Need Workout Ideas Please

mlmccauley

mlmccauley

Cathlete
Hello. I was wondering if I could get some help. I am currently 20 weeks pregnant with my first (yay!), I have been “exercising” but not to the extent I was before. Prior to getting pregnant, I was working out 5-6 days a week doing mostly Cathe and running. Once I found out I was pregnant I tapered my workouts almost immediately – partly due to fatigue, partly because it took 4 years to get pregnant I wanted to make sure to take it easy in the beginning. So my workout routine since getting PG has been mostly walking outdoors with hills included, walking on a treadmill with varied incline, and using the elliptical trainer with varied resistance and incline. I have done very little strength training, mostly just picking up dumbbells here and there and doing some upper body exercises. I’ve managed to workout about 3-4 times per week. Now that the weather is getting a little brisk, I fear my outdoor walks will suffer. Are there any low intensity/low impact workouts you can recommend? I’d like to continue some form of exercise through the remainder of this pregnancy but I don’t want to do anything too strenuous. Any ideas are appreciated. I currently own quite a few Firms, Cathe’s, SS, Ripped workouts if that helps. Not sure if these are beyond my capability right now given that I haven’t done much video exercising in a while. If you have any ideas on how to modify the above workouts, that would be great too.

TIA, Maria
 
I'm not currently PG, but we're working on it! :)

In anticipation of the fatigue and needing to dial it back a notch, I picked up some of Cathe's beginner workouts. They are less "tricky" and move slower.

I just got basic step..and I forget the other video on that DVD, but they are simple and very easy. Plus, you can always just use the top of your board, rather than go up to 6" for the step...

Just some ideas. Let us know how you're coming along!
 
Hi Maria,

I am 30 weeks along and have been modifying my workouts due to nausea (and fatigue - of course!). Pre-prego I used cathe dvds probably 6 times a week; now I mostly use the elliptical, bike, and walk. The only cathe videos I still use are the gym styles (I go a little lighter than I did before) and her kickboxing tapes. I really like Kick Max b/c it's easy to modify and you still get a decent workout. Also, the leg sculpting segment is still useful - again, with some modifications :) KPC is good too, but I have to break it down a bit more and modify some of the cardio. You can repeat segments of kicking or punching though to make up for taking out some of the other segments. Even Legs and Glutes and GS Legs are still useful if you break them up into standing vs. non standing. Sometimes I'll do a 1/2 hr. bike ride and then the standing portion only ...

Sorry for the brain dump! Hope this helps ...

Take care,
Arancini
 
When I was pregnant with twins (I was HUGE), I modified step workouts by stepping on the lowest height (no risers). I did a lot of walking, yoga, swimming, and elliptical. I also lifting lightly until the end. I swear the exercising kept them in until full term. KEEP MOVING! It is good for you and your baby.

Stepping seemed to be the easiest on me, for some reason. I felt no pressure when I stepped. I did Cathe's beginner tape a lot and Christi Taylor's beginner tape.

Good luck and congrats!
 
Thanks for all the great ideas. Maybe I'll pull out C&W tonight and see how I do and make sure to listen to my body. I want to make sure I stay active. Hopefully it'll make it easier once the baby gets here to get back into some type of routine.

Good luck melimcn on your TTC journey. Arancini, may you have a safe and healthy pregnancy - you're almost there. Congrats on your twins jennifit - was it hard to get back into exercise after, did you have a difficult time losing the pregnancy weight?

Thanks again for the ideas.

Maria
 
I was going to recommend Body Fusion and the Low Impact Step Dvd's if you have them. They are still do-able for me (most days :) ); I'm a little over 24 wks now. I have a Kathy Smith pregnancy dvd and a prenatal yoga video that I will be pulling out in my last trimester. I get so huge, I'm not sure I will be able to continue doing Cathe until the end.

Also, I've been doing my Turbo Jam dvd's, keeping it low impact.

HTH!

Marsha
edd 1/6/08 with #3
 
Maria!

I had no problem at all. I had 12.5 POUNDS of baby in me and 10 months later (that's how old they are now) I smaller than I was before. I did have an umbilical hernia from being so huge, so that set me back about 4 weeks because I had to have surgery and recover from it.

