Friday, February 13, 2009

Working It Out

A few weeks ago someone asked me if I was still working out this late in my pregnancy? Still? Try, more. I work out more consistently when I'm pregnant than when I'm not. For one it just feels better to get up and get moving rather than to sit and have all that weight bunched up.

And then there's the whole weight gain thing. My emotions are already on a roller coaster ride and, well, if I had to get up and find out that nothing fits me anymore it would just crush me through and through. So I try to stay somewhat active.

As I mentioned yesterday I've been walking on the treadmill and doing some yoga stretches. But for the first time in my life walking on the treadmill started to hurt. And not the good feel-the-burn kind of hurt. I hate saying this word but Brian told me there's no other way to describe this part of my body. OK, fine. It's my groin. My groin is killing me. I'm sure it has nothing to do with having to carry an extra 20 pounds, right? Riiiight.

So I decided to take a water aerobics class for the first time in my life. Get that belly to float instead of bounce was the idea. Last week I purchased a maternity swim suit on sale on OldNavy.com and when it arrived on Wednesday I had no more excuses left. I went to my first class last night and again this morning.

"How was it?" Brian asked when I got home last night.

"You know how I always say going to the state fair is a huge boost in my appearance confidence?"

"Yeah..."

"Well it was kind of like that except I got a huge boost in my fitness level confidence."

I thought the class would be full of senior citizens. And there were a few of those but there were also a lot of people that weren't that far out of my age range and appeared to be working on their physical fitness for the first time in a long time.

I've never considered myself an athlete and I don't think anyone who knows me would describe me a such either. I've never been able to run much more than a mile without getting exhausted. But still, I can climb three or four flights of stairs at a rapid pace without thinking I'm going to need to be resuscitated.

A water aerobics class is kind of like climbing stairs. Your heart rate it up but it isn't as high as it would be if, say, you were running a long distance at a quick pace for an extended period of time. So I was a bit shocked to hear people sighing and groaning as the instructor led us into more and more rigorous exercises. And it wasn't the older people. That, perhaps, is what surprised me the most. One middle-aged gentleman even got out of the pool and left when the class was only halfway through.

One woman, huffing and puffing, turned to me and said, "I can't imagine doing this pregnant!"

Compared to my usual treadmill routine I was feeling great! In fact, at one point I was feeling so good that I started to wonder if I was kidding myself that was I getting any real cardio done. It seems I've been equating pain with a real workout for so long that I just couldn't believe I was doing my body any favors. But my famished appetite at the the end of class led me to believe I burned more calories than it seemed.

So now I'm wondering, will I be cheating myself out of a true workout if I continue this class when I'm no longer pregnant?

2 comments:

  1. After a day of lugging two kids around it might be a welcome change on your joints to enjoy some time in the water. You can always change what you are doing if you feel it isn't satisfactory.

    I must admit, I do love the image of people griping during a water aerobics class. It makes me giggle.

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  2. Again, good for you! I am totally impressed!

    I think I'd like to try water aerobics, but there are no gyms "in our area" (within 20 minutes) and I'm also not a big fan of leaving my daughter in gym-sponsored child care...so the options are rather limiting.

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