Baby Goley Goes to (Boot) Camp...

Pregnancy is a time for preparation. The entire process is preparing you for this or that. For example, your boobs, specifically your nips, change to prepare you for breast feeding, your sleep starts to suck to prepare you for the many, many months to come that you will not sleep and then, of course your body changes, preparing all sorts of other things for the big day you get to meet the little precious gift. So, to prepare for delivery doesn't sound like that bad of an idea. One thing is for sure, when you get pregnant everyone asks, "Are you doing...?" insert keigels, squats, yoga, cardio, and the list goes on and on. There is definitely no shortage of fear in pregnancy; you think to yourself, "Should I be religiously working out now?"
I have been actively avoiding this until I realized, I am 18 weeks pregnant (almost halfway there!) and I havent lifted a finger! I am definitely behind. My excuses started out legit- I felt like crap the entire first trimester. But as I have said on here I feel great now! I started having a little lower back nerve pain so I decided it was time to put my excuses away and get to work.

I did a lot of research looking for great prenatal/ pregnancy workouts. I found a few that looked good and a yoga video on youtube! So today we will have a few laughs, a few "holy crap"s and maybe even a pat on the back after checking out what Baby Goley and I did this morning.

First, I started out with a yoga ball and some weights (2 5lb and 1 8lb). Really, the only thing I needed today was the 5lb weights.

I found this great workout featuring a "total body" approach to a pregnancy workout. This one was honestly my favorite. I found the most things I could figure out and that felt good.

1. Squat with overhead press (using 5lb weights): We did 2 sets of 15, circuit style.

2. Plie with lateral raise (using 5lb weights): We did 2 sets of 15 of these also, circuit style.

3. Opposite arm/leg reach: We did 2 sets of 5 on each leg/arm, switching each time.

4. Baby Push-ups: We did 2 sets of 15; this was my favorite!

I also found a few more sites which I really only used a few other things from. Either the instructions were hard to understand or I felt like it wasn't 100% safe to do without being sure.

Pilates Mama was okay... I took a couple things from the 1st and 2nd trimester moves.

1. Forearm Control Front: We did 2 reps of 3, holding for 10 seconds each time.

2. Hovering Knees: We did 2 sets of 8 reps, holding for 1 "Mississippi" count, or a full breath.

And that was it on this article. The other moves were dumb or weird.

Michelle Marie Fit was not one I liked very much at all. She bragged about not gaining any unnecessary weight during her pregnancy (only 20 pounds the entire time!) and honestly what pregnant person wants to hear about that. If you are desperate enough to be looking for exercises, then chances are you have gained some weight already or you feel you are destined to! So after I gagged over her self-righteousness, I did one of her workout moves.

1. Hip Extensions: We did 2 sets of 10 of these, with the yoga ball.

I also added a few arm moves I always did when lifting weights in college.

1. Arm lifts- Imagine lifting both arms straight out in front of your chest, spreading them to go straight out to your sides, still parallel with your shoulders and then down by your sides. Then, you lift them back out to the sides (shaped like a T), back together in front of your chest and down in front of you. It's 3 moves in one! We did 2 sets of 10 of these with 5 lbs. in each hand.

2. Triceps Extensions- Place your knee and one arm extended on the sofa so you are balancing on one leg and have a 5 lb weight in your other arm. Pull the weight, elbow bent to your ribs. Keep your arm steady there, only moving from your elbow down, backwards and slowly back. This feels great! We did 2 reps of 15 of these.

And then the Prenatal Yoga video. Now, I thought yoga was all resting, breathing and stretching. Turns out I was an idiot. This was just as hard, if not harder than some of the things I had already done. Consensus was that after today, I will do either a yoga video or a workout. Both were a bit much. But I did what I could in the yoga video, which wasn't much. The moves were either too hard, I was too infelxible or it hurt so I came out of the pose, as directed.

Pregnancy is not a time to push yourself or see how great you can look. I know this. So, I took it easy and now I am resting, rewarded with mandarin oranges! I am excited to do it all again... just no more today! I took resting periods between sets and had water handy. One thing that was harder than a non-pregnancy workout was the blood flow. First of all during pregnancy, you have increased blood flow so your baby gets everything it needs in a timely manner. So when you are down on the floor doing things that are hard, your blood flow increases to your head; which feels like you are about to pass out or your head is about to explode. So unfortunately I now have a nice little headache.

Sambo Riley and I will be going for a 20-30 minute walk this afternoon too, because apparently you are supposed to walk or do some cardio for at least 30 minutes every day of pregnancy...bleh!

I'll be sure to keep updates on my fitness level... right now it sucks :)

Sneak Peek: Tomorrow is Baby Goley's big 18-week checkup! We will know so much more about this little goober and get the sealed gender envelope! Woo hoo! Check back tomorrow for the exciting news!