Being pregnant does not hinder a woman to do exercise. There are recommended prenatal exercises that are not harmful both to the mother and her child. For instance, pilates for pregnancy is an option. If you are one of the exercise buddies who love to do Pilates, try Pilates Reformer Machine Australia. You will enjoy your Pilates exercises more than you have ever done before.
Pregnancy Pilates
Pilates for pregnancy is available. So, pregnant women can still do exercises without worrying. Pilates exercises are a kind of low-impact exercise. It can offer excellent benefits to pregnancy. However, it would still be best to consult your OB-Gyn and a professional trainer about this before doing any pregnancy pilates.
On the other hand, we have listed some of the recommended prenatal exercises or pregnancy pilates that would give benefits to pregnant women.
- Pelvic floor muscle exercise: This pilates exercise helps a pregnant woman improve and strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor. These muscles undergo great strain during pregnancy and childbirth. Additionally, this exercise can help the mom cope up with the growing weight of the baby. If the pregnant woman has weak pelvic muscles, it may cause a leak of urine every time you cough, sneeze, or strain. Doing this exercise can prevent complications during and after the delivery of the baby.
- Do pelvic tilts: This type of pilates exercise helps a pregnant woman strengthen the muscles of the abdomen, the lower back, and the pelvis. It contributes to increasing hip mobility as well as helps relieve the pain in their lower back during pregnancy and labor. However, this exercise should be communicated first with a physical trainer.
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Stretching exercises: These exercises help improve posture. Moreover, it targets the muscles that are mostly affected during pregnancy. These exercises are the most helpful exercises to ease pregnancy discomforts. Aside from that, you can do stretching whenever you feel it as long as it doesn’t cause you pain and additional discomfort.
- Deep tummy strengthening: It is a pilates exercise that helps increase support for the back. It is a breathing exercise as well that you will do while lying on one side with knees bent slightly.
- The sword: Doing this exercise will help improve balance and increase strength in abdominal muscles, back, and legs. If you do the sword arm, it will add up improving the strength of your hips.
Pilates exercises to avoid during pregnancy
Not all pilates exercises apply to pregnant women that is why they recommend consulting a trainer and the OB-Gyn first. Accordingly, pregnant women should avoid the following pilates exercises.
- Pilates roll up: This exercise can cause too much pressure in the abdomen wall. As a result, it will make things very uncomfortable. Aside from that, it would be unsafe both for the mother and her baby.
- Any types of crunches: These do not apply to pregnant women since it is an activity that compresses the abs and might put too much pressure on the baby.
- Plank: This exercise depends on the strength of an individual. It is still applicable to pregnant women as long as they can sustain lifting the pelvis and supporting the belly. If not, they can request modifications.
- Supine exercises: They do not recommend these exercises because some pregnant women feel nauseous or dizzy while in this lying position.
- Swimmer: It is not a good idea to lie flat on the stomach, especially past the first trimester. It will cause unsafe pressure on the baby.
Pregnancy Pilates is not something you should do alone. Consultation is essential to avoid complications for you and your baby. Aside from exercising using Pilates, here are other recommendations on how to keep yourself in good condition during your pregnancy.
Recommendations for a good pregnancy journey
Taking care of yourself and your baby is essential. The baby wholly relies on you to become healthy and strong. In this case, here are the other types of exercises you can do for yourself and your baby’s health and wellness.
- Walking: This is an easy workout that gives a total body workout. Aside from that, it does not cause too much strain on the joints and muscles.
- Swimming and water workouts: While swimming, the majority of the body’s muscles are working in this activity. Additionally, the water is a support mechanism to avoid injury and too much muscle strain.
- Stationary bicycling: This type of cycling will prevent you from falls in comparison with riding a standard bicycle. During your pregnancy period, your balance is highly affected as your belly starts to grow.
- Yoga: Prenatal yoga is the best option for pregnant women to keep their flexibility. Aside from that, it is a great way to relieve pain and manage stress. However, there are yoga poses a pregnant woman should not do. For example, those poses that will make them off-balance, the poses lying in the abdomen, and the poses that may take time lying flat on the back.
Benefits of exercising during pregnancy
Exercising is highly beneficial to pregnant women. Below are the benefits a pregnant woman can acquire in doing recommended exercises.
- It improves circulation and steadily increases the heart rate.
- Exercise reduces the risk of obesity that may lead to other complications.
- It maintains the flexibility and strength of the body.
- Aims for a healthy weight gain.
- Exercising prepares the muscles for childbirth.
- It improves sleep and emotional health.
- Maintained exercises can help in fast recovery after childbirth.
Common benefits of exercising on the baby
Exercising is not only for the mother but also for the baby, according to research.
- It contributes to a lower fetal heart rate.
- The baby will have a healthier birth weight.
- There is an actual lower fat mass.
- It contributes to an improvement in stress tolerance.
- The development of the baby’s nervous system is boosted.
Gentle reminders!
During your pregnancy journey, it would be best to take precautions in any activity that you will do. You have to always keep in mind that safety is the primary consideration for you and your baby. You can also try going to Wayne Massage Sydney after your workout to get relaxed.