Resolve 2012 for a fit and safe pre and post-natal experience
Most women today know the importance of staying fit throughout their pregnancy and make active choices to do so. However, not all exercises are appropriate for women pre or post-natal. Post-natal is defined as two years post-birth according to The Center for Women’s Fitness, a personal training and Pilates certification organization for pre, post-natal and menopausal women. Whether your birth process is au-natural or a scheduled C-section the body goes through profound changes. Below are five exercise tips to keep you comfortable and fit through pregnancy and safely and effectively get your body back post-natal to keep up with your growing family.
pre-natal
1. exercise on your side versus back while pregnant
Lying on your back while pregnant in your 2nd and 3rd trimester is not advised. This is due to supine (lying on one’s back) hypotensive syndrome SHS. SHS is caused by the weight of the growing fetus, which may compress the vena cava when the mother lies on her back. The vena cava is a major artery in the mother and directly feeds blood to the baby. Symptoms of SHS are shortness of breath, dizziness and nausea. If you feel these symptoms while lying on your back adjust your posture and roll to your side. The symptoms of SHS act as a pre-emptive warning signal for the mother to roll off her back but are not necessarily an indication that the baby is not receiving enough oxygen immediately. In my experience every women is different and where the baby lies in each woman is variable, therefore some women are able to lie on their backs and perform exercise into their 3rd trimester while other women feel symptoms even in the 1st trimester.
Frequently, exercise programs direct people to lie on their backs to strengthen their abdominals. However, many exercises can be performed to strengthen and tone the abdominals that do not require lying on ones back. It just takes a little creativity and thinking outside the box. Exercising on all fours is one example of such adaptations.
Luckily, many pilates, personal training and yoga exercises are side lying or can be easily adapted for pregnant women. Whenever practicing exercise particularly while pregnant listen to your body and then respond and change positions.
2. do side stretches 
Further along in your pregnancy, definitely in the 3rd trimester it is important to perform side stretches. As the baby grows it takes up space upwards in the mother’s trunk making it more difficult for the mother to take deep breaths. This is why some women feel breathless during the end of the pregnancy. Side stretches allow the intercostals, the muscles between the ribs, to stretch making it easier to take a deep a breath. Additionally, side stretches help to lengthen abdominal muscles called the internal and external obliques that are stretched the most during pregnancy. Actively, stretching these muscles yourself may help limit abdominal splitting or diastasis rectii discussed later.
pre & post-natal
3. kegel exercises, elevator up & down
Kegels are very important to perform prior to and after birth. Kegel exercises are named after Dr. Arnold Kegel and consist of contracting and relaxing the pelvic floor. An example of a Kegel exercise is stopping your flow of urine while on the toilet. Of course, Kegels can be done anytime; during sex, while sitting at your computer or picking your child out of their stroller. The pelvic floor is shaped like diamond at the bottom of your pelvis; the pubic bone is the top of the diamond shape, your tailbone is at the bottom, and each sitz bone comprises the sides. Within this diamond shape resides your vagina, rectum and clitoris. To practice a Kegel imagine an elevator located at the center or your pelvic floor and raise the elevator. You can imagine 4 floors and stop the elevator at each floor relaxing in between or completely raising it up to the top floor and then releasing. A strong pelvic floor helps deter incontinence, can increase pleasure during sex, and most importantly is used during natural childbirth.
While having a strong pelvic floor by pulling the elevator up, it is also necessary before birth to practice pushing the pelvic floor out. This is the direction of force a woman needs to deliver her baby. Therefore, be thoughtful about which direction you perform your Kegel exercises.
4. Diastisis rectii –how to avoid it and how to heal it
Diastisis rectii is a painless splitting of a women’s rectus abdominus or six-pack, during the pregnancy. As the baby grows it stretches your stomach muscles from the inside out. If you have tight abdominal muscles your baby may grow faster than your abdominals can stretch. This causes a painless tear right down the middle of your abdominals along the linea alba, which is a tendinous sheath that connects your six pack together. An idea to minimize this split is to stretch your abdominals prior to your baby growing too large by performing side stretches and arching the back. This must be done before the baby is too large and should be performed with the guidance of a pre and post-natal trained professional.
After your baby is born it is quite easy to test and see if you have diastisis rectii. You merely perform a simple sit-up and insert your fingers at height of your belly button. If a diastisis rectii exists your fingers will be able to protrude deeper into your abdomen and you will feel the sides of your six-pack. Simple steps can be taken to manually bring your diastassis back together and certain exercises will help, not aggravate the split more.
If you have diastisis rectii DO NOT DO FORWARD SIT UPS of any sort as this will make it worse. Imagine a broken zipper that has come undone in the middle of your jacket. Now, imagine performing a forward sit up. As you forward bend the zipper will buckle in the middle and continue to pull apart each and every time you perform a sit up. This is why forward sit-ups are contraindicated in the case of diastasis rectii as they exacerbate rather than help to repair it. Instead perform side-lying sit-ups that target your obliques and stabilization exercises. These types of exercise coupled with manual techniques can help hasten the healing of diastasis rectii.
post-natal
5. keep your arms and upper back strong for baby
Once your baby is growing, healthy and happy the new demands of motherhood can take a toll on your upper body including breast feeding and leaning over your baby. Additionally, every week your baby gets bigger and heavier which requires mom and dad to stay strong in the upper backs and arms. Appropriate exercises include strengthening your upper back to counter leaning over your newborn and strengthening the back of your arms such as your triceps. In contrast it is important to stretch the front of your body including your pectoralis major and minor (pec muscles). This could be as simple as clasping your hands behind your back and squeezing your shoulders together or lying on a foam roller and placing your arms out to your sides.
Despite all the body changes your body undergoes before and after birth you can have a safe and effective exercise program. I recommend working with someone who is certified in pre and post-natal exercise. The information given above is only a small fraction of the ideas I learned through my certification program with The Center for Womens’ Fitness in 2006 plus over 10 years teaching experience. I hope these five tips will help you feel strong in your body as you face the challenges of your newly expanded family. Namaste.
Before doing any exercise, while pregnant consult your physician.
Anne Bishop, Owner of Pilates with Anne, Pre & Post-Natal Certified, Pink Ribbon Certified and Pilates Certification through Pilates Academy International. Anne just returned to Petaluma after completing her Masters in Mind, Brain and Education at Harvard University. She specializes in connecting neuroscience research with movement and educational practices. Pilates with Anne is celebrating 10 years in business in 2012 and continues to bring high quality pilates and movement education at an affordable price. Pilates with Anne can be reached at DowntownPetalumaPilates.com or 707 953 4570 or pilateswithanne@gmail.com. Special thanks to Ann Zimmerman our model and Ava Motter our photographer and pilates instructor colleague.
