Exercise during and after Pregnancy

Part of the midwifery model of care is that you have an obligation to do all you can to prepare yourself for delivering your baby.  Keeping your body fit is a big part of that. 

I try to exercise almost every single day (except Sundays), but when I'm pregnant I'm especially diligent about it. I have to be.  I have varicose veins BAD on both legs and when I don't exercise, those veins hurt and throb.  Doing some sort of cardio workout is essential every day to get my blood moving. And it makes a WORLD of a difference in managing my veins. (I'll do a whole post on my lovely veins later- I know, you can't wait!)

Now, when I say "workout" you may be envisioning me running, going to the gym, or pumping iron in my garage for an hour.  Umm...no. I don't do any of that.  I refer you to the picture at the top of this post.  That's a little more my speed, especially when I'm pregnant.

And that's fine. As long as I'm doing something, I feel great and my body feels great.  I don't have to kill myself to get that great feeling or to get results. I know a lot of people of all ages who run- they run for fun, they run marathons, they just love it.  I am not one of those people. I hate running. With a passion. I used to like going to the gym, but with so much going on in my life (read: 4 kids), it's a headache to try to figure out how to get myself there. Plus it can be expensive.  And I'm cheap. And lazy.  When my hubby gets home from work, the last thing I want to do is run out to the gym.  I want to be home, I want to to chat, I want to curl up with him and read a book or watch some Jimmy Fallon. We have a bowflex in our garage and try as I might, I can never consistently stick with it.  It's just too boring. And in the winter it's cold out there, and in the summer it's hot.  You get the point- I need to be doing something I like or it doesn't happen at all.  

So what works for me? A few things, actually:

Dance workout. For years I've had a playlist (that I change or update periodically) of music that I dance to. To add a little more intensity, I'll use a step-stool and some light hand weights for some of the songs, but mostly it's just me getting my groove on.  And I work up a sweat. And I love it! The great thing about this workout is that the intensity is flexible- I can really work hard and dance for awhile, or I can keep it shorter and do less intense songs.  But I always have fun, and that's why this workout has stuck  for years and years, pregnant or not. There's actually a few websites out there that list songs according to beats (of your heart) per minute. Just google "running songs".  But make sure you put on songs you like, or you won't be motivated to move!

Walking.  I love to walk around my neighborhood. We have lots of hills, and that makes it even better. A good, fast-paced, hour walk is one of my favorite workouts ever.  It clears my mind and rejuvenates me. Once, I passed two teenage girls that totally started snickering at me and my power-walking. And I just thought, oh, just wait, ladies.  Give yourself 15 years and you'll be right here with me!

Swimming. I'm not doing this right now, because it's still cold, but lap swimming is awesome, especially for us preggers. I swam competitively for years, and it's just a great whole-body workout that tones and gives you cardio at the same time.  Not to mention puts great all-over pressure on my varicose veins at the same time.

This next one is going to make me sound like an old lady.  But I love Walk Away the Pounds with Leslie Sansone.  There's a gazillion different ones, but the link shows you to the only one I have. I did it this morning. Sometime I'll try some of her other ones. This is one I only do  when I'm pregnant, or in those first few postpartum weeks.  It's a great workout to get you moving when, well, you can't seem to do a whole lot.  I grow out of this workout when I'm fully back in shape, but when I'm pregnant and/or postpartum, it's just what the doctor ordered.

Fit2B.us is a great online pilates/yoga studio. And it's super cheap (and modest!).  All their workouts are tummy-safe (plus there's lots of diastasis-awareness material on the website) and they have a whole section for new moms and pregnant ladies.  Eventually, I will grow out of this website too, but it's perfect for me right now.  Not just because I'm pregnant, but because I'm new to this whole pilates/yoga stuff. I actually started this a few months before I became pregnant.  Whenever I do a pilates workout on this site, I always follow up with a few back exercises.  Lower-back stuff is crucial, crucial, crucial.  Your tummy muscles need your lower back to be strong, and I've found that unless I'm taking care to do specific back exercises, my lower back can hurt after I have my baby.

For post-baby time, I like the book Baby to Bikini.  If you're one wanting a step-by-step, week-by-week program for getting back into shape after you have your baby, this one is a good place to start.  It gives you a plan for the first 6 months.  Simple but effective. I've never followed it for the whole 6 months, but it has given me a good understanding of what exercises are safe after baby, and what ones should wait.  Not to mention a whole slew of exercises to pick and choose from.

So that's it.  Nothing magical or too hard.  Even when I'm fully back in shape, I still don't run or go to the gym.  Because I hate those things.  Dancing & walking are my mainstays, then everything else changes according to what I feel like doing and what my goals are. Currently, I'm getting more interested in pursuing pilates and yoga and want to make that a bigger part of my overall workout plan, even more so after I have my baby.  I like hiking and biking, too, so sometimes those play into my schedule. Or I'll try out a workout video from the library or from youtube (youtube can be hard, though- I have 4 girls and do NOT allow skanky workout videos playing in my home.  So most youtube workout videos don't make the cut around here). Change it up and keep it fun and interesting. And don't be fooled into thinking you have be killing yourself or doing something you hate to benefit your body.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

A few postpartum words: find out what a diastasis is and how to check your tummy for it and heal it.  This is muy importante.  Do NOT do sit-ups, crunches or anything of the like until you get your tummy healed.  There's a lot out there now about diastasis, so go do some research.  Second, plan on splinting for at least a few weeks.  You can buy a splint (Fit2B.us has a few links to different ones) or just use a stretchy piece of long fabic (I've done this and it works great. I'm cheap, remember?).  When a woman has a baby, she should be handed a bunch of diastasis-awareness material along with all those free formula samples. Remember, there's  no reason why you can't look amazing after you have a baby! 

So go kill it, ladies!