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