32 Weeks

Eight weeks to go — which, if you know anything about birthing babies, could be as soon as five or as long as 10.  I’m hoping it’s not the latter, but given my history of late babies and my aversion to induction for non-medical reasons, I could very well be pregnant at the end of February.  Yikes!  I’m still going to the gym, but my quantity and intensity has really gone down.  Plus, I’ve had two bouts of bronchitis over the last three months, so I’ve missed almost a month of workouts from that.

I switched doctors a couple of weeks ago and was given the typical stack of papers explaining what I can and can’t do, medicines not to take, food not to eat, etc.  There was also a sheet about staying physically active during pregnancy.  Yay, I thought.  Then, I actually read it.  They encourage walking for 30 mins 3-4 times a week.  Ok, yes, walking is good exercise.  I’ll agree with that.  No biking, skating, skiing, rock-climbing, etc.  Um, ok.  Yes, I don’t think someone who is 9 months pregnant wants to be balancing on inline skates, and obviously sedentary women probably shouldn’t pick up rock-climbing as a hobby.  I’m not biking right now because my stomach gets in the way, but I imagine that most healthy, fit women wouldn’t have an issue.

No weight lifting.  Do not lift anything more than 10 pounds.

…

Really?

Again, someone who has never lifted a weight before probably doesn’t want to pick up a barbell and rack up 80 lbs and start benching, but no weight lifting at all?  I think weight lifting is an excellent workout for pregnant women, even if they are beginners.  Of course, as you get bigger you have to make modifications, but what’s with this nothing heavier than 1o lbs thing?  Sorry, ladies.  Don’t pick up that crying toddler of yours.  Let your husbands carry in the groceries.  Be careful lifting that gallon of milk — it’s eight pounds!

Weight lifting really has gotten me through this pregnancy.  I define myself as a runner, but between the pressure on my bladder and the pain in my pelvis, I haven’t run since October.  Honestly, I haven’t really run since I got pregnant because I was just so danged tired during the first few months.  It’s amazing how quickly your cardiovascular endurance goes out the window when you aren’t using it.  Anyways, weight lifting is great.  You get to sit down and resting is encouraged!  I haven’t been taking bodyfat measurements, but I’m sure that I would have lost a lot more muscle tone that I have had I just been doing cardio.  Recently, I’ve had to lighten the load, but I’m still lifting a lot more than 10 lbs.

Maybe in the next month or two, I’ll be confined to the cardio room walking, REALLY REALLY SLOWLY on the treadmill (the retired chief with an amputated leg walks faster than me), but for the time being, I’ll be trying to maintain what fitness I can.

Workout – 12.10

Cardio

Treadmill – 32 mins @ 2.8 mph @ 1.0 incline

Strength Training

Lat Pull-down – 60 lbs x 12 x 2, 65 lbs x 12

Shoulder Press – 10 lbs x 12, 10 lbs x 15

Cable Front Raise – 10 lbs x 10 x 3

Straight Arm Pull-down – 30 lbs x 12 x 3

Wide Grip Seated Row – 45 lbs x 12, 50 lbs x 15, 60 lbs x 12

Machine Chest Press – 50 lbs x 12 x 3

Cable Curl with EZ bar – 20 lbs x 15, 30 lbs x 12, 30 lbs x 15

Triceps Pressdown with rope – 20 lbs x 12 x 3

Workout – 12.8

Cardio

Treadmill – 15 mins @ 2.8 mph @ 1.0 incline

Elliptical Trainer – 40 mins, Variety – Cross Country, 5 mins cool-down

Strength Training

Donkey Kick – 10 x 3

Hamstring Bridge – 6, 8 x 2

Plank – 20 sec x 3

Deadlift with dumbbells – 20 lbs x 10 x 3

Side Squat with dumbbells – 5 lbs x 8 x 3

Sidestep – red x 12 x 3

Back Extension – 110 lbs x 12, 110 lbs x 15 x 2

Leg Press – 110 lbs x 15, 110 lbs x 10

Calf Raise – 110 lbs x 18, 110 lbs x 12

Workout – 12.7

Cardio

Elliptical – 20 mins, Interval – Interval, 5 min cool-down

Strength Training

Incline Pec Flye – 15 lbs x 8 x 3

One Arm Row – 15 lbs x 18 x 3

Incline Bench Press with dumbbells – 15 lbs x 15 x 3

Bicep Curl – 15 lbs x 10 x 3

Overhead Extension – 10 lbs x 20, 10 lbs x 15 x 2

Arnold Press – 10 lbs x 7, 10 lbs x 8 x 2

Assisted Pull-up – 140 lbs x 10, 130 lbs x 8, 120 lbs x 4

Assisted Dip – 140 lbs x 8, 130 lbs x 6, 120 lbs x 4

Workout – 12.4

Cardio

Elliptical Trainer – 40 mins, Interval – Interval, 5 min cool-down

Strength Training

Incline Chest Press with resistance band and dumbbells – 10 lbs x 12, 15 lbs x 12 x 3

Seated Row – 60 lbs x 12 x 3

Overhead Extension with band and dumbbell – 10 lbs x 12 x 2, 15 lbs x 12 x 2

Alternating Curl with band and dumbbells – 10 lbs x 12 x 3

Lateral Raise with band and dumbbell – 5 lbs x 6(12) x 2, 5 lbs x 7(12)

Assisted Dip – 140 lbs x 8

Assisted Pull-up – 140 lbs x 10 x 2

Workout – 11.30

Cardio

Elliptical Trainer – 35 min, Variety – Cross Country, 5 min cool-down

Strength Training

Plank – 20 sec x 3

Donkey Kick – 8 x 3

Hamstring Bridge – 6 x 3

Deadlift with dumbbells – 20 lbs x 8 x 2, 20 lbs x 10

Plie Squat with resistance band – yellow x 10 x 2, yellow x 12

Leg Press – 150 lbs x 8 x 2, 130 lbs x 8

Calf Raise – 150 lbs x 12 x 2, 130 lbs x 15

Side Squat – 5 lbs x 8 x 2

Workout – 11.27

Cardio

Elliptical Trainer – 30 min, Interval – Interval, 5 min cool-down

Strength Training

Incline Chest Press with dumbbells – 20 lbs x 10 x 2

Incline Pec Flye with dumbbells – 15 lbs x 6

Triceps Kickback – 5 lbs x 10, 5 lbs x 12 x 2

Bicep Curl with resistance band and dumbbell – 15 lbs x 6 x 3

Lateral Raise with resistance band and dumbbell – 5 lbs x 6 x 3

One Arm Row – 25 lbs x 8 x 2, 25 lbs x 10

Overhead Extension – 15 lbs x 6

Shoulder Press – 15 lbs x 6

Workout – 11.26

Cardio

Treadmill – 30 mins at 3.0 mph at 1.0 incline

Workout – 11.24

Cardio

Treadmill – 40 min at 3.0 mph increasing incline from 1.0 to 4.0 every 10 mins, 5 min cool-down

Strength Training

Cable Crossover – 30 lbs x 10 x3

Lat Pull-down – 60 lbs x 8, 60 lbs x 10, 60 lbs x 12

Triceps Pressdown with rope – 30 lbs x 6 x 2, 20 lbs x 8

Cable Curl – 20 lbs x 8, 20 lbs x 10 x 2

Cable Lateral Raise – 10 lbs x 6 x 2, 10 lbs x 8

Assisted Pull-up – 140 lbs x 12, 130 lbs x 8 x 2

Assisted Dip – 140 lbs x 12, 130 lbs x 6, 130 lbs x 8

Workout – 11.23

Cardio

Elliptical Trainer – 5 min warm-up, 30 mins, Variety – Cross Country, 5 min cool-down

Strength Training

Plank – 15 sec, 20 sec x 2

Back Extension – 110 lbs x 10, 130 lbs x 10 x 2

Donkey Kick – 8 x 2, 10

Hamstring Bridge – 6 x 2, 8

Sidestep – Red x 12 x 3

Deadlift with dumbbells – 20 lbs x 8 x 2, 20 lbs x 10

Side Squat – 8 x 2, 10

Leg Press – 130 lbs x 15, 150 lbs x 10, 150 lbs x 12

Calf Raise – 130 lbs x 15, 150 lbs x 12, 150 lbs x 15

Ball Squat – 30 sec x 3