At one point in your pregnancy, you won’t be comfortable doing your favorite HIIT workout or your regular old yoga routine. When you’re expecting, finding exercises that can keep you in shape without being too physically challenging can be a tough task.
During pregnancy, your body is changing and evolving at a fast pace; also, each body handles a pregnancy differently. So, there is no standard exercise that can help you handle pregnancy in a healthy manner.
However, prenatal Pilates has made a name for itself for helping tone your body during pregnancy. Pilates may look intimidating, but it is actually an amazing low-impact workout yielding high-impact benefits. It can help pregnant women build strength, balance, and flexibility with over-exerting themselves.
Here are a few key benefits of prenatal Pilates.
It Helps Strengthen Gluteal and Abdominal Muscles
During pregnancy, your body releases a hormone called relaxin that, as its name suggests, loosens the ligaments connected to your bones. This makes them more flexible and more prone to causing your lower back and pelvic pain. Pilates helps you strengthen your deep abdominal muscles which counter the laxity. It also helps strengthen your hip/gluteal muscles.
It Helps Reduce Back Pain
As you progress through your pregnancy, the ever-increasing weight can wreak havoc on your back. Pilates help strengthen the back and abdominal muscles which are causing mid or lower back pain. It can also help you be more aware of your posture and improve. This will further help reduce pain in your back.
Bonus Read: How to Handle Back Pain!
It Strengthens Your Pelvic Floor
The fluctuating hormones and the increasing weight of the baby in your body can substantially weaken your Pelvic Floor Muscles (PFM). You will need your pelvic floor to be really strong in order to deliver the baby. Pilates can help fortify the muscles that sit under the pelvis. Strengthening your pelvic floor also helps you control bladder and bowel movement better.
(Read More: Benefits of Pre and Post Natal Exercise)
It Helps Control Your Breathing
As the baby develops, the diaphragm will keep being compressed into the chest. This can make it increasingly hard for you to breathe easily. Pilates especially focused on breathing and so, it can help you improve and control how easily you breathe. Learning to manage how you breathe is also very important during labor and Pilates can be a useful exercise to help you do that.
Learn more: 7 Reasons Why Every Woman Should try Pilates
It Improves Balance
The undistributed weight in your body coupled with changes in posture can really throw you off balance during pregnancy. Pilates will ensure that you maintain stability through core strengthening exercises. It can also help you adjust postural changes better.
Make your pregnancy easier and more fun by signing up for stretching and Pilates classes! If you live in NYC, Fit Engine can help you book a fitness class in your area.
