Author: Strength Train 4 Life

We are a husband/wife personal training and nutrition coaching team. With over 10 years of training experience we are here to help you achieve your fitness goals. We offer in-person and virtual training, nutrition coaching, kitchen clean-ups and weight loss competitions.

Back in the Weight Room

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Thursday I got the chance to get back into the weight room for a good total body workout.  I am still working with lighter weights to allow my body to continue healing from my cold and accommodate my low energy.  Remember to be very aware of how your body feels as you are working out. If you notice you are dizzy, lightheaded, or nauseous make sure to take breaks or stop working out.  I am struggling some with nutrition this week.

Deadlifts – 10 x 3
Kettle bell swings  – 15 x 3

Incline Dumbbell bench press – 10 x 3

Bench press – 10 x 2

Seated cable chest press – 10 x 3

Lat pull – 10 x 3
Tricep press – 10 x 3

Seated rows – 10 x 2

Single leg squats – 10 each x 3
Bicep cable curls – 10 x 3

Friday: Off Day!

Saturday and Sunday: Unconventional workout – helping my parents tile their kitchen floor. I had originally planned to get quick workouts both of these days but tiling the floor took all of my energy. Sometimes good old fashioned house work can count as a workout.

Heavy cleaning (washing windows, cars, garage) – 136 calories per hour
Painting (inside house) – 238 calories per hour
Tiling – 238 calories per hour
Moping – 170 calories per hour
Vacuuming – 170 calories per hour
Cooking/Food Prep – 68 calories per hour

While these are great ways to keep yourself moving, it is still important to strength train to keep muscles balanced and strong.

Stepping Up

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One of the worst excuses I hear from clients is that they don’t have the space or the equipment to get a workout done at home.  I must admit it takes a little creativity but you can really do a workout anywhere! Today I used just my body weight and a set of stairs.

Step Up Stair Workout

Stair Run (single steps)
Double step- step ups
Stair jumps – 10
Incline push-ups – 10
Tricep Dips – 10
Wide Double Steps
Lateral Single Steps – each side
Slow Mountain Climbers – 15 each side
Stair Run
Double Step Jumps
Close Grip Push-Ups – 10
Stair Run

Repeat 8 times

Getting Back into the Groove

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I got my first workout post sickness in today. I kept it really simple and lower in heart rate. My body is still healing from the flu and pushing it too hard will only slow down my healing and decrease the results I desire from strength training. This quick 30 minute workout is great to activate the glutes, pelvic floor and core. This is also the last week I let pregnant women do much in the supine position. After the first trimester this position puts pressure on a major vein called the vena cava, which will reduce blood to your heart and may diminish blood flow to your brain and uterus, making you dizzy, short of breath, or nauseated.

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Equipment: Bender Ball and 25lb Kettle bell

Bender ball crunches – 15 (Laying on back, knees at 90 degree angle, squeeze ball between knees, tuck chin in and crunch)
Bender ball glute bridges – 15 (ball between knees and press hips towards ceiling)
Single leg bender ball glute bridges – 15 each side (ball between knees, one leg straight out, press hips toward ceiling, squeeze glutes together like you’re cracking a nut)
Bender ball bird dog – 15 each side (on hands and knees place ball between one calf/hamstring, assume bird dog position and crunch abs)

KB goblet squats – 15
KB high pull – 15
KB single arm rows – 15 each side

Two hand KB overhead press
KB Split squats – 10 each side

I’m Alive!

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I hope everyone had a great Halloween and didn’t splurge on too much candy!

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11 weeks on Halloween – with the big brother Tony!

I am 11 weeks and finally feeling like a real person again. Over the past seven days I have been as sick as can be! No workouts for me. It started Sunday with a small amount of shortness of breath during soccer and truly began with fevers on Monday. It was the official flu! I am normally the first in line to get my flu shot especially when I am pregnant and for my family members. However, due to it only being the beginning of the flu season they were out and I hadn’t gotten a chance to get back to the doctor. Boy do I regret my delay!

The flu this year consists of fevers, congestion and cough. While not fun, I wasn’t overly concerned until hearing more details. My initial concern was my fever, it wasn’t significantly high, but continued for 2 days and didn’t want it to affect the baby. After talking with the nurses at my OB’s office I was told I was doing everything right, staying hydrated, resting, Tylenol for the fever and Robitussin for the cough. My frustration came when I was told I needed to be seen if my fever was higher than 100.4. Needless to say an hour after talking with the nurse my fever had spiked to 101.8, but no one would return my call to get in to be seen. My primary care provider was able to see me the next day and I was officially diagnosed with the flu. The problem came when she was unsure how to treat me, also couldn’t get a hold of my OB and was told different messages from two other OB’s. After an hour of phone calls my OB was able to confirm the use of Tamiflu for myself and my whole family to keep us from getting worse.

