Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 30: Big Ball Exercises

Welcome back to our Pilates and pregnancy blog! This week the baby is about 18 inches long and 3.2 pounds. If the baby arrives when he’s supposed to we’ve got less than 10 weeks to go!  I’ve noticed a small amount of swelling in my legs along with occasional leg cramps the past few weeks. Other than that, I’ve been feeling pretty good!

This week we started my workout with a great leg stretch in a seated position. To do the stretch, I sat tall and leaned back toward the mat with my arms supporting me just behind my hips. While in the supported leaning back position, I started by pointing and flexing my feet. It was a small movement, but felt really good to stretch the bottom half of my legs and get some movement through my feet and ankles. Next, we did a little internal and external rotation of the legs by turning the thighs and knees in toward and then away from one another.  By gently rotating the legs in and out I could feel the stretch all the way up in my hips.

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We did a series of exercises using the big exercise ball in our session. The balls are very supportive and can be used in a variety of positions during labor. Carey is hoping that by getting me comfortable moving and exercising with the ball I will make an easy transition to using the ball during labor. They are available at the hospital where I plan to deliver, but just in case they’re all spoken for, I will be bringing my own.

We started our ball work in a kneeling position with my hands on top of the ball in front of me. Pushing down gently, I rounded and then extended my spine in a cat/cow motion. It was work in my arms to stabilize the upper half of my body and felt nice to stretch out my low back. In between this and some of the other exercises I would drape over the ball in a modified child’s pose position which not only felt great but will also be a great position to use throughout labor (according to Carey).

We also did some leg lift variations where my side body was supported by the ball. I had to work to maintain my balance while I did different leg lifting and rotating exercises. These exercises were a lot of work and I didn’t feel like I could lift my leg very high. It felt nice, however, to move through my hips which have progressively tightened during the pregnancy.

We ended the session with a great quad/hip opening stretch. You can see this one pictured above. To start, Carey had me sit back on my heels (or as close to it as I could get) and drape my body and head back over the big ball. Just being in that supported position was a quad stretch. Then, she had me gently push my hips forward to intensify the quad stretch and help open up the front of my hips. It was a subtle movement, but a nice stretch.

Check in next week for all the details on the shower Carey and our wonderful clients threw for me!

-Cassie

 

 

Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 29: A Sneak Peek into Our Workouts

Welcome back to our Pilates and pregnancy blog! This week the baby is around 3.1 pounds and 17 inches long. He is about the length of a butternut squash. For the past several weeks I have written about the workouts Carey teaches me. This week, we wanted to take it a step further and show you some of the exercises we’ve been doing. In today’s video, we use the Pilates Wunda Chair. Enjoy!

In addition to working on the Chair, we did some standing leg work. Similar to the side-lying leg series in the traditional Pilates mat routine, we did a series of leg movements while standing and holding on to the ladder of the high barrel for support. We worked on internal and external rotation of the legs, a bent leg kick backwards, and large circles where you reach the leg in front of you, around to the side, behind you, and finally back to its resting place. The nice part of doing the work standing is that your leg that isn’t moving is also getting a workout because it supports your weight and works to keep you in balance.

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We ended the work with a variation on Pigeon stretch. Pigeon is a traditional Yoga pose that is usually done on the mat. One leg is bent while the other leg extends straight behind you. You can prop yourself up with your arms or let your body round over the bent leg. The stretch is usually felt in the outer hip/glute of your bent leg. To modify the stretch, we used the high barrel. I bent one leg in front of me on the barrel, while the other leg supported me in a standing position. Instead of rounding over my bent leg (which wouldn’t feel very good because my belly would get in the way), I leaned back and held onto the ladder.

See you next week!

-Cassie

Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 28: Welcome to the Third Trimester

Welcome back to our Pilates and pregnancy blog! This week the baby is around 2.9 pounds and 17 inches long. He is about the length of a small cabbage. We’ve officially begun the third trimester, which means that I saw our nurse practitioner this week. I’m happy to report that I passed my glucose test, my stomach’s measuring on track for 28 weeks, and the baby’s heartbeat sounded good.

I have noticed some more changes in my body. First, I feel warmer. Most of the time it feels like someone turned up the thermostat a few degrees, but every once in a while I start boiling. Many of my clients assured me that these “personal summers” only get better with age. Second, I feel like either the baby has moved or grown a bunch in the last short while because my belly seems to stick out more than it did just a few weeks ago.

This week Carey and I started on the Reformer. She had me sit at the end of the long box with my feet resting in a turned-out position on the foot bar. We started with gentle rounding and extension movements through the spine and then added some side bending. Next, I sat tall and gently straightened my legs to push the carriage out and then bent my knees to bring it in – giving me a nice hip opening stretch.

We also did the classical exercise Mermaid on the Reformer, with an added twist. As you can see in the picture, you start seated facing one Week28side of the Reformer with one leg tucked up against the shoulder blocks and the other in front of you. You can always tuck that front leg under your other leg for more of a challenge. This position felt good on my hips and so we started there. Then, you press the carriage out with one hand on the foot bar and the other reaching overhead, giving you a nice side stretch. The twist that we added was a literal twist – rotating from the shoulders and ribcage to bring the top hand to the foot bar. We held that position for a few deep breaths to help stretch from the side waist all the way down into the hip.

We ended our workout with some squats in front of the Chair. To start, I faced the Chair – about a foot’s distance back – with my legs turned out wide. I reached my arms overhead and then did a roll down until my hands made contact with the paddle. I pushed the paddle down while simultaneously bending my knees into a deep squat, without lifting my heels away from the floor. To come back up, I straightened my legs and rolled up through the spine to standing.

See you next week!

-Cassie

Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 27: Tailoring Pilates to the Pregnant Client

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!27weeks

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.

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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

Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 26: Squats and Low Frogs

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 f26weeksor 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

Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 25: Having Fun with the Pilates Props

 

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

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