Good Morning Everyone!

It’s workout time! I have a brand new workout for you today! We did this workout in our Boot Camp class last Tuesday. I am showing you the routine with the modifications that I did. For those of you that are already familiar with my workouts I also give some options for some Core Exercise variations that are currently off limits for me, but will increase the intensity of the abdominal workout sections.

Don’t be afraid to push hard. I am maintaining a moderate pace during the workout, to ensure that I don’t over-do it, but if you aren’t pregnant (or have any other underlying health conditions), don’t be afraid to push yourself! Go at a pace that challenges you!

I am almost 29-Weeks pregnant, so my baby belly is getting very round! My high knees aren’t as high & I have to modify some exercises. You will see in the video some of my core variations. These variations are very effective exercises even if you aren’t pregnant. If you are pregnant all of the wall sit and pelvic tilt variations I show are great exercises to keep your core strong, and help prevent abdominal separation.

In this routine I do a couple of pushup and plank exercises. If you are pregnant, only do these exercises if you can keep your abdomen engaged (while maintaining your breathing-not sucking in and holding your breath). You can modify these and perform them at an angle (for example, standing against a wall), which I did for several of the exercises. This will decrease abdominal pressure. If your abs start to feel fatigued, choose the angled variation. Increased intra-abdominal pressure can cause abdominal separation (diastasis recti). If you perform any exercises that causes the middle of your abs to point out like a mohawk that means that the transverse abdominals aren’t holding your abs together, and there is increased pressure on the middle of your abs. If that occurs you can skip the exercise and perform a pelvic tilt against the wall. This will help strengthen the transverse abs, which run horizontally across your abdomen, and keep everything pulled in through the middle.

If you are having any issues with your pelvic floor, do the squeeze variations instead of jumping. When you squeeze, focus on full range of motion, and engaging/lifting the pelvic floor at the top of the movement.

Remember, there is always a way to modify a workout to make it suit your needs.

I hope you enjoy today’s workout!
Melissa

PS You can find me on Instagram & Twitter: @BenderFitness and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MelissaBenderFitness.

PPS Baby Bender always gets super active when I sit down to write a blog post. I think that means he is saying hello to everyone! <3

Set Your Interval Timer for 25 Rounds of 40/50.

*Cardio of Choice: 40-Seconds Before Each Exercise
*For a Low Impact Variation: Any Jump can be modified to a Squeeze at the top of the movement. And Plank or Pushup can be performed at an angle or against the wall.

1. Sumo Squat
2. Squat Kick
3. Alternating Warrior
4. Reverse Plank Leg Lift
5. Hip Thrust-Right
6. Hip Thrust-Left
7. Pelvic Tilt Wall Sit (or Heel Tap Abs)
8. Heel Slide Abs
9. Pelvic Tilt Crunch (or V-Up)
10. Table Kick-Right
11. Table Kick-Left
12. X-Jump
13. Sumo Pushup
14. Walk the Plank
15. Chatarunga Pushup
16. Side V-Up-Right
17. Side V-Up-Left
18. Wall Sit Leg Lift
19. Static Lunge Hop-Right
20. Static Lunge Hop-Left
21. Burpee
22. Side Plank-Right
23. Side Plank-Left
24. Gentle Squat Twist (or Angel Abs)
25. Jump Squat

Cool Down
You can repeat this workout 1-2X. I did 1X, plus warm-up and cool-down.

Advanced Core Modifications: