Maximize Your Cardio

Depending on your fitness level, cardio may be just fly by, or be a tedious chore. When you become pregnant, cardio gets a little more tricky. There may be days that you get wiped after 15 minutes on the elliptical, and other days you can spend 30 minutes and feel energized after. The best advice is to listen to what your body is telling you and take a rest when you need it. Your intensity level should NOT be the level prior to becoming pregnant. According to Fit Pregnancy, you can gauge your intensity using the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale from 0 to 10: Aim for an intensity between 3 and 5 (you should be able to talk but not belt out show tunes). Ignore heart-rate readouts on the cardio machines; since your blood volume increases during pregnancy, and your resting heart rate is considerably higher than normal, heart rate isn't an accurate gauge of intensity. So ladies, those heart rate monitors can take a break for the next 9 months!

The cardio of choice if you don’t belong to a gym is walking at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. But for those who do belong to a gym, swimming is a great option as it supports your joints and ligaments as your exercise and protects you from overheating. The breaststroke is the best option as there is no rotational movement involved and it requires less exertion. Also it helps to lengthen the chest muscles and shorten the back muscles which will counteract the shortened and lengthened muscles that occur during pregnancy.  

For those who don’t have access to a pool, the treadmill, elliptical, and stationary bike are ideal choices. Which cardio machine is best during pregnancy? Try them all. That way, if one becomes uncomfortable, your body will already be accustomed to the alternatives.

Because Fit Pregnancy described it so well, I have copied and pasted their description below:

Treadmill: Walking on the treadmill is ideal since you can control the terrain. Add moderate hills when you're up to it; go flat when you're not or if hills trigger calf cramps. If you're a runner, let your body tell you when it's time to switch to walking; nearly everyone does.

Elliptical: The elliptical trainer places little stress on your joints. However, the motion may feel uncomfortable if you're experiencing symphysis pubic dysfunction (SPD), a pain in the front of your crotch.

Stationary bike: The recumbent and upright bikes are both good options. Many women like the back support the recumbent offers, though in the third trimester your belly might get in the way of your knees.

Here are example programs of cardio programs I've created. Although I am pregnant, I still like to do a bit of interval training because I find it more efficient and it helps to cut down on the boredom. You can either do one program per day along or if you are ambitious and feel up to it, you can do all 3 programs in one go. The other option is to extend a longer workout by repeating all the lines in one program 1-2x, and then spending an extra few minutes(5-15minutes) cooling down. Also if you find the intensity is too little or too much, you can decrease/increase incrementally.

Treadmill Workout 15 Minutes
Time	Intensity/Speed	Resistance/Incline
5 min	3.0 mph warm-up	1%
3 min	4.0 +	3%
1 min	4.5 +	6%
3 min	5.0 +	2-4%
1 min	4.5 +	5%
1 min	6.0 +	2-4%
1 min	3.0-4.5	0%

Elliptical Workout 15 Minutes
Time	Intensity/Speed	Resistance/Level	Fwd/Bck Motion
3 min	4 or 5	5	Fwd
2 min	6 or 7	6 to 9	Bck
3 min	5	5	Fwd
2 min	6 or 7	6 to 9	Bck
5 min	2	5	Fwd

Note: If you don't like going backwards, or it just feels a bit too awkward, you can stay with the forward motion. I always like the Precor machine as pictured below, because it gives a little more resistance. The other versions are a bit easier to use.

Stationary Bike Workout 10 Minutes
Time	Time	Time
1 min	65-75	5
1 min	85-105	6 to 9
1 min	65-75	5
1 min	85-105	6 to 9
1 min	65-75	5
1 min	85-105	6 to 9
1 min	65-75	5
1 min	85-105	6 to 9
2 min	65-75	5

References

                  FitPregnancy: The Pregnant Woman's Guide to the Gym

                  What To Expect: How Much is Too Much Exercise During Pregnancy?

                  BabyCenter: The 13 rules of safe pregnancy exercise