Morals of this story is #1 Get a flu shot. Many pregnant women end up in the hospital from complications from the flu, putting the health of your baby and yourself at risk. #2 Wash your hands. I believe I picked up this flu bug at the gym, but every public place you go has germs.  To minimize your risk at the gym avoid touching your face when you are working out, use a water bottle that doesn’t require you to touch the spout to open, clean your equipment when you’re done, drink lots of water and make sure you are taking your vitamins to keep your immune system on the up and up.  Finally, #3 make sure to keep on your doctors if you have any concerns at all. This isn’t just about your health, but the health of the little one growing inside you.

 

10 weeks

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This past weekend of exercises has been quiet difficult. Not in the sense that the workouts were killer, but that fact that I am SO tired. Even at the beginning of my workouts I feel like I could take a nap! It takes all of my energy to just get moving. Every person at some point in their workouts just completely dreaded the idea of exercise, but this is different tired. It feels great at the end, but I am spent. To ensure that I am able to get my workouts in, but not push my body too hard I have significantly lighten the weights, increased my water consumption and made sure to eat a meal with protein immediately following the workout.

Saturday strength session:

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Squats 3×10 at 95lbs

5 Power cleans at 85lb
5 Squat cleans at 85lbs
Repeat 3 times

Overhead press 3×8 at 65lbs

 

Soccer Sunday – Played a full 90 minute co-ed soccer game. Yes, I said soccer! This isn’t for everyone and be sure to check with your doctor to ensure you are okay to play. Last pregnancy I played up until 9 weeks, which is when the season ended. This time around I will play right up until 11 weeks. I am a little bigger this time and am more weary of my positioning. I don’t attack players like I normally would and turn my back if I ever think I might get hit.

Monday – Rest day. Everyone needs at least one day of the week to let your body recover. This allows your muscles to heal, grow stronger and decreases inflammation.

Yesterday’s workout

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I have finally recovered from my half marathon. My quads are a bit sore but I made sure to get a good warm up session on the rower before lifting today. Each workout is still a struggle to get started. Most days I fight with the fact that I am hungry or tired. To combat this I make sure to have a protein bar (Quest bars are my favorite) or some natural beef jerky before my workout to give me the energy to make it through. In terms of tiredness it just takes pushing through and I feel better.

Today, I just did a lighter weight strength training session.

1 Mile (1600 meter) Row

3 Sets of 10 reps for everything

Leg press at 135lbs
Calf raises at 135lbs

Walking Lunges at 60lbs
Dumbbell bicep curls to overhead press at 20lbs

RDL at 60lbs
High Pull at 60 lbs

Cable chest press at 40lbs
Cable Rows at 60lbs
Narrow grip push ups

Stretching

 

Nutrition and Meal Prepping

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This time of year at our house football takes over our every Sunday. While I enjoy watching football, it seems I really enjoy napping while everyone else is cheer our team on. The games typically fall during my son’s nap time and when I sit down for 5 minutes without a little one to chase. The downfall of Sunday’s however, we typically have several people over for the game and they bring lots of chips, dip and junk food. If it’s not consumed during the game, it normally stays my house tempting my very pregnant taste buds. I love my husband and our friends dearly but I don’t normally keep chips and cookies around the house.

Nutrition is very important for you and for your baby. Many times I hear women giving in to the fact that they are going to gain weight and eat mindlessly on junk foods. While a treat here and there isn’t bad for you, it is extremely important to consider what foods your are “feeding” your baby.  Sure they give you a list of the foods you need to avoid during pregnancy, excess fish and seafood, lunch meats, unpasteurized cheeses, alcohols, herbal teas and caffeine, but what about the foods you should be eating? Making sure you have a balanced diet of proteins, vegetables, fruits and complex carbohydrates can keep you going all day long and provide the needed nutrients for your growing baby.

One of the best ways to keep up with your nutrition is to make sure you are meal planning. My husband and myself always prep our meals for the week on Sunday. Yes, sometimes it is a pain because we get busy, but I find that if we don’t prepare meals a head of time we are scrounging around for food or headed out to eat. When we prep our meals I try to make something for breakfast that is quick and easy like an egg bake, lunches for each day, snacks to get us through the week and I plan out most dinners. When I am talking snacks I don’t just mean things for us to take to work, but also items for home while we are cooking dinner. (This is the time many of us, especially pregnant women, eat mindlessly on unhealthy snacks).

I always start by making a list of what I will prepare for breakfast, lunches, dinners and snacks. I will then use that list to build my grocery list. This way I have a pre-made list to ensures I have all ingredients I need for my meals and it will help eliminate adding unneeded and unhealthy items to my cart.

