Pilates Effective For Pregnancy

The Benefits Of Pilates During Pregnancy

What Is Pilates?

Pregnancy Pilates is a form of exercise that helps in building one’s core strength. They help in toning your pelvic, floor and back muscles during pregnancy. They help in getting your back in shape after pregnancy. They also help in reducing stress and weak muscles to a great extent.

The History Of Pilates

Joseph H Pilates was a nurse who served during World War One. He devised a form of exercises to help bed ridden patients get back their strength. He put springs in the beds of the patients. By pushing and pulling these strings, the patients were able to regain their strength.

The Benefits Of Pilates

Pilates during pregnancy is beneficial because it emphasizes on the core of the body. By core we mean the abdomen and the spine. These are the main muscles that support your weight during pregnancy. Doing Pilates while pregnant improves your balance and coordination. There may be certain Pilates exercises that cause pain. Avoid doing these exercises and ask your Pilates Instructor to give you other exercises to do. Insist on a Pilates Instructor who is experienced in Pilates for pregnancy.

Some Precautions

The American Council of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has advised not to do any form of Pilates which requires lying on your back. This is because the vascular system of the pregnant mother gets affected. Also avoid stretching too much, because your body during this stage produces relaxin, a hormone which creates laxity of the ligaments and joints and can cause you injury if you over stretch. While doing Pilates during pregnancy if you feel faint or dizzy, begin to have a headache, contractions in your abdomen or bleeding from the vagina- you must stop immediately and call for a doctor.

Pilates during pregnancy can be quite beneficial for the mother-to-be. Please read good books and magazines and surf the net for further information on Pilates. We wish you a safe and healthy pregnancy.

Pregnancy Pelvic Exercise

The Immense Benefits Of Pelvic Exercises During Pregnancy

Doing Pelvic Exercises during pregnancy can do a world of good for you. Research has shown that pelvic exercises during pregnancy reduce the chances of urinary incontinence to a large extent, not just in pregnant women, but even in normal circumstances in women, as well as in men. Urinary incontinence is one of the most irritating illnesses. Running to the bathroom every now and then can get tiresome and hinder your work. Also, during pregnancy, sometimes the pelvic floor muscles and ligaments that hold the pelvis in place are damaged because of the stress on the pelvic muscles and the stretching of the vagina during delivery.

Pelvic Exercises Are Very Useful

Pelvic Exercises are a boon for the problems that seem to crop up often during pregnancy. Let’s talk about kegel exercises. These were first designed by Dr. Kegel in 1940. The best thing about these pregnancy pelvic exercises is that they do not cost large sums of money to do and can be done whenever you want to, at any time of the day. The more you do these exercises, the more you will benefit from them.

How To Do Kegel Exercises

To know which the exact muscles are, you must hold back your urine discharge for a few seconds. Do not squeeze your buttocks or pull your abdominal muscles inside. Once you do this, repeat it and soon you will be able to do this many times over. Your pelvic muscles now much stronger and you will start feeling better. Research shows that there is a 39% less risk of urinary incontinence if you do kegel exercises during and post pregnancy. The other benefits when you do pelvic exercises during pregnancy are a stronger uterus, more comfortable delivery and a better sex life.