Exercise, The Tummy Team, Women's Health

Fit2B Mama Week 1

July 23, 2015 by Bethany No Comments

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

Fit2B Mama: Week 1

It’s been quite a wild ride this pregnancy and I can’t quite believe that I’m only at 30 weeks. But at least I’m at 30 weeks right? I know that my exercise plans are likely to change and adjust a lot in the next few weeks (including my additional focus on healing and maintaining my core while working through The Tummy Team prenatal program), but I’m going to try to give it my best effort.

This and the next two weeks, I’ve put together combinations of exercises that I feel work well for pregnancy. The first week is on the simpler side, and if I did nothing else for the rest of my pregnancy, I would probably repeat this week over and over again.

It feels good to exercising semi-normally again. If I was being honest this is probably my favorite way to exercise. Core work, aerobic, stretching (maybe add some weights if I’m especially ambitious). It’s just how I like to do things. It feels balanced. This is the philosophy I’m trying to maintain for my pregnancy. I know I can’t handle really long workouts anymore, it’s just beyond my stamina, especially if I’m trying to use proper form.

So my goals are as follows: core work everyday (usually Foundational Five put possibly some other beginner core work), aerobics at least three days a week, light weights or other upper body two days a week and stretching daily. Will I manage it? Not always, but it remains my goal.

Day 1

Totally Transverse II
Basic Aerobics II
Pregnancy Stretching

This is one of my favorite combinations of workouts. I feel like I’ve really worked, but I also don’t feel so tired that I can’t function for the rest of the day. Each of these workouts are old favorites of mine, but I will keep coming back to it anyway because it’s comfortable in a good way, I know what to expect, I know the kind of workout I will get and my brain doesn’t need to be as engaged because of the familiarity. (This is great when I’m feeling extra tired and can’t think clearly).

Day 2

Mula Bandha
Kelly Dean’s Wall Workout
Foam unRolling

I always love the Kelly Wall Workout because it’s short and yet very effective, working both the upper and lower body plus the core. The Foam unRolling is more of a list of suggested movements than a workout, but I still find it helpful to hit this one occasionally. Mula Bandha is one of the Foundational Five which becomes even more important during pregnancy. This whole combination can be done in less than 30 minutes at a stretch or divided into a few short segments throughout the day.

Day 3

Totally Transverse
Basic Aerobics III
Neck Routine

This is another great combination of core work, aerobics and stretching. While I’m sure the Neck Routine would have been more relaxing had my three year old not been climbing on me, I still found it helpful given how much stress I carry in my neck.

Day 4

Basic Transverse and Mula Bandha
Big Band Workout
Foam Rolling

Big Band Workout is a surprisingly good upper body workout, but without the stress or strain of weights. I still had to work very hard to make sure I was properly engaging my core at all times, but this is a great, short upper body workout, especially if you haven’t exercised that part of you in a while. It will definitely make my post partum list. Foam Rolling was also interesting and has the potential to be quite relaxing, but I don’t think it’s ideal when pregnant. Basic Transverse and Mula Bandha is a great workout if you are tired and feel like you just can’t do anything else. It’s even done sitting down.

Day 5

Transitions
Kelly’s Core Cardio
Kelly Dean’s Total Body Stretching

Transitions is a great workout on its own, but it also serves as a good warm up for something more upbeat, like Kelly’s Core Cardio. Technically it’s considered the next level up from the Foundational Five, but I’ve always considered it a great beginner level workout. It turns out that Kelly’s Core Cardio is a great maternity workout! The phantom hula hoop motion is very helpful in maintaining pelvic mobility when (at least for me) things seem to stiffen up. Sometimes I couldn’t hold my arms up the whole time, but at least I got through it. If you don’t have the energy for an additional stretching routine Kelly does a good job of stretching at the end of this workout. Kelly Dean’s Total Body Stretching has a lot of education in the video, so you may want to fast forward here and there if it moves too slowly for you and you’ve done it before. But sometimes I find that if I do extra long stretches while Kelly talks I really get a longer stretch than I would do if I was stretching on my own. This is very soothing on it’s own, or after a good workout. If I could manage it, I probably should do this or the Pregnancy Stretching each morning and evening.

Day 6

Align it Flat

Trying to do this while pregnant is like experiencing it for the first time. It feels as though my body’s whole alignment has changed, so this workout was much harder. Trying to figure out where my bones and joints are supposed to be and which muscles and ligaments should be used to support them is quite a challenge. Plus, things change so much from week to week that I know I will have to continue to keep this workout around to help me remember to adjust my alignment as needed.

Day 7

Maternity I

This workout continues to surprise me by how hard it can be for me in parts, but I continue to appreciate how well balanced it is. Other than being very cautious with the portion at the end lying on my back and moving gently during the side leg series, I found it to be very soothing.

I definitely found it difficult to get through all these exercises in one week. Don’t feel pressured to do it all. Just pick one combo to do on whatever day you choose to work out. At this point, I’m very much clinging to the idea that something is better than nothing.

Fit2B Mama Week 2