Exercise and Pregnancy Part 1

When I have friends, family or clients who become pregnant they often ask me for guidance with exercise. My first piece of advice is “keep exercising!” Research has shown that both cardiovascular and strength training are perfectly safe up until delivery unless an OB-GYN advises otherwise. Exercise is good for both the mom-to-be and the baby, and it helps in delivery, too. As with any exercise program, there are guidelines that should be followed. Here are some easy tips to keep you fit and safe during pregnancy.

• Listen to your body. If you feel faint, dizzy or weak stop exercising for that day. Otherwise, it is still safe to challenge yourself as long as it’s not painful. Your overall capacity for exercise will be reduced the closer you are to delivery, but that doesn’t mean it needs to cease entirely. Focus on maintaining your fitness rather than increasing it.

• Keep up with the core work (for the most part). Core work is still a beneficial part of your exercise regimen. However, during the second and third trimesters remove any exercises that involve lying on your back. You want to ensure adequate blood supply to the uterus after the first three months.

• Shorter Stretching. It is best to avoid deep, prolonged stretching during pregnancy. The pelvic joint and other ligaments are becoming looser in preparation for labor and you can risk overstretching them. You can thank the hormone Relaxin for this. Also avoid exercises requiring balance (i.e. walking lunges or anything on one leg).

• Do Kegel exercises daily. Kegel exercises are very safe and strengthen the pelvic floor to help during delivery. Developing these muscles during pregnancy also helps to prevent incontinence postpartum. For more information and exercises visit http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kegel-exercises/WO00119.

For previously sedentary women who become pregnant it is perfectly safe to begin exercising during pregnancy. Walking is usually a great option as well as upper body strength training. Any mom with young children will testify of the upper body strength it takes to cart around a newborn, baby or young toddler who just keeps getting heavier!

What is the "Core"?

For my first blog post, I thought it would be appropriate to touch on a topic that has become quite the popular buzz word in fitness- the “core”. While most people ask me how to tone that stubborn mid-section we all deal with, the core muscles are also very important for posture and everyday movement such as twisting, bending and moving side to side.

Think of your torso as an apple core. An apple is edible from the skin all the way down to its deepest part of the core. Like an apple, we have superficial muscles close to our skin and also ones that go deeper down close to our organs and spine. It is the deepest muscles within our core that have greatest functional significance. One of the most important core muscles, transverse abdominis (TA), lies underneath the top abdominal muscle (the muscle that creates the “six pack”). Think of the TA like a built-in corset. Without it, we’d all be gumbies with protruding bellies who couldn’t hold our torso up straight.

The best way to know what the TA feels like when it is contracted is to force a fake cough. That burning feeling deep in the torso is the TA. Another way to remember what it feels like is to think about the muscular burn created when laughing hard. It is called a "belly laugh" for a reason—it involves the work of the deepest core muscles.

Unfortunately, most people spend most of their time on “ab work” that misses the TA and only goes skin-deep. As with the apple, strength and support involves core muscles that go all the way around the body, too. (i.e. the TA, obliques, and lower back). You want to be able to prevent gumby action in all directions!

So is there one magic exercise that will tone your tummy? Unfortunately there is not. But with consistency and a variety of exercises, your core muscles will get stronger and help you become more efficient in everyday movements. The “core” has rightfully earned its place as a popular buzzword and hopefully it will make it into your workout routine.