Pregnancy Training – Final Wave

This is the FINAL update to my pregnancy training! I’m at just over 37 Weeks, will be induced in less than 2-weeks (if nature doesn’t kick-in earlier), and plan on spending this last bit of time relaxing as much as possible. I guess you can term it an extended deload period.

Beginning today, I will be limiting my lifts and focus on some light supplementary work, the Prowler, and steady-state, no-impact cardio for the next week or two.

If you take a look back at my previous phase, you’ll see I pointed out some program modifications I was carrying forward to influence this phase. Here’s how everything turned out:

1. “I’m going to cut the weight lifting down to just the essentials.” Y-E-S!!! This was very important to allow me to complete all my other goals. With the weekly increases in all the body weight strength work (along with the weekly increases in MY Body weight) it started taking some solid time to do certain lifts. 36 Chinups 4x/week is quite a bit.
2. “Cardiovascular work will be upped significantly.” Another important and timely addition. It was tough work as on most days as I was doing two separate cardiovascular sessions that combined for over an hour each day (plus, 45-60-min lifts). But, I believe it has effectively helped keep the “I’m HUUUUGE” feelings to a minimum. More importantly though, this type of training prevents the baby from gaining TOO much weight at the end of the pregnancy… FYI this is not just my opinion research backs up this approach. It also helps the baby become acclimated to the stressful situations he will soon encounter (the birth process and life outside the womb). Did you know that a baby’s heartrate will not drop so dramatically when passing through the birth canal when he is from a mother who exercised? That’s a big concern when in delivery and this is a solid fix.
3. “Emphasize prehab and prevention needs: my calves have been cramping regularly at night and I am experiencing a bit of adductor pain/weakness recently.” I made this extra effort, but unfortunately I can’t say I had overwhelming success. I’ve pulled my right calf about 3-times in the last 5-weeks from running, both calves continue to cramp regularly, and I continue to experience adductor weakness and pain. On the up side, I’ve managed to continue running throughout this last phase, so I suppose the prehab/rehab is at the very least keeping me active. Probably a situation of too-little, too-late.

Since I’ve been so methodical with my strength training through this pregnancy, I decided once I achieved “full-term”/37-weeks that I would test myself on a few lifts:

You can see from my actual results that I just achieved all my goals, with the exception of bench press. I found that the PRIMARY limiting factor in each movement was my ability to effectively brace my entire body.

Of the four tests, I am most satisfied with the Chin-up and Deadlift results. I don’t care for military press much and bench press is what it is… that 125 is still 45lbs under my best raw bench.

For this training approach the Chin-up success represents my commitment to continuing to move as much of my body weight as possible throughout and an assisted chin-up using only a mini-band tells me I’ll be knocking out reps after the birth.

On the otherhand, the Deadlift number indicates my hunch that pregnant women can actually get stronger throughout their pregnancies may contain some validity. This lift kept my back and legs extremely strong, minimized lower and upper back pain, and helped me keep running. Below are my DL attempts – 1. is at 205, 2. at 215 (I missed it… watch me talk to myself like a crazy person), and 3. is at 225 (I must have sat for about 10-minutes trying to decide if going for 225 was even safe – turns out, it was!

Actual Final Wave Programming:

Final Notes:

• Nothing guarantees an easy delivery OR a healthy baby, but I am confident I’ve set both of us for the greatest chances for each.
• If I had to only pick two lifts for the duration of the pregnancy, I would pick: deadlift and plank variations.
• If someone put a gun to my head and made me choose between weight training and cardiovascular training as the most important consideration for a pregnant woman: I wouldn’t choose, they’re both too important.