I CAN’T SAY ENOUGH TIMES HOW IMPORTANT MAINTAINING FITNESS IS BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER YOUR PREGNANCY. FITNESS IS THE KEY TO MAKING YOUR JOURNEY HEALTHY, HAPPY AND COMFORTABLE. HOWEVER, A LOT OF WOMEN DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO OR WHERE TO START. SO, HERE IS A FITNESS GUIDE FOR ANY SOON-TO-BE MAMA LOOKING TO IMPLEMENT A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE EXERCISE ROUTINE. I'VE DEVELOPED A TOTAL PACKAGE PREGNANCY FITNESS PLAN THAT CAN BE DOWNLOADED ON THE PEAR SPORTS FITNESS APP. MY VOICE LITERALLY COMES THROUGH YOUR HEADPHONES AND TRAINS YOU THROUGH EACH AND EVERY PREGNANCY-SAFE WORKOUT. I MONITOR YOUR HEART RATE FOR YOU, OFFER YOU MODIFICATIONS, AS WELL AS PROVIDE MOTIVATION AND EDUCATION ALONG THE WAY. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PLAN BELOW!
PRE-PREGNANCY FITNESS
First things first, if you're thinking about pregnancy or actively trying to get pregnant, now it the time to start your pregnancy plan. It’s NOT too early. For women planning a pregnancy, establishing a fitness routine is an important part of the process. Nancy considered herself “Pre-Natal” for about 6 months before conceiving and she has her clients do the same. When her clients are planning to get pregnant, she begins implementing pregnancy-training techniques into their programming such as learning how to properly breathe, engage the core, and improve strength and conditioning levels. These techniques will build your pregnancy fitness baseline well before conception, setting you up for success throughout the pregnancy and after, helping you bounce back after pregnancy quickly.
FIRST TRIMESTER
Setting the foundation for your pregnancy begins with learning how to breathe and strengthen your core. These two skills are most important to learn during this trimester. All workouts in Nancy’s pregnancy plan are safe and effective to use during all trimesters, but she recommends doing the Labor Training Cardio workouts, Core Strength and Leg & Butt routines every week in this first trimester- that is if nausea doesn’t hold you back! Keep in mind that daily exercise is going to help alleviate morning sickness, fatigue and weight fluctuation – common issues experienced in the first three months.
Take time to go through the skill sessions on Nancy’s pregnancy plan (Core/TVA 101, Baby Breathing 101 and Pelvic Floor 101) because they will familiarize you with these important concepts and help you successfully implement them during your pregnancy workouts. Nancy will remind you throughout all of her workouts how to do all of these techniques, but the 101 skill sessions are going to give you a foundation of knowledge on these concepts, explaining why they are so important to master during the upcoming months.
SECOND TRIMESTER
All workouts on Nancy’s pregnancy plan are safe and effective to use during all trimesters, but it is recommended that the focus this trimester be a blend of a few things. For the second trimester, Nancy suggests all expecting mamas to work on total body toning, core strength, and labor training cardio. It’s important to make sure upper body strength workouts are still completed, which will bring some increased attention to your posture muscles. Strengthening these muscles will reap benefits post-delivery, as women often hunch their backs while holding their babies or during breastfeeding.
Keep in mind that using Nancy’s labor training workouts will assist in preparing both you and baby for the demand that contractions will place on both of you during labor. Remember practice makes perfect! Labor training will help to ensure you and baby are prepared for the big day and will assist in making your labor shorter, easier and the pushing you’ll do during delivery more effective!
THIRD TRIMESTER
As your belly continues to grow and you start to feel the pregnancy weight you gained, you might feel a bit more fatigued during your workouts. Keep in mind that there are modifications for each trimester and all fitness levels in every one of the workouts in Nancy’s pregnancy plan and she recommends you listen to your body and take those modifications when needed. It’s also important to consider that some days you might need to take longer rest periods during your workouts. Nancy encourages you to hit the ‘pause’ button when you need to, take a breather, and then join back in when you’re ready.
In the home stretch of your pregnancy, it’s important to keep up with your Labor Training Cardio and all core strength and toning routines. Even if your workouts are scaled back and your dumbbells are lighter, you have already built such a strong foundation of fitness from the first two trimesters that you’ll still get all the benefits for you and baby. Just remember to try to keep moving! Working out will bring you and baby energy and other health benefits, plus, it’ll help alleviate the aches and pains that come towards the end of pregnancy.
LETS GET STARTED:
Download the free Pear Sports Fitness App on your smartphone and search under my name, “Nancy Anderson” and you will find the full pregnancy fitness plan for downloading and you can get started ASAP! Not sure what workout to do from the plan and when to do it? Here is a 4-week starter workout schedule to get you up and moving. Keep in mind that I also customize online pregnancy and post-pregnancy specific training programs for Mama’s as well. To contact me about customized plans please email me at: NancyAndersonFit@gmail.com
To print out your 4 week starter schedule click here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/mktg-assets.pearsports.com/prenatal_sample_starter_plan.pdf
For more information on Pregnancy Fitness and this plan check out our homepage: http://pearsports.com/pregnancy
