Project Fit Pregnancy: Week 22

Garrett loves stroller rides. In fact, he woke up this morning talking about his stroller. Fortunately for him, we had some really nice weather last week and did some walking. The forecast doesn’t look quite as good this week, but we’re really looking forward to doing a lot more walking/strolling in the near future.

That’s really the only cardio I did last week, with the exception of a few burpees and butt kickers on one day.

The 5×5 program, while ridiculously simple, is really kicking my rear. You not only have the five sets of five for everything, you have three warm-up sets with progressive loading. That amounts to eight sets, a total of forty repetitions. That’s a lot of squats y’all!

I’m not complaining. I have high hopes that this simple, straight forward program will add a lot of strength. I must say though, I’m super glad for rest days!

As you can see, My workout for this past week looks almost identical to the week before with workout B being performed twice and workout A once.

Monday:
Squat
Over head press
Deadlift

Wednesday:
Squat
Bench press
Bent over row
Burpees
Butt Kickers

Friday:
Squat
Over head press
Deadlift

Along with my weight training, which I think is going fairly well in spite of being more than halfway through this pregnancy (not that my weights are heavy anyway!), I’ve been doing several yoga-based exercises that are specifically recommended for pregnancy.

They’re designed to accustom the prospective mother to natural birthing positions, enhance strength and flexibility in the pelvic region, and ease/prevent back pain.

I can’t speak to the effectiveness of the first two (yet), but I can say that when I’m having a bad day of back pain, this little routine helps tremendously whereas the three different chiropractors that I’ve visited in an attempt to fix my funky sacroiliac joint haven’t helped at all.

These moves can be found in the book Active Birth, which I highly recommend if you’re planning a natural birth. Or even if you’re not, the book gives many ideas and examples for making a medicated birth go much more smoothly as well. There are actually a lot more exercises in the book, in fact, the author suggests that the entire routine should take roughly an hour and a half to complete. I don’t do them all. Partly for time’s sake, and partly because the moves that involve lying on the floor cause instead of prevent back pain.

Anyway, here’s the short routine I do:

Tailor sitting

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Sitting with you back straight, preferably against a wall (I use the couch), bring the soles of your feet together in front of you. Let your knees relax downward.

Hold this pose for 2-3 minutes.

Purpose of tailor sitting:  to release tension in the hips, groin, knees, and ankles, and help widen the pelvic diameter. Also to relax pelvic floor and improve circulation to the area.

*If you have a toddler, he’ll probably want to sit on you’re feet with a book while you’re doing this.

Sitting splits

From the tailor sitting position, straighten your legs and spread into the splits position, only going as far as comfortable. Hold briefly.

Benefits: widens the pelvis while releasing tension in the hamstrings. It also relaxes the pelvic floor.

*If you have a toddler, he’ll probably run and grab a ball to roll back and forth.

Kneeling with knees apart

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Kneel on the floor with your pelvis resting on your ankles and knees as far apart as possible. Keeping you neck and shoulder relaxed and your spine straight, lean forward from your hips as far as possible holding for a moment.

*If you have a toddler, He’ll probably think you’re volunteering to give horsie rides.

Pelvic lift

This is the big one. From my point of view, all of the previous stretches are just precursers leading up to this one. This is where the back pain relief comes in. It’s difficult to do at first, but as you get the hang of it, you be able to hold it longer, more comfortably.

Photo Credit

Kneeling on the floor from the beginning of the last posistion, lean back to place your hands on the floor behind you. Lift pelvis toward the sky. You’ll feel a stretch in your quads, but the real money is in the low back. Hold the stretch for up to 10 seconds as you are able and sink back down to rest your pelvis on your knees. Repeat up to 6 times.

There are, of course, a lot of variations on these, and many others to supplement them. these four however, are the ones that have really helped me.

*If you have a toddler, he’ll probably giggle and poke your belly button if your shirt comes up far enough. If it doesn’t, he’ll improvise.

Disclaimer: I’m not a fitness expert, or for that matter, and other kind of expert. If you follow my suggestions, you do so at your own risk. Please consult a Doctor or other qualified person before beginning an excercise or stretching routine. Espcially if you’re pregnant.