Your Pregnancy Fitness Plan

I can’t say enough times how important your fitness is before during and after pregnancy to make your journey healthy, happy and comfortable.  A lot of women however don’t know what to do or where to start.  So here is a fitness guide for those looking to get on to a plan if you are trying to get pregnant or are pregnant and looking to implement a safe and effective exercise routine for you and your little one.  I have developed a total package pregnancy fitness plan that can be downloaded on the Pear Sports Fitness App.  My voice literally comes right into your headphones and trains you through each and every pregnancy workout.  I monitor your heart rate for you, offer you modifications as well as provide motivation and education along the way. Learn more about the plan below!

PRE-PREGNANCY FITNESS

First things first, if you are thinking about pregnancy or trying to get pregnant, now it the time to start your pregnancy plan.  It’s NOT too early.  For women who are planning a pregnancy, establishing a fitness routine is an important part of the process. Nancy considered herself “Pre-Natal” for about 6 months before conceiving and she has her clients do the same. When her clients are planning to get pregnant, she begins implementing pregnancy training techniques into their programming. Learning how to properly breathe, engage the core, and improve the level of their strength and conditioning is going to set them up for a successful pregnancy. If you are looking to get pregnant this plan is a great place for you to start working on these techniques and building your pregnancy fitness baseline before conception. Going into your pregnancy with this baseline of fitness and core strength will set you up for success, support your body throughout the pregnancy, while also helping your body to bounce back quickly post-pregnancy.

FIRST TRIMESTER

Setting the foundation for your pregnancy by learning how to breathe and strengthening your core is most important during this time. All workouts on Nancy’s pregnancy plan are safe and effective to use during all trimesters, but it is recommended that the Labor Training Cardio workouts, Core Strength and Leg & Butt routines be done every week this trimester- that is if nausea will allow you to! Keep in mind that daily exercise in general is going to help during this period as it will assist in alleviating morning sickness, fatigue and weight fluctuation – common issues experienced in the first three months.

Taking time to go through the skill sessions on Nancy’s pregnancy plan (Core/TVA 101, Baby Breathing 101 and Pelvic Floor 101) on her pregnancy plan will allow you to become familiar with these important concepts and help you be able to successfully implement them during your pregnancy workouts. Nancy will remind you throughout all of her workouts how to do all of these things, but the 101 skill sessions are going to give you a foundation of knowledge on these concepts, explaining why they are so important to master during the upcoming months.

SECOND TRIMESTER

All workouts on Nancy’s pregnancy plan are safe and effective to use during all trimesters, but it is recommended that the focus this trimester be a blend of a few things.  She suggests expecting Mama’s work on total body toning, core strength, and labor training cardio at this time. It’s important to make sure we are completing our upper body strength workouts, bringing some increased attention to your posture muscles, which by strengthening will reap benefits post-delivery, as women often hunch their backs while holding their babies or during breastfeeding.

Keep in mind that using Nancy’s labor training workouts will assist in preparing both you and baby for the demand that contractions will place on both of you during labor. Remember practice makes perfect! Labor training will help to ensure you and baby are prepared for the big day and will assist in making your labor shorter, easier and your pushing during delivery more effective!

THIRD TRIMESTER

As you belly continues to grow and you start to really feeling the difference from the pregnancy weight you have gained, you might notice that you feel a bit more fatigued during your workouts. Keep in mind that there are modifications for all trimesters and fitness levels in all of the workouts in Nancy’s pregnancy plan and she recommends you listen to your body and take those modifications when needed. It’s also important to consider that some days you might need to take longer rests periods during your workouts. Nancy encourages you to hit the ‘pause’ button when you need to, take a breather, then join back in when you’re ready.

In the home stretch of your pregnancy, it is important to keep up with your Labor Training Cardio and all core strength and toning routines. Even if your workouts are scaled back and your dumbbells are lighter, you have already built such a strong foundation of fitness from the first two trimesters, that you will still get all the benefits for you and baby. Just remember to try to keep moving! Working out will bring you energy, health benefits for you and baby, plus will help to alleviate the aches and pains that come towards the end of pregnancy.

LETS GET STARTED:

Download the free Pear Sports Fitness App on your smartphone and search under my name, “Nancy Anderson” and you will find the full pregnancy you can download and get started ASAP.  Not sure what workout to do on the plan and when? Here is a 4 week starter workout schedule to get your started.  Keep in mind that I also customized online training programs for pregnancy and post pregnancy Mama’s as well. To contact me about customized plans please email me: NancyAndersonFit@gmail.com

To print out your 4 week starter schedule click here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/mktg-assets.pearsports.com/prenatal_sample_starter_plan.pdf

For more information on Pregnancy Fitness and this plan check out our homepage: http://pearsports.com/pregnancy

37 Weeks BumpDate

3 more weeks (hopefully but it really could be 5 weeks) until I push this little monkey earth bound!

