Is the exercise YOU do safe?
6 October 2014
Top tips for judging if the pregnancy exercises and post natal exercise you are doing are right for baby and you
I always feel really sorry when mums who find me postnatally say “I stopped exercising when I fell pregnant because I didn’t know what was safe”. What a wasted opportunity all because no one was around or was able to advise. Having said this, you get the other end of the spectrum with those who are absolutely determined to carry on doing what they’ve been doing regardless of how they feel during and after the workout…. because there’s that little voice in their head saying “If you don’t carry on you’ll lose everything that you’ve worked towards”.
Ok, so let’s get things straight here:
- First of all, nothing is ever lost. One of the annoying things about fitness is, of course, that when you stop exercising your fitness levels start to drop. Frustrating. But having said this, the moment you start up again, lo and behold, your fitness levels build up again like magic. So scaling things down if and when it is necessary to do so, should never be seen as some sort of an irredeemable curse but simply as a phase.
- So this takes me neatly to the second point which is that you do
need to actually listen to your body as it is usually rather good at telling you when to give it a break. Work through the tell tail signs and you risk injury, and these signs are things like when the exercise is simply too tough for you to do with perfect technique. Take a long, hard, honest look at what you are doing and how it feels. Are you performing the exercise with effortless grace (!) or is it all so tough that muscles are shaking uncontrollably, you’ve lost that perfect posture when performing the exercise and you can feel yourself using all the wrong muscles – an example of this is when you are doing an abdominal exercise and all you can really feel is your back twinging. - And what about after exercising? Even when pregnant, there’s nothing wrong with having a few aching muscles where you’ve done a good workout but do you feel utterly drained? Do you feel as though you are running on empty? Have you developed aches in joints or weird pulling sensations in all the wrong places? These are all indications that you weren’t doing the right exercise for you.
- Now let’s take a look at the exercise class format. Years ago I used to attend classes. Nowadays I train on my own but I also have a coach – yes, the trainer needs a trainer there to correct technique, push and stretch in all the right ways! Anyway, I used to attend classes and what always stood out to me was the difference between those teachers who took the time to care for every individual in the class by modifying, adapting or even progressing exercises and also by correcting, as opposed to those instructors who delivered a one-size-fits-all class. Or even worse, there were those teachers who clearly thought that the class was their own workout a the day, so they’d be busy giving it 100% whilst oblivious to the sea of poor technique facing them. There was one teacher who really stood out for me – Helen, a wonderful specialist in Pilates – and the reason she stood head and shoulders above everyone else was because she individualised her teaching. Each participant was an individual bringing to class his or her set of restrictions, limitations and goals, and Helen knew them all and tailored her classes accordingly. So ask yourself this: do the classes you attend have instructors who simply go through the motions? If so, I’d be thinking again about whether these are safe options for you in pregnancy and postnatally.
- Finally, pregnancy is not an illness – as we often hear people say – and nor is being postnatal. Nevertheless the body is going through immense change and this needs to be taken into account when choosing your pregnancy exercises and your post natal exercise. Be sure to read up on the dos and don’ts of pregnancy exercise and of postnatal exercise but also – and I think this is crucial – find a specialist in this field. It’s always going to be so much safer and more effective to work with someone who has trained in pre/postnatal fitness. You’ll find a national list of trainers on the Guild of Pregnancy and Postnatal Exercise Instructors website
PS I’m on the committee of The Guild and am also the editor of their magazine (proud moment here!)
PPS You can access my online week by week pregnancy and postnatal Pilates programme anywhere anytime and you can even give it a go for free!