Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Five Favorites – Pregnancy Fitness Edition

Five Favorites, hosted at MoxieWife.com

Pregnancy fitness on a breastfeeding blog?  Fitness in pregnancy can shorten recovery time and help our bodies to prepare for the rigors of life with a baby on the outside, so pregnancy fitness is a great preparation for a good start in breastfeeding.

I really enjoy things like walking and getting out into nature, and I have a recumbent tricycle that I use during pregnancy, too.  However, with winter and rain here for a while, I’ve mostly been doing my exercise in the warm and dry interior of my own home.

In addition to the things below, there’s a third trimester fitness thing that I love:  getting in the pool.  The buoyancy is a thing of beauty when dealing with the pregnant belly, and movement in the water is so much easier.

1.

I really like this one – it’s a great workout.  It’s tough but do-able, at least for me, and I feel like it hits the whole body.  I love, love, LOVE the stretching portion.  She seems to find the best stretches, even for the growing bellies.  If I do other workouts, I’ll sometimes ditch their stretching portions and do this one.

2.

This one is a close second.  I find it slightly less tough than the first one, but it definitely works things out.  The whole body gets covered, and she has you do kegel exercises during the workout – a good reminder for me.  The setting is a bit dark and weird, but that doesn’t affect the workout, really.

3.

                                          Product Details

The Perfect Pregnancy Workout, Volume 3:  The Ancient Art of Belly Dance for Labor

I approached this one with skepticism.  In fact, looking back, I’m actually surprised that I bought it.  I’m so glad I did, though, because if my back started hurting in the third trimester and I did this video, the pain went away.  I’m not promising similar results for everyone, but I was SOLD!  This was a workout for after the kids were in bed and when my husband wouldn’t accidentally happen into the room, though, because I felt EXTREMELY self-conscious doing it.  Belly dance apparently developed originally for labor preparation, but it has other connotations as well, and I was not interested in observation for this particular workout.

4.

I used this one for days when I wanted cardio but not lots of bells and whistles, days when I had 20 minutes for a quick workout, days when I wanted to do cardio combined with some of the Pilates in number 5 for a shorter or just different workout, or days when I felt too tired to do workouts 1 and 2, but wanted a little something to warm me up and get me moving.  There’s a warmup and five different miles to choose from, including a quick 12-minute mile (which means that warmup, workout, and cool down take about 20 minutes total), so it makes for an easy way to customize a workout that fits the situation for the day.  As a bonus, it’s so funny to see one’s toddler try to workout along with Lesley.

5.

This DVD include 5 different 10-minute segments that focus on different areas of the body with Pilates exercises.  I found that this provided a good mixer for days that I wasn’t quite up to 1 and 2 but wanted something.  One day in early second trimester I managed to pull something in my back while doing the abdominal segment, so I don’t do that one any more, since back injury during pregnancy sounds like something I want to avoid.  But I do enjoy the other segments a lot.  BONUS:  You can select which segments you want to do in which order, and the DVD will play them for you, so you don’t have to return to the menu in between to decide. 

For other favorites, join Hallie’s usual crew at Fountains of Home

4 comments:

  1. Since I'm pregnant with #6 and can't survive pregnancy without working out, I'm always on the hunt for a great video! I can't wait to try the long and lean work out! Thanks for the great list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They can be so hit or miss that I'm always relieved to find a good one! I hope you enjoy!

      Delete
  2. Oh wow this is a great list. I always am looking for a workout that actually keeps me feeling like I'm working out without worrying about doing too much. And the cover of the second dvd-hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Before this pregnancy, I was doing 30 Day Shred with Jillian Michaels. Definitely in the "doing too much" category! I bought the second DVD in spite of the cover, which in no way looks like anything I'd be photographed doing, pregnant or not! ;)

      Delete