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I’m producing a series of short workouts for prenatal and postnatal women. The workouts will be pilates based but also address many of the aches, pains, and strains that you might encounter during your pregnancy!
This short audio series will be available for download so you can listen to it on your ipod, iphone, or other mp3 player.
If you would like to be notified the second the audio classes are available, please send an email with the subject message: Prenatal Mat Pilates Audio Workout.
Why Prenatal Pilates is so Important to your Health Now & After The Baby Is Born !
Every aspect and stage of your pregnancy is important to pay attention to. Your diet, monthly (then bi-monthly) prenatal check ups, understanding your baby’s is development week by week, and being aware of your own emotional condition are crucial aspects of your pregnancy experience. Even more important, however is the way in which your body changes to prepare for the labor and birth of your baby. Being aware of the physical changes in your body will help you prepare for each potential ache and pain that comes your way.
You might experience pains in your joints, muscle cramps in your calves, heavy/tender breasts, widening ribs and hips…and along with all of that might even come back aches. You might already expect these types of discomforts…but did you know that you don’t have to just suffer through them? Pregnant women are usually advised to do some form of prenatal exercise in order to prepare their bodies for the stress on the body before and during labor … and to ease the pain during the “pushing” stage.
Prenatal Pilates is one of the best activities for a pregnant woman. Some even claim that is the best exercise to prepare the body for labor. Why is Prenatal Pilates so great for women before, during and after pregnancy?
- We all know that pilates focuses on the core.. During pregnancy, the entire pelvic area is weakened by the pressure of the growing baby. Pilates helps to strengthen the pelvic floor and lower back which in turn helps prepare the area for the head down position of the baby.
- Pilates also strengthens the transversus abdominus and promotes relaxation because it focuses on lateral breathing. Lateral breathing opens up the ribcage and helps lessen the discomfort of a baby sitting in an extremely high position. What this means? Less heartburn and pain between the ribs!
- Just like most other pilates programs, prenatal pilates helps to increase over-all body strength through stretching, breathing to increase relaxation, and a combination of breathing/movement which helps improve circulation of blood and oxygen. All of this equals a more focused, calm, less cranky pregnancy.
- The movements in all Pilates Programs helps prevent inflammation and swelling around your joints. The combination of intentional breathing, controlled and expansive exercises all help to make the body comfortable in the crucial areas like the shoulders and neck, the lower back, and the hips/pelvis. Even leg cramps are dimished by taking pilates on a regular basis.
- Habits that you establish during your pregnancy will carry over to your postnatal life. Taking pilates before and during pregnancy means your body is going to bounce back faster. If you continue your practice you might even notice your new baby pains are decreased and that hot mommy body comes back faster!
Prenatal Pilates is an amazing exercise method which many women take advantage of. If you have physical therapy centers in your area, check to see if they have a prenatal program. Often they will include pilates based exercises and also help you deal with specific body issues that need extra attention….and it’s covered by insurance. If you don’t have someone offering the service, look for pilates instructors in your area who specialize in prenatal pilates like I’ve started doing.
Check out this post for a quick prenatal pilates workout you can do right now: http://www.prenatalpilates.org/uncategorized/prenatal-exercise.
Neck strain and discomfort in the neck is definitely common among my pregnant and non-pregnant clients. Here’s a common question I get from women who email me about doing pilates during pregnancy.
“I have a prenatal pilates video so I can keep in shape through my pregnancy, but everytime I do it, I just end up with a sore neck. Are there any Pilates gurus out there to tell me what I am doing wrong in my techinque?”
This happens to me sometimes when I do not concentrate on my form. When you are holding your head & neck off the ground, try to concentrate on “leading with the shoulders and lifting from your breastbone” not your head. If it helps, pick a spot on the wall or ceiling to focus on.
Other suggestions I’ve heard and tried are pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
The number one solution to the problem of this neck pain is: put your head down!
You can also prop a pillow underneath your head, neck and slightly under your shoulders to lift up the upper enough to help you engage your core a bit.
Check out the following articles for more information on safety during your prenatal pilates workout.
http://www.prenatalpilates.org/uncategorized/pre-natal-pilates
http://www.prenatalpilates.org/how-to-do-prenatal-pilates/pilates-for-pregnancy
You can also check out these books which were invaluable to me during my own pregnancy.
Pilates and Pregnancy: A Workbook for Before, During and After Pregnancy W/DVD
Also, one additional resource I would highly suggest you pick up now and use even after you have your baby…it’s this mp3 workout from Lynda Lippin.
Pilates for Neck and Shoulder Pain
Stay safe and don’t be afraid to just put your head down or stop doing an exercise – if it doesn’t feel good, then stop!
If you haven’t heard about this already, well check it out.
I recently got an Iphone and it was the best thing I’ve purchased in a long time. If I’d had this during my pregnancy, I would have been so happy! I couldn’t sit at the computer for long hours, so I’d end up watching way too much tv toward the end of the 9 months.
Stay tuned for a full review of the app! If you already have it, let me know what you think!
You can also purchase the book that seems to go along with the app called: Pilates and Pregnancy: A Workbook for Before, During and After Pregnancy W/DVD
I have this manual and it’s really easy to follow even for non-pilates instructors, so I expect the Iphone app to be the same way!
Check both out and let me know what you think!
Many women have the same question about working out and exercising during their pregnancy. There is no completely right answer on this issue since everyone experiences slight differences throughout the course of their pregnancy and labor. Here’s a general question about doing prenatal pilates during the first trimester:
Are you able to do pilates after your first trimester? I have a dvd for your whole pregnancy, however, it has moves that require you to be on your back. I thought you couldn’t do exercises on your back after first trimester. I am 16 weeks. Thank you
My answer to this woman would be two-fold. First, check with your doctor to make sure he/she clears you for any type of exercise. Make sure your doctor knows and understands what pilates is…if they don’t, you’ll be like me with my first doctor. All doctors should at least know what pilates is and isn’t…mine didn’t really know what it was and that was obvious to me. Dealbreaker! I found another doctor and got her clearance immediately.
