What Muscles are Most Important To Strengthen for a Successful and Natural Childbirth?

In the beginning of your pregnancy, the most important muscles to focus on are your Pelvic Floor Muscles. Strengthening these muscles will stabilize the pelvis, thus helping most postural issues that can cause the most common complaint, lower back pain. I remember when I first heard the words, Pelvic Floor. I literally had no idea what my pilates teacher was talking about until one day she described to me that my Pelvic Floor muscles are my deep abdominal muscles that run like a hammock, supporting the pelvis, attaching from the pubic bone to the tail bone. These muscles are what will help support the uterus during pregnancy and help expel the baby during labor. The more functional the muscle group the better, thus properly training the pelvic floor to relax and strengthen is best.

Once the pelvis is stable, it is important to focus on the other main core muscles. With the challenges of natural postural changes during pregnancy, the weight of the breast enlarging, and a new sense of gravity with baby growing forward, it is important to strengthen the back of the body. The back, specific abdominal muscles, gluts, hips, and hamstrings are all very important to properly tone and stretch. The specific back muscles I'm referring to are the "Lat" muscles. These are the muscles just under your shoulder blade. Believe it or not it runs all the way down to your low back, so strengthening this area can not help your shoulders from rounding, but can also stabilize the upper and lower spine.

The gluts, hip rotators, and hamstrings are also very important to tone and stretch. These muscle groups are very stabilizing for the pelvis for they are the muscles that keep our legs together. Because of the hormone relaxin that is produced during pregnancy, the ligaments holding the pelvis together may be loose or separated. Focusing on these areas can also stabilize the pelvis. It is very important to work the legs together during pregnancy to guarantee a safe position of the pelvis. If you are working one leg at a time, it is important to stabilize one leg as the other one moves. Unfortunately this creates an issue for those of us who like to bike, swim, run, dance, and do aerobics. There are many schools of thought and many doctors do tell their patients that if they were doing the exercise prior to pregnancy than they may continue, however risking the chance of the front of the pelvis becoming loose or separated in my opinion is just not worth it.

As I have stated in previous posts, the abdominals are also an area of the body that needs to be toned and strengthened in a balanced fashion. Over working the abdominals while pregnant is just not smart. Finding a balance between stretch and toning the abdominals is the best way to keep the integrity of the abdominal muscles without creating imbalances in the body. Also, doing abdominal crunches in the traditional format while lying on your back is equally not worth the risk. More and more women today risk the chance of developing a diastasis-recti which is a splitting or parting of the recti muscles.

When I originally learned this material I thought to myself "if only more women knew this information prior to getting pregnant, a lot of misfortune during childbirth could possibly be prevented!" So, this is why I continue to keep writing, keep learning, and reach out to the mommies out there!

C-section, I had no idea!

Did you know that in the United States, 1 in 4 births are C-section! When I first heard this statistic, it was VERY alarming to me. Even more alarming is the fact that over 1/3 of C-sections are repeat C-section in the US. With this said, understanding the most safe, effective way to rehab and care for yourself after major abdominal surgery is critical! Most C-section mothers are sent home with very simple instructions: don't drive, don't walk up stairs, and take it easy for at least 2 wks- BUT what they are not told is that once cleared by a doctor there are ways to safely regain their core strength before returning to any sort of exercise routine- in some cases even as soon as one week. Since C-section is considered major abdominal surgery it should be treated as another other surgery- with proper rehabilitation.

Every woman's healing time is different. The recovery time from a C-section can vary from woman to woman. Some women may feel up to beginning simple rehab exercises after just one week and some may be longer, but not doing any kind of rehab for the abdominals can effect a woman's body forever. Incontinence of the bladder, diastasis-recti, back pain, bowel issues, digestive issues can all come from major abdominal surgery. With proper strengthening of these muscles can help all of these problems.

Gentle exercises starting with simple breathing up toward the rib cage and eventually heading down toward the incision may be all that is tolerable for the first, possibly second week. When the mother is ready, a few coughs can be very effective to help activate the pelvic floor. This can all be done while lying in bed. With a pre and post pregnancy pilates specialist or physical therapist, the mother can soon begin very simple pelvic stabilization exercises that will help activate the pelvic floor. All of these exercises are done lying supine. There should also be communication between instructor and mother to how quickly she will progress onto the stability work.

Once again, education is the key to the future of women's health. We can learn from our mother's, our sisters, friends, and educators now that the information is out there. It is just up to us to plug in! How exciting that there are answers to our questions and we're not alone when we need help the most!

The Ying Yang theory

As in anything in life, balance is the key. We hear this addressed with health, work, family and relationships, and yes even exercise- particularly while pregnant! One question I often hear is "how safe is it to strengthen the abdominals while pregnant?" The answer is finding an even balance of strength and stretch for the abdominal muscles should be your focus. Unfortunately, we are so used to our typical "abs of steel" mentality that the average person associates strengthening the abdominals is only done by doing a classic crunch lying on your back. The best approach to abdominal strengthening while pregnant is to eliminate doing ANY crunches on your back and using breathing techniques, along with seated or quadruped positions to activate the stomach muscles. For those who are scratching your head wondering what a quadruped position is, it's the all fours position on hands and knees. The reasoning behind this is prevent a separation of the rectus abdominal muscles that are already being stretched as the uterus grows forward and up toward the rib cage. It can be noticed in the mid line of the abdominals while the head, neck, and shoulders are off the floor looking toward the belly button. To know if you have one in this position you will see a definite cone shape in the mid line of the stomach. The degree of a diastasis can vary. This is very important to remember after the baby is born, as mom is now in her "4th trimester," breast feeding while hormones are still present. If a diastasis-recti did occur, the muscles have split, thus considering the muscle dis-functional causing back pain and imbalances throughout the body.

