Project Fit Pregnancy: Week 18
18 weeks and all I have to say is, heartburn?! Already?!
Yeah.
But it’s not too bad …Yet… as long as I watch the carbs and don’t eat too much at one time. Even though I had bad heartburn (or at least what I consider to be wrong) with Garrett, it was never something that I thought about after he was born, and it went away the way I did with things like back pain and, well, labor. So I know that of all the pregnancy discomforts, heartburn isn’t that bad.
In other news, I’m testing out a minimalist wardrobe. I’ve been intrigued by the idea for a long time, but this is more of a necessity than anything else. You know how it is. Your belly’s getting too big for your regular clothes but too small for full-out maternity clothes.
If the clothing that still fit were better and more appropriate for things like church, I think I’d like the minimalist wardrobe. One of these days, maybe that’ll happen.
As for exercise this week, I decided to get a little more serious about cardio.
While I’m not a fan of trying to stay fit via endless cardio, I’ve also felt I needed to supplement my weight lifting with… Something since I’ve cut way back on accessory lifts.
So I worked cardio three days last week, aiming for four this week. Kettlebell swings, squat jumps, and burpees FTW.
Workout breakdown:
Monday:
Bench press
Military press
Tuesday:
Goblet Squats
Deadlifts
Glute Bridge
Jump Squats
Thursday:
Bench press
On-are roes
Kettlebell swings
Saturday:
Goblet squat
Kettlebell deadlifts
Kettlebell lunges
Burpees
Butt kickers
Monday was not my day. I was tired, and my lifts were so bad that I quit after a while. I need to take a de-load week, but keep putting it off until we make that trip to Texas that we’ve been talking about (and putting off )
Why squats are important
Believe it or not, squatting is one of the essential exercises for women. If you don’t do anything else, you should at least squat (with good form).
One of the things we women – especially pregnant women – have drilled into us is Kegel, Kegel, Kegel.
So we use Kegel, which tightens, tenses, and shortens the pelvic floor muscles, with no attention to the muscles connected to and supporting them.
When your glute muscles, the muscles opposing the pelvic floor muscles, are weak, you can end up with a weak pelvic floor no matter how many kegels you do.
Squatting strengthens the glutes, bringing balance to the entire pelvic area, and lengthens the pelvic floor muscle, making it stronger.
Admittedly, I’m not an expert, so I refer you to Katy Bowman’s excellent articles on the subject. And I recommend reading this interview, where she talks about Kegels versus squatting.
Interestingly, whereas most midwives and OBGYNs instruct their patients to perform endless Kegel exercises, when I asked my midwife about them, she answered that I didn’t need to worry about doing kegels until after the baby was born. At that point, they help get blood circulating in the area and stimulate muscle memory. Of course, after birth is also one instance where it’s probably a good thing to tense and tighten that muscle group.