I am ready to not be pregnant anymore!  I hear women say how much they LOVE/D being pregnant. Lol. I’m gonna be honest, that woman is not me.  It’s been an amazing experience and I feel connected and in love with this little person instead of me that I haven’t even seen yet, but I really dis like the feeling of having a bowling ball in my belly.

I think what I have learned the most during the past 9+ months is how amazing and capable our bodies are (as women).  I’ve learned that as long as I am healthy and give my body and baby’s body what it needs (proper nutrition, movement, and hydration) that I can trust my body without any fear to grow and birth a healthy baby.

I have unfortunately been dealing with some symphysis pubic dysfunction the past few months.  I ran/sprinted pretty hard up until 8 months then the SPD really started to kick in and running became not-so-possible for me anymore.  For those who don’t know SPD is one of those weird pregnancy conditions that basically means the ligaments that usually keep your pelvic bone aligned during pregnancy becomes quite relaxed- too relaxed and stretchy. This makes your pubic joint unstable and causes some discomfort. When I do side lunges, runner lunges (extended lunge) or ANY band work for hami’s/glutes it also causes discomfort to the point that it feels like I am on the verge of pulling a muscle down there.  Once this discomfort got to a certain level, I just decided with help of my P/T and doctors that it would probably be a good idea to avoid running hard anymore for the risk of pulling a muscle.  I can’t imagine trying to have a natural birth and having a pulled muscle in my vagina area- EEK. No thanks.

Instead of running, I’ve been walking. BORING. Ugh.  However, this is exactly why my mindset in the beginning of pregnancy to go “as hard as possible” for “as long as possible” bc you never know when something is going to come up later in your pregnancy that is going to limit your fitness/movement. I’m still able to lift weights, and now I do that even more often now that I can’t run- about 5 days a week.

I am at 37 weeks and I’ve gained about 21 lbs right now through my pregnancy… although it goes up or down by a lbs or so depending on the day 🙂 To be honest this is more than I thought I would gain the whole pregnancy.  I have heard of women gaining only like 17 lbs during their whole pregnancy and I just assumed that would be me too, but not so much.  I have never dieted throughout the pregnancy and really just listened to my body- when I’m hungry, I eat, and 80% of the time I eat healthy options (although not monitoring carb intake- i don’t recommend doing this during preg anyway unless you have preeclampsia and/or your doctor has told you to) then the other 20% I cheat (clean) but still, I cheat 🙂

Overall the pregnancy has been pretty easy breezy and comfortable.  My discomfort down under is annoying but manageable and the tiredness of the third trimester has kicked in.  I take a nap when I can and get 8 hours of sleep at night.  This helps a lot!

Here is a pic of the nursery… just about all done and ready for his arrival.

Baby Bumpdate 27 Weeks!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a little bumpdate.  I am officially in my final week of the 2nd trimester at 27 weeks pregnant. The longer I am pregnant the more excited I get for baby to get here- and I am relieved about that.  I was nervous I was going to get more and more terrified the closer we got to our due date, but it’s actually the opposite.  I feel really calm about becoming a Mother and a getting more and more excited to meet our little one.

I start training for my natural birth at the end of February.  I’ve decided to go with Hypnobabies, which has come very highly recommended from friends, clients, doctors and my doula.  I am so excited to get started.  You attend a 3 hour class every week for 6 weeks then have independent study to do every night up until delivery.  I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

WORKOUTS:

I am still working out 4-6 days a week, still teaching and training my one-on-one clients.  My workouts still consist of strength training and conditioning as well as labor training and high intensity intervals. I am still lifting the same weights I did pre-pregnancy (15-30 LBS DBS depending on the muscle group and format of my workout).  Lifting weights is def easier for me than interval training on the treadmill at this point.  Running is still fine- some days are awesome and some days the baby is a weird position and its just uncomfortable so I scale it back a little bit.  When baby is in a good position though- I am able to go hard. Being able to get after it on the tread doesn’t happen every workout anymore due to the baby’s positioning, so when he is cooperating I take advantage of it!

