In my work, I often see women rush right back into exercise after they have their babies. I understand the urge– pre-pregnancy jeans are calling and the mental kick of a good workout can’t be beat. However, I’ve seen lots of women return to exercise too early or without a plan and end up injured. In an effort to learn from them, I did the following things before returning to exercise:
The Other Side
Hello from the other side of pregnancy- motherhood! Peter was born December 29th, exactly one week past his due date. We’ve taken the last six weeks to settle in as a family while getting to know our funny, sweet little guy.
What being pregnant taught me that 10,000 pregnant women couldn’t
I’m in the last days before my due date I wanted to give one final update! Those of you who have been pregnant might remember the very special mental workings of being 39+ weeks pregnant. I swing between “baby will come when he’s ready!” and “I’ll be pregnant forever” on a regular basis (like, seriously, about ever 5 minutes or so). I feel lucky that we haven’t had the need to schedule an induction or c-section (yet), but also jealous of friends and clients that know the last possible day they’ll be pregnant.
How pregnancy turned me into a yoga fan
Prior to being pregnant, I’d attended maybe ten yoga classes in my whole life. I’ve spent years with CrossFit, kickboxing, weight lifting, and other group exercise classes, but yoga never really did it for me. Sweating, loud music, and the kind of exercise that made my brain “turn off” were my thing. Until I got pregnant.
See Oh Baby! Fitness on HLN – Losing Weight After Baby
Check out pregnant co-owner Kathleen Donahoe on Headline News Weekend Express — she shares great advice about working out while pregnant and healthy postpartum weight loss!
3 Exercises You Can Do After You Have Your Baby
We get asked all the time how quickly women can return to exercise postpartum. While you don’t want to vigorously exercise until cleared by your doctor (usually at your 6 week postpartum visit), there are some simple exercises you can do before then to help get your body recovered and rehabbed from pregnancy and delivery. The video below shows three exercises you can do in those first six weeks—starting in the hospital! Check them out to find out how to get your body ready to get back to exercise as soon as your doctor clears you.
The home stretch- Third trimester update and favorite workouts
I’ve now entered the “less than 2 months until due date” stage of pregnancy, which before I was pregnant myself, I’d characterize to clients as the “freak-out zone.” Right on schedule, I’m suddenly feeling like “ooooh, it’s GO time.” Before I was pregnant, I’d tell clients that the highest anxiety point of pregnancy is usually around 32-33 weeks (this is often when moms have nightmares about labor and delivery, and spend whole days thinking “this baby is going to get bigger? And it’s going to come out HOW?”), and, now, I’m no exception! While we’ve likely got plenty of time, part of the anxiety and push to get things done comes from the fact that I’m already feeling so big and often uncomfortable- and know that this little guy is supposed to double in weight between now and his due date. So I am in “go” mode: nursery, work, Christmas shopping…it’s time to get things taken care of!
Kathleen’s 29 week update- a vlog
Hi guys! I decided to do a video blog this week after so many people asked for photos of my belly. You’ll hear in this video why I’ve been hesitant to share belly photos (though I promise I’ll take and
Why everything most people think about exercise intensity during pregnancy is wrong.
While the title to this post is quite a claim, I couldn’t help it— after my 10th conversation this month with someone asking me if I was slowing down now that I’m in my third trimester, I realized we have
Second trimester exercise – surprises and take aways:
I’m about to finish off my second trimester and wanted to share some of the things that have surprised me about working out in this trimester, as well as what has worked. Coming into this trimester I wasn’t sure what