Working Out While Pregnant

For those who have asked what my workouts consist of since being pregnant, they haven’t changed much. The only thing I have really adjusted is my speed on the treadmill and I’ve decreased my weight a bit when lifting. I listen to my body and take rest days when needed (sometimes that’s once a week, sometimes it’s two or three times a week). I’ve been very fortunate thus far in my pregnancy and haven’t had a whole lot of morning sickness. Aside from having some days where I am so tired I can hardly stay awake at work and the back pain I’ve had from my sciatica, I have felt pretty good every day and have been able to work out and continue with daily activities without any problems. It’s important to listen to your body, workout when you can, workout with caution and remember this is not a time to try and lose weight or gain muscle, it’s a time to be as healthy as possible for both you and the baby. Anyhow, here is an example of last week’s workout schedule: I’ll post my shoulder workout as an example of the weight I’m lifting. (You can Google any of the workouts I have listed for an example of how to do them or go on Bodybuilding.com)


Monday – Cardio on treadmill for 30 minutes (Jogging at 7.3 as opposed to 8.5 before pregnancy)

Weights for about 30/40 minutes– Shoulders/Biceps:

Arnold Dumbbell Press (3 sets of 15 – 15 lb dumbbells)

Superset with

Front Plate Raises (3 sets of 15 – 25 lb plate)



Side Lateral Raises (3 sets of 15 –10 lb dumbbells)

Superset with

Bent Over Reverse Flys (3 sets of 15 – 10 lb dumbbells)



Front incline dumbbell raises (3 sets of 12 – 10 lb dumbbells)

Superset with

Barbell shoulder press behind neck (3 sets of 12 –20 lbs)



Bent Over Low-Pulley Side Lateral (3 sets of 12 – 20 lbs on cable machine)



3 sets of 21’s with barbell (20 lbs)

Incline dumbbell curls (both arms at the same time 3 sets of 15 - 12.5 dumbbells)



Tuesday – Chest, triceps and abs for 45 minutes.

Wednesday – 30 minutes of cardio (uphill, inclined at 10.0 run at 6.0 for 30 seconds, walk for at 3.0 for 30 seconds, repeat for 20 minutes) followed by 30 minutes of back and biceps.

Thursday – day off

Friday – Cardio (40 minutes of running steady at 7.5)

Saturday – 30 minutes of cardio (treadmill running at a steady 7.5) followed by 20 minutes of arms (biceps and triceps).

Sunday – 20 minutes of cardio (uphill, inclined at 10.0 run at 6.0 for 30 seconds, walk for at 3.0 for 30 seconds, repeat for 20 minutes) followed by a light 30 minute leg day. I’ve decreased my weight for leg day the most since being pregnant just because I feel it’s not sage to lift that heavy.

Most weeks I only run 5 days a week and only one day I run longer than 30 minutes (the day I’m not lifting). I switch up my workouts often by adding supersets, performing them in a circuit, etc… I’m trying to continue to eat as clean as possible (I always keep breakfast and lunch clean but have splurged with a few snacks and dinners – dang pregnancy cravings). Luckily most of my cravings are for salads, fruit, veggies, smoothies, basically anything cold, refreshing and fresh. I am also addicted to cheez-it’s right now and soup too! I’m grossed out on Chinese food, Mexican food (except salsa and chips) and anything greasy. I have become a very picky eater when it comes to dinner and sometimes can’t even stand the thought of food (I’m sure I drive my husband nuts lol). There has been a few times within this past month where I have had dinners all planned out for the week and then couldn’t stand the thought of any of it when dinner time comes around and my poor husband has to run to go get me a salad or soup from somewhere nearby LOL.

Well that’s all for now. Hope this helps with some of the questions I’ve gotten re: working out while pregnant.

Stephani

Shot celebration for the new daddy to be with our family on Easter.  I took the picture.  I sure miss my champagne lol : )

Excited brother and sisters to be below : )