For example this morning, he was in  a good position so I was able to do sprint intervals at 12.0 MPH, no problem. Some days he is in a weird position and my sprints are more like 9.0-10.0MPH.  It just depends.  Long intervals on the tread (more than 2 minutes) are tough- I still do them, I just have to be a little less aggressive with my speeds.  It’s just fatiguing. It’s not that my heart rate is getting too high even, it’s just a lot harder/more exhausting than I remember pre-pregnancy.  If you speak Barry’s lingo, long intervals my jog pace is 5.0MPH and intervals that are 2 minutes or less I can usually hang at 6.0MPH.  It also depends on the instructor and what they have planned for the day.

I have started to notice that my hips do get sore from running, so that’s also part of it.  I read this is common on some runner blogs so I wasn’t too shocked when it started happening.  I space my treadmill/running workouts out a little more strategically to make sure I’m not running hard back to back days, to help avoid any injuries during pregnancy.  My heart rate still EASILY gets into the 170’s and up into 180’s during my high intensity treadmill intervals.  That doesn’t mean I think everyone should do this- I’m simply sharing this info because I know some women are scared to raise their heart rate when pregnant, so I just like to show women that I go WAY up and beyond what some doctors recommend and baby and I are perfectly healthy. In fact, every single time we have had an ultrasound or the doctor listens to the baby’s heart beat, they ALWAYS comment on how loud and strong his heart is.  Studies have now proven that working out during pregnancy makes your babies heart healthier.  It’s empowering when my doctors reinforce my fitness plan and how it is already showing to positively effect my babies health.  It’s a very rewarding feeling!

WEIGHT GAIN/BODY CHANGES:

So far, 27 weeks in, I have gained  about 12 pounds.  They say I’ll probably average 1/2 pound a week from here on out.  This would put my total pregnancy weight gain around 18.5 LBS.  Anywhere from 20-25 LBS for me is what my doctor said she is happy with, so I’ll end up right around there which is great.  Of course, the closer to 20 the better (from my point of view), but either way it doesn’t really matter.  As long as I stay within her recommended weight gain for me, I’ll be happy.  I know I’ll get it all off. It’s actually my muscle mass I’m worried about.  Looking back, I wish I would have measured my arms and quads before getting pregs cause I swear I’m losing muscle mass, which makes me SO SAD.  LOL. If I could pick, I’d rather gain more weight during pregs and not lose any muscle mass.  It just takes SO long to put muscle mass on, it’s kind of depressing thinking about having to back track and build it up again.

BABY STUFF:

Wow- so much to think about.  Do I want to eat my placenta? Should we bank the baby’s cord? Should we space out vaccinations? Man. Been doing lots of reading articles and trying to figure out whats the best way for our family. I probably will eat my placenta though.  It’s hard to argue with the studies on this. Yummy 🙂

Xo

What is Labor Training and Why is it Necessary?

MY WORKOUTS:  My workouts have been pretty good!  I don’t do long high intensity intervals (working above my Lactic Threshold for longer than 3 minutes at a time) any longer but so far that’s been my only modification. I am still comfortably using 20-30 pound dumbbells for all of my HIIT style workouts for all muscle groups and expect for this to continue my whole pregnancy. My favorite thing to do right now are sprints.  30-60 seconds on 30-60 seconds off are my JAM right now and I’m feeling stronger than ever with these.  Still able to reach 12.0MPH plus an incline 1-6% is still totally doable for me.  This is great bc its a perfect way to labor train (contraction specific bursts) This is taking your perceived exertion to a 7-9 out of a scale of 1-10 (10 being you absolutely can not give any more you are at 100% effort).  When I do HIIT on the treadmill my CSB (contraction specific bursts) I take it to a 9 out of 10 which for me brings my heart rate well into the 170’s-180 BPM.  This being because of my fitness level and the fact that I feel totally 100% comfortable with working out at this level.  My doctor is 100% on board with this and knows exactly how hard I work out and encourages me to continue for as long as I am capable.  You can still get the same benefits of labor training by only going to a 7 out of 10, but you really do need to reach at least a 7 to get these benefits shared in this post.

WHAT IS LABOR TRAINING? 

Labor Training is the best way for you and baby to prepare for the stress that will out on both of you during labor. Through exercise (CSB aka harder working intervals) you will challenge your body’s physiology to mimic labor contractions. This prepares your body and the baby’s body (mentally and physically) for baby pushin’ time.

STEPS OF LABOR TRAINING: 

1. CHALLENGE YOUR BREATHING RATE:  Doing so will condition you for labor! View your delivery as a workout.  If you are used to working intervals (stressing your body, then recovering), contractions will be easier for you to handle and work through.

2. CONTRACTION SPECIFIC BURSTS: Since these are supposed to mimic the real contractions you will experience during labor, your intervals or CSB should last for the length average contractions will last (usually between 30-90 seconds).

