pop up as your body grows larger.