Shannon working out at Pure Barre at 38 weeks!

A topic that many are interested in is how and when to get back to fitness after a pregnancy. Although getting back to fitness after each of my nine pregnancies was a priority for me, it changed as I had more children and as I got older. I talked to two women who both had a baby in the not-so-distant past and who are both already back to a full workout routine. I met Shannon at Pure Barre and was amazed as she continued to work out and look great throughout her pregnancy.  Ashley is a friend who also exercised throughout her eighth pregnancy…doing mostly P90X at her house.   I also weighed in on some of the questions…

1. How long ago did you give birth? Was it a C-section?
Ashley: My youngest is 4 months old.  Not a C-section.

Shannon:  I gave birth to my second son 14 weeks ago. I had a C-section due to complications from my first son’s delivery.

2. Did you exercise during your pregnancy? If so, did that help in terms of birth or recovery?
Ashley:  Yes, 5-6 days a week up until the week she was born.  It helped greatly in terms of energy during the pregnancy.  My labors have started to slow down (she is my 8th).  It’s hard to tell if it helped in terms of birth.  It certainly helped in terms of my health.  Her strip during labor was flawless … no way to know for sure if that is connected to a healthy mommy, but I have to think it factors in.  My recovery was very easy.  That is absolutely attributed to the exercise.  I’ve had non-exercising pregnancies and the recovery period is much longer. [Read more…]