When you’re pregnant, it might be tempting to just sit on the couch and not move, but this isn’t conducive to your recovery post-pregnancy and won’t help you in the long term.
If you really want to get the most out of your pregnancy and set yourself up for a better time during delivery and after, prenatal Pilates is a great option.
With this in mind, here are the benefits of prenatal Pilates.
Strengthen Your Stomach & Glutes
By undertaking regular prenatal Pilates, you can help your body recover from the relaxing that happens in your abdomen and glutes as your body changes. If you don’t pay attention to these changes, you may develop pain in your pelvis and lower back, or be left with abdominal muscles that never fully recover after you’ve given birth.
Reduce Overall Back Pain
By working towards strengthening your deep abdominal muscles, you’re far less likely to develop back pain over time. Pilates will also help you improve your posture, which will change as the baby grows and can also decrease back pain.
Improve Your Pelvic Floor
A baby’s weight and hormonal changes can weaken your pelvic floor muscles during your pregnancy. By doing Pilates, you can strengthen the muscle that sits under your pelvis to better support your bladder and reduce the risk of incontinence many women face right after birth, all the way to years after birth, with menopause benign when many women notice incontinence becoming a problem.
Learn To Control Breathing
Breathing is a point of focus in any Pilates class, not just prenatal, but it’s incredibly useful for pregnant women to learn as breaking is vital for labour. Keeping in mind that deep breaths can get harder as your baby grows, these exercises can help prevent you from losing your lung capacity during pregnancy.
Improve Balance
As the baby grows, you’ll notice that your weight distribution will change, and you may feel more unstable when you balance. Pilates can improve this by helping your core strength improve and keeping you aware of posture change over time.
Reduce Strain Getting In & Out of Bed
When you go to a prenatal Pilates class, you do learn how to better support your changing body. This means that over time, you should find it easier to safely get yourself in and out of bed with less strain.
Maintain A Healthy Weight
It’s normal to gain weight during pregnancy, but it’s important to avoid gestational diabetes, which can occur when you put on more than the recommended weight. By doing regular gentle exercise, you can help keep your weight in a healthy range.
Strengthen Your Legs
During pregnancy, many women experience irritating things such as fluid retention, varicose veins and leg cramps. By strengthening the legs, you can help reduce the risk of these side effects and set yourself up to bear the added weight of the baby with less strain overall.
Speed Up Recover Post Baby
Keeping in shape during your pregnancy will not only give you a better time during delivery but also help you bounce back and acclimate to your new body after pregnancy. If you want to attend post-natal Pilates, this is also an option to help you get back to your regular daily activities sooner.
Choose Propel Physio First
When it comes to finding a clinical Pilates space to have the support needed to undertake
prenatal Pilates, you can’t look past Propel Physio, their team of expert physiotherapists are the ones to take you through your prenatal Pilates sessions and will help you along this journey with the help you need.