Recently pilates seems to be the go to exercise practice for pregnancy, post pregnancy and also if you suffer with lower back pain and you have not heard
“ oh you should try pilates to help with that “ then you more than likely have not spoken to more than five people!!!!
Pilates gets recommend a lot lately for it seems pregnancy and postpartum and also for chronic lower back issues. In this post I want to discuss ( briefly ) why this is and also try to answer if it really is all its cracked up to be?
Firstly
I always say this to everyone, always give the practice of pilates at least six weeks before you give up on it, if you give yourself the six weeks to learn and practice you will start to master it and then start to feel the benefits of it . Once you feel the benefits ….. well then you are HOOKED.. now that is a fact, that’s when I hear it pilates becomes “pilates for life”
At the beginning , people can find it very frustrating, the breath and the coordination can be just hard to put together and can be frustrating for some, it’s a lot to think about at once and is why it takes a bit of time to practice and master , sometimes people give up before the six weeks and never get to the “ ah ha!” moment so first bit of advice …
STICK TO THE SIX WEEKS!
So , moving on to the whys and reasons for pilates being the number one for pregnancy and beyond exercise!
PREGNANCY AND YOUR PELVIC FLOOR!! ( you have heard this before right ??)
So in a nutshell you know they are connected yes ? You know that the pelvic floor needs to be functional throughout pregnancy and also afterwards when little baby arrives as many women experience some pelvic floor related issues post birth. Did you know that your pelvic floor and your breathing are 100% intertwined , they work in harmony and they can not function if one is out of sync with the other, so good breathing equals a better pelvic floor….. ok ?
BREATHING AND OUR NERVOUS SYSTEM
Also we know that breathing is a really good technique to help us focus and work on our parasympathetic nervous system ( keeping us calm and focused ) another thing that might come in useful during pregnancy , birth and postbirth yes?
STRENGTH
Another thing we know is that it is really important to be strong in our core so we have the strength to keep strong and prevent issues afterwards and during pregnancy but also for the delivery of the baby. We use our transvere abdominals plus others during the pushing phase of delivery!
MOBILITY
Mobility … this is something that we all would like, no one wants to be stiff and unable to move, with pregnancy our centre of gravity changes and we can move less therefore making our spine and extremities less mobile.
So here’s where pilates fits in..
PILATES MAIN FOCUS :
BREATHING.
CORE STRENGTH.
FOCUS .
CONTROL AND MOBILITY.
And it is 100% safe for you during pregnancy and postpartum once you have a qualified practitioner who is able to modify it for you!
So that’s the ifs , the whys and benefits in a very very small nutshell.
Hope that helps answer your question.
