So far so good. I'm almost at 31 weeks (the picture above is a little behind), and things seem to still be going well. I'm not always sure how it's supposed to feel, but I'm still hanging in there.
Last week, I had what seemed to be reasonable workout goals, but I must admit I did not do all the workouts I had planned. I wanted to do 2 or 3 strengthening workouts plus 2 yoga sessions. I think I did two strengthening workouts plus a 20 minute bike ride with yoga tacked onto the end. Not bad. The biking went better than I anticipated, actually. Besides the fact that my thighs kept bumping my belly, I was able to comfortably do 7 minutes of moderate spinning then 1 minute of harder work alternated with 1 minute of easy spinning. I continued these intervals for a total of 20 minutes.
A note about the yoga: I'm not good enough at yoga to make up my own routine, but most Prenatal Yoga DVD's that I've tried out are way too easy. (Example: "Stay seated with good posture and roll your ankles clockwise, now roll counterclockwise, blah, blah, blah...". Not my cup of tea.) We get a cable channel called FitTV and they provide a half hour show called Namaste Yoga. The entire yoga workout is 22 minutes long, including the warm-up and cool down. It consists of a series of intermediate poses that progress with each set. In other words, every time you go through the poses you add another pose onto it. They are challenging, but completely doable. I actually recommend this Namaste Yoga for the somewhat athletic individual that wants a new challenge. I also like that they don't make you overly twist the spine, which is actually very dangerous and can lead to many back issues.
Speaking of which, my back has definitely started to bother me more. I'm glad it didn't speak up sooner (perhaps because of my strong core), but it is now a daily issue I have to be aware of. The reason for this is with my growing belly, my low back muscles engage more throughout the day to keep me from toppling forward. I don't really notice myself leaning back at all, but a physical therapist I work with pointed it out to me. She mentioned that there isn't much use in trying not to lean back since my center of gravity is completely different now. It's just the way it is. The solution of course is to keep strengthening my core muscles. The best exercises are prone planks, side planks and any other exercises where the core musculature has to brace. Performing back extensions would be the worst thing to do, since that is what is causing the back pain. The core is designed to brace and hold the spine neutral throughout the day, so replicating this action with similar exercises is the best.
Here are my go-to core exercises: (post me a comment if you want a description of these)
- TRX suspended planks
- TRX suspended side planks
- Physioball roll-outs
- Tall prone planks w/ hip movement (extension, flexion, or abduction)
- Phsyioball stir-the-pot
Well, so far this week, the 31st week, I have performed one strength training workout. It was hard, don't get me wrong. But it is now Thursday and I'm ashamed to say that I haven't done more. When my clients tell me they miss their workouts I get frustrated with them and want so much more for them. Time is not an issue for me... The issue is I have a great excuse: "I'm pregnant, and I don't want to, so I don't have to." Bologne. Whether I'm pregnant or not, my body still needs to stay strong and healthy. So you have my word. I will work out three more times this week no matter what. I only have about 9 more weeks to go, so this is when I have to really be strong. NO MISSED WORKOUTS!
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