3. REST PERIODS: Just like during labor, you will get rest in-betweeen contractions, so you want to do that same thing in your workouts. After a higher intensity interval, rest, breathe, and recover.  Mental imagery can be incorporated here as well.  During your recoveries, picture every part of your body and your baby’s body recovering from this interval or contraction. Relax your body, relax your muscles, and picture it all happening. Imagine your labor and delivery going exactly how you want it.  Your baby is perfect and is delivered with ease.   Your labor is smooth, quick, and healthy. Remember your thoughts create reality!

HOW TO LABOR TRAIN: 

Cardio machines work well for this! Jump on your cardio machine of choice and set your intervals 30-90 seconds of 70-90% effort followed by 30-90 seconds of slow moving recovery practicing that mental imagery (and belly breathing).

Many other exercises with or without weights can work well for labor training.  Burpees for example can work well!  As you get later in your pregnancy it gets uncomfortable for some to continue exercises like Burpees, so opting for that cardio option might be the best bet.

Preparing for labor is so important and overlooked by many expecting Moms and sometimes unfortunately doctors as well.  The best thing you can do is educate yourself on all the benefits of at least moderate exercise during pregnancy by reading new studies, articles, and books (such as Dr. James Clapp Book “Exercising through your pregnancy” volume 1 and or 2).

Having to have the doctors intervene in the delivery room with potentially harmful medicines such as pitocin along with suction (vacuum), forceps, c-section is potentially dangerous for you and baby. Educating yourself on these common interventions is super important.  Something as simple as moderate exercise WILL lower your chances of having to have ANY of those interventions in your delivery room.

BENEFITS FOR YOU: Research has proven that working out moderately during pregnancy has been proven to:

– Lower risk for Gestational Diabetes

– Lower risk of a c-section

– Speed up labor

– Prevents excess weight gain during pregnancy (duh’s)

– Less maternal labor pain

– Less maternal pregnancy discomfort

– AND SO MUCH MORE!

BENEFITS FOR BABY: Research has proven the following benefits that exercising moms can give their unborn children:

– Increased physical health scores, immediately upon birth and lasting into adulthood

– Increased intelligence scores for life

– Increased confidence & ability to self-soothe

– Fewer fetal interventions

– Fewer complications

– Infants of exercising women do significantly better on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) which are used to diagnose infants for cognitive, motor, and behavioral development.

– Studies show babies born of exercising women do better on standardized intelligence, general intelligence, and oral language tests at one year of age and after.

– Even five years after birth, children of women who exercised were in better shape than children of mothers who did not exercise.

(Research sited from Dr. Clapps 10 years of studying exercising through pregnancy)  Note that Dr. Clapps research came from women who were doing MORE than just walking during their pregnancies.

Written by Nancy Anderson, Certified Pre & Post Natal Specialist and CPT with a Master’s Degree in Exercise Science and over 8 years of experience in the field.

Haters Gonna Hate

I can’t be the only one out there that has this HUGE pet peeve, at least please God tell me its not just ME.

Here is what I don’t get.  When people (my friends, family, co-workers ect) opt to down skittles, soda or some fast food and they mention it in conversation or eat it right in front of me, or give it to their kids, I NEVER say one word. Would I eat that? No.  Would I give it to my kid, No. But it’s none of my effing business what other people do in their lives so I would never EVER try to make someone feel bad about making these choices in front of me or giving it to their children.  I honestly do not care what other people give their kids or eat themselves.  It is their free will to be whatever kind of parent they want.  Don’t get me wrong If someone asks me about why I eat organic or grass fed all natural meat or use all natural skin products, I am more than HAPPY to share the knowledge I have with them, so they can determine themselves what they want or don’t want to implement in their own lives but if they don’t ask, I don’t tell.  I would never want someone to think I am judging them for their parenting skills or their life and food choices.

It’s their life and they can choose to use, eat, and feed their kids whatever kind of products their little heart desires.  So with this said, why are other people such HATERS when some of us choose to eat organic, grass fed, free range, toxin free foods and use other household and beauty products?  I seriously do not get it.  What it’s to you?! You’re not the one paying more to eat cleaner, I AM.  You’re not the one that’s going to be paying more for diapers that are chlorine-free, I AM.

