Early Morning Workout

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This morning’s workout came much earlier than usual – 6am! While getting up with my alarm was painful as always, it felt great to have my workout done before 7am.

I have many clients who struggle with getting their workouts in during the day or even at night. By end of day we have a million and one reasons why we shouldn’t go to the gym or even get a quick workout in at home. From being tired, to cooking dinner, to family activities – the excuses just keep adding up. That’s why morning workouts (while sometimes painful to wake up for) tend to be more effective. Other than your alarm, there aren’t as many things standing in your way! Plus, if you workout in the morning you are starting your day off right, boosting your metabolism, and you don’t have to worry about fitting it in later.

Today’s workout…

Warm-Up – 5 minutes walking on treadmill
Foam Rolling – legs/IT bands and Psoas

Squats – 10 (increasing weight each time)
Repeat 4 times

Thrusters – 6 reps
Repeat 4 times

Deadlifts – 5
Bulgarian Split Squats – 10
Jump Rope – 50
Repeat 2 times

 

Trying New Things

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I didn’t wake up this morning thinking I was going to train with another group today! In fact I was looking forward to a lighter Olympic lift workout, but sometimes what we plan isn’t always the best.

As I finished with my client this morning and was preparing to start my own workout, another trainer at the gym asked me to jump in with his boot camp class. It’s been a while since I tried someone else’s workout so I thought why not! The workout itself was great and incorporated the entire body. Several of the exercises weren’t great for someone pregnant so I swapped them out for “pregnant friendly” ones. What I struggled with most in the group atmosphere was the ability to “slow down”. I have a competitive side that likes to push myself as hard as possible. With my friends and my own personal workouts I don’t feel the need to push myself, but with a new group of people it was a bit harder to slow down. I like being able to “beat” the person next to me – it’s the mental game I play to challenge myself. Luckily for me my fear of overdoing it and ending up with contractions helped, but I definitely felt outside of my comfort zone. The workout felt great, but I am getting ready to have my body back to push as hard as I’d like. We are about six weeks out and I am excited to meet our little girl!!

It’s okay to push yourself to your limits, but remember that everyone is different. One person may be able to lift twice as much weight as you, but you are both doing your babies good. Strong mom = strong baby!

Workout of the Day:

Round 1  (each exercise for 1minute and 30 seconds, with 30 second rest)

Walk outs with push up
Single Leg Squats with Kettlebell – (right side)
Box Jumps – I modified to step ups with dumbbells
Russian Twists  – I modified with Planks/Mountain Climbers
Single Leg Squats with Kettlebell – (left side)
Lateral lunges with Kettlebell (alternating)

Round 2 – (each exercise for 1minute and 30 seconds, with 30 second rest)

Yoga Push Ups
Single leg box jumps (Step Up with a hop at the top) (right)
Standing overhead press with dumbbells
Single leg box jumps (Step Up with a hop at the top) (left)
Lateral jump with burpee
Wall Sit with Hammer Curl

Kitchen Workout

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Some days there is no way to fit in your traditional workout, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be done! This is where the “Kitchen workout” comes into play. Yesterday I literally was going all day and couldn’t get my desperately needed workout in by it’s self, but here is what I did. There are always a few minutes/seconds in between cooking and prepping dinner so I fit in a couple squats, lunges, tricep dips and stand ups. I didn’t have to leave the kitchen, food was perfectly cooked and I got my workout in! Life is fully of excuses, it’s finding ways around your excuses that end in positive results!

Squats – 20
Reverse lunges – 10 each side
Tricep dips – 10 (with or without doggy kisses!)
Single leg stand ups – 10 each side
Lateral lunges – 10 each side
Repeat 3 times or until dinner is ready!

 

30 minute Home workout

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Today’s workout was quick, but effective! Focus was on the rear end seeing as summer is  coming. Even though I don’t foresee myself wearing a bikini, the more I do now the easier it will be to get in shape post baby.

Single leg stand ups – 10 each leg holding kettlebell
Single arm snatch with kettlebell – 10 each arm
Single leg RDLs – 10 each leg
Kettlebell Swings – 20

Snow Day Workout

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From 70 degrees yesterday to over a foot of snow today – you have to love the Colorado weather. Since we were stuck inside today we got in a quick workout.

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View of our patio furniture.
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My little ones playset – I think it’s in there!

