MY FAVORITE WORKOUT: VIRGINIA NALLE, Prenatal and postnatal yoga: Oh, baby, that’s a good way to work on fitness

> Her background: Virginia Nalle, 33, was a triathlete and in the best shape of her life when she became pregnant with her daughter, Merritt, now 5 months old. Nalle knew she wanted to maintain her fitness level as best she could throughout her pregnancy. When she heard about prenatal yoga classes offered by Oh Baby Fitness through her hospital, DeKalb Medical Center, she immediately signed up. “Once I took the yoga class, I found out that there were all these other classes that they offered, so I quickly signed up for Pilates, prenatal toning, spinning and water aerobics,” she said.

> Preparing for the big day: While Nalle’s delivery ended up being a Caesarean section, she said: “I do think all the workouts I did leading up to that made a huge difference in my recovery. I healed incredibly quickly. I was back to walking within a couple of days, and I actually started running again three weeks postpartum.”

> Exercising after baby: “Once I got the clear from my doctor, I signed up to do yoga and Pilates, which were the two classes that Oh Baby offered for mom and baby,” she said. Now she doesn’t have to choose between time with Merritt and her workouts. “It’s great because you’re with other moms who have babies and they’re not always happy, they may be crying,” she said. “So you can still get a workout in.” And then there’s the social side: “You’re with other moms, so you can talk about what’s going on in your life, what’s going on in your children’s lives, get some tips,” Nalle said.

> A breakdown of her classes: In Nalle’s yoga class, the instructor will show the mothers infant massage techniques and how to stretch out the baby’s arms and legs, put their legs to their noses and even do modified baby yoga poses. “For the yoga portion that we do, we’ll hold them if they’re OK with that and you just modify your yoga poses accordingly. So you’ll have a baby on your hip if you’re doing warrior,” Nalle said. In her Pilates class, Nalle says the moms hold the babies in their laps to do the exercises, a lot of which are modified sit-ups.

> What it’s done for her: “Pregnancy does a number on your body,” she said. “I found with breastfeeding and carrying an increasingly heavy baby around that my body was getting a little out of whack.” Nalle believes that the yoga has helped her to get back into a stretching routine, and she credits the Pilates with helping her core muscles recover. “Especially after having a C-section, it’s very important to get your abs back in shape,” she said.

> Her workout week: Nalle takes three classes a week with Oh Baby Fitness —- yoga, Pilates (which she can take until Merritt begins crawling) and H2Oh Baby, a water class she recently started that her husband also attends.

> Who else can do it: Nalle says that anyone at any fitness level can take the prenatal or the postnatal classes. “It’s very beginner-friendly,” she said. “A good chunk of the class has never had a yoga or Pilates class before. The instructor is very mindful of that.”

> Her favorite part: “I like that it’s a workout for me but it’s something I can do with my baby as well. It gives you a chance to go to a class, and it’s OK if your baby is crying or unhappy or if you have to nurse in the middle of class,” she said. Plus, she says as a new mom, it helps her to get out and not feel isolated.

THE WORKOUT

Oh Baby Fitness offers prenatal and postnatal classes all over the Atlanta area: www.ohbabyfitness.com.

Do you have a favorite workout? E-mail us at myfavoriteworkoutajc @gmail.com.