Pregnancy workouts

I am terrible at working out during pregnancy. Please take that advice and run with it as you read the rest of this post. If I even slightly pretended to be good at working out during pregnancy, David would come home from work and laugh in my face until I deleted this post.

So I'm not even gonna go there. I'm writing this mostly as a [hopefully] helpful resource for me during pregnancy #2, whenever that ends up being, because it took me long enough to get motivated to find pregnancy workouts that I want to skip that part next time. Blog post, voila! 

So, in no particular order, here's what I've been doing to try to keep my body from all falling to mush during these precious 9 months.

1. Taking walks

I couldn't find a picture of it, but does anyone else love the part on the Office where Pam & Angela are pregnant at the same time, and Angela veils her criticism of Pam's caffeine intake as "concern" for another pregnant woman in the office on their walk together? Love it. 

Even though that has nothing to do with really anything, I included it to prove that yes, you are supposed to take walks during pregnancy, and I've actually very much enjoyed it. It's been bitterly cold here recently, when I was hoping it would start to warm up so I could go back to my walks, but every day that it's warm enough and David gets home at a reasonable hour (aka before sunset) I make him take a walk with me. It's not a stressful workout but it's supposed to be just the right amount for pregnant ladies like moi.

2. Katy Appleton pregnancy yoga

I am poor. Okay, well not poor, but not loaded enough to sign up for a prenatal yoga class, which I would love to do someday. So instead I hop onto YouTube and combine Katy Appleton's 10 minute videos into something resembling a full yoga workout. Below I've linked her first one, and there are 5 in the series.

She's an adorable pregnant lady, she's got a great accent, and her yoga is perfectly suited to pregnant bodies. I really like her, even as someone who isn't that into yoga in general. (I've done the P90x yoga quite a few times, but that's my limited exposure.)

3. P90x

Okay, so this is more of a warning to my future pregnant self than a suggestion of what you should do while pregnant. I was about 40 days into P90X when I took the pregnancy test, and found out that the reason I was feeling nauseous every day after my workout wasn't my extreme hardcore-ness but rather the little one upsetting my stomach. 

I'm planning on doing P90x after having the baby (and a green light from my doc) to get back into shape, but if I continue to do it after the 90 days when we might be having another kid, I'm going to take special note of what makes me nauseous. And maybe take a pregnancy test a little bit earlier. :)

4. (Light) Weight training

In high school I was straight-up terrified of lifting weights, thinking that if I even so much as did some arm curls my arms would bulk up and I'd never be able to lose it. Boy, was I wrong. My favorite part of P90x was all the weight training, in all different forms, and how much I could see the effects on my body.

While pregnant, I haven't done as much lifting, because you really are supposed to avoid straining yourself too much. I've recently started adding some very light weights back into my workouts, however, and I've found that as long as I keep my weights light (like, max 5-8 lbs) and my reps not too crazy, I'm not feeling any sort of intense strain. 

5. Denise Austen pregnancy cardio

So yes, this video is cheesy. And doesn't feel much like a workout. And she kind of talks down to you the entire time like, oh goodness you're pregnant, you're basically a china doll so don't you dare even think to kick like you mean it. Buuuut I will admit that I liked doing this video as something to mix up my workouts. 

It's sort of cheesy zumba mixed with a lot of encouragement. For 20 minutes it's bearable, plus, once again it's free on YouTube so I shouldn't be asking for too much.

Future Hannah, there you go! Links all included and everything. You are so welcome.

All you out there in blog-land, what do you do (during pregnancy or not) to stay in shape? I love hearing different routines and trying new things from recommendations!

HG

P.S. Still linking up with Jen for 7 posts in 7 days!