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Can I do Pilates while I am pregnant?
By Christina | January 27, 2008
Many women find Pilates to be an excellent form of exercise before, during and after their pregnancy. Pilates builds core strength which means you are focusing on your back, hips, shoulders and abdominals - all areas that are stressed quite a bit during pregnancy. Strong back and abs mean better support for mom as her belly gets larger and heavier. After the baby is born, Pilates is excellent to help get the body back into shape and return the abs to their pre-pregnancy shape and strength.
Another reason Pilates is so wonderful during pregnancy is that is easy to modify the exercises depending on your ability. A good instructor will always give modifications for exercises if he or she sees a pregnant, injured or beginner exerciser. Keep in mind too that many doctors recommend no prone (lying on your back) exercises after the 20th week of pregnancy.
Be sure before you start any program of exercise, get clearance from your doctor -especially if you are pregnant. While not common, there are some facilities that offer prenatal Pilates or consider doing a few one on one sessions until you are comfortable with the movements. Overall, Pilates is an excellent method of exercise during pregnancy. Listen to your body and stop if there is any sharp pain, dizziness or lightheadedness.
January 27th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Pilates, with appropriate modifications, can be an excellent prenatal fitness regime, especially if the women has good core stabilization skills beforehand. But pregnant women, and Pilates instructors, need to recognize that most of the Pilates mat work involves upper body flexion. Since pregnancy increases the curve of the upper spine (creating an overly kyphotic posture) exercises that utlize the “head float” position should be modified so that the upper spine is stabilized in the neutral position. During pregnancy, lower spine flexion should be stressed, along with daily chest stretches and exercises like “camel pose” that extend the thoracic spine.
As to Pilates for postpartum reconditiong? Not until the Transverse Abdominis has regained most, if no all, or it’s former strength.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Dear Christina,
While this is a great & informative post there are some inaccuracies here that need to be addressed. First off, Pilates on equipment or modified into standing exercises is great throughout pregnancy; mat Pilates is NOT!
Much of the matwork is performed supine (on your back) or prone (on your stomach) and neither are all that comfortable after the first 4 months. In addition much of that mat is abdominal exercises of a form that can cause a diastises (split in the rectus abdominus muscle), which should also be avoided.
Finally, make sure your teacher has experience with pregnancy exercise before you start.
Lynda