Project Fit Pregnancy: Week 33

This past week was hectic, to say the least. With the regular farm chores, Gabriel ran down to help set up the fence on a rented pasture, the farmer’s market and get ready for the county Arts And Ag Tour. Whew! I nearly gave up working out with all that was going on. It seemed that there was never enough time to go down to Dad’s, set up the squat rack, and then actually squat.

On Tuesday, I was walking by our weight set in the carport and decided to do a set of deadlifts to see what happened. In the past, using the 5×5 program, which calls for deadlifting after squatting, had been causing quite a bit of back pain, so I’d quit. I’m happy to report that deadlifting instead of squatting didn’t have any ill effects at all. Granted, my back felt pretty good when I started – I wouldn’t have even tried it otherwise.

After that, I decided to do whatever exercise was handy for the rest of the week whenever I had a few minutes. Sadly, the “handy” exercises didn’t include the upper body, so it was seriously under-worked last week. By Saturday, I felt guilty and finally did some push-ups before bed. I hate to admit it, but that made me sore!

Another exercise I used – but only once – was goblet squats, simply squats performed while holding. A weight in front of you at about chest height.

Oh, my stars! Squatting with that 36-pound kettlebell in front of me was every bit as challenging as back-squatting 110 pounds! The stabilizing muscles were much more involved, not to mention the weak, stretched abdominals.

So, don’t laugh. Here’s my workout breakdown for the week:

Tuesday:
Sumo Deadlift: 135 lbs – 2×5
Goblet Squat:    36 lbs – 3×8

Wednesday:
Sumo Deadlift: 135 lbs – 2×5

Saturday:
Push-ups: 1×5, 3×10
body-weight squats: 3×15

And, of course, there’s walking with a stroller here and there almost every day.

I had intended to do some workout every day since what I was doing wasn’t particularly challenging (except the goblet squats), but with Thursday (Farmer’s Market) and Friday (Arts and Ag Tour) being so busy, it slipped my mind both days. Thanks to the tour, Saturday would have been skipped if it hadn’t been for non-existent upper body work.

I’m so happy that, despite our busy week and being over seven months pregnant, I’m not “dead.” Tired, thanks to getting to bed late and getting up relatively early, but not “dead-tired.” Keeping up with lifting and exercising has improved my ability to deal with pregnancy stresses. During my pregnancy with Garrett, I thought I was doomed to be miserable and useless during pregnancy. I’m so blessed to experience a “good” pregnancy!