Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 32: My Top 5 Favorite Pilates Exercises for Pregnancy

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! This week the baby is about 19 inches long and 3.9 pounds. I had a doctor’s appointment and am happy to report that everything looks good. Baby’s head is down, he had a strong heartbeat, and my belly is still measuring on track. Only eight more weeks to go!

This week I wanted to share my top 5 favorite Pilates exercises for pregnancy. Throughout my pregnancy, my body has changed immensely, but these exercises continue to feel good. Carey and I did some variation of each of these exercises this week.

1. Mermaid. The classical Pilates exercise Mermaid can be