Birgitta Gallo's Expecting Fitness (English)

Expecting Fitness by Birgitta Gallo is not only a comprehensive pregnancy fitness and nutrition guide, it is also the first book to teach women how to modify any sport or physical activity for all stages of pregnancy; to give exercise alternatives for bed rest and high-risk pregnancies; and to offer medical evidence that babies from "fit" pregnancies have a lower body-fat level and are also calmer, more independent, and more intelligent. Birgitta helped Jane Seymour breeze through her high-risk pregnancy with twins despite Jane's ten- to fourteen-hour workdays on the television show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Jane's pre- and postnatal workout program, which was medically supervised, consisted of walks on the set between takes as well as seated abdominal contractions and pelvic tilts. She also did pool aerobics when time permitted. When Jane was placed on bed rest, Birgitta designed a hand-weight program that Jane could do while in bed. To dispel common misconceptions about exercising during pregnancy, Expecting Fitness outlines and explains the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' updated, more liberal exercise recommendations and includes general exercise guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine. As well, all of Birgitta's exercise and nutrition recommendations are medically substantiated and endorsed by Dr. Sheryl Ross. Rather than just lead the reader through some leg lifts, Birgitta prescribes modifications for seventy-eight activities, including aerobics, golf, tennis, hiking, aquatic sports, bicycling, and even kick-boxing. According to Birgitta, if you jogged before becoming pregnant, then you can continue to jog for up to two miles daily aslong as you run on a soft and even surface such as grass, sand, or an electric treadmill -- with supportive running shoes. minimize