How Pilates Can Help You Prepare for Your Pregnancy

When done correctly, Pilates can be very safe during pregnancy, delivery and recovery! In fact, Pilates done correctly can help you sail through your nine months feeling more mobile and comfortable and help you bounce back sooner after giving birth.

For example, rolling like a ball is a good exercise to do in early pregnancy because it helps release tight lower-back muscles. Planks and side planks are also great in utilizing the supportive transversus abdominals and oblique muscles to help maintain strength and stability in your torso as your main abdominal muscles stretch and weaken. Your tummy and pelvic floor muscles are put under increasing strain as your baby grows bigger.

At the same time, the hormone relaxin is making the tough tissues that connect your bones (ligaments) more pliable. Your ligaments are likely to stretch more than usual and if you overload them you may injure yourself.

Stretched, weakened tummy muscles may have a knock-on effect on your back or pelvis, making them sore. Weakened pelvic floor muscles may become less tight and move lower down into your pelvis under the weight of your baby. And because Pilates targets the tummy, back and pelvic floor muscles without straining other joints, as well as on hands and knees such as in the cat/cow position, the exercises can work well for you during pregnancy.

Forward, rounding shoulders are a common side-effect of carrying a child (both in pregnancy and post-pregnancy). Pilates helps to correct wrong postures and pulls the shoulders back into place, reducing neck and shoulder tension so you can care for your child with ease.

Joseph Pilates believed that healthy circulation was the key to a healthy body and mind. Pilates improves circulation throughout the entire body which is especially important when you’re pumping enough blood to sustain two lives. It’s important to keep that blood pumping to grow a healthy baby, keep your energy up and reduce swelling in the later months.

Do you know any pregnant woman or is one? Reach out to us today to inquire more about this exercise via www.thedewcentre.com