Fit Pregnancy for Dummies - (For Dummies) by Catherine Cram & Tere Stouffer Drenth (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Are you intrigued by the idea of working out during pregnancy, but think it can't be safe? Are you unsure how the words fit and pregnancy actually make sense in the same sentence? If so, you've come to the right place. This easy-to-follow guide shows you how you can be fit and pregnant, whether you're new to exercise or have been working out for years, and whether you're in your second week of pregnancy or your 32nd.

Fit Pregnancy For Dummies is for you if you're pregnant, if you're thinking about becoming pregnant, and You want to be as fit and healthy as you can be -- whatever your current fitness level -- without in any way jeopardizing your health or the health of your baby. This guide gives you the straight facts on:

• Staying safe when you exercise
• Developing a plan with your health provider
• Choosing the right equipment
• Modifying your routine for each trimester
• Eating well for nine months and beyond

From yoga and swimming to weight training, aerobics, and much more, you'll see how to get started with a fun, step-by-step fitness routine that will make your entire pregnancy easier to manage. Postpartum expert and prenatal fitness class instructor Catherine Cram and fitness expert Tere Stouffer Drenth give you the scoop on the activities that work best for pregnant women and how to set up a routine that works best for you. You'll understand how a fit pregnancy helps you with delivery and postpartum shape-up. Plus, you get expert advice on activities to avoid, eating well, and staying motivated during and after your pregnancy, as well as:

• Dressing comfortably for your workout
• Warming up and stretching to increase flexibility and avoid injury
• Modifying your exercise routine
• Staying fit after giving birth
• Finding the time for exercise and motherhood

Complete with special tips on exercising indoors, staying motivated, getting your family hooked on fitness, and helping your child grow up healthy and fit, Fit Pregnancy For Dummies is the key to exercising safely and staying fit throughout your pregnancy and beyond!

From the Back Cover

Tips for safe and healthy exercise

Understand how a fit pregnancy helps with delivery and postpartum shape-up

Want to stay fit during pregnancy? From yoga and swimming to weight training and aerobics, you'll see how to get started with a fun, step-by-step fitness routine that will make your entire pregnancy easier to manage. Plus, you get expert advice on activities to avoid, eating well, and staying motivated during and after your pregnancy.

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

Discover how to:

• Dress comfortably for your workout
• Develop a plan with your health provider
• Choose the right equipment
• Modify your routine for each trimester
• Eat well for nine months and beyond
• Stay fit after giving birth

Review Quotes

"...this comprehensive book is for you...all aspects of exercise in pregnancy are covered..." (Health & Fitness, October 2004)

"...practical advice on all aspects of pregnancy..." (Yoga & Health, September 2004)

About the Author

Catherine Cram is an exercise physiologist who specializes in prenatal and postpartum fitness. Her consulting company, Comprehensive Fitness Consulting, LLC, provides maternal fitness certificate training courses for health and fitness professionals. She's an expert advisor to and writes for Baby Years, Pregnancy, Women's Health and Fitness, and iparenting.com. Catherine has been featured in prenatal fitness articles for Fit Pregnancy, Parenting, Glamour, Babytalk, and The American Journal of Medicine and Sports, and is a contributing author of Women's Health Care in Physical Therapy: Principles and Practices for Rehabilitation Specialists (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins). You can contact her at compfc@aol.com.

Tere Stouffer Drenth is both a full-time writer and a semiprofessional runner who works, trains, hikes, and lives in northern Michigan. A former crosscountry All-American, Tere (which rhymes with Mary) writes about fitness and the outdoors in the hope that people of all ages and backgrounds will challenge themselves physically and reap the many rewards of exercise. She is the author of Marathon Training For Dummies (Wiley) and several other books. You can reach her at tdrenth@earthlink.net.