Active April Week 4: Strength & Resistance Training

Welcome to the final week of Active April! This month, we’ve been sharing workouts for TTC, Pregnancy, and Postpartum so we can all focus on fitness together.

So far, we’ve shared advice from Baby2Body founder and CEO Melinda Nicci about how to exercise safely, workouts from the Baby2Body app, and answered your burning questions here in the blog and over on Instagram.

Active April recap...

So far:

4th - 10th April: Cardio Fitness

11th - 17th April: Quick Workouts

18th - 24th April: Yoga Week

This week:

25th - 1st May: Strength and Resistance Training

If you’ve missed anything, you can catch up here! This week, we’re focusing on strength & resistance training. Let’s get into it…

Why should I incorporate strength training into my workout routine?

To put it simply, good muscle tone is key when working on your fitness. It’s a low-level, continuous contraction that gives your muscles shape and definition and helps maintain posture even when at rest.

Is strength & resistance training safe during pregnancy?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes, as long as you follow stage-safe workouts with pregnancy modifications and guidance. Everything you see in the Baby2Body app is safe for your stage of pregnancy, but if you feel any pain or discomfort, stop immediately.

During pregnancy, building strength and muscle will help you:

• Avoid aches and pains as your bump grows

• Prepare for labor

• Prepare for post-birth: e.g. holding and lifting baby & your recovery

To achieve these benefits, focus on strengthening your pelvic floor, your hamstrings, your ankles, your upper ack, your abdominal muscles, your glutes (buttocks), and your quads (front thighs).

Is strength & resistance training safe during postpartum?

Working on muscle tone is the name of the game post-baby, as muscle tone is naturally lost during pregnancy - especially in your abdomen. The best way to build muscle tone is through resistance workouts and weight training. If you’re not comfortable with weights, it’s a great idea to pop into your local gym and have a trainer show you the ropes so you can lift safely. But you can also use bodyweight workouts to get in some resistance training; no weights are required.

Don't forget to do your resistance workout. Remember that muscles are heavier than fat, so it's not about lowering the number on the scales but increasing your tone and trimness! Muscles also use more energy when at rest, so by adding more muscle to your body you will be increasing your metabolic rate - burning calories even while relaxing!

Remember don’t do any intense workouts or heavy lifting until you have had exercise clearance from your doctor (usually 6 weeks postpartum).

A workout to try…

Here’s a quick Baby2Body workout that you can try if you are pregnant or at least 6 weeks postpartum and have clearance to exercise – this is just a sneak peek, but if you head over to the app will walk you through each move, plus we have a warm up and cool down there too!

Got a question about strength and resistance training during pregnancy or postpartum? A general fitness question? Let us know in the comments & we’ll get back to you!

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