And, What’s the “Right” Amount of Exercise During Pregnancy Exercise during pregnancy should leave you feeling energized and never exhausted; the goal is for you to feel better than before you started. This means listening to the feedback from your body throughout your workout and adjusting appropriately to work with the body you have each day. Your body is constantly evolving throughout pregnancy, so tuning in daily is vital to avoid injury and overexertion. This can be a real mental …
Safe Core Exercise in Pregnancy
This can be so confusing! Sit-ups? Crunches? Leg-lifts? Planks? If you are pregnant, hopefully you are no longer performing traditional abdominal exercises such as crunches or sit-ups. If you have been, that’s okay…but this might be a great time to transition to more beneficial, safer core exercises. I will explain more about why and how to do so safely in this article. Traditional abdominal exercises such as sit-ups (as well as others), activate the rectus abdominis, the top layer of …
Prenatal Exercise Guidelines: My Top Three Tips!
Exercise during pregnancy. By now, most of us know that we should be doing it, but how? What’s safe? What’s most beneficial and where can you go for reliable advice and instruction? If you know me, then you know that I am a firm believer in individualizing your exercise program during pregnancy and postpartum both. In fact, I require a one-on-one with each and every client prior to booking into group training sessions for this very reason. You have a …
The Importance of Hydration
The Importance of Water Intake During Pregnancy “How are you doing with your water intake? Are you staying hydrated?” These questions have been rolling off my tongue during this remarkably hot Seattle summer. Hydration is always important at any stage of life, but especially important during pregnancy. So here’s a quick Q&A regarding this important topic: How much water should you drink per day? Approximately two liters (or eight glasses) per day is how much you should be drinking. If …
Snowflakes and Labor
Kind of like snowflakes, no two labors are exactly alike. And despite months and hours of preparation, there will be surprises. Now, I am certain that this is the ONLY guarantee! Here are a few of my unlikely surprises. Things I didn’t think would happen or could never have known I would do during labor: 1.) Call out for the comfort of our cat, “Lobo” during contractions. Needless to say, he did not come to the bedside. 2.) Keep only …
Benefits of Prenatal Exercise
Exercise during pregnancy. Everyone seems to have an opinion, but who and what information can you trust? A sampling of advice may include “walking only”, “no impact”, “no twisting”, “stick with yoga”, “don’t get your heart rate above 140 bmp”, “and the always popular, “just do what you’ve been doing for exercise.” Well, what if you’ve been training for Ironman Triathlons or perhaps you haven’t been exercising at all? Where does that leave you other than a bit lost …