Movement Do’s and Don’ts for Pre/Postpartum Parents
Pre and Postnatal Exercise Journey
Your body is going through a lot of change! I like to think of the pre and postnatal movement journey as a bell curve. It takes about as much time to fully recover from birth as it does for your body to prepare for birth. I find there is an expectation that the body will “bounce back” within 6 weeks of having a child, and really that’s when the exciting work can begin! By focusing on breath work, deep core activation and pelvic floor strength before and after delivery, you will help your muscles get ready to both push a baby out and to safely reconnect after delivery.
Let’s talk about your ABS:
Your TVA (transversus abdominis) muscles are more important than ever during pregnancy and postpartum. Think of your TVA as an abdominal corset that wraps around your waist and when contracted, is responsible for the “draw your navel in” action and your “Pilates breath."
Your goal is to activate your TVA with your exhale before exerting any additional effort. Ex: Exhale before bringing your legs to table top.
Much of our ab work in this stage is going to be learning how to strengthen your transverse abs in coordination with your breath.
Your Pelvic Floor (kegel muscles) are also going to be a hot buzzword. You want strong pelvic floor muscles to support your pelvis from below and to give your deep core and pelvis strong foundational support. Additionally, you also want to prioritize relaxing and stretching your pelvic floor so that it can be as flexible as it is strong. (Remember, a tight muscle is also a weak muscle!)
Hot tip: Your pelvic floor can move independent of your transverse abs! We’ll work on this control.
Your obliques and rectus abdominals (6 pack muscles) have to stretch to make room for your growing belly. The only place for your rectus muscles to go is out to the side. For that reason, we will avoid spinal flexion against gravity (ie. crunches) and deep twists. These exercises put too much strain on your abs and push them further to the side. You’ll know to make a modification when you can’t feel your abs “pulling in” anymore. That’s a sign to scale back and modify to a position where your TVA can fire. Keeping your TVA active will help minimize diastasis recti.
Diastasis Recti: This happens when your rectus muscles separate during pregnancy or during delivery. A certain amount of separation is expected to make room for your growing belly, but a large separation can cause abdominal and pelvic pain if not healed postpartum. Let me know if you aren’t sure if you have any diastasis and we can do a simple test to analyze, virtually or IRL. Even if you don’t have any DR, It’s important not to overload the abdominals while they are still healing because the strain will delay progress and could cause injury or lower back pain. The good news: Pilates works to heal DR by bringing the abdominals together using TVA contraction and focused Pilates breath. This is where I want you to remember the bell curve and keep the long game in mind. Crunches come back only at the end of the bell curve!
Do’s and Don'ts
For Pre/Postnatal Movers:
Lying Down Ab Work
Do: Lying on your back is ok, generally for up to 2 mins prenatal if you feel comfortable. Any more than that and you risk cutting off circulation to the vena cava. You’ll know this is happening if you feel light-headed. So you be the guide!
Do: Ab Work lying on your back if it feels ok, but keep your head on the mat or supported by a pillow. Lifting your head is the action that overstrains your rectus abdominals. So work your abs by moving your legs while keeping your spine and pelvis very stable.
Keep an imprint of your lower back to the mat anytime both legs are off the mat, or anytime you need more support for your low abs.
As a rule, two legs are heavier than one:
You can always modify with one leg on the floor to engage your TVA
As a rule, long legs are heavier than bent legs:
You can always modify with both legs bent
Planks
Planks can put a lot of pressure downward on your rectus abdominals. If you feel strain in your low back or like your abs cannot pull in, modify by keeping both knees down. Anytime the legs are straight in a plank, increase the pelvic tilt (pubic bone to navel) so your abs have a better chance to engage.
Generally speaking, bear planks (knees lifted and bent below hips) are better than regular planks during pregnancy and for the first 3-6 months postpartum.
Deep Twists
Side Planks may feel especially challenging for your obliques. Focus on TVA support. If you stop being able to pull your abs in, try bending your knees to the mat so you have more control through your core and move in a smaller range of motion.
We don’t do a whole lot of other deep twisting that puts strain on the obliques in mat class, but be aware that rotating the spine especially in flexion (like roll down with a twist) is a lot of load on the obliques so modifying by bringing two feet to the floor is a safer if you have any discomfort in your low back.
Pelvic Stability
Things that work on stabilizing your pelvis are very good! Squats and bridges are examples of exercises that focus on building strength in your glutes.
Your joints have a lot of flexibility right now, so you want to watch out for overstraining/stretching your inner thighs to avoid strain on your pubic symphysis. If you feel your inner thighs pulling on your groin, back out of your range of motion or modify your legs to parallel if you were turned out.
Single Leg Work: Bridging or Standing may put pressure on your more flexible sacrum. If you feel any pinching back there, scale back to a position where both feet can stay grounded.
Take it Off The Mat Into Real Life
Proper alignment is important to think about in all of your daily activities, not just when you are exercising!
Getting out of bed:
Make sure to not jack knife and or back roll. Instead, when on your back, bend both knees and roll to your side moving your entire body at the same time. From the fetal position at the edge of the bed let both legs fall to the floor together as you push your upper body up to a seated position.
Safe Lifting and Bending:
You will be spending a lot of time lifting your child, carrying them, and bending over to change them over the next year and beyond! Think about activating those deep core muscles and keeping your back straight, and bending at the hips as you accomplish these daily tasks. We’ll practice this with plenty of squats!
Getting in and out of the Car:
With lingering pelvic flexibility it is best to limit single leg motion for a few months postpartum and for the last few months of pregnancy. To get into your car, back yourself up to the seat leaning forward at the hips. After you sit, start to pivot towards the steering wheel, engage your TA and bring both feet together into the footbed at once. If this strains your abdominals, move one leg at a time, but try not to push off of a single leg while you are half in and half out of the car!
You will continue to get stronger! I can’t wait to continue to move with you on this journey. Click Here to read more about the Pilates With Abs Pre/Postnatal group and offerings. Your first 7 days of the pre and postnatal on demand course are free to try! Contact me with any questions. I look forward to meeting you!