Do not worry - you will bounce back with healthy eating and exercise. But, definitely working out and eating clean during pregnancy really helped me rebound quickly, too! PM if you have any other questions! I'll be here for you.

Enjoy yourself - hope you are feeling well.
 
Ahhh!!! Jennifit - I just clicked on your username and see that you are from Chicago!! Whereabouts? I'm in Downers Grove - western suburbs.

Maria
 
Congratulations on your pregnancy! I used Cathe cardio workouts through all 3 of my pregnancies with gradual modifications (lowering the step, no high impact blasts, etc.) With my last pregnancy, I bought Low Impact Step (the beginner/moderate dvd)and used it alot in the last trimester--it was also very useful post-partum as I slowly got back into exercising--although I do not use it much anymore it was worth having for that time period. I also liked the cardio only premixes on LIC and Body Max 2 although BM2 required a little more modifying (i.e. it was too uncomfortable to do "cross-countries".) One of my favorite discoveries was the step only premix on Imax3! This was great at the end of my pregnancy when I was SOOO BIG! It was fun and quick--even when I did not feel like working out at all I could always convince myself to do it since it is only about 30 minutes and it is not too difficult. I was never able to do lower body weight work because it made me too sore for some reason (and not in a good way!)but I tried to keep up with upper body weight work (except for lying flat on my back). Good luck!
 
Maria!

How funny!! I live in Glencoe, which is on the North Shore. Boohooo, I think that is an hour from where you live. (Shows you how big Chicagoland is, huh?) Do you get to the city a lot?? GO NOW, because once your little is born is s-l-o-w-s down! lol!

Great to "meet" you!

jen
 
Jen -

No, I don't get to the city very much. Although my husband and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and spent two-days downtown. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Wacker Drive. We went to the Planetarium, Navy Pier, shopping, lots of yummy eating ;o). It was alot of fun.

Great to "meet" you too. If anybody organizes a Chicagoland get-together anytime soon maybe some of can "meet" in person.

Maria
 
>Jen -
>
>No, I don't get to the city very much. Although my husband
>and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and spent
>two-days downtown. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Wacker
>Drive. We went to the Planetarium, Navy Pier, shopping, lots
>of yummy eating ;o). It was alot of fun.
>
>Great to "meet" you too. If anybody organizes a Chicagoland
>get-together anytime soon maybe some of can "meet" in person.
>
>Maria


That would be awesome! Maybe I should try to put together a get together!! Your anniversary sounded great! I love being a tourist in my own city - it is such a great place. Happy Anniversary!:) Well, stay healthy and take care of yourself!! Keep me posted on how you are doing with your pregnancy!!
 
Hi Maria,

Congrats! I'm 33 weeks now, with my first too. I felt great at 20 weeks and began increasing my workouts. I took it pretty easy the first trimester so it was nice to get back into it. I used Cathe's Gym styles a lot, I loved the GS shoulders and the GS legs. I've tapered off doing the floor/ball exercises from GS legs recently, but they're great for legs and hips and low impact. I'm getting bigger now and try to avoid being on my back for very long so I don't do them as often.

I liked Cathe's Kick Max, though I found that it didn't flow as much as I wanted it too so I had to improvise. But it's fun and the leg portion is great as Arancini mentioned.

I swam a lot this summer along with the weights and videos, but now I'm doing lots of walking and trying to get to the pool at least once a week. I'm working with lighter weights (3-5 lbs mostly) now and seem to do be doing Zen Sculpt from Fit TV a lot...it feels great and it's gentle. Plus, reminding myself to stretch more each day.

A good ball and band workout might be something that would work for you for the colder months...it's lower impact, fun and easy but gets results. I don't have one to recommend but maybe someone else does.

Good luck to you and your baby!

Best of health :)

Steph
 
Maria,

There's a great workout video that I recommended to one of my friends who wanted to go easy but still stay fit. She started at about 22 weeks and does it 2-3 times a week, and she's 35 weeks now and says she feels great.

It's called the "Perfect Pregancy Workout", you can find it on Amazon. It's about a 40 minute workout that includes dips, push-ups, some floorwork, stretches, kegels, squats, and connecting with your baby -- it's a great DVD. The only real gear you need is a step stool (or step), some pillows and a mat, unless you have carpet. I think you might really enjoy it.

Good luck, let us know what workouts work for you.

Best,
Steph
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top