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 heartburn really bad (or at least what I consider to be bad) 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 really isn’t that bad.

In other news, I’m testing out a minimalist wardrobe. I’ve been intrigued with the idea for a long time, but must admit that this is more out of necessity than anything else. You know how it is. Your belly’s getting to big for your regular clothes, but too small for the full-out maternity clothes.

If the clothing that still fit were clothes that I liked better, and were more appropriate for things like church, I really 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 been feeling like I needed to supplement my weight lifting with… Something since I’ve cut way back on accessory lifts.

So I worked cardio in on three days last week, and am 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
Ketlebell 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 just quit after a while. I need to take a deload 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 I to us is, kegel, kegel, kegel.

So we kegel, which tightens, tenses, and shortens the pelvic floor muscles, wih 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, as well as lengthening he pelvic floor muscle, making it stronger.

Admittedly, I’m not an expert, and so I refer you to Katy bowman’s excellent articles on the subject. And I really recommend reading this interview where she talks about kegels versus squatting

Interestingly, whereas most midwive’s and OBGYNs instruct there patients to perform endless kegel exercises, when I asked my own midwife about them, she answered that I didn’t need to worry about doing kegels until after the baby was born, at which point, they’re helpful for getting blood circulating in the area as well as stimulating a sort of muscle memory. Of course, after birth is also one instance where it’s probably a good thing to tense and tighten that muscle group.