Today marks 33 Weeks and 4 days pregnant! It’s crazy that “full term” is a mere 3.5 weeks away.

Some “progress photos” from 26 to 30 and then 32 weeks.

They say every pregnant woman goes through the “nesting instinct” where all they want to do is clean, de-clutter, and prepare. While I’m definitely doing those things, pregnant or not, if you’re going to experience a huge life change in the coming weeks, you’re going to want to be prepared!

We’ve been working away at her nursery, washing and folding and organizing clothes, and decorating. We also took our childbirth preparation class! It was such an informative class, but was LONG (8 hours) and very…Boulder-y. Did you know the epidural rate at this hospital is 50%, compared to the 90%+ national average?! I haven’t decided for sure whether I want an epidural, but I will say I have absolutely NOT ruled it out.

Anyway — today’s blog post is all about my workouts during pregnancy — and my post-partum plan and goals.

My Pregnancy Workout Routine and Modifications

If you’ve been following along with my pregnancy journey on my instagram — or just reading the periodic updates over here, you know staying fit and active and strong was and is a priority in my pregnancy. Being fit and strong is important to me.

Before becoming pregnant, I was lifting four days a week most days, playing volleyball once a week, and hiking or maybe going to an OTF class 1-2 times per week. I was also walking 45 minutes most days a week.

My lifting was centric in my workout routine; a typical split was:

Day 1 chest and shoulders

Day 2 legs w/ glute focus

Day 3 back and arms

Day 4 legs w/ multi focus

—And I lifted heavy, hard, and with a lot of volume. I was very happy and proud of my body composition and strength.

I had also cut out all of the other cardio (i.e. running) that I had previously been doing this past October, after 14 months of trying for a baby (some other lifestyle changes were made by both Shane and myself around this time, too…and we got pregnant 3 months later! If this is a topic you’d like me to go more in depth on, please let me know.) 

Before I get to my current workouts, I wanted to do a quick re-cap of first and second trimester workouts, as well.

First Trimester

 

I won’t go into too much detail here, since I’ve talked about it before, but my workouts in the first 14 weeks were fairly sporadic.

Because of my external cervical polyp, I bled from weeks 6-10. This made me very scared to lift, let alone lift heavy, especially since my doctor’s office seemed to be hypersensitive to my work as a personal trainer.

After the bleeding stopped, I resumed my workouts. At first, very tentatively and timidly, and then as I started to trust my body with the activity, a little more aggressively. i continued working with my personal trainer through the first half of my second trimester, actually.

First Trimester Modifications:

• Very few workouts at first, due to bleeding, and then
• Not many, aside from lowering my weights a bit

Here’s one of my lower body workouts from the first trimester:

A1. Reverse banded Romanian Deadlifts (reverse banded in order to deload the weight at the bottom, where it’s heaviest/we are typically the weakest)

A2. Single-leg skater squat

A3. Seated hamstring curl

A4. Walking EZ Barbell lunge

B1. Single leg leg extension

B2. Single leg leg press w/ quad emphasis

B3. Heels elevated DB squat

B4. V-squat

^I wouldn’t say this workout is pregnancy specific, because those are great exercises for non-preggos alike. However, they are pregnancy-safe for me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BROKtDnF9Xz/?taken-by=trainerpaige

^BB Walking lunges example.

I also had a back and shoulders, and chest and arms day.

Aside from lifting, walking was my JAM! I loved my 30-45 minute morning walks this trimester, as well as hiking the lower loop at Chautauqua

Second Trimester

 

My confidence in my workouts continued to build, but in the second semester, I started experiencing a new set of pains: frequent braxton hicks contractions.

I’d read that these were normal in the third trimester, but here I was getting them starting in week 16!! I didn’t know why I was feeling them so much, but eventually I deduced that I had them more intensely and frequently on high activity days.

It wasn’t until after our babymoon, that I finally realized the main thing that caused them was walking of all things! Going on walks and long hikes lead to laying in bed in the afternoon, hydrating, trying to get them to stop. However, so did long shopping trips (especially if I wasn’t constantly chugging water, and was hot.)

With that said, here are the modifications I made in my second trimester.

Second Trimester Modifications:

• No more crunches/direct forward flextion
• Stopped lying in a prone position

Stopped doing:

• Walking
• Hikes lasting longer than 1-2 hours

Started doing:

• Pre-natal yoga (in week 15)
• SWIMMING!!!

In the second half of my second trimester, I added in outdoor lap swim, and I instantly fell in love. Because I couldn’t get in my daily walks, I’d been missing my active outdoor time, and swimming was the solution to that missing puzzle piece.

Plus, I feel absolutely amazing in the water. I feel weightless and energized, and even though I’m a TOTAL noob swimmer, I just flipping love it. I would swim every single day if it coordinated with my hair washing schedule 😉 (ha!)

Sure, it’s a bit of a production — I get to the pool, rinse off in the shower, put on my cap and goggles. And then afterward, I go back into the locker room and do a full shower, but I leave feeling SO. damn. refreshed. If you’re pregnant and reading this and have access to an outdoor pool, DO IT.

Ok, now on to my other workouts. After figuring out the culprit of my BH contractions, my confidence in my lifting increased even more. I continued lifting with more confidence, with the modifications listed above, and continued with an upper, lower, and full body split.

I also started using intensifiers like NOS (neurological overload sets) in order to boost the intensity without boosting the load. Here’s an example of what I mean:

 

Third Trimester

 

If you follow along with me on Instagram, you know this has been my best trimester yet. I love my growing belly, my energy is still up (at least as up as it can be with the poor, interrupted sleep I’m getting,) and I’m still feeling comfortable in my workouts.

Third Trimester Modifications:

• Longer rest breaks, as even biceps curls get my heart rate up now, ha!
• Switched to full body workouts, three times a week, mainly just to switch it up and have fun
• Eliminated single leg leg press, as there’s not enough room for belly, haha
• MOAR swimming!
• Even less walking
• I can’t work out myself after training 3 or more clients in a row, because it’s uncomfortable (too much time on my feet)
• Added a belly band to some workouts, but mostly just when I’m training my clients
• Added in a second pre-natal yoga session, via yogadownload.com

I’ve honestly felt great in my workouts this trimester, and have even added in the sled after a couple workouts.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BX36p04ltf2/?taken-by=trainerpaige

^example of a full back and legs workout from a couple weeks ago.

I’ve been working out mostly with my friend and training partner, Tonja, and we lift three times per week. I mentioned I don’t typically train myself if I end up training 3 or more clients in a row. On these days, I’ll typically utilize my basement gym and get in an afternoon workout later.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXY4APDnRLv/?taken-by=trainerpaige

 

Now

I’m also still going to pre-natal yoga classes, and loving them. I just signed up for the next “mom’mester,” and had to do a half-session, since I’ll be 35 weeks when the next class starts.

I’m so grateful for how good I feel, and hope it continues! However, I always always listen to my body. If I’m in any pain or discomfort — or heck, even just really tired — I’ll rest instead. It’s really no big deal right now if I miss a workout or two from what I planned, if my body asks for more rest.

Unfortunately, our outdoor lap pool closes on September 5th (nooooo!) so I’m not sure what I’ll do for cardio…

…maybe biceps curls 😉