Description
There are highlights and challenges of pregnancy that everyone is likely to encounter at some point. The excitement, maternal glow and baby kicks on one hand; the nausea, fatigue and physical aches on the other. The frequency and intensity of these highs and lows varies significantly from person to person, and indeed from pregnancy to pregnancy. Whatever your ambitions for keeping active during pregnancy, please avoid comparing yourself to anyone else – or even to yourself, if you’ve been here before.
The workouts in this book act as a guide to make you feel safe and strong when you train, but it is impossible to account for every sensation you may feel throughout your pregnancy. During personal training sessions, I use the warm-up to get a sense of how my clients are feeling and moving.
There are a myriad of changes that will, and should, influence your training. For that reason, I ask you to never skip your warm-up. This is the most important time to internalise your awareness and make important decisions about what you need from your training from one day to the next. Your best coach along the way will invariably be your own body. Learn to listen to it.
Perhaps the best thing you can do to support your pregnancy is to celebrate your body for what it has achieved. Mind, Body, Bump does just that.
It also incorporates mindfulness techniques, encouraging you to feel specific muscles awaken and to use the breath as you move. As you become more aware of your body, you can also be more mentally present in your workout. You’ll learn transferable skills that support you long after your cool-down, helping you to live positively in the moment rather than anxiously in a world of ‘what ifs’.
If you are diagnosed with any of the following conditions during your pregnancy, they could mean that you should avoid particular exercises.
- Low-lying placenta
- Hypertension
- Anaemia
- Chronic bronchitis
- Gestational diabetes
- Fetal growth restriction
- Weak cervix
GET MORE FROM YOUR PELVIC FLOOR TRAINING
Daily squeezing will strengthen the pelvic floor, but you can get even more from proper activation of this muscle group by training it in a way that’s relevant to everyday movements. Here’s how:
- REPOSITION REGULARLY Start practising your pelvic floor squeezes by lying down, as it’s easier to detect if you’re squeezing the bigger surrounding muscles instead.
- BLOW BEFORE YOU GO Pair your squeezes with your breath.
- BUCKLE UP Use your pelvic floor to trigger subtle engagement of your transverse abdominis muscle.
- MOVE MINDFULLY Once you’ve mastered the above training methods, use your breath and pelvic floor engagement while you move.
EQUIPMENT
Staying active during pregnancy doesn’t require an expensive gym membership or endless free time.
All the workouts are designed to take less than an hour and to use your own body weight or versatile resistance equipment that you can store at home.
For the resistance workouts, you will require the following:
- One medium kettlebell between 6–10kg (13–22lb), or one light (4–8kg/9–18lb) and one heavy (8–12kg/18–26lb) at either end of the spectrum
- One pair of light to medium dumbbells between 3–6kg (7–13lb), two pairs at either end of the spectrum or a set of adaptable dumbbell bars and weight plates
- One light to medium resistance band, ideally with handles
- One medium to strong resistance loop
- One set of gliders, ideally double-sided for suitability on hard and carpeted floors
- One high-quality exercise mat (non-essential but useful for all exercises)
- One Swiss ball
- One aerobic step (third trimester only)
How to Use This Book
The Mind, Body, Bump workouts suggest ways in which you can stay challenged and excited about exercise while protecting your prenatal body (and its precious cargo).
You can follow them to the letter, or you can adapt them to suit your body, resources and lifestyle. Each month includes two new workouts – one bodyweight session and one resistance-based session – designed to complement that specific stage of pregnancy. Month one introduces some foundational movements that you will come back to and modify throughout your pregnancy. That’s why, even if you’re beginning the workouts after your first month of pregnancy, I suggest working through these early routines at least a couple times before moving onto subsequent months.
Each workout provides recommendations to suit two levels of fitness– Mindful Mamas and Tandem Athletes. Use your pre-pregnancy fitness level to decide which recommendations to follow. If you regularly participated in weight training before pregnancy and you’re familiar with the movements in the workout, you will probably excel with the Tandem Athlete instructions.
If you’re new to weight-based training or building your confidence in compound movements such as squats and deadlifts, start with the Mindful Mama suggestions and consider progressing to Tandem Athlete if you require a greater challenge. If you have no equipment but still want to try the workouts, you also have the option to follow only the bodyweight sessions.
Most importantly, enjoy and celebrate your body!
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