Daily Excerpt: Girl, You Got This! (Renz) - Fitness

 



Excerpt from Girl, You Got This! 

Fitness

When you get pregnant, your body goes through intense changes. I can’t be the only person who has heard mothers expressing that their body was “never the same” after they gave birth. When you have a baby, your body will carry battle scars for the rest of your life.

Some of the toll on your body will be influenced by genetics—like my stretch marks, I could moisturize all day throughout my pregnancy and it wouldn’t make a difference—and there really isn’t much you can do about that. If your genetics are really working against you, try to embrace the changes you cannot control. Be kind to yourself.

On the other hand, some of the worst side effects of pregnancy can be minimized or even prevented if you prepare your body properly. Think of pregnancy as training for a marathon – albeit a very strange one that involves growing a human and then pushing it out of your body.

While trying to conceive, I want you to be vigilant about cultivating a regular workout routine: 30 minutes of exercise six days a week. Right now, the workout world is your oyster. There are no restrictions on what workouts you can do—go hiking, biking, jogging, swimming, climbing, whatever you want to do to get fit.

If finances allow, I recommend stocking up on workout gear at home so you can stay on top of fitness before and after your little one arrives. Being ready to workout is half the battle.

 Your fitness can be fun, and it doesn’t always have to be time consuming. The reason my clients keep coming back is I can get them results quickly—with only 30 minutes of exercise a day.

How? With High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT workouts have become well known over the last decade because they get you the greatest results with the shortest time commitment. The idea is you spend 30 seconds to one minute on one activity, say squats, then immediately switch to spend 30 seconds to one minute on the next activity, maybe planks. You then alternate back and forth between the two for the duration of the set. By the end, you have pushed your muscles and gotten your heartrate up. On top of building muscle, these short 30-minute workouts can actually help you build up your physical endurance. I recommend this style of endurance training at least three times per week. It will help you down the line when your pregnancy begins draining your energy severely. Imagine how much more intense that loss of energy will be if you haven’t trained up. 

My favorite thing about HIIT routines is that they are customizable. You can accommodate any physical restrictions you have, and you can choose moves that target the zones you want to tone. If you are seriously considering getting pregnant any time soon, you should be focusing first and foremost on your core, which is made up of your entire torso, from your abs to your lower back. After the first trimester you won’t be able to put any pressure on your abdomen, so waiting to strengthen your core then is not an option. However, having a strong core is key to preventing intense back pain and physical discomfort as you get farther along in your pregnancy. As your belly gets bigger and bigger, more and more pressure will be put on your lower back, but if your back is strong, the pain and discomfort will be minimal.

Before you conceive, try working this routine into your weekly workouts to tighten your core and increase endurance. The more time you have to strengthen your core before the second trimester, the better.

Note: This is an illustrated book, but the pictures won't reproduce here; see them in the paperback or ebook. (This chapter has a lot of photographs showing the various exercises, as well as the caveat to stop abs exercises after the first trimester.)




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