Warm-Up –

Jumping Jacks – 30
Quick High Knees – 30 each leg
Slow Mt. Climbers – 20 each leg

Workout –

S – Split Squats (20 each leg)
N – Narrow Push-Ups (20)
O – Overhead Press with Alternating Lunge (20)
W – Windmill Abs (20 each side)
D – Dumbbell Deadlifts (20)
A – Arnold’s Dumbbell Press (20)
Y – Yay! for Burpees (10)

Repeat 3 times

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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My shirt says…”I caught me a wee leprechaun!”

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I did a “Lucky 7” workout….

70 – Jump Ropes
7 – Deadlifts
7 – Push-Ups
7 – Squats
7 – Overhead Press with Dumbbells
7 – Lunges with Dumbbells
7 – Assisted Pull-Ups
7 – Keg RDLs
Repeat 4 times

Good luck!

Back in the Game

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It has been a week since we had to make a trip to the hospital and a week since my last workout. I have taken the time to let me body recover and to make sure to perfect my eating habits to decrease the chance of going back to the hospital again. Wednesday was the lowest energy I have been in a long time and it felt like my abs had been through one of the toughest workouts ever thanks to all the contractions. By Friday some of my energy had returned and I no longer felt like my blood sugar was tanked.

To detail how my meals have changed…first and foremost I have increased my eating frequency. Every couple of hours I will have a meal or a snack with both protein and complex carbohydrates. I was sometimes doing this before, but now I am not missing a snack!  I am completely staying away from sugary snacks and drinks to avoid the huge spike in your blood sugar. I will have the occasional soda, natural and sweetened with Stevia, to satisfy my sweet tooth, but nothing else. Stevia is a natural sweetener that will not affect your blood sugar levels like regular sugar, but is a much healthier option than artificial sweeteners.

Yesterday’s meals…

Breakfast: 2 Sausages, Quinoa bake, and protein shake.
Snack: Trail mix with dried fruit, cashews and pecans.
Lunch: Chicken breast, sauteed squash, zucchini and carrots, and gluten free mac’n cheese
Snack: Apples and natural peanut butter
Snack: Chia Seed Bar
Dinner: Sweet potatoes cooked in Natural Bacon grease, bacon, asparagus and grilled pork chops.
Snack: Right before bed I will typically have a small amount of nuts or a protein muffin and a glass of water.

The reason I have been so conscience about my food and eating is due to the fact that my blood sugar seems to be running lower than my normal. This can be expected the baby is taking a good amount of the nutrients away from me to grow. Because my blood sugars tend to be lower I have the tendency to uptake sugars quickly and utilize them even quicker. For those of you who may not be a familiar with how your blood sugar works. When you eat something sugary (cookies, candy, cereal, bread, etc) your body is able to take in those nutrients much quicker than protein or fat, which quickly increases your blood sugar. As seen in the image below protein and fat take longer to be broken down into fuel and do not affect the blood sugar as does carbs.

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Some people may notice that immediately after eating something sugary or made of simply carbohydrates they have energy, but within an hour they are looking for something else to eat or caffeine to bring their energy up.

This doesn’t mean that people do not need carbohydrates, we do! But we need to be smart about when and what types we are consuming. Carbohydrates that are more complex and provide a great amount of nutrients are items such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, vegetables and fruits. These will not have as dramatic effect on the blood sugar as items such as white rice, tortillas, sugars, cereals, etc.

Some women’s blood sugars, like mine, may run lower than their “normal” during pregnancy, which can lead to symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, weakness, blured vision, hunger or headaches.  Maintaining a steady diet in protein, fats and complex carbohydrates can ensure blood sugar levels remain steady throughout the day.

Women who have or are at risk for having gestational diabetes will actually have the opposite or high blood sugar levels. Gestational diabetes starts when your body is not able to make and use all the insulin it needs for pregnancy. Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to energy. Glucose builds up in the blood to high levels. This is called hyperglycemia. (See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/gestational/what-is-gestational-diabetes.html#sthash.nXpsbDst.dpuf)

 

Today’s workout…

1 mile (1600 meter) Row on Rower

Leg Press – 3×10
Walking lunges with barbell – 2x8each leg
Barbell RDLs – 2×10
Lateral box step ups – 2x10each leg (holding Kettlebell in hands)

Post workout feelings – GREAT! Minimal contractions, lots of water consumed and legs were happy to get a short workout in!!!

No good Tuesday!

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Well it seems even trainers make mistakes and end up in the hospital! Luckily this was just a short visit to get my contractions under control, but it was a lesson learned by me.

