Most couples have at least that one daily routine together, that in spite of being ‘routine’ becomes a special part of each day. For us, it has always been working out together every morning irrespective of whether we were at home or traveling. At times we were motivating each other to push our limits or then being each other’s most vocal critics. It was hard to imagine a week without hitting the gym. When I found out we were pregnant; my workout ritual was the biggest question on my mind. Most doctors and almost all grandmas will tell you about staying “active” during pregnancy, but they are not likely to be ok with gymming, and certainly not with weight training! But I wasn’t ready to give up my routine, it just felt unnatural and unnecessary. I figured that all I needed was a few tweaks.

Armed with a lot of information and experience, I came up with a fun workout routine for the next nine months of pregnancy. Right off the bat, I knew I had to avoid exercises that involved lying flat on my back or stomach and also lifting very heavy weights. My routine included 15 minutes of Cardio followed by weight training. While I drastically cut down on the weights, I ensured that I kept the workout challenging enough. For anyone who hasn’t done weight training, there are four basic lifts to learn and follow. Just by continuing to improvise on the resistance and repetitions, you will be set for life. Of course, I don’t recommend that you start during pregnancy if you have never done it before.

When you spend a few years working out, you become incredibly aware of your endurance and stamina. The key is to always listen to your body (ignoring the sympathising mind :))- working out is meant to leave you feeling rejuvenated and not exhausted. The breathing pattern or “Prana” is also fundamental to ensure that the supply of oxygen to the baby is never interrupted. If done right, weight training overall is quite beneficial for pregnant women, and otherwise too. Developing the extra strength is a huge boon during labor and through the recovery process that follows. The beauty of this is that your body continues to burn fat even 24-48 hours after the training session.

With the baby growing and the body’s needs changing each trimester, I had to keep improvising on my workout regime. I knew that preparing my body to carry additional weight during pregnancy was the fundamental purpose of prenatal strength training. When my weight gain started accelerating in the second trimester, I used to walk around with ankle weights for a couple of hours each day. This was one of the experimental things I did and felt like it really worked. Along with the ever-changing weight, the posture of pregnant women is also greatly impacted. Your breasts become larger, the size and shape of your abdomen changes and in turn, the curvature of your back increases. To tackle this, I used to focus on the posterior chain or simply focus on working on my back to strengthen it.

The grand finale of pregnancy, the third trimester, can be quite a big deal. In the peak of Hyderabad summer, I felt suffocated in the gym and felt the need to change my workout schedule. So I switched to swimming in my seventh month and continued until the day before my baby was born. Some days I swam twice a day to cool off. The feeling of weightlessness in the water was really refreshing. Swimming was the safest and most comfortable form of exercise especially since your ligaments tend to stretch and become loose during the later stages of pregnancy. Only one thing I was very particular about was staying well-hydrated, before getting in and after getting out of the pool.

I give a lot of credit to weight training for how quickly I was able to bounce back to my original size and stamina after giving birth. Though I started my actual workout routine 12 weeks after the birth of my baby, I was pretty active right from after the birth of my son. 18 days after my c-section, I even performed a dance sequence at a very dear friend’s sangeet ceremony. It was a surprise and by far the best wedding gift I could give her. She had not expected me to perform as it hadn’t even been a month since I had the baby.

Exercising regularly has made such a massive difference to my life. Though it may sound strange, it also strengthened me on an emotional level. It made me feel more empowered, strong, positive and in control. I rarely felt like I was too tired to do anything. Even today, if my son were to ask me to go cycling with him out of the blue, I’d say let’s go even if it’s after a hard day at work. Or even if it’s my off day from gymming.

Caring for your body during pregnancy goes a long way in maintaining normalcy in your life. Eat well. Exercise well. Just listen to your body and let the end goal be enjoying whatever you do!