Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog. This week the baby is around 2.5 pounds and 16 inches long! He’s about the length of a head of cauliflower. It’s my last official week in the second trimester and so I’m trying to soak up as much movement and energy as I can!

Carey and I worked mostly on the Cadillac this week. She has been great about trying new pregnancy exercises with me. Generally these are versions of our classical Pilates work with a twist that focuses on something my body needs – like hip opening or side bending. We started our session with roll down on the Cadillac, except we used a heavy spring and I rolled back onto a half barrel. These small changes had three big benefits. First, the heavy springs made it easier to roll back up so that I wasn’t straining across my abdomen. Second, the heavy spring made it harder to keep my shoulders connected, which is an area that I constantly work on improving. Third, when I rolled back over the half barrel I got to do a small extension that felt great across my belly and back.

Next, we used the small half barrel to prop my head and shoulders up a few inches while doing our leg springs series. This small change made it more work for me to keep my hips connected to the mat, but also was more comfortable than lying flat on my back.

We also did a classical Pilates exercise called Spread Eagle. This exercise is traditionally done on the Tower or Cadillac, where you stand with your legs wide, feet turned out against the vertical poles. You hold on to the poles and start by hanging your body back away from the poles. Then, you do three deep squats with your knees out wide, which is great for most people, but especially pregnant women whose hips are tight! After your squats, you roll your body up into an extension while hanging away from the poles. The exercise combines two elements that most pregnant women could benefit from – hip opening and rounding/extension of the spine.

Finally, we ended with a Psoas stretch on the foam roller. In the picture, you can see that you start with your hips propped up on the roller with one leg extended toward the ceiling. Slowly – and that’s the key here – you reach that leg long toward the mat. It should feel like a stretch across the front of your hip, especially as that leg lowers closer to the mat. We repeated this 5 or 6 times before switching and doing the other leg as well.

See you next week for the start of the third trimester!

-Cassie

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog. This week the baby is around 2.2 pounds and 15 inches long! Instead of measuring from crown to rump (which they do at the beginning because baby is all curled up), they now measure from head to heel. For those of you who like to visualize, he’s about the length of a cucumber.

This week I’ve noticed that my workouts are really challenging. I commented to Carey that I could understand why some women stop working out at this point in their pregnancies! However, I always feel better after moving and this week was no exception.

Carey had me working on the Chair, which was wonderful. I’m almost to the end of the second trimester and so the focus of our private sessions has shifted slightly from core and total-body strengthening to preparing for labor. We did a lot of hip opening, including a few variations of squats. Instead of focusing solely on strengthening my body to carry this baby, we’re also focusing on learning to let go when it is time to deliver.

Some of the exercises that we did this week included a great piriformis stretch where I was seated on the Wunda Chair with my right foot on the paddle and my left foot crossed over my right knee. Instead of leaning forward to stretch, I simply let the spring of the paddle lift my right leg up, giving a nice stretch in the back of my left hip/glute.

We also did a fun variation of Standing Front Push Down. Standing in front of the chair, I took a wide, turned-out stance. I raised my arms and rounded my spine forward toward the chair, with my hands eventually reaching the paddle. Instead of leaving my legs straight (like the traditional version), I bent into a squat as I pushed the paddle down. At the bottom, my heels lifted away from the ground slightly and I arched into a small extension. Then, reversing that movement, I rounded my spine and straightened my legs to come back to standing. I could really feel the stretch in my hips as I went into the squatting position (which, Carey assures me, is a great position to labor in – uff da!).

Finally, we did a version of Low Frog with the bottoms of my feet touching and my knees out wide (see picture below). For Low Frog, you are lying on your back in front of the Chair with your feet on the paddle. Traditionally we have our heels on the paddle with our feet in a Pilates “V,” but this time I brought the bottoms of my feet to touch, which allows for more hip opening. The two pictures on the right show the starting and ending positions of the paddle. The picture on the left shows my ever-growing belly!

See you next week,

-Cassie

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! This week the baby is over 9 inches long and weighs over 2 pounds.

The biggest change I’ve noticed lately is that I feel big. When I want to get out of bed in the morning, I either need to rock my way up to sitting or turn to my side and use my hands to push into the bed to sit upright. I have about three more weeks in the glory days of the second trimester and then (I’m told), the real bigness starts. Should be fun!

This week Carey and I focused on shoulder opening, upper back extension, and side bending. We used a piece of classical Pilates equipment called the Ped-o-Pul (pictured below) and the Fletcher Pilates towel. The Ped-o-Pul is great for alignment and upper body work. We did a series of arm exercises where you stand tall with your head back against the pole. For most of us, who tend to round forward through our upper backs, standing tall with your head in line is work in itself.

We also used the Fletcher towel. Ron Fletcher was one of Joseph Pilates’ students who went on to create his own brand of Pilates work. One of the great Fletcher innovations is called the Fletcher towel. It’s a braided terrycloth towel about five feet long and the diameter of a golf ball. The towel has a little give when you pull on it, but not as much as a Theraband.

We did a nice shoulder stretch where you stand with your feet about hip-distance apart, with a little bend in your knees, holding on to the towel. Starting with the towel in front of you, you inhale and bring the towel overhead, rotating in the shoulders to bring the towel behind your body. This stretch really helps to open the shoulders. We also did side bending while holding onto the towel and standing roll downs. We ended with an extension exercise where I stood tall and held the towel overhead, with my hands wider than my shoulders. Gently, I leaned back to get a stretch across the front of my body without crunching in my low back. The skin and muscles across my stomach have felt really tight lately, and so the gentle extension was a great little stretch.

The picture this week is of me using the Ped-o-Pul. Thanks for sharing this journey with me!

See you next week,

-Cassie