*I am not a medical professional and this post should not be taken as medical advice. Please consult your doctor before beginning any fitness program, especially during pregnancy.
Hello! It’s me again. I feel like I’ve gone into a sort of blog hiatus of sorts, with my website crashing right before Thanksgiving, taking it out of commission for two weeks, and then the holidays and getting sick right after Christmas. Well, needless to say that I’m looking forward to a fresh start in January. Anyone else?
The other day I was looking back at my pregnancy updates from when I was pregnant with Ainsley, and I’m embarrassed that I haven’t done any pregnancy updates with this baby. Things are still going well, and we have our big ultrasound next week Tuesday. We are not planning on finding out the gender this time around – we’ll see if we stick to our plan when we are actually at the appointment.
I’ve gotten quite a few questions this pregnancy about workouts and what I’ve been doing to stay active. Since it’s been a while since I last updated about pregnancy fitness, I thought I would clue you in to what’s been going on over here.
FIRST TRIMESTER
As most of you know, I took a very conservative approach to working out with Ainsley’s pregnancy. I mainly walked a lot on the treadmill and did very light weights. While my weight gain was right in the middle of the recommended average, I didn’t feel great during her pregnancy. I had a lot of groin pain through most of the pregnancy and generally didn’t feel like myself because I wasn’t sweating and working out like usual.
This time around I battled a lot of the same fears during the first trimester. I was probably in the best shape of my life before getting pregnant this time and working out quite vigorously most days, so I certainly scaled back my workouts to accommodate both the nausea and the delicate nature of the first trimester. That said, I didn’t let exercise take a back-burner. I stuck to a lot of my favorite Beachbody workouts online, doing modifiers as necessary, as well as long walks, occasional jogs and plenty of pilates.
SECOND TRIMESTER
Once the second trimester hit, I felt more peace about working out. Something about knowing that I had made it through the first 12 weeks really gave me the confidence to boost the intensity of my workouts a bit while also being mindful of the fact that I’m pregnant.
I’ve continued to work out most days of the week, reminding myself that it’s only going to get harder as I get larger if I don’t work out now. It also helps me to think about pregnancy as a time to prepare my body for child birth to the best of my ability. Child birth is taxing physically, as is recovery, so thinking about training my body for what is to come has helped put exercise into proper perspective and encouraged me to keep up the hard work.
My favorite workouts right now are mainly Beachbody workouts. I use the Beachbody On Demand online through my sister-in-law, Amber, and have some purchased programs as well.
My Favorites
21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme // I do these videos the most frequently. I really love that they are a nice mix of challenging while also providing modifiers as necessary. I’m modifying now to avoid lying on my back and modifying some of the abdominal exercises, but otherwise I find them to be pretty pregnancy-friendly.
Core De Force // Also on Beachbody, I was hesitant to try this series of videos because I thought it would be too challenging for pregnancy, but they’ve been a fun addition to my workouts and I hardly feel like I’m working out at all!
22 Minute Hard Corps // I’ve loved these short and sweet workouts for quite a while and find that they are almost all still very friendly for pregnancy with few modifications needed. Plus, they are only 22 minutes!
Other Workouts
Crossfit // I’ve just started to go again on the weekends with Joe and am happy to be back. I find that I need to do a LOT of modifications to make the workouts pregnancy friendly, but Joe is patient and everyone is really supportive so that helps. Plus, it’s always a great workout.
Walking // Since the weather has been cold I haven’t done nearly as much walking as before, but when it’s nice I find it’s great exercise and always feels good on my body.
Pilates, Yoga, Stretching // Usually I just find a good video online. It feels good to stay flexible and put plenty of focus on mobility while pregnant.
What’s Off The Table?
Running // As much as I would love for running to work for me while pregnant, it just doesn’t. I have tried a couple times and it just doesn’t sit well with my pregnant body. Thanks to regular chiropractic care, the groin pain I experienced with Ainsley is almost non-existent this time around, but running seems to trigger it for days afterward. I’m totally okay with leaving running off the table for now and resuming once I am cleared to exercise after baby arrives.
So there you have it! I think more than anything, staying active has really helped me to continue to feel like “me” when so many things about me are changing. It’s always challenging to see your body change in such major ways during pregnancy but knowing that I’m doing my part to stay fit and active puts my mind in the right place to handle all the changes coming my way.
Madison