So why do people feel the need to make sny comments or sarcastic remarks about our choices?  I just love when people who know I eat clean and use clean products and they find out I’m pregnant say something like, ‘Oh GOD please don’t be THAT Mom.’ I’m sorry what Mom?  A Mom that is educated on american foods products and chemicals that are harmful and have been PROVEN in research studies to cause all kinds of health issues and cancers later on in life?  A Mom that would rather spend MORE money NOW on clean food and skin products for herself and her kids so that she doesn’t pay a million times more in medical bills later or worse ends up not living a long healthy life to see her kids have kids?! Yea, how DARE me want to be THAT Mom. Shame on me.

I just ask that women stop hating on other women.  Whatever fitness regimen you want or don’t want, more power to you. Whatever you want to feed or not feed your family, awesome.  Whatever parenting technique you want to practice, GO FOR IT.  Whether you want to work 50 hours a week or quit your career and be a stay at home Mom, that’s great!

Why are we always judging each other?! Why is it not ok for us to be different from each other and have different views and want to make our own, independent decisions?! None of us are RIGHT and none of us are WRONG, and we sure as hell aren’t perfect.  We are all just doing what we think is best for our own situation.  I would just LOVE if women could be supportive of other women who choose to do something different than what our own opinions and beliefs are and what we have convinced ourselves is the ‘right’ way.

Let’s all just take off our white wigs and stop judging people!

🙂 

Baby On Board!

OFFICIALLY WORKING OUT FOR TWO! My husband and I recently found out that we are expecting! We decided that we were going to do off Birth Control in August right before our wedding so that maybe we had a chance of convieving on our wedding night. However, I ran out of birth control in mid July and decided instead of going back to the doctors to get one more pack of BC that I might as well just finish my last pack and call it a day. I was sure it would take a least a month to get a regular period again and get the BC out of my system. WRONG! I got knocked up on the very first try after stopping my pills. Either I’m a fertle mertle or my husband has got some seriously strong swimmers 🙂

I realized I was pregnant during my workouts. I have learned during my very extensive PRE & POST NATAL Certification that if you are very in tune with your body you will likely know you are pregnant before the test will even come up positive. I feel like I am one of those people who knows their body extremely well and that this might happen for me, and it totally did. I swear I actually felt the ‘egg drop’. My husband thinks I’m crazy, but I believe I did.

I realized I was pregnant during my workout when my heart rate was a bit higher than usual (I always workout with my Pear Sports APP and HR Monitor), I just felt off. My first thought was that I must be dehydrated. So after my workout (on Friday) I made sure that I was probably nourished and hydrated. The next day (Saturday), same thing! I’m like WHAT is going on?! I must be pregs! I went home took a test and it was negative. I’m like okayyyyyy maybe I am fighting something off. I took a rest day on Sunday and Monday just laid low. Tuesday (LEG DAY) came around and I thought, ok I rested, I didn’t get sick, I hydrated, I’ve been eating nutrient packed foods, I know I am not deficient in anything, so I headed to my workout and BAM Heart Rate was high again. I knew during that workout, I am 100% pregnant. I have ruled out all other options. I am taking another test when I get home, and I did, and it was POSITIVE. So exciting!

I was 6 weeks pregnant on my wedding day. I had (and still have) waves of feeling sick, but overall was good! We were able to keep it a secret long enough to surprise our parents while our wedding photograpgher captured their reactions. It was priceless!

I have been working out (at the same intensity) all throughout my pregnancy so far.  I feel great, I feel strong and therefore there is no reason for me to tone it down, yet:)  After the first 2 weeks my heart rate returned to normal for me and I began feeling good 9 out of 10 of my workouts. My workouts are still HIIT style and challenging to my fitness level.  My heart rate stills climbs into the 170’s and even up to 180BPM during sprints and all out efforts, for me this is a BPM that I am very familiar with and have been training at these levels for years. This is SAFE for my fitness level and actually beneficial for both myself and my baby.  I plan on staying at the same level I am at right now, for as long as possible.  Of course, if something feels really off or I am having a rare day where I am feeling over fatigued, I will of course listen to my body, as should you. Every pregnancy and woman is very different, so just because I feel great now, who knows I could be hanging over the toliet for 14 weeks with my next one! My reccomendation is to just take advantage of the good days and get out and be active when are you are feeling up for it!

Right now my workout schedule pretty much goes as follows:

Monday: 1 mile run plus 45-60 Minutes of Upper Body

Tuesday: Legs and Butt (HIIT style) for 60 minutes (use 25-35 LBS Dummbells)

Wednesday: Back and Abs (sometimes chest) 30-45 Minutes of AMRAP formatted weight training

Thursday: 30 minutes of HIIT Treadmill Running (sprints, hills, hill sprints, walking, jogging) plus 30 minutes of core isloated strength training.

