FIT FOR LIFE
Pregnancy & Fitness

Fit for life.  It’s more than a title; it’s a way of life and the right way to start out a life!
As with all new beginnings, whether it’s your New Year’s resolution or the beginning stages of one’s pregnancy, getting off to the right start is important for so many reasons.

A woman’s body never changes more than through the days of pregnancy.  Throughout these months of tremendous changes, making the most of it not only for the baby but for the mother as well is crucial.  All new moms can’t wait to get back into pre-baby shape…so why not start while pregnant.
Here are a few key tips for staying fit for moms through pregnancy…only to make the post baby body transition as successful as possible.
1 – Nutrition is key.  As many of you have heard, “dieting” is half the battle.  So, why start with an uphill after the birth…learn that “eating for two” is a common misconception.
A woman’s body only needs an additional 300 calories in order to fulfill her fetus’ nourishment needs as well as her own.
2 – Exercise – get those lungs going.  Having an exercise regimen throughout pregnancy will not only help with a successful labor BUT giving the gift of a strong heart and oxygen supply to your little one is the best birthday present ever.
Try the following fun exercise routine with you and your expanding belly – (after you have consulted with your physician of course) :

** Perform the following 3 times a week (with always 5 to 10 minute warm-up of brisk walking to get your blood flowing and to avoid any injury)**

1 - Buttock Leg Lifts - Go onto your hands and knees and make sure your back is flat. Lift your right knee forward and then extend your right leg backwards until it is straight. Repeat this exercise 10 times on each leg, always making sure you keep your back straight.
This exercise works your gluteal muscles and if you’re feeling adventurous you move your opposite forward in unison with your leg - right leg, left arm; left leg, right arm- think Superman!
2 - Pelvic Tilt Exercise (also known as the “cat stretch”)  - While on your hands and knees drop your abdominals so that your back arches downwards, then tighten your abdominals upwards so that your back arches upwards slightly as a cat would do. Repeat 10 times in a controlled fashion, always remembering to breathe slowly and fully to get the full benefit.

This exercise will help your lower and back abdominals.

3 - Wall Squats Exercise - With your feet shoulder width apart and your back against the wall, slowly lower yourself until you are in a squat position (your quads almost at right angles to the floor). Then, under control, slowly come back up to your start position. Inhale on the way down, exhale on the way up. Do this 12-15 times depending on how you feel. It can be performed with or without a “body ball” (those big soft rubber balls you find in the gym, which are good for abdominal exercises).                                         This exercise for pregnant women is great for your thighs, lower back and butt.

Now that during is taken care of, what about a few tips after your bundle of joy has arrived to kick start your new post baby body :

** Think 3-2-1 … bulge be gone! **

Make sure to perform all with good posture and a tight mid-section.  Repeat segments 1 to 2 times.
3 – CARDIO segments
Try 10 minute cardio segments at a time of your favorite cardio exercises.
(i.e. treadmill, bicycle & elliptical).
2 – CIRCUIT segments
Choose 3 toning exercises.
(i.e. push-ups (you can do assisted with knees bent on floor),  lunges with arm curls (with or without dumbbells) & windmills (for balance and elongating muscles).
1 – CORE segment
Choose only 1 very effective core exercise at a time and perform until failure!
(i.e. crunches OR body plank OR simply contracting your abdominal muscles and hold for 10 seconds at a time).
The above fast paced routine will not only keep your body guessing what’s next, hence faster results BUT it won’t let you get bored because as long as you do 3-2-1…you can always vary the exercises!  Plus, this won’t keep you in the gym OR where ever you choose to exercise for long…meaning more time to spend with your new addition!

What more could you ask for this New Year – a new baby AND a new you!  Being “fit for life” is not only the gift that keeps ON giving – it keeps YOU going!

As most of you can tell by the title - yes it’s official!

I thought that getting your own .com webpage was a lot of work - BUT seeing that I have joined the world of “myspace.com” recently (and have evidentally lived in a cave that it has taken me this long to do so) - that’s quite the project too!

So, whether it’s HERE or THERE - I’d love for your input on what ya wanna see, what you NEED to see and all that stuff that ya just would like to know!

Off to get ready for our Jersey Shore week & the big MegaShow appearance this weekend!!

After much anticipation and hard work ( a huge thanks to my gal Chan I am so happy to be able to share the all-new JustJackieHaas.com!!

With so much going on, with so much to share, I am excited and ready for all that is to come.  The re-launch of jjh.com will have continuious updates on what to expect next from me - ranging from my second pregnancy journey to my affiliation with my new endevors.  Those of which include…sponsorships, magazine articles and re-occuring columns, photoshoots, live events and appearances and of course what my husband Charlie and I have been super anticipating for the last several months, the opening of our nutrition and smoothie shop “Custom Muscle” as well as our online store www.custom-muscle.com!  (Stay tuned for news as far as who we are in business with, who will be affilated with our store as well as signings and lots of promotional excitment.)

All I can say is thank you for your patience and kind words of encouragement thus far with my career, life and wanting to know ‘what’s next’ for the HaasHold…I can assure you that WE are just as excited to share!

SteelStretch is JUST the “tip of the iceberg”…the BEST in sports apparel!!

Hey there everyone…just wanted to give a heads up that there is a MUST see addition to jjh.com - new prints for sale and merchandise in the STORE!!

I have NEVER had such awesome apparel to work out in as SteelStretch…I MEAN IT! And this is only the beginning - start seeing a theme here?!

There will be a whole lot more to come soon here, from pictures & stories to TOP OF THE LINE merchandise & supplement sales

.ALSO, be sure to check out the latest APRIL issues of both Muscular Development (I’m the Major Distraction layout for this month) & Fitness RX for MEN (you can catch a glimpse of me on the cover of that one).  Not to mention Planet Muscle - I was honored to write about being a ‘Mom Into Loving Fitness’ for two months in a row!!

Every day is bringing a great new experience to myself and family…which is rapidly expanding (well, me at least that is).

I have already passed the four month mark of this pregnancy and am enjoying each and everyday of it all!

Time for my morning run - even if they are getting a bit more exhausting!!

Well, well, what must I say but welcome everyone, everywhere & thank you for checking out the all new, VERY much improved JustJackeHaas!!  Although, this IS just indeed the beginning…and in more ways than one!

Let me start off by saying, that I would love nothing more than your feedback on all of what I am venturing into and about to in the very near future.  I’d like to become someone who you come to  - no matter man or woman, boy or girl - for support, answers to your most troubling questions (within reason of course and day to day fun stuff!!  I’ve done a lot so far in life and by NO means am I saying that I ‘know it all’, just that I am at a point in time in my life right now that I would love to share; I hope to get the same feedback. 

So here it is, there’s a lot more JustJackieHaas to come very soon.  For now let’s focus on becoming acquainted or r-acquainted in some cases.  Yes, I am still Miss Jackie from WWE and Knockout Jackie from TNA Wrestling.  I will forever be Jackie Gayda - well at least a good part of me will be - along with MTV’s Tough Enough II winner Jackie.  However, NOW, my most important title and task is at hand once again, mom Jackie!!  My husband, Charlie Haas and I are expecting our second child this September! 

However you may know of me, all I want to do from here on out is have you remember me by JustJackie…runner, writer, fitness model, trainer and mother.  Sure all the other stuff has made me who I am today but I am here to re-introduce mysef, JustJackieHaas.  I welcome you along for the ride for the most challenging role of it all yet - the life balance we all wish we could attain to be the very best at who we are and what we are all about.  After all, I may be the one who needs the questions answered!!