Pilates and Pregnancy
Doing pilates can help you stay fit through pregnancy and make it easier for the body to recover after childbirth. Should Pregnant Women Exercise? The simple answer is yes. A healthy and active lifestyle with a regular exercise regimen benefits everybody. For pregnant women, exercise can decrease symptoms like backaches, bloating, fatigue, swollen ankles, gestational diabetes, and other discomforts. Exercise during pregnancy also helps the body become more resilient, making postpartum recovery quicker and easier. If you led a physically active lifestyle before pregnancy, you should be able to carry on with your activities in moderation and with modification. High-impact cardio should not be on your list while pregnant, but swimming, walking, yoga, and pilates are highly recommended prenatal exercises. If you have never exercised regularly before, you can still safely begin an exercise program by following your doctor’s advice. For your safety and to make the most of your workout, consult a trainer knowledgeable in prenatal and postnatal exercise. Pilates instructors can specialize in prenatal or postnatal pilates and customize an appropriate program during pregnancy and postpartum recovery. Prenatal Pilates Pregnant women are more prone to backaches and pain around the pelvic area. This is partly due to posture changes as the baby grows, partly due to the baby’s weight, and partly due to hormones. Doing pilates strengthens abdominal muscles and deep stabilizer muscles. This helps strengthen the whole torso so that aches and pains are minimized. As posture changes with the growing baby, you may feel clumsier and less balanced. Prenatal pilates trains pregnant women to be more sensitive to weight distribution and teaches correct weight distribution with good posture and alignment. The exercises are done in a way that helps reduce load on the pelvis and lower back. Through these exercises, you learn to find safe and comfortable positions as you move through daily life during pregnancy. Postnatal Pilates The foundation of pilates is breathing, moving with the breath, and moving with intention. That means you can begin with gentle breathing exercises after childbirth, with guidance from your instructor and doctor. Ask your pilates instructor to guide you through breathing exercises plus pelvic floor and abdominal muscle activation. If your instructor creates a home program for you, do it regularly to promote mobility, circulation, and renewed strength. Doctors often advise waiting six to seven weeks before beginning regular exercise again. As with other exercise programs, postnatal pilates can usually begin safely in the sixth to seventh week of postpartum recovery with medical clearance. Postnatal pilates brings back good posture and alignment while strengthening mothers for the physical and emotional demands of caring for a baby. It also helps restore muscular strength in key areas affected by pregnancy and delivery. Ask All Core Pilates about prenatal and postnatal pilates. Located at the Upper Ground Floor, Alabang Town Center. Call or text 0917-187-2207 for more information.