My Mid-to-Late Pregnancy Routine

A typical week, with days bolded, looks like this:

Legs

20 minutes incline treadmill or elliptical

• Deep Body-weight squats, 3-4 sets x 20 reps
• Leg Extension 3-4 x 12-15 SUPERSET WITH (45 lbs)
• Seated Leg Curl 3-4 x 12-15 (45)
• Glute Push-down (using assisted pull-up machine) 3 x 12

Chest/Back 

No exercises that involve lying flat are allowed. On compound exercises like incline bench, I stick with my old warm-up weight and do higher reps rather than risk straining too hard.

20 minutes incline treadmill or elliptical

• Incline Bench Press 4 x 12-15  (50) SUPERSET WITH
• One-Arm DB Row 4 x 12-15 (25)
• Seated Cable Chest Press 3 x 15 (50) SUPERSET WITH
• Assisted Pull-Ups 3 x 10-12
• Cable Chest Fly 3-4 x 12-15 (15) SUPERSET WITH
• Free Motion Cable Row 3-4 x 12-15 (25)

Cardio

20 minutes incline treadmill or elliptical

Shoulders

Overhead presses are out because they can injure your lower back in the later stage of pregnancy. Very sad – those are what got my shoulders bigger! Oh well, I’ll get them back.

20 minutes incline treadmill or elliptical

• Dumbbell or Cable Upright Row 3-4 x 12-15 (15-20)
• Seated or Standing Front Delt Raise 3-4 x 10-12 (10)
• Side-Lying Lateral Raises 3 x 12 (8) SUPERSET WITH
• Rear Delt Raises 3 x 12
• Seated Cable Press 3-4 x 15 (20) The free-motion cable machine doesn’t strain my lower back – I wait until the end of the workout so I keep it light, and lean back in the seat

Arms

This is one area in which I haven’t really dropped the weight I’m using much. I now do close-grip bench and skullcrushers (for triceps) at an incline instead of flat.

20 minutes incline treadmill or elliptical

• DB Bicep Curl 3-4 x 10-12 (15-20) SUPERSET WITH
• Seated Tricep Extension 3-4 x 10-12 (25)
• Cable Bicep 21’s 3-4 x 21 (40) SUPERSET WITH
• Close Bench Push-Ups 3-4 x 6-8

Cardio

20 minutes incline treadmill or elliptical

Rest

I’m just now transitioning to a circuit-training based routine to build endurance for labor and will post on that next.

Some additional things I’ve found really helpful while pregnant:

I have serious, chronic lower back pain issues that began about 3 years ago with heavy squats and deadlifts. But I hate hate hate seeking medical help ever for any reason so I’ve just lived with it and stopped doing those lifts. But now my expanding belly, and all the ligament and tendon stretching and posture changes that have attended it, has made the pain damn near unendurable to the point where walking can be difficult and sleeping soundly is impossible. Seeing a chiropractor (regularly) and getting massages (very occasionally) has made the pain manageable. That sounds underwhelming but I’m pretty excited about it because nothing I’ve tried for the past few years, from yoga to stretching to sleeping in certain positions to various devices has had any effect on it whatsoever. Derek and I are both going to a chiropractor who specializes in soft-tissue therapy for athletes, Dr. Lassiter right around the corner from Gold’s Gym in the Fan, since we both have soft-tissue lifting injuries, and it seems to be doing some good so far.

Another activity that has been awesome is bellydance. I’ve been dancing for about a year and a half and love it – I find that it keeps me graceful in spite of all the lifting that can lead to being rigid and tense. It’s been especially enjoyable while pregnant, and I expect it to be a great help for childbirth to have kept my core strong and my pelvis strong and flexible. I attend classes 2-3 days a week at Illumination Dance Studio and plan on doing it all the way to term!