Whether you’re considering pregnancy, are already expecting, or have just welcomed your little one into the world, it’s natural to wonder how your exercise routine will fit into this new chapter of your life. The good news? You can absolutely continue to nurture your body and your baby with the right exercise. In fact, improving your physical fitness as you approach pregnancy can boost your chances of conception and help both you and your baby stay healthy throughout this journey.

As you navigate the beautiful experience of pregnancy, you’ll likely want an exercise that strengthens the muscles involved in labour and delivery, while also aiding in your recovery afterward. Pilates is a perfect match, offering the benefits of strengthening and supporting both your body and mind, both during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. Let’s explore how Pilates can be the loving touch your body needs as you prepare for motherhood.

How Pilates Benefits Pregnancy: Strengthen Your Heart and Your Body

Let’s start by clearing up some common misconceptions. Pilates isn’t about increasing the strength of your contractions or making labour more intense—it’s actually about nurturing the muscles that support your uterus and baby. Strengthening these muscles before and during pregnancy can make labour easier and less stressful on your body, while also helping you bounce back afterward with ease.

Take the pelvic floor muscles, for example. These muscles play a crucial role in guiding your baby’s head through the birth canal—but they don’t contract in the same way other muscles do. Strengthening them through Pilates helps to support a smoother, less stressful labour. Then there’s the transverse abdominis, a sheet of muscles that support your uterus and the other organs in your abdomen. Pilates can help prevent damage or separation of these muscles, and because they don’t contract during labour, strengthening them won’t add pain—only support.

By focusing on key muscle groups like these, Pilates nurtures your body through every step of pregnancy, preparing you for the big day—and the beautiful recovery afterward.

Prenatal Pilates: Breathe, Stretch, and Strengthen with Love

Pilates is a gift to your body throughout pregnancy. Some of the many benefits include:

• Breathing focus – Learn how to use your breath to calm your body and mind, keeping you centered through every stage of pregnancy.
• Breathing technique – Pilates teaches techniques that are great for relaxation and can even help during labour.
• Flexibility – Gentle stretches and movements improve flexibility, preparing you for the changes your body will undergo.
• Pain reduction – Pilates can ease discomfort in your back, hips, and pelvis as your body shifts to accommodate your growing baby.
• Mental health – Focus on mindful movement and self-care, enhancing your mental wellness through pregnancy’s ups and downs.

One of the best parts about Pilates is that it’s low-impact and gentle on your joints. It doesn’t demand too much from your cardiovascular system, making it a safe option to continue throughout pregnancy. This helps you stay healthy, active, and balanced, which can make recovery after birth smoother and quicker.

Postnatal Pilates: Reconnect, Recover, and Thrive

After birth, Pilates continues to support your body as you heal and regain strength. Postnatal Pilates can help:

• Strengthen weakened muscles – Rebuild strength in your core and pelvic floor after childbirth.
• Improve recovery times – Pilates aids in faster recovery by gradually rebuilding strength and flexibility.
• Regain posture – Strengthen your back and shoulders to support proper posture as you adjust to holding and caring for your baby.
• Reduce muscle pain – Gently stretch and release tension, easing the aches that often follow childbirth.
• Improve mental health – Focused movement helps clear your mind and boosts your mood.
• Facilitate weight loss – Pilates supports gentle and sustainable weight loss while keeping you connected to your body.

The beauty of Pilates is that it’s easily adaptable to your postnatal needs. Whether you’re ready to dive back into your routine or need to ease into exercise gradually, Pilates helps you regain your strength at your own pace.

Join Us to Fall in Love with Your Pre and Postnatal Health

At Absolute Pilates, we understand how important it is to focus on the often-overlooked pelvic muscles—those unsung heroes that play a vital role in pregnancy, labour, and delivery.

Whether you’re pregnant, postpartum, or planning your journey, Absolute Pilates is here to support you with expert guidance and personalized care. Reach out to us today to discover how Pilates can nurture your body through every stage of pregnancy and beyond. Let’s fall in love with your strength together!

Women who are considering getting pregnant, who are pregnant, and who just gave birth are right to be concerned about how this will impact their exercise regime. As you approach pregnancy, improving your physical fitness is recommended to improve your chances of conception, and the health of both mother and child. However, most women also want to pick up exercise that they can continue throughout pregnancy, and which can help them to strengthen the muscles involved in labour. Even better if that exercise can also help recovery after childbirth! Pilates fits the bill and is widely considered to be one of the best exercises to meet the needs of mothers, both prenatally and postnatally. Learn about the important role Pilates can play in your health during and after pregnancy.  

How Pilates Benefits Pregnancy

First, it is important to clear up some misconceptions. Pilates is not about increasing the strength of your contractions, and developing your core muscles will not make labour harder or more painful. Instead, through Pilates work you can focus in on the muscles that support your uterus and the baby, before and during childbirth. This can make labour easier, less stressful on various parts of your body, and aid with recovery afterward.  

For example, pelvic floor muscles will guide the baby’s head as it moves through the birth canal, but they won’t contract. Strengthening them can help with labour indirectly. Another great example is the transverse abdominis muscles, which are like a sheet of muscles all across your stomach and pelvis. These support your uterus and every other organ in your abdomen, and they offer essential support during labour. Pilates can help to prevent the damage and separation of these muscles, and since they do not contract during labour, developing them will not increase pain. Both of these muscle groups, and many more, are targeted, strengthened, and lengthened through Pilates.   

Muscle development is not the only benefit that you’ll see from Pilates. Prenatally, Pilates can help with: 

• Breathing focus 
• Breathing technique 
• Flexibility  
• Pain reduction  
• Mental health  

As Pilates has a low impact on your joints and is not as demanding on your cardiovascular system as many other types of exercise, it is more suitable to continue late into pregnancy. This can help you maintain your health throughout pregnancy, which will simplify all aspects of recovery.  

Postnatal Pilates can help to: 

• Strengthen weakened muscles 
• Improve recovery times  
• Regain posture 
• Reduce muscle pain  
• Improve mental health  
• Facilitate weight loss  

Pilates is easily adjusted to various levels of fitness and strength. That means that postnatal Pilates can be easily adjusted to accommodate your condition, and help you work back into exercising at a pace that makes sense for you. While some women are ready to exercise at their normal pace shortly after birth, most need to gradually build back up their routine. Pilates can help.  

Join Us to Better Your Pre and Postnatal Health

While Pilates targets many muscles groups that are essential in pregnancy and childbirth, the often-overlooked pelvic muscles are among the most important. We periodically run a pelvic health workshop that we strongly encourage women to join, and the next one is taking place on March 29th, 2022 – send us an email at info@meadowlandsphysio.ca to sign up and reserve your spot!  

At Absolute Pilates, we are dedicated to offering resources and support for women before, during, and after pregnancy. Reach out to us with your questions about how Pilates can benefit your health, or to sign up for a class!