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Week 6 Goal: Complete 6 Fit2B routines of varying length
Thanks to a little bit of time off and some chiropractic care, I was finally able to tackle the final week of Fit2B Beginning.
I will not be doing this workout again, because I’ve attempted it more than once and it is not working out with my pregnancy this time around. So please see below my former review of this. Hopefully I can get back to it after this pregnancy is over and I’m on the road to recovery.
This is a great workout if you need or want to be on the floor. It is entirely on the floor. As Kelly mentions in the workout, this will give you ideas if you are ever in a group fitness class and everyone else is doing crunches, so you don’t feel left out. I took a ballet class once where we did a ton of planks. I found myself wishing I had known a better alternative. (I usually opted for incline planes) So it’s nice to see a workout that includes one for crunches at least. Is this a favorite? No, because I prefer to work my core in a standing position. As Kelly also mentions, the core is stronger in a standing position so that’s what I shoot for. (That and my kids take any opportunity that I’m on the floor as a chance to wrestle).
This is the second and probably last time I have done this workout this pregnancy. If nothing else, it has been an experiment in honoring my true range of motion and learning to modify movements. I was unable to do the series laying on my belly, so I opted to do some hands and knees work instead, splinting and engaging my core. During the final series laying on my back I focused on heel sliders and belly breaths. I did briefly lift my knees to my chest to stretch which is how I discovered that while the chiropractic adjustments have been helping my mobility, my sacrum is still very sore. So I had to let go and just breath through the last section of this workout and accept that it just isn’t a good fit for me during the third trimester.
I was excited to be able to do this workout as prescribed with the dumbbells. Last time I made a lot of modifications, this time I had to make hardly any at all. Yes, it was hard, but not so hard that I wanted to quit. I’m excited to keep coming back to this to help with both my balance and my upper body strength.
The last few times I tried to do this video I had a lot of pain in sacrum. But I’ve been getting chiropractic treatment for the last two weeks and sleeping with much less pain so I decided to give it another try. There were definitely points, like during the shoulder bridge that I needed to really engage my glutes to makes sure I wasn’t hurting my lower back, but I was able to do it much more easily than in the past. During the final combination, I chose a large pillow instead of a stack of books and found that while I still had to be careful not to turn the wrong way or accidentally tighten my lower back, I was able to do almost all of the final combination with less pain than when I had my sacrum resting on a stack of books. I’m not sure yet if I’ll keeping doing this regularly during the rest of my pregnancy. I may have to stick to Mula Banda for my pelvic floor work since it’s done standing. But I’ll definitely come back during my postpartum recovery.
I’m absolutely loving this workout, even during pregnancy. Yes, it is difficult and I almost always have to take a break during the arm portion, but it feels great to still be able to do a longer workout even when I’m this far a long.
I don’t know why I was so worried about this workout. I looked at the 30 minute length and remembered that it had seemed long in the past, but it actually makes a great maternity workout. The nature of Tabata is intervals of intensity with short intervals of rest. This is perfect for a maternity workout. I did choose not to do the final section of toe taps laying on the floor, but other than that, I was able to complete the rest of it without any real problem. Yes, it was hard work.
Week Six Bonus: Try to accomplish some light cardiovascular training for 25-30 minutes on two additional days. This can be cumulative, meaning that you do 10 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes after lunch. Also, be sure to take some time to CLICK over to The Tummy Team this week, especially if you feel like your core still isn’t responding due to deeper dysfunction.
I realize that this workout is a little bit shorter than recommended, but I decided to do it anyway. I liked the idea of being able to actually complete a workout rather than having to cut short a longer one due to lack of stamina. I choose to use the weights this time and it definitely makes this workout more intense, but not painfully so. I appreciate Bethany’s continued reminders to make sure to engage the core. I also like that she frequently reminds us not to sacrifice quality for quantity; meaning don’t resort to bad form just to do more reps. Sometimes that meant putting down the weights or just taking a quick break between reps to do some belly breaths. I’ll definitely keep this one on my list as my pregnancy progresses.
This used to be one of my favorite workouts. Technically, I suppose it still is, but my pregnant body and I disagree about this. It was a very hard go round for me. I stopped often for drinks and to catch my breath, but I did manage to finish it. Not sure if I’ll come back to it this pregnancy or not, it depends on how I feel. But I’ll definitely be working back up to this postpartum.
Well it took me long enough, but finally I’ve finished the new Fit2B Beginning Pathway. I look forward to coming back to it again during my postpartum recovery. Up next is a few weeks of my own Fit2B Mama followed by Fit2B New Mamas. Plus I’ve decided to splurge on The Tummy Team Prenatal Program to help prepare me for labor and hopefully a quick recovery afterwards.
Just joining me? You can catch up here.
Fit2B Beginning + Fit2B Mama: Week 1
Fit2B Beginning + Fit2B Mama: Week 2
Fit2B Beginning + Fit2B Mama: Week 3
Fit2B Beginning + Fit2B Mama: Week 4
Fit2B Beginning + Fit2B Mama: Week 5
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