Kickboxing Chic’s BodyBlog

No doubt about it now… this bulging tummy is clearly not due to big time slacking in my nutrition and exercise habits. People can clearly see it’s a pregnancy tummy. Although my 23 week picture doesn’t show it as well, I’ve got a nice, round bowling ball. I’m now around 134 lbs; pre-pregnancy I was around 124/125 lbs. However, I’m proud to say I’m still wearing my normal jeans. Still feeling really good and able to keep my workouts going. Although, I’m realizing it’s time to take it down a few notches with some things. Sprinting has now been reduced to fast jogging. Box jumps are now fast step-ups. Burpees are now stepping back one leg at a time into a push-up position. The higher intensity versions were just putting too much pressure in my pelvic region and the muscles in my pelvic area would be so sore for 1-2 days. Just wasn’t worth it. Surprisingly, the baby and the placenta are developing perfectly. It’s just my body that can’t take it. What I’ve really learned with this pregnancy is that once you’ve trained yourself to use your muscles properly and to engage your core in any form of exercise you do, you really can’t untrain yourself doing those things. As a result, the muscles in my abdominal area, pelvic region, and inner thighs are causing me a bit of grief.

This kid, a girl BTW, is as active as her mom. If I’m not moving, she is. Like I say, training starts in the womb.

Here is a full-body circuit I came up with a couple weeks ago and it kicks my pregnant butt. It was more challenging than I expected, so would even be a good one for the non-pregnant. I burned ~450 calories and didn’t even step on a piece of cardio equipment. I was able to maintain a HR between 120-150 the entire time. The 70 minutes also flew by.

Warm-up w/ body weight exercises and jumping rope – 10 minutes

The Circuit – Repeat 3x

1.       Fast step-ups onto a step bench (w/ 6 risers) – 2 minutes

2.       Lateral hops over a step bench (w/ 6 risers) – 2 minutes

3.       T-lunge with DB row x15/leg

4.       Close-grip chest press/fly combo on stability ball x10-15 reps

5.       DB tricep overhead press x12-15 reps

6.       Alternating curtsy squat with a squat in the middle x10/side

7.       Bicep curls (front, side, hammer) x6 sets (18 reps total)

8.       Burpee push-ups x12

I’m nearly halfway and still most people don’t know I’m pregnant unless I tell them. But I sure feel like it and my pictures show it for sure. I weighed myself the other day and I’ve gained about 6-7 pounds so far. I gained 22 lbs with my first, so I hope I end up around the same with this one. I’m now reaching the point where I’ll need to start breaking out the maternity pants… at least the early stage ones with a wide-stretching waistband. Since low-rise pants/jeans have been the fashion over the past few years, I’ve been able to make my regular pants last longer since they ride below my baby bump. As for gym attire, I’ve given up on tank-style tops as they don’t cover my belly and just ride up (very uncomfortable). And since I don’t complete a workout without being drench with sweat, baggy cotton t-shirts are not my thing either. I just go with sports bra style tops and let my protruding mid-riff show. In the gym, it is more obvious that I’m pregnant and I often get double-takes (mostly from guys) because people can’t believe this pregnant girl is doing bench press, BB deadlifts, squats, sprints on the treadmill, etc. I’m like ‘hey, I’m not disabled… just pregnant!’ It will be even more amusing when I’m closer to 7 months and still doing steps-ups w/ DBs.

Speaking of training… it is time for more modifications. I’ve transitioned to doing push-ups on my knees for the most part. It is also probably time to either maintain or lower the amount of weight I use for most exercises and work within a 12-15 rep range. When I use heavier weights and work in an 8-10 rep range, I engage too much core. Which contradicts with what I should be doing… relaxing my core so this kid doesn’t have to fight for space with hard abdominal muscles. Other than kneeling push-ups and lighter weights, I’m still following my usual routine while watching my intensity and not doing things that just don’t feel right.

I don’t have any new, good routines to share this time, except for some cardio intervals. Since I can’t push my HR into the 85%+ zone, I’m doing longer bouts of cardio. Here’s a couple I’ve come up with:

Treadmill – Jogging/Incline Walking
·         Warm-up with walking, light jogging, or a combination of both – 5-7 minutes

·         Incline walking @ 4 mph w/ the grade set to the max level or close to it – 5 minutes

·         Jogging @ 6 mph w/ a flat or low grade – 5 minutes

·         Repeat the incline walking/jogging interval 3 or 4 times for a total workout time of 35-45 minutes (including warm-up)

·         Cool-down

·         Note: You’ll find the incline walking more challenging and increases your HR more than the jogging. At least, that’s the case for me.

Elliptical – Pyramid
(Note: I used a resistance scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most difficult. Since resistance levels vary by machine, just use the 1-10 scale as a guide.)

·         Warm-up at a moderate pace/resistance – 5 minutes

·         Max effort on L7 – 1 minutes

·         Active recovery – 30 seconds

·         Max effort on L8 – 2 minutes

·         Active recovery – 30 seconds

·         Max effort on L9 – 3 minutes

·         Active recovery – 30 seconds or 1 minute if needed

·         Max effort on L9 – 4 minutes

·         Active recovery – 1 minute

·         Go back down the pyramid starting with max effort for 4 minutes

·         Cool-down

Be sure to have your music player of choice loaded with high energy tunes and a well-charged battery. I personally have been enjoying Disturbed, Seether, and Buckcherry during my cardio sessions lately. Enjoy!