Friday: Off Day Usually

Saturday: 30 Minutes of HIIT treadmill running (sprints, hills, hill sprints, walking, jogging) plus 30 minutes of Total Body (Use 20-30 LBS dummbells)

Sunday: Active Recovery (usually rest completely or ride bikes casually on the beach for 1-2 hours)

Keep in mind I also teach about 12 classes a week and have 5-10 private sessions a week as well. Hello Active Mama! This is MY normal. I will continue MY normal for as much of my pregnancy as possible. My doctor is not only on board but very supportive of my active and healthy pregnancy. She is well aware that staying under 140 BPM is nothing but an old tradition and has ZERO scientific backing and encourages me to continue with my fitness level for as long as possible.

Here is a little snap shot of my workout log on my Pear. This would have been week 7-8 during my pregnancy.

Here are some quick Facts from Dr. James Clapp on Fitness & Pregnancy:

Mother’s who exercise moderately (this DOES NOT include walking) during pregnancy give birth to babies who have:

-increased physical health scores

-increased intelligence scores

-fewer fetal interventions

-fewer pregnancy complications

-improved nutrient and waste exchange”

My main goal in sharing my pregnancy journey with you is to lift the FEAR that women have for continuing to work out at a moderate to intense level during pregnancy.  So if you have negative comments to add, feel free to hit the X box and find another blog to read.  This is a positive space, filled with empowering FACTS about fitness and pregnancy and negativity will not be tolerated in any way.

Until Next Time,

Nancy Xo

How & Why We Need to Train CORE During Pregnancy

If you have a strong, engaged, activated core unit (I’m talking transverse abdominus, diaphram and pelvic floor) you most likely will NOT show easily or quickly (unless you have a special condition happening like a tilted uterus for example).  Your core is strong enough to hold the baby in tight and your tummy will resist being pushed out by your uterus for longer into your pregnancy and you are much less likely to get “Big Belly Syndrome” later in your pregnancy. Which is huge!! I was hell-bent on making SURE my core was super strong to avoid Big Belly Syndrome and diastasis as well.

Check this excerpt from Fit For Birth (who I became pre and post natal certified with) about belly size during pregnancy.

Activated Core VS De-activated Core:

“Quite amazingly in Fit For Birth’s experience has been the witnessing of “big belly syndrome” literally disappearing once a pregnant woman learns how to belly pump effectively. Take a look at Figure 4 below. The left shows Gabriela during her second pregnancy at 6 months before she has been taught to use her belly pump. This was taken before training with Fit For Birth. The photo on the right shows Gabriela during her third pregnancy at nearly nine months, but with a smaller tummy! She spent her third pregnancy learning how to use her belly pump effectively.

Figure 4 shows the usual big belly at 6 months (left), but then a much more manageable belly at nearly full term when strengthening the core through belly training (right).”

Big Belly Syndrome is exactly what it sounds like.  Your stomach gets big, really big and stretched, and the bigger it gets the more uncomfortable you are (hello back pain) and harder it is to bounce back post baby and the easier it becomes for your abs to split (diastasis). This is motivation for me to not be caught up with wanting my belly to pop out so soon into my pregnancy.  I focused very specifically on strengthening my core for the past year or so before getting pregnant because through researching and learning more and more about pre natal training I realized just how insanely important this is and how much better off you will be if you go INTO your pregnancy with a strong and activated core.

This doesn’t mean doing 1000 crunches a day either.  It’s about strengthening your back, legs, core, abs, pelvic floor and diaphram.  There are a few amazing ways to do this that don’t consist of laying on your back and crunching up (so little value comes out of this pregnant or not).  Here are some of the BEST exercises to work on your core and getting your TVA working and engaged.

#1 LIFT LEGS!! 

Lifting legs with medium to heavy weight is one of the BEST ways to work your core and get your transverse abdominis working and TVA strength is SOOOOOO important!!  The TVA or transverse abdomminis is the deepest ab muscle that we have.  The TVA is the innermost layer of all abdominal muscles located behind the quote, unquote ‘6 pack abs’. Think of this muscle as your body’s natural corset and support system. If your TVA is not engaged, not activated and not working on the regular basis you are at risk of injury, you are setting yourself up to potentially have big belly syndrome when pregnant and you will NEVER be able to achieve flat tight abs without having a frustrating pouch that sticks out under your belly button… so many women have come to me saying that their stomach is coming together but they just can’t get rid of the lower pouch, well this is exactly what is causing it.

