36 Weeks today

(This photo is from our Thanksgiving Day workout.  So, I was about 15 weeks at that point, I think.  Early on, I noticed that even though I hadn't gained any weight, everything was just harder.  I couldn't do muscle ups at all anymore, pullups were harder.  Hell, air squatting was hard!  Lots of hormones in play there, increasing my blood volume and what not.  It was frustrating because I still was small and should be able to do a lot of stuff, but just didn't have the energy).

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Four weeks to go!  Plus or minus, of course.  I'm 36 weeks today, which means that Sprocket could make his entrance anywhere between now and 6 weeks from now.  So much for planning ahead!

The last two days at the gym we did the CrossFit Total (1 Rep Max Back Squat, Shoulder Press, and Deadlift....add them up to find your total).  I so badly wanted to do a max deadlift - not to mention back squat, which I have always loved.  Deadlifting though....the deadlift and I have not always had the best relationship.  I would love it if I could pull 300#, but I am stuck in the low 200s.  Ahem, WAS stuck in the low 200s.  I feel a big PR coming on sometime in 2010!!!

So, that leads me to my postpartum workout plan.  I have nothing set in stone yet.  I figured that is a project that can wait until after the baby is here when I am really itching to workout.  But, I have definitely been thinking about it for some time.

I have solicited the other active mamas I know for advice on how they made a come-back.  The general consensus is:  Take it easy at first.  Walking and hiking is all you need to do for the first month or so.  My midwife likes to add that if you go super, super easy for the first week (like, don't get out of bed, easy) then your recovery will be much, much better.  She said that you could maybe even do some light jogging 3 weeks after the delivery if you take that first week super easy.

So, 3-6 weeks after the birth, I will start working out again.  I'm mostly worried about high impact exercises for now - box jumps, heavy olympic lifting, etc.  Basically, any jumping.  To be honest, I'm not even interested in any "light jogging" 3 weeks after the birth.  I'll stick to the rower, thank you.  So, my early workouts will consist of some of the following:

• Strength work.  I'll focus on powerlifting exercises to get my strength back.  Shoulder presses for the core strength, squats and deads, also for core strength.  As a side note, I feel like my abs are still really strong, so I'm curious to see how long it will take for them to "recover"
• Short, only moderately-intense metcons.  Things like 10 minutes of "Cindy" (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats, repeated for 10 minutes), rowing and kettlebell swings, lunges and situps (if I am able), etc.  Basic movements to work on general metabolic conditioning and that work the whole-body.

What's really up in the air is how long that will last.  Stay tuned.  Next time:  The Benchmarks.  When, how, and why.