Before pregnancy there are many things women can do to train their midsection. But, once a woman becomes pregnant this changes. Moves like sit-ups and crunches are not allowed. This presents a challenge. Changes a woman’s body endures in pregnancy requires a strong core.
Strength in this area is especially needed to support the low back. How can abs get stronger without some of the most well known exercises? My clients counter this challenge with specific moves designed for the ever growing belly and natural alignment shifts with science backed training. What may be surprising about the exercises below is that they involve muscles you may have not expected.
These are a safe for each stage of pregnancy and can be done postpartum once medically cleared. Start with the right breathing and posture and then add the specific exercises.
360 Breathing
Breathing properly is important because the muscles involved support our core. I call this 360 breathing because it involves all parts of what make up the core. Do this as often as you remember: driving, waiting in line at the store, feeding baby, or waiting for school pickups.
How To:
Sit comfortably with good posture, ears stacked over shoulders, shoulders stacked over hips and feet flat on the floor. Hands around the ribs. (May be done standing, but it’s a little harder)
Breathe in fully through the nose, feeling the ribs expand. Ensure the chest rise is very little compared to the belly expansion.
Exhale slowly until all air is expelled. You should feel the belly button naturally pull in some. If done right, 10 breaths will cause some muscle fatigue.
Alignment:
Weight gain pulls our body out of neutral alignment. Lots of daily life pulls us into scrunch mode actually! But during pregnancy the weight shift comes on fast so a plan is helpful. Good posture reduced stress on tissues and joints, so it’s critical to get it right.
How To:
A. Standing in front of a full length mirror observing shoulder height is level, hips height is level and toes are straight ahead.
From the side view, ears, shoulders, hips, ankles should all be directly above one another in a pretty straight line.
Anti-Core Exercises:
Anti-core moves are ones which resist the force of gravity pulling us out of alignment. In the one-handed suitcase carry your core wants to bend sideways to help carry the weight. Staying in neutral alignment resists the force and engages deep supportive muscles.
Suitcase Carry (Anti-Core Work)
Holding a weight in one hand, maintain good posture and walk for 30-45 seconds at a time, then switch hands. Ideally you’d want to carry a weight of at least 15 lbs as tolerated. An infant car seat with baby can be 30 lbs or more!
Planking (Anti Core Work)
Use a chair, couch or bench to elevate your upper body some. Keeping a push up position, on your hands and toes, hold this position in neutral alignment for 30 seconds. Don’t hold your breath. Repeat 3 times resting in-between for 20 seconds.
Bridge With Shoulders Elevated
With upper back on the edge of a couch or chair, knees bent about 90 degrees feet on the floor raise and lower your torso squeezing the glutes in the upper position. You should feel your glutes working and the back of your legs (hamstrings) Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions resting for 20 seconds in between. As you progress or if this is easy, hold a weight on your hips.
Reach (Aka Crib Reach And The Move Parents Do A Lot!)
In a standing position and holding a weight in front of you belly button height, bend slightly at the waist, knees slightly bent. Then extend both hands outwards, like you’re reaching for a baby and then bring them back again staying in this partial squat position the entire time. Each arm extension is one repetition. Do 3 sets of 10 resting for 20 seconds in-between.
Try these and let me know what you think! A complete list is available in my training programs, but these will be an amazing start! If you’re not sure how to execute them feel free to email me so we can go over them together.
