photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt.
I am afraid of being fat. Yes, that is horrible and vain. I deserve to be flogged for such a statement. In fact I don’t deserve to be a woman since I obviously can’t accept curves. Now that we’ve established just how terrible I am, let’s move on.
Watchmen Silk Spectre
I like being strong. And I want to be stronger. If anyone messes with my kid, I want to round kick their brain out of their skull. Think silk spectre. Exercise is important to me for so many reasons. It keeps me strong, healthy, and sane. So I have decided that before getting knocked up, I will ramp up my exercise efforts and loose weight. My logic is that if I’m going to gain weight, better to have a lower starting number. I also know that it will be much more difficult to carry my lazy ass to the gym once the pregnancy malaise kicks in.
To whittle down my pre-baby body I am exercising nearly every day. Burning at least 2200 calories per week, working hard on my legs (my weak spot), and strengthening in general. To do this I am doing an “Impact Training” at my gym at least once a week, the 30 Day Shred, Tracy Anderson Leg Workout, and various strength training at the gym. I hadn’t used workout videos before these, but I am enjoying a hard workout without having to drive to the gym.
I know there is some concern with getting too low in body fat and fertility. However, my gynecologist has told me I should be good since I was a competitive athlete with a super lower-than-what-I-have-now body fat and I still menstruated. All bodies are different and mine seems to be perfectly happy with little fat.
But even with all the exercise in the world pre-pregnancy, I am still going to need it during the pregnancy. In fact, I will need it more then. The problem? I can’t figure out what I can and cannot do. The entire internet is full of contradicting advice. Don’t exercise at all, don’t get your heart rate above 140, don’t cycle, don’t exercise to point you can’t talk, don’t push yourself… Then there are some that say you can continue whatever you were doing pre-pregnancy. And if my head is spinning from exercise information, I can’t imagine what will happen when it comes to something more complex, like breast feeding or birthing.
Here is what I think. 140bpm is child’s play for me, I get there on the warm-up. I can’t imagine falling off an indoor cycling bike, even if I weighed 500 lbs and my center of gravity was at my nose. If you can talk you’re not working HARD ENOUGH!!! And if you don’t push yourself, how is it exercise? Wouldn’t that be called lounging?
So here is my pregnancy work out plan. I will work out. I will try to keep my heart rate lower than 80% (this will be hard). I will add in a yoga class at least once a week to de-stress and stretch. I will continue indoor cycling until it becomes painfully uncomfortable. I will not swing dumbbells around my belly. I will also check with the trainers at the gym if they think the Impact Training will be okay. I think it should be, and they will most likely offer modifications for some of the circuits.
Have you made any changes to your work-out regime? What are your thoughts on exercise during pregnancy?