This plan has worked great up to the point in which I became pregnant! Now food either sounds amazing or like the worst thing in the world. And it never fails to sound horrible when I am making my shopping list. I make sure to still build my meals like I would when I am not pregnant, but stick with items I know I will eat regardless of how they sound today. Many women, myself included, crave more carbs or tend to eat more carbs because they are lighter on the stomach. Choosing the right carbohydrates can play a key role in how your feel for the rest of the day. While I wake up some morning just craving a dough nut, I know that if I don’t get some protein in I will be starving an hour later and feel more nauseous because my blood sugar is all over the place. My best advise (to keep it simple) is to make sure you have both protein (meat/eggs/seafood) and carbs (vegetables/fruits/wheat bread/sweet potatoes/brown rice) at the same time. This will help you feel full longer and will provide your body and baby nutrients you need.

Bottom line is regardless of how you feel it helps to plan a head. Don’t feel like you need to make gourmet meals every time, you can make a healthy and nutritious meal just by keeping it simple. Try out my easy Crock Pot Mexican Chicken Soup below.

Mexican Chicken Soup

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Ingredients:
4 Chicken breasts
32 oz Chicken Broth
1 can organic black beans
1 package Cream Cheese
3/4 cup green chilis
1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn
1 green pepper sliced
1 red pepper sliced
1 onion sliced
1 large tomato
Grape seed oil

Directions:
Coat inside of the Crock Pot with small amount of grape seed oil. This is to make cleaning easier at the end. In the bottom place the onions, green and red peppers and the chicken breasts on top. Cut cream cheese into chunks and place randomly. Add chicken stock, black beans drained, tomato, corn and green chilis. Stir lightly. Place on medium heat for 6 hours.

When it is done take chicken breasts out and shred chicken. Return chicken to crock pot, serve and enjoy!

Welcome to my fit pregnancy blog

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Welcome everyone to my blog posting! As you may have heard – WE’RE PREGNANT again! We are expecting our second child this coming May and boy am I ever feeling awful! The “morning sickness” is seeming to last all day, stops while I eat, but ramps up as soon as I finish. But the good news is that I am still getting my workouts in.

My husband and I just returned from a quick trip to Mexico! Not quiet the trip I had in mind when we planned it 6 months ago, but it was still amazing to relax and catch up on some needed rest.  While we were there we got to get a couple runs in on the beach, several weightlifting sessions and even a pull-up competition in the pool!

Fitness isn’t just about keeping your figure tight and trim while you’re pregnant, it’s about helping your body, and mind, stay healthy for your baby and helping your baby develop as best you can. Now I will preface with the fact that you need to consult your doctor prior to any fitness activity to ensure you are okay to participate, but in terms of pregnancy if you were exercising before you got pregnancy you can continue while you’re pregnant. Women who run marathons can run marathons, women who lift weights can lifting weight and women who Zumba can keep shaking that booty.

A week after I found out I was pregnant I participated in a CrossFit Competition. A side from the nausea and additional food, I was able to compete with every other woman there. Keep in mind I was training for this event for the past 6 months and my body was prepared for it, but it’s okay to keep doing what you are doing. Yesterday I ran the Denver Rock N’ Rock Half marathon and while it wasn’t my fastest race it felt great to run!

It hurts me every time I hear a woman say, “well I am pregnant so I can’t workout”!!! Why would you stop an activity that keeps your heart in shape, your metabolism going and your muscles moving just because you are pregnant? Your baby can benefit from the same healthy activities as he or she grows just as much as you do.

To give you a short background about me, I am a personal trainer and nutrition coaching by profession. My husband and I own  the fitness company Strength Train 4 Life and run boot camps, in home and virtual training, nutrition coaching and weight loss competitions. I also run several Mommy Boot camp and toddler exercise classes. Fitness is an important part of my life and I want to help other achieve their goals.

Even as a trainer I found it hard to get advise on my exercise when I was pregnant with my first child. My first doctor told me I wasn’t allowed to lift over 20 pounds! My second doctor, while much better, still did not have real answers for what I could and couldn’t do. This was frustrating to me. I knew working out was good for pregnant women and I was positive it was great for me, but it was my first pregnancy and I was nervous.  Needless to say, I did lots of research, worked out until the week before I delivered my son and plan to do so throughout this pregnancy.  Come to think of it, I was even doing squats to progress labor in the hospital the day I delivered. After finding a lack of resources of pregnant woman and fitness I decided to start my own blog to give women a place to find information and ask questions.

Over the next seven months, follow me as I share my workouts, my food and my pregnancy. Please feel free to comment or email me (strengthtrain4life@gmail.com) if you have any questions about your own fit pregnancy.