This is where the legs come in! You are FORCED to engage your core and TVA while squatting and lunging for example.  If you didn’t engage your core throughout these exercises you would properly fall over! Your core balances you and you MUST balance to properly perform these exercises. Building and strengthening your TVA is ESSENTIAL to do before, during and after pregnancy.  This is the muscle that will prevent you from getting big belly syndrome and will help you be so much more comfortable for so much longer into your pregnancy, not to mention this muscle will help out BIG time during your labor and helping your core shrink back quickly after your deliver.  This muscle is also to thank for keeping you from showing early in your pregnancy.

Your legs are the biggest and strongest muscles in your body, so don’t be afraid to pick up challenging dumbbells during your leg workout! If you are pregnant and usually use 8 pound dumbbells this doesn’t mean to go into the gym and grab 25 lbs dumbbells, but there is nothing wrong with bumping up to the next size dumbbells if you are still able to maintain proper form and feel comfortable.  When I do a HIIT style leg workout, I use 25-35 LBS dumbbells.  This equals half to a little more than half of my body weight, and for me that’s my normal and there is nothing wrong with maintaining your normal throughout pregnancy.  Don’t be scared to pick up weights that continue to challenge you, don’t be scared to complete a workout that FEELS like a workout, not a warm up!  Let’s take the FEAR out of working out during pregnancy.  “Exercise does not cause miscarriages. Exercise does not cause pre-term labor.” That is a direct quote from my OBGYN doctor and of studies that are published on PUBMED. This is not my opinion, these are proven facts studied by researchers and doctors.

#2 BREATHING!

Ahhhhh seems so simple, yet most of the population, women and men, pregnant or not don’t know how to breath properly anymore. Let’s start by taking a big deep breath in.  Lets do this now.  Ok- take notice what just happened with your upper body when you took that breath.  Did your chest expanded and your shoulder rise up? If this the case then you actually aren’t breathing correctly… and you’re not alone.  Most people actually do not breathe correctly these days. The issue is that people aren’t using our diaphragms to breathe.

Lets put both hands on your belly now. While you read on about this very important muscle go ahead and practice taking big deep breaths in and out using that diaphragm to do so.  When you inhale try to fill your belly into your hands as you expand your diaphragm with oxygen, we want to fill your belly, your sides and your lower back with air.  When you exhale try to draw your belly button into your spine, thinking about hugging your baby with your belly as you do this… we want to rid all the stale air out of your body during your exhale. 

The diaphragm is the primary respiratory muscle which attaches to the lungs and when used properly will pull the lungs open and increase the space in the chest cavity. Proper movement of the diaphragm will effect simulation of every function in the entire musculoskeletal system (which helps provide form, support, stability, and movement to the body), hormonal system, central nervous system and gastrointestinal system. 

Unfortunately, any kind of mental, emotional or physical stress can inhibit the diaphragm from functioning in its fluid rhythmic ways. This is another reason to add exercise into your routine during pregnancy, to help reduce stress and increase those feel good hormones we get from working out, because remember, ANY emotion or hormone that we feel, the baby will also feel. Really!

Start implementing diaphramtic breathing into your daily routine and throughout every single exercise in your workouts.  The more you practice the more your body will get back into natural routine and your body will start doing this without you even having to think about it!

#3 PELVIC FLOOR ACTIVATION & STRENGTH 

This is a super important and a lot of times forgotten muscle that acts as a sling, holding and supporting your bladder, uterus or womb, and bowel.  Your Pelvic floor stretches from your pubic bone to the base of your spine.  It is so important to know what this muscle is and to exercise it before, during, and after pregnancy.

Lets contract your Pelvic Floor now by imagining that you are trying to hold in urine.  Some women will feel this contraction more in the front and some in the back, you just want to make sure you are not just contracting your glutes but actually under your glutes,  where your lady parts are.  I always say if when you contract these muscles and it starts to feel kinda good, than you are doing it correctly. You want to make sure that you are continuing to breathe as you contract these muscles and you don’t hold your breathe. So as I go over some Pelvic Floor basics I want you to continue to contract your pevlic floor, hold for a count of 5 then release and repeat. 

Your pelic floor goes under a lot of stress during pregnancy which is one of the reasons we need to acknowledge and strengthen it along the way. You PF can become stretched out and start losing function just 12 weeks into your pregnancy, so doing these exercises from the start is super important.

