Many women enjoy pilates for the various health benefits, such as the increased range of motion and the overall core strength building that they can achieve. When a woman becomes pregnant, she may want to continue with the pilates that she has been doing and there certainly is nothing wrong with doing this, provided a number of things are in place. That isn’t to say, however, that her pilates pregnancy routine is going to be exactly the same as the one that she had been doing all along.
Here are some things to consider if you are an expectant mother in order to make sure that pilates is safe for both you and the baby.
One of the first things that needs to be mentioned is that before you get into any type of pilates pregnancy routine, you make sure that you speak to your doctor and your pilates instructor about the benefits and potential drawbacks of doing this type of exercise. Most healthy women are able to do exercise throughout their entire pregnancy, but there may be instances in which your doctor would not recommend that you continue with the exercises that you have been doing. If that is the case, he may either have alternates from which can choose or perhaps some suggestions on how to get back into pilates after your pregnancy.
You also need to consider the fact that during the time that you are doing your pilates pregnancy routine, you are going to be burning additional calories. It is important for you to make sure that both you and the baby are healthy and this would necessitate making sure that you are eating adequate amounts of healthy food. Simply eating empty calories is not going to do it, and exercising is no excuse for eating the wrong types of foods. With the proper type of balanced diet, however, you will be able to enhance your pilates pregnancy routine considerably.
As you progress in your pregnancy, there may also be differences in the types of exercises that are recommended in your pilates routine. For example, it is not generally recommended that women who are past their first trimester do exercises when they are laying on their back. This could cut off blood flow to the child and may result in some harm. You also may be unable to lift your legs up higher than your core, which would reduce the amount of exercises that you could do effectively. Your pilates instructor should have some alternate moves which can keep you exercising without causing damage to the child.
Keeping up with your pilates routine in line with any recommendations from your doctor can help you stay happier, stronger and more energetic and can also help your child to be as healthy as possible. You will be able to maintain a level of health and after you have given birth, you will quickly see that your shape is returning to normal much faster than if you had quit exercising during the time that you were pregnant.