Pregnancy Workouts – The Perfect Pregnancy Workout, Volume 2

Have you ever wondered what pregnancy workouts are like? As someone who is planning on having to do pregnancy workouts in the semi-near future, I was curious if the workouts were challenging or if pregnancy workouts are just super-easy, just-make-you-feel-like-you-did-something workouts.

I am fairly fit. My weekly routine is:

Monday: Cardio/strength training (30 minutes)

Tuesday: Yoga (30 – 45 minutes)

Wednesday: Cardio/strength training (30 minutes) – In the next few weeks, I am going to switch this workout over to a high intensity interval workout. Probably one by Jillian Michaels’ workouts.

Thursday: Yoga (30 minutes)

Friday: Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 (37 minutes – yeah, I am counting those extra 7 minutes, because every minute of that workout kicks my butt)

So, as you can see, I don’t exercise for a long time each day, but I try to take time each day to workout and I try to challenge myself. I don’t want to stop being fit for the 9 months I’m pregnant, so I was curious if the pregnancy workouts out there would be challenging enough to keep up my current level of fitness. Now, I know that once I switch over to pregnancy workouts, I will have an extra 10lbs or so to lug around, so even easier workouts will be more difficult. However, I think that the workout would need to be at least moderately difficult now to translate to a good workout later.

So, in my quest for answers, I tried out my first pregnancy workout: The Perfect Pregnancy Workout, Volume 2. This is a yoga workout (since today was my yoga day) and lasts 35 minutes. The back panel has pictures of a fairly pregnant Sarah Steben doing poses like this:

and:

Yes, that’s right, the packaging for the workout shows a pregnant woman doing a handstand. I’ll admit, I was intimidated. I don’t think I could get my non-pregnant self into a handstand. And I’m sure my non-pregnant side planks are probably not that pretty. But, to my surprise, it was only a moderately difficult yoga practice. I can currently do most of the advanced poses without difficulty. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who isn’t experienced with yoga. There is no instruction on the poses or postures and the cuing is not so good. But, once you realize what she wants you to do, it’s actually a nice, moderate yoga practice that stretches the hips and hamstrings in a wonderful way. 🙂

 

 

 

 

PS – I’m pretty sure that my doing a pregnancy workout freaked Paul out a little.

Exercising in the Morning

I’ve talked a lot about the importance of exercise, both generally and specifically in the context of planning pregnancy and being pregnant. But, to be honest, I was having trouble getting in my 5 30-minute workouts in every week. I was doing one or two workouts after work every week. I was grocery shopping, studying, snacking . . . pretty much anything other than exercising.

So, I decided something needed to change. I needed to schedule my workout at a time when I’m not so easily distracted. I decided to try to workout in the morning instead. I was worried about getting up earlier and I was worried about eating and then working out in a short time frame. But, I was able to conquer both of those issues and I now workout every morning. Here are my tips for successfully working out in the morning:

• Take a “digestion break” – I take a half hour break between eating and exercising. This allows me to digest enough that I have energy to workout and ensures that I won’t be nauseated while working out.
• Eat a light but complex breakfast – I love having Kashi Go Lean cereal for breakfast. It’s light enough that it doesn’t weigh me down during my workout, but it has complex carbs and protein to help fuel my workout.
• Rearrange your schedule to minimize how early you have to wake up – this may mean performing some tasks the night before or just rearranging your morning routine to do tasks during your digesting break. I pack my lunch and prepare the coffee during my digestive break. Moving these tasks to this time allows me to wake up only a half hour earlier and still fit everything in.
• Skip your vitamin until after your workout – I took my vitamin before my workout one day and I felt so sick during my workout. Taking my vitamin later solves this issue completely.

In addition to actually getting my workouts in every day, I’ve also found that working out in the morning makes me feel more energetic and fit throughout the day. Definitely a benefit that helps me wake up just a little bit earlier every day! 🙂

What are your strategies for getting your workout in every day?