So how often should we be doing these types of exercises? To be honest, if you have a weak pevlic floor such as you have trouble holding your urine when you workout, sneeze, cough ect would say implement them more until you see an improvement. Generally speaking I would recommend these every single day, if possible twice a day. Ugh i know so annoying. But if you can just implement the exercises we went over and you are doing right now maybe in the car on the way to work and on the way home from work, or on the way to the gym, or while you’re running errands this can seriously improve your pelvic floor strength which is going to help you during pregnancy, during delivery and post pregnancy.  Pelvis floor exercises are SOOOO boring! Ugh, I hate doing it! So I started implemented these exercised into my workouts.  I add them into my squats (when I get to the bottom of top of range of motion I squeeze and hold my PF).  I also do this with plank variations or during my walking or jogging recoveries during my HIIT cardio training. 

These three things will help you have a more comfortable pregnancy, will help make your delivery faster and easier and will help your body bounce back faster post labor. It sounds like a WIN WIN to me 🙂

For those who want to work core during pregnancy, but aren’t sure how, or what is safe, check out my new Pre-natal Core Workout that is safe to do through all trimesters! The full workout can be downloaded from the FREE Pear Sports Training App, which you can find in your App Store or Google Play Store.  Enjoy!

Spirit Knows Best! It’s a BOY!

Really crazy and amazing to see how much your baby grows between 8 and 12 weeks of your pregnancy.  It’s pretty hard to NOT believe in some sort of higher power when you see this miracle happening in front of your very eyes and inside your own body. Pretty incredible!

We did the blood testing with all of the usual testing for trimester one, all of which came back perfectly normal thank goodness.  We also opted to find out the sex in this blood test.  I had been SURE of what gender I was having long before I was ever pregnant.  I am very spiritual and meditate on the regular basis and I have been seeing a little boy in my meditation and in my dreams for quite some time now.  This was justified for me when several Spiritual Mediums last year also told me, ‘You have a baby boy on the way, you are going to get pregnant very fast and this boy has already picked you out to be his Mom’.  This made perfect sense to me, because I had been seeing him any way, and I now knew who he was (thanks to these Mediums communicating with spirit).  They were right on, I DID get pregnant right away (faster than I even thought possible to be honest) and we found out with 99.9% reassurance that I AM in fact carrying a baby BOY.

This was big for me, because this really helped to assure me to trust my intuition and listen to my gut with all things because God, our spirit guides and passed loved ones give us signs and symbols all of the time, and if we have an open mind and are open to receiving these messages we WILL receive them.  For me this helps me feel better connected to God, passed loved ones, and my own spirituality.

Ironically, ever since I have been pregnant, I have seen my son less and less in dreams and in meditation.  The last time I saw him he was looking through window blinds at me, leaving me with the impression that he is now on his way and he will me watching me and my husband until his human arrival date, which my intuition tells me will be April 25, 2015.  This is the day after my Father’s Death anniversary date and I believe is a re-birth day for us.  My gut tells me this is the day my son will arrive.  We’ll see!

Until Next Time!

Nancy

Hello Second Trimester!

That was fast!  I am now officially am a little over 14 weeks pregnant and in my 2nd trimester.  I had a week where I was fighting off a cold and I was super tired all week.  I def made the time to take a few naps and get in extra nutrient rich foods to help my body fight it off.

Overall, my first trimester (thank goodness) was pretty much a breeze.  Every woman and pregnancy is absolutely different and I did experience a bit of sickness in the very beginning of my first trimester (week 6-9 probably) but I kept active and hydrated anyway and I really believe that helped me cope with any sickness I felt.

Through my Pre Natal certification I was taught how important maintaining an active healthy lifestyle is during pregnancy and now that I am going through it myself and I have implemented this, I can contest, it makes a HUGE difference.  These are some things I have made sure to do in my first trimester that I believe totally helped make my first trimester be easy breezy…

-8 hours of sleep EVERY night

-Drinking a TON of water

-Eating RIGHT, not eating or binging on processed & chemical filled junk food

-Working out even when I didn’t want to!

I am still getting in 5 workouts a week and maintaining my fitness level.  I did start to notice last week that it is a little bit harder for me to do the treadmill intervals that I do about 2-3 days a week.  This is a big part of my labor training and I will modify as needed, but will continue with this type of training for as long as possible. This is one of the best ways to prepare myself and my baby for labor, so although I might have to drop the intensity eventually, I will continue to do contraction specific bursts in my workout program! So far I have still be able to maintain my usual speeds and jog pace, I have just been walking more of my recoveries instead of jogging them.

So far I have gained 0 pounds for anyone wondering!! It is actually totally OK to not gain weight in the first trimester.  Due to feeling a little sick in the beginning I actually lost 2 pounds right off the bat.  I have now gained those 2 pounds back, but am still at my pre pregnancy weight.  I have a feeling that will change though, very soon 🙂

Until Next Time!

Nancy

Fat Funeral!

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