Prenatal/Pre PR Flashbacks- January 29, 2013
This morning was one big flashback to 2 1/2 years ago. I should say it was lots of little flashbacks to 2 1/2 years ago. You know, when I was all round and glowy, maybe a little sleepy too. Ah! Here she is…
FLASHBACK! September 2010, about 34 weeks pregnant
I joined a group of round, glowy and sleepy gals this morning at Rapid Fitness in Raleigh. I have been to lots of gyms, but I seriously love this one. I like fitness classes because I’m an uber-extrovert who can’t stand the solidarity and monotony of running. (Let’s be honest. I hate running in general. If that’s your thing, they have plenty of treadmills and ellipticals with fancy TVs.) What I really love is that they have specialty prenatal exercise classes.
No. I’m not pregnant. Thanks for asking, though.
Now that we have that cleared up, I have an explanation for my attendance to this class. Rapid Fitness’ prenatal class was being featured on NBC 17’s local morning newscast. As part of my Public Relations job, I do Media Training to prepare clients for interviews. After helping Brandy, a Personal Trainer for Rapid Fitness, they asked me to use my baby blogging skills to tell all my darling readers more about what they offer. I was there to observe and tell you all about the prenatal class.
Disclaimer: Rapid Fitness gives me free classes that I don’t attend like I should. My opinions, however, come up more than they should. They are totally free and totally honest.
Being with the TV news crew gave me flashbacks to all my early morning hours as a news reporter. I was all busy and harried, maybe a little stressed too. Ah! Here she is… (Really cold and miserable on this day, apparently.)
FLASHBACK! No joke. EXACTLY 3 years ago today January 29, 2010 (Found it on Facebook.)
This morning Brandy discussed the importance of prenatal fitness. As a personal trainer and mother of a 2 1/2 year old, she works with moms-to-be to stay fit before pregnancy. She explained to Page Crawford from NBC 17 that exercise while you’re pregnant can help with the following…
- More energy
- Less moody
- Better sleep
- Easier labor and delivery
- Decreased chance of Gestational Diabetes
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “Ha! Sounds good Amy, let’s go workout when I’m already more tired then I have ever been in my entire life. Did someone poison my food? Seriously.” I hear you. These recommendations come with a caveat. Do what your doctor says is okay. Don’t push it. That is something they really stress at Rapid Fitness. Let me tell you, these were some seriously dedicated pregnant chicks.
You see the blond on the left? That’s Jennifer. She is my sweet, adorable coworker whom I love working with. You want to talk about a tough cookie? This poor girl has had an awful pregnancy! She has been sick EVERY DAY. If you have questions about Zofram and extreme exhaustion, Jennifer can answer them. She is expecting a boy in May, and I think she will be glad to not be pregnant. Yet here she was this morning, toning muscles and keeping her body strong. She is my new hero.
All the exercises they offer in the class are modified and lower impact to make them safe for pregnancy. They did lunges and squats to prepare your legs and booty for the big pushes of labor. The class then used small free weights to tone arms. I know I’m not the only one whose arms were seriously sore after labor. It’s hard work to pull yourself up by your legs like that. Bouncing and sitting on the exercise ball while lifting the weights was encouraged. Of course breathing, stretching, and water breaks were a huge priority. (Wait, not those kind of water breaks!)
I’m making it a personal goal to do more low-impact exercise the next time I get pregnant. (Whenever that is. Again, I’m not pregnant.) I did a lot of walking the first go-around, but I want more overall tone this time.
Were you/are you able to exercise during pregnancy? What kind of exercise did you do/are you doing while pregnant? Did you take a class? Did it help you feel better during pregnancy or labor and delivery?
Watch the NBC 17 segments and here so you can see some of the exercises. (The second link is longer and you can hear more interviews!)
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I was not able to do exercise with my pregnancies and it is still haunting me. I really, really wanted to exercise and do something, BESIDES bedrest, but I wasn’t allowed. I praise these women, and honestly i am little jealous. They are able to move and be with other soon to be moms, and workout! Lucky girls and enjoy it! Especially since I don’t know what it is like and NEVER WILL! THANK GOD FOR THAT!
Sorry Hil! That stinks. But, you are a good Mama and my little niece and nephew are happy and strong because of you and your sacrifice!
Loved getting to hang with you guys… thanks for all being such good sports and waking up at the crack of early to come sweat it out with me!
It was fun, Page! It was great seeing you and Charles holding down the morning shift! Let us know when we can help again.
First time mothers should really attend classes like these. You can’t even imagine how important upper body strength is until you have to carry around a heavy (almost 9 lbs. in my case) baby around all day, every day.
My plan is to stay in better shape with the next pregnancy. I think I did yoga maybe twice
I don’t need to gain 40 lbs. again!
Great post!
Thanks Brooke! Wow! Almost 9 lbs. Impressive! I gained a healthy amount with Charlotte, about 22-25 lbs. I think, but I could have had a little more muscle tone.
I’m 21 weeks right now, and my body and mind completely fall apart when I don’t exercise. I worked out routinely 4-6 days a week before I got pregnant and have been told by many experts and doctors that it is safe to continue doing whatever you did before getting pregnant. Of course, for the first two months I did nothing but sleep, feel nauseous, and ate nothing but carbs. But once I started into my 2nd trimester, my energy came back, and I started to feel a bit normal again. (As normal as you can feel while pregnant!) While I can’t work out at the intensity that I used to – seriously, lots of jumping leads to me running to the restroom before I have an accident – I still take the same fitness classes I had before. We have the Les Mills program at my gym, so I take Body Combat, Body Jam, and Sh’bam regularly. They are all fun cardio workouts. I need to start doing yoga or Body Flow, but I haven’t fit that into my schedule yet. When I workout, I don’t feel as bloated and huge, have more energy, and experience less cramping and round ligament pain. I like eating healthier, too, when I work out.
http://w3.lesmills.com/global/en/classes/
This gym does Les Mills too! I need to get on that and get into at least some Body Flow action.