Kickboxing Chic’s BodyBlog

The time has come… the doctor has put me on minimized activity. This does not mean bed rest, but it does mean no exercise for now and potentially the remaining 4 weeks (if I make it that long). I had an ultrasound on 12/23/2008 to check baby’s size and my amniotic fluid level. Baby is small (25^th percentile), which is not terribly alarming since my son was small. They just conclude that I don’t produce big babies. But my amniotic fluid level is very low, which is of greater concern. So to help get my fluid level up, the doctor advised me to reduce my activity level. Part of me is upset about not being able to exercise… it is such a HUGE part of my life! The other part of me feels guilty for perhaps exercising too much and too hard. It is hard to say if working out caused low amniotic fluid production or a membrane tear that would cause a leakage. Thankfully baby is active and has a good HR, so nothing too worrisome at this stage. But my fluid level needs to increase by next week or that may change. I certainly don’t want to be induced and have to have a pre-term baby. That’s scary stuff and we just aren’t ready for her arrival! So my holiday workout plans are squashed at this point. I had planned to take my time at the gym with long workouts, and not having to get up so early. I’ve contemplated picking up a couple fitness magazines to get my fix that way. But perhaps that would only depress me more. I’ve put my Asics in the closet (I usually just keep them by the door), and my Zune is no longer left near the computer for charging. I will soon start putting together my ‘come back’ plan, but for now I now depend on all of you to keep at it for me!

I did my last workout on 12/23/2008. And here’s what I did:

Cardio
·         Incline treadmill walking (incline level 10; speed 4.0) – 40 minutes

Weight Training
Superset 1: Repeat 3x

·         Lat pull-downs (1.5 reps) x15

·         BB front raises (1.5 reps) x15

Superset 2: Repeat 3x

·         Seated rows (1.5 reps) x15

·         Cable lateral raises x15

Had I known this was my last workout, I would have done delts… my favorite.

Here I am at 36 weeks:

I’ve wrapped up week 34 and now head into week 35. About a 15-16 pound weight gain so far. If I can get up and get my workout in on a given day, then it is a good day. But what I am able to do in the gym is becoming more and more limited. No more jogging on the treadmill… incline walking only. Even the bouncing from that can be a bit much on my poor ligaments and muscles. The various forms of squats and lunges I do for legs are becoming challenging too… need to keep them shallow. For legs this week, I resorted to the leg extension and hamstring curl machines. Despite these growing limitations, I keep plugging away doing what I can. I don’t plan too much and just do what feels good on any given day. At this stage, I’m ok with just doing a long stint of cardio. As long as I get in a good sweat, I’m happy.

My uterus is measuring smaller than where I ideally should be at this stage. I’m thinking ‘how can that be? I feel so huge and maxed out!’ I’m having an ultrasound next week to check baby’s growth. My little one moves a lot and depending on where she decides to position herself, I have more discomfort some days than others. I’m thinking the reason baby may be small is because all that movement she is doing is burning the calories I’m giving her! Like mother, like daughter.

As for a workout to share in this post… here’s one I did on Thanksgiving Day. It was a good, quick, power workout given that I was short on time. My delts were fried. The high reps for legs kept my HR up.

1.       Treadmill warm-up (walking/light jogging) – 15 minutes

2.       Circuit 1:

a.       Step-ups onto a bench x20/side

b.      Rotator cuff/shoulder press combo x15

c.       1-arm DB swings x15/side

d.      Repeat 3x thru

3.       Circuit 2:

a.       Side-step lunges x20/side

b.      Lateral raises with a twist at the top x15

c.       1-arm DB clean/press x12/side

d.      Repeat 3x thru

This workout took me ~1 hour and I burned 425 calories. Not bad considering there was no focused cardio effort involved. I haven’t done delts this week so I may give this one a go again for today’s or tomorrow’s workout.

Here I am at 34 weeks: