Tag: flexibility

Categories
Exercises

Lateral Lunge with Trunk Twist

Difficulty: Intermediate

Take a big step out to one side. Bend the knee of the stepping foot as you sit your hips back as if trying to sit in a chair. Keep the opposite leg straight.

As you do this, reach with your arm and hand to try and touch the ground on the outside of the foot closest to you. Your trunk will twist as you do this.

Return to the starting position then repeat going to the other side.

Complete 5-10 reps on each side.

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Programed Workouts Week 4-8

Workout Program Introduction

Introduction

As you get ready for the big event of life (childbirth), BumptUp has designed workouts to help you stay fit during your pregnancy. These workouts include strength training and exercises to improve your heart health.

We will begin with a short warm-up. It involves doing some dynamic stretches to activate and loosen up the muscles we’ll be focusing on. Just like preheating an oven, warming up before exercise helps raise your body temperature, increase blood flow, and get your body ready to perform its best!

Each workout will consist of a total of ~8 exercises.

Some key terms…

  • Rep: short for “repetition”, doing one complete, full movement of the exercise
  • Set: a specific number of reps to be completed in a row without stopping

For each exercise, we have provided a brief explanation along with a video demonstration to help you understand how to do it correctly. If you click on the link for each exercise, you’ll find a more detailed description that will hopefully answer any questions you may have. We understand that when you’re training on your own, there are going to be things that sound confusing, and we hope this link will provide clarity.

On this page, you will also find variations of each exercise. We have suggested modifications to make the movement easier, while progressions increase the difficulty. These alternative exercises target the same muscle groups but can be adjusted based on your current fitness level, available space, equipment, and other factors.

In accordance with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), ALL healthy individuals should aim to complete 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week. This could equate to 30 minutes of moderate exercise, 5 days per week.

Bumptup has programmed 3 days of moderate resistance training workouts to maintain and build strength throughout your pregnancy. These workouts are designed to be low impact so that, if necessary, they could be completed on consecutive days.

The first week of the exercise program begins with Week 4 of pregnancy. Each Day has been linked below:

On Days without a structured workout, we suggest getting some kind of movement or exercise for at least 25 minutes. This could be a simple walk or jog, or create your own 25-minute workout in the BumptUp App!

Categories
Exercises

Low Back Stretch with Stroller

Difficulty: Beginner

Categories
Exercises

Shoulder Wall Slides Facing the Wall

Shoulder Wall Slides Facing Wall (Exercise Classification: Beginner)

Equipment: wall

  • Face a wall and start by standing ~ 6 inches from the wall
  • Rest the pinky finger side of your hands and forearms on the wall shoulder distance apart with your elbows at chest height.
  • Your feet should be hip distance, or a little wider, apart and your knees soft with a small bend.
  • Slide your arms up with wall in a straight line.
  • At the very top, take a deep breath in through your nose as you reach towards the ceiling and lean into the wall a little.
  • If it feels good, you can also shrug your shoulders towards your ears as you do this.
  • Then exhale gently through your mouth as you let your forearms slide back down the wall to their starting position, leading with your elbows.
  • Forearms should touch the wall the entire time.
  • Repeat for 5-10 repetitions. 
Categories
Exercises

Back to Wall Shoulder Flexion

Back to wall shoulder Flexion (Exercise Classification: beginner)

Equipment: wall

  • Start standing with your back resting against a wall
  • Walk your feet out so that the wall is supporting your low back and your thighs do not feel like they are working to hold your up
  • Place your feet roughly hip distance apart.
  • Breathing normally through your nose, start with your arms down at your side and your thumbs facing the ceiling in a “thumbs up” position
  • Keeping your elbows straight and your low back on the wall, raise your arms in front of you moving them overhead. The movement should come from your shoulders.
  • Once they are above you, take a deep breath in through your nose as you reach up like you were trying to make yourself tall and touch then ceiling.
  • Then gently and slowly exhale through pursed lips as if blowing through a straw as you bring your arms back down to your sides.
  • Repeat 5-10 repetitions.
Categories
Exercises

Modified Quadruped Rocking

Quad Rocking Modification (Exercise classification: beginner)

Equipment: table or flat surface

  • Start standing facing a countertop that is at least as high as your belly button.
  • Move your feet apart so they are just as wide or wider than your hips and rest your forearms onto the counter
  • Keep a soft bend in your knees and your back flat
  • While keeping your arms on the counter, rock your bottom back towards the wall behind you “as if there was a string tied to your belt loop and someone was pulling your backwards”.
  • As you rock backwards your elbows should straighten.
  • Sit back until you feel a stretch in your shoulders and back.
  • Then you can either rock forward to your starting position or you can hold the stretch for 5-10 seconds before rocking forward to your starting position.
  • Repeat 5-10 repetitions.
Categories
Exercises

Thoracic Rotation

Thoracic Rotation (Exercise Classification: Beginner)

Equipment: none

-Begin by laying on your back on the floor and stretch out your arms to the side with your palms facing the ground. 

-While keeping your upper body flat against the ground bend a leg at the knee. Lift and cross this leg over the other and hold. 

-Repeat on the other side. 

Categories
Exercises

Pigeon

Exercise Classification: Intermediate

Description:
Position yourself in a pushup position carefully pull one of your legs up and place your shin horizontally in front of your body as straight as possible. You might not be able to rest on the ground in this position completely.

You should support your body with your arms and try to press your midsection as close to the ground as possible.

Categories
Exercises

Half Kneel Elbow to Knee

Exercise Classification: Advanced

Categories
Exercises

Downward Dog with Pedal Out

Exercise Classification: Intermediate

Description:

Begin in a downward dog position. On your toes bent at the waist with your hands fully planted on the ground.

Next begin to bend one knee at a time planting your opposite foot. Alternate between each foot.