It must have started Tuesday morning when I was running late getting out the door and only grabbed a protein shake for breakfast and a protein bar for snack later that morning. Lunch was make shift (I hadn’t got the chance to get to the store) I had eggs, chorizo, tomatoes and cheese. Afternoon snack (worst pick of all) a few dark chocolate chips. Finally, dinner was pot roast, carrots and kale chips. Overall this may seem like a good day of food, but when you look a little closer the calories and nutrient content are on the low side.

Thus the problem began, at 7pm I began having contractions, which is typical for me. Normally I just make sure to relax, drink some extra water and they fade away. An hour into contractions, 36 ounces of water down and they were only picking up pace. By 9:00pm I called the doctor, who recommended I take a trip to my labor and delivery ward. Not fun when you have a 21 month old just barely in bed, tired husband and lets be honest no one likes to go to the hospital.

I am glad we went in as my contractions began to be almost two minutes apart, not painful, but uncomfortable for the bladder by all means. After running several test I received the lovely terbutaline shot (Nurse warned me it burned and holy crap did it!). Contractions slowed and we were set to be released. The end results determined that I was well hydrated, but I had ketones in my urine. This means that my body was utilizing fat stores rather than carbohydrates and that I was in a calorie deficit. You can compare this to a body builder right before they have a show. This could have been the reason my body was contracting when it wasn’t needing to. Turns out my glucose test also determined my blood sugar levels are low, meaning my body readily utilizes carbohydrates! Typically, a fasting glucose level should be between 86-120, but mine was well below at 68.

This isn’t a terrible thing, but it does mean I need to consume a higher number of calories to keep my body happy and that I need to ensure I am balancing my meals efficiently with protein and complex carbohydrates. Several weeks ago I noticed that I was having trouble with spinning and nausea, which I also attributed to food intake. At that point I found eating simple carbs (sugars, breads, etc.) would cause me to drop in blood sugar and become dizzy. Now I have also come to realize I need more calories during the day. This may seem like a no brainer, but the struggle is most times I don’t feel hungry in between meals. Therefore, I have started eating meals/snacks (regardless of being hungry) every 2-3 hours to ensure my blood sugar will remain stable and not drop too quickly. It has taken two days to feel like my blood sugar is at a sustainable level and to get my energy back. Obviously, no workouts for the time being, but I am hoping to get back to it this weekend.

Moral of this story is – life can take over and especially as mom’s we forget to take care of ourselves (ex: not eat enough), but when you are pregnant you need to ensure you are taking care of yourself for your babies shake. Luckily everything looked great with our little girl, but now it is time I focus on food!

 

Working the bump

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I love that I am now “truly pregnant”, by that I mean, when I go to bend over my belly is in the way, I can hold a glass on my belly when relaxing on the couch and I find myself peeing every two seconds! The next best thing is that I am still feeling great in my workouts. 27 weeks down and only 13 or so to go. The modification I have made at this time to my workouts include cutting out Cleans (I could still do them, but my belly would require me to rainbow a bit, so I’ll just skip them for a couple months), taking a slightly wider stance for my squats to accommodate my every growing belly, lighter weights and more breaks to catch my breath or wait out my Braxton-Hicks contractions.

Today’s workout…

1/2 mile jog on treadmill

Squats – 10
Bulgarian Split Squats with Kettlebell – 10 each leg
Repeat 3 times

Overhead Press – 10
Dumbbell Push Ups – 10 (Dumbbells are simply used to accomodate the large belly and maintain my fully range of motion)
Lateral dumbbell arm raises – 10
Repeat 3 times

When life takes over stay true to your nutrition

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Our schedule has been next to impossible to fit in my workouts, so I have been focusing on my food! When in doubt make sure you are eating as healthy as possible. I am sure many of your have heard the saying “Getting fit is 80 percent nutrition” or that “Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym” – both having a great deal of truth. To explain why we need to consider our daily schedules. Typically a person spends thirty to ninety minutes working out per day, leaving between 22-23 hours left to make great decisions. With the fact that you are eating at least 3 times per day, plus 2-3 snacks, you have many more opportunities to make bad nutrition decisions than working out. Plus, if you aren’t fueling your body properly and are unable to optimize your metabolism you may not see changes you desire.

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Therefore, today I made the meals for he remaining part of our week. Lunches for this week included Naked Chicken Fajitas, in a skillet I sauteed one onion and 5 garlic cloves in grape seed oil. Then added chicken breasts chopped into pieces and cooked fully. When they were fully cooked I added my spices chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic salt, and cumin. Mixed thoroughly, add peppers and cover to cook. In the containers I added black beans, peppers and chicken mixture, tomato slices, shredded cheese and a dash of cilantro. For the side I had half an avocado for some healthy fat.  This is an easy and delicious meal!