Happy Labor Day Weekend! I have mixed feelings about the coming end of summer. I generally love warm weather but I'm glad to be entering into a period of cooler, more favorable workout weather. So today I'm super sore, sore traps, legs, back...ugh. Even my abs (which have slowly disappeared) are really sore, I'm guessing from doing Fran yesterday...but I'll get to that.

I did 3 workouts in a row, cause that's all my schedule would allow, which is also why I'm so sore:

5 rounds 10 squat cleans 65#, 10 push-ups, still doing regular push-ups but now my belly touches before my chest so that's as deep as I get (but my core is staying strong!). The squat cleans where hard not going below parallel as well.

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of sumo deadlift high-pulls and push-jerks. Prescribed weight was 55# but I did 60# only because I was going at a slower pace and push-jerks that light don't really challenge me that much. It was a total suckfest though, I used to like sumos, not sure I like them at 23 weeks pregnant.

"Fran", need I say more?? 21-15-9 reps of 65# thrusters and pull-ups. My husband guided and timed me for support, not that I was doing it for time but I kinda wanted to know how I was doing. I was SLOW, that's all I'll say (about as fast as the first time I did it rx'd over 18 mos ago). I COMPLETELY recovered after every 7 reps the 1st round of 21, then every 5 reps thereafter. I haven't even done thrusters since I've been pregnant, and they were totally inefficient since my squat was limited to parallel. I'll not do Fran again until after this baby comes :).

Flexibility

Since I've been pregnant I've been reflecting on my own fitness deficits and goals for the future. I identified flexibility as a definite area of improvement in myself and I'm sure many other people neglect this important area of fitness. Having adequate flexibility ensures that good range of motion can occur in the joints, thereby enhancing optimal performance. Pregnant women really need to be careful with stretching exercises due to the increased laxity of the ligaments and tendons associated with the hormone relaxin.

Static stretching is best suited for pregnancy since the risk for injury is low and requires minimal if no assistance. Static stretching involves slowly stretching a muscle to the end of the range of motion, to the point of mild discomfort. The stretch should be held in that position for at least 15-30 seconds. Only 2-4 stretches need to be done for any given muscle group a minimum of 2-3 days/weeks. If stretching prior to working out, it should be done after an active warm-up. I recommend stretching following the cool-down phase, research has shown that stretching prior to a workout has no benefit in enhancing performance.

Dynamic stretching, where repetitive bouncing movements produce the muscle stretch should never be done in pregnancy since the risk for injury is so high, even in the general population.

Stretches to avoid during pregnancy include standing toe touch, Barre stretch, Hurdler's stretch, neck circles, knee hyperflexion, and the Yoga plow.