How can one prevent this? Eliminate crunches from your pre-pregnancy programs all the way up until mommy is finished breast feeding!!! If there is a diastasis present, be very careful with body mechanics getting out of bed or any time you may be lying down. Take your time, roll to your side, and find your Pregnancy Pilates specialist or a physical therapist to find out how to begin to rehab this problem.

Interesting enough, pregnant women are not the only ones vulnerable to this issue. Men can also have this problem with larger bellies, or better known as a beer gut, when the muscles are too weak to sustain heavy lifting with poor body mechanics. Other factors that can influence this issue is C-section, tummy tucks, and women expecting multiples. Men, women, older or younger, pregnant or not, this issue often goes over looked and unrecognized.

Why Pregnancy Pilates?

More and more women come through these doors with little knowledge about the safest ways to exercise during pregnancy. Typically, they have some preconceived notions from a quick Google search about the do’s and don’ts of Pilates during pregnancy, or a quick phone call or email to their doctor who will most likely respond by allowing their patient to continue doing what they were doing before. I felt the demand of answers to so many questions. I'm happy to be incorporating pre and post pregnancy Pilates specifics into my teaching. This unique program and education has derived from Carolyn Anthony’s pre-post pregnancy Pilates certification at The Center of Women’s Fitness. With this work, we now have the latest knowledge on how to best prepare the mother and baby for a successful birth and how to understand the changes of the body from the beginning of the pregnancy to post labor.

As women, we are so lucky to be able to explore new opportunities and be able to take the best care of ourselves and our children. The classic work of Pilates was not originally developed for the pregnant body. We, as students and teachers, should remember that when the body endures great changes such as pregnancy, we also need to adapt to these changes both physically and mentally. As our hormones change with pregnancy, so should our workouts in order to prevent any complications along the way. We have many months to be able to adapt to these changes, and each day should be seen as a new day, tuning into the body and taking a mental scan to notice how these changes are occurring. Hormones play a vital role because of the way they soften the body by preparing the mother for child birth. This means that we must take into consideration that naturally the rib cage will begin to open, the lower back is a bit more vulnerable with its forward tilt of the pelvis, and our shoulders may begin to round forward a bit. It is very important to work with these natural changes and not try to change what nature intended. Because of these changes, completely eliminating flexion of the torso by lying supine is critical. This will allow the already weakened abdominal muscles to not overstretch as the uterus is beginning to grow upward toward the rib cage. It is possible that if the rectus abdominus muscle is too weak, or too strong, a Diastasis-Recti can occur. A diastasis-recti is a spilt of the rectus abdominus muscle.

Understanding these crucial points of pregnancy, we, as students and teachers, can help so many mothers-to-be, and possibly even prevent Diastasis Recti, C-section, and pubic symphysis, all issues that can be difficult to recover from. From the first trimester to postpartum, the work is designed to realign the body for a successful birth.

MAT WORK
Stability balls are a safe, effective, and creative way to transfer the Pilates mat work into an upright, seated, and easily accessible position. Using tools such as the stability ball will challenge the mother-to-be and maintain balance while strengthening the pelvic floor. Stability balls are also commonly used as a birthing tool during labor. This may help familiarize the mother with the ball if needed during labor.

DEEP ABDOMINAL BREATHING
In my classes, I always say, “Without the breath, you are cheating yourself of the workout.” Breathing is so important and should be your focus in your pregnancy workout. Deep abdominal breathing is used to effectively relax the pelvic floor muscles, as well as contract them. It is important to explain to your client that in order to be balanced in the body, we need to find a balance between strengthening and stretching muscles. We can do that through breathing. In pregnancy, a strong pelvic floor is very important to be able to support the weight of the baby to full term; however, we do not want to sit and do our kegels hundreds of times all day long. If deep abdominal breathing is done correctly, this is all that is necessary.

HOW TO EXECUTE
Sitting cross-legged on the floor or on a stability ball, take a deep breath, relaxing the abdominals into your hands. As you are inhaling, breath forward and down into the pelvic region. Exhale and feel your abdominal pulling away from the hands, lifting the pelvic floor up. This is a safe breathing technique for late pregnancy and can also be used to prepare for labor.

Why Blog??

Because I am always trying to find ways to reach out and get good information out to those who need it! Well, that along with the deep frustration I feel after reading some goofy myths about pregnancy and exercise. Mind you, I have not had children myself, however I do work with many pregnant women on a daily basis and I am a pre-post pregnancy pilates specialist.

I have been teaching since 2004 but wanted a deeper understanding to the body and pregnancy as I approach my "child bearing years." Truth- I was deeply frightened of the idea of my body changing and felt the need to know what to expect prior to even planning for a pregnancy in the future. So, I decided to certify with a specialty in pre-post pregnancy by a woman named Carolyn Anthony.

Am I ready to take on one of the biggest challenges my body will ever experience? This is the main question I ask myself and until that day, I can help, learn, and watch my clients have their experiences through Pregnancy Pilates.

The benefits of Pregnancy Pilates pre and post partum are unlike any other workout program and the reason is because of the proper toning of the Pelvic Floor muscles. This can make for a much easier delivery, recovery, and last long into your old age. It can prevent so many complications during pregnancy and after. I'm dedicating this blog to ALL of the information lacking out there for mommies to be!