Second, there are physical changes that happen during each trimester. After the first trimester it becomes difficult and often very uncomfortable to lay flat on your back. Ask your doctor about these limitations if you are not sure what they are. Most baby books and pregnancy books spend time talking about this issue.
So, after the first trimester you can workout on your back, just keep it small spurts of time. Always roll to your side after spending time on your back and do some side-lying pilates exercises. Then, roll back to the center, be aware of how you feel, do the exercises and roll to your other side. Keep your movement slow and controlled.
Other ideas include putting a pillow under your lower back or under your upper back and neck!
So – yes – do pilates but be aware that your body is going through a ton of changes and you need to be careful, no matter what you do!
I didn’t want to waste time, so I’m posting this great video featuring Lynne Robinson. She provides a really straightforward pilates routine that you can do in almost anywhere. If you get a chance to take a class, a private session, definitely go for that…or even just pick up her amazing Pilates Pregnanacy Guide: Optimum Health and Fitness for Every Stage of Your Pregnancy
Pilates Guru Lynne Robinson demonstrates a prental pilates routine to help with exercise during pregnancy.
Duration : 0:4:9
Even though I’m a pilates instructor and was trained to teach women through all their stages of pregnancy, it took a good swift kick to get me doing prenatal pilates myself. Only after experiencing sciatica pain, and some other hip area pain did I realize that I needed to apply what I had learned. I worked with a physical therapist and pilates instructor through the last 4 months of my pregnancy with great results. I only wish I had started earlier. I’ll tell you why.
No matter what trimester you are in your pregnancy, you can benefit from some type of pilates exercise. In general, gentle exercise during pregnancy is usually safe and can actually be very beneficial to the mother-to-be. Prenatal Pilates is a low impact exercise that does not require you to do weight bearing exercise–thus making the risk of injury to you and your unborn baby very slim. Because of this, pilates during pregnancy has become very popular and has grown immensely in recent years. It’s no surprising since there are so many reasons why it benefits the pregnant woman’s body and mind.
As your probably know, exercising releases endorphins and other feel good hormones. The release of endorphins helps to reduce stress levels–thus, also helping to stabilize a woman’s mood if hormonal changes in the body are creating emotional highs and lows. While some might play this mood boosting benefit as not important, if you have been pregnant or married to one, you’ll know how important it is to keep the mood light. It can easily descend into tears at some points during pregnancy. In addition to the mood benefit of doing exercise and a pilates workout routine, the activity will help maintain a woman’s energy and stamina during labor and in those first sleep-deprived months after the baby is born.
Prenatal pilates also has other benefits that are unique to this type of movement. Pilates exercises focus on strengthening the pelvic floor muscles and abdominals, both of which are naturally weakened by pregnancy. Exercising and strengthening your pelvic floor muscles can help get through the pushing stage of labor, and because it increases the circulation of blood it can also make post partum healing much faster. These same pilates pelvic floor strengthening exercises can be done almost immediately after birth — again, making it much easier for the body to heal. It can also help your body repair faster after a c-section, which is what happened for me. I wasn’t expecting to have a c-section and the discomfort in those first few days was unbearable, but I made it through and then quickly healed by doing some simple pilates breathing techniques, since I could actually do “crunches” for quite awhile.
Pilates and prenatal pilates also helps get you in shape for after the baby – by strengthening your upper back and arms, hips/butt/and thighs! All of these muscles will be used and overused to pick up your baby, put your baby to sleep, rock your baby, breastfeed your baby…and you need to stay strong so you don’t pull a muscle. I can’t tell you how many times I picked my daugther up and felt that little tweak in my back…and I’m a pilates instructor — I know better!
Pilates exercises are done in many different ways — on hands and knees, on the back, on the side, and some even standing up. Many Prenatal Pilates exercises are done in the quadruped position on hands and knees, which is a great position use later stages of pregnancy to encourage the baby to turn his/her head downwards for an ideal labor position. Side-lying positions are also great for pregnancy, because they allow you to strengthen your hips without putting additional pressure on them (that big baby is quite enough thank you!) Doing these side lying exercises also help to reduce both back and pelvis pain, which is a problem which most pregnant women suffer from to some degree.
Now that you know why you should do pilates during pregnancy and even after your pregnancy, please remember to always consult your doctor before starting any exercise program during pregnancy. As long as you are having no complications, you should be clear to start doing pilates and there should be no risk to either the mother or the baby. Additional measures pregnant women may want to consider to keep themselves safe while exercising are avoiding any exercise which requires lying on their backs, as the weight of the baby pressing on the spine can restrict blood flow. Also, put a pillow under your belly when you are lying on your side doing exercises. It feels great and keeps your belly from pulling down to the floor. Keep in mind that even if you have received clearance to workout or do pilates, that every pregnancy is different. Even people who worked out regularly before pregnancy, sometimes develop aches and pains and pinches that make it painful to do some movements. Err on the side of caution at all times. Drink plenty of fluids and try to exercise in a well ventilated area. Stop if you feel dizzy and call a doctor if the dizziness persists.
I highly suggest attending a few prenatal pilates mat classes, if they offer them in your area. Also, you can check with local physcial therapists to see if they have any special programs for pre and postnatal women. I was lucky enough to have one in my area, but I’m sure they have them elsewhere too. Also, many pt’s do have experience with pregnant women, so don’t be afraid to ask — it’s covered by insurance usually!
Stay tuned for more tips on starting prenatal pilates.
