Pregnant, Fit and Fabulous (eBook)

CHAPTER 3

YOUR FITNESS PROGRAM BEFORE PREGNANCY

It is important that you know right up front that it’s never too late to start your fitness regime. This chapter outlines how to embark on a fitness program, and is suitable for women before pregnancy and also for their partner.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

Before embarking on any exercise routine, consult with your medical professional and explain that you are committing to start an exercise program. They will give you some basic guidelines to ensure you begin safely. An injury will only demotivate you and distance you from your goals, so it’s well worth the extra effort it takes to begin properly.

Your training can be as simple as walking, swimming or golfing through hiring a personal trainer and really getting healthy and strong for your family. There are so many ways you can make getting fit a fun and enjoyable experience. When you find the right activities for you, you will be able to maintain and enjoy the benefits well into the future, and the quality of your life will improve beyond what you can imagine.

In choosing your exercises, I recommend that you choose functional training wherever possible. This means that you perform exercises that are going to give you the strength for your daily functions. Squats, lunges or pushing a pram or trolley can be our daily activity. How many times do you sit down and get up? How many times do you get in and out of your car? Do you squat or lunge while you’re putting your washing on the clothes line? I want to prepare you now and train you before you fall pregnant, so that when you are doing your pregnancy program, it will be awesome to see you maintain your figure and only have the bulge at the front!

In designing the exercise programs in this book, I am using the FITT formula, which stands for Frequency, Intensity, Type and Time of exercise.

The Program Charts at the end of the book will also help you to get started.

All exercise sessions follow the general training principles of Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type (F.I.T.T.)

TABLE 2: THE FITT PRINCIPLE

Frequency: To gain maximum benefit, you will need to work out 3-5 times per week.

Intensity:

• Cardiovascular exercise should be at 60 to 80% of your maximum heart rate. Heart rate (beats per minute) is the primary measure of intensity in cardiovascular training. To determine your maximum heart rate (MHR) you take your age (e.g. 30 years old) away from 220 (220-30=190bpm). To determine your 60% heart rate, multiply 190 x 60%=114 beats per minute. To determine your 80%, multiply 190 x 80% = 152 beats per minute.
• Resistance training should be heavy enough to challenge your muscles while maintaining good form to avoid injury.

Time: How long do I need to exercise?

Going by the FITT principle, a minimum of 30 minutes is recommended. This is a very general goal for basic fitness; however I like to see people fit in a good hour into their training sessions 5 times a week.

Consider: with a warm up of 5 minutes, cool down 5 minutes or longer, stretching and the actual workout – it will definitely take up an hour for a good training session. Most aerobics classes last 1 hour. Most weights or resistance training sessions are for 45 minutes. If you choose to do a Yoga or Pilates class once a week – that is usually an hour.

You should aim for a minimum training session of 50 minutes to a maximum of 1hr 45 minutes containing cardiovascular, resistance training and flexibility.

Type: What type of exercise?

In order to build your strength and fitness level, it is best to vary your training. A combination of cardiovascular and resistance training is recommended – remember to check with your doctor first. I am also a big fan of stretching and doing some mobilisation and stability work. So pay attention to my chapters on these, as it will help you gain understanding of how to have a strong, supple and toned body that is pain free.

Cardiovascular, flexibility and resistance training each have their place and are of equal importance. In my programs, there are many choices for you, so choose a program that is appropriate to you for your current goals.

CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISE

Aerobic (or cardiovascular) exercise is where the body uses oxygen and therefore involves the continued activation of muscle. Aerobic exercise also utilises fat as its energy source. Simple exercises such as power walking, jogging, swimming, rowing, cycling are all-aerobic based and duration should be from 20 minutes to 1 hour.

Aerobic exercise can include activities that use large muscle groups (e.g. legs, chest, and back) in a continuous manner such as walking, stationary cycling and low-impact gym classes. These sessions should be between 20 to 60 minutes in duration.

As mentioned earlier we can measure intensity of cardiovascular exercise by our heart rate, which is measured easily with a heart rate monitor. The other popular method is the “talk test”, in which you estimate how easy it is to hold a conversation using the descriptions in the Borg scale.22

TABLE 3: BORG RATING OF PERCEIVED EXERTION (RPE)

• If you are a beginner, during exercise your exertion rate (RPE) should be at 11. This means that your intensity is fairly light – you can still talk, but it maybe a little uncomfortable.
• Regular exercisers or intermediate population should have an exertion rate between 13 and 16.
• For those who are hard core or advanced, your exertion rate should be between 13 and 17-18.

INTERVAL TRAINING

To increase your fitness, I recommend interval training. Rather than maintaining the same exertion rate for the whole time, you increase the exertion for a short time and then drop back to recover. Repeat this cycle for the session. E.g. run for 30 seconds, and walk for 30 seconds; cycle fast for 1 minute, slow for 30 seconds. Lots of gym bikes come with interval (or Kilimanjaro) programs. Rowing is the same: row hard for 2 minutes, rest for 90 seconds and repeat this for 6 times. Interval training will certainly get your heart rate up, and cycle your exertion rate between 13 and 17-18.

So get fit and enjoy your intensity now – before you fall pregnant!

RESISTANCE TRAINING

Resistance or strength training can include weight training such as squats, lunges, push-ups and lat pull-downs. Sessions should be between 30-45 minutes in duration.

Whether you are an athlete or a first-time mum who is exploring the idea of training for pregnancy, strength training offers multiple benefits. For example, muscle tone improves and metabolic rate increases, which also leads to fat burning after pregnancy. In contrast, aerobic training will benefit your fitness level but doesn’t give you the physical and psychological benefits that having improved muscle tone and strength does.

Girls, don’t be concerned that you will grow big muscles and look masculine. Our hormonal make up is such that we stay feminine with lean and toned muscles.

Did you know that women have relative strength, in other words we can carry or hold our baby for extended periods of time? However men have maximal strength, meaning they can only lift maximum amounts of weight once or twice. So girls, you are stronger than you think and just because you may not be able to lift the same weight as your partner, appreciate your strength.

STRETCHING

This has to be one of the most neglected, misused and laboured aspects of exercise.

Stretching has many benefits, including increased energy and increased circulation. It also helps your joints stay pain free, improves posture and helps you to de-stress. It encourages better sleep and helps prevent other neck, shoulder, upper and lower back problems.

In short, stretching will help bring your body from feeling tight and stiff to a better daily function and will also help you enjoy your exercises more.

It seems that not many people are concerned about the benefits of stretching and assume it’s all a myth. But it’s not a myth! Let me show you why your muscles need stretching…

We live in a fast-paced world and often in a stressful environment. Our body gets accustomed to this pace as we push our mental and physical capacity to the limits. Our bodies are a bit like a high performance car that needs tune ups. Tension is felt in our neck muscles, upper and lower back, so it’s imperative that you do some stretches to relieve stress and tightness.

Your body was designed is such a way that it’s supposed to have strength in some muscles and length in others. For example your quads or thigh muscles need strength to help you sit down or to help you lunge down to pick up your baby or shopping.

Your hamstrings, on the other hand, generally need some serious stretching. These days, our posture tends to be conformed to sitting at a desk. Hence the hamstrings become very tight, on both men and women. So stretching your hamstrings will not only help you release them, but also help your lower back.

Your glutes are another 3 muscles that need strengthening. Having strong glutes will help you alleviate some serious lower back pain. According to some physiotherapists, 80% of back problems are due to weak gluteal muscles.

But you need more than just stretching to have your muscles working effectively and safely.

BENEFITS OF BALANCED MUSCLES

A common problem that I see in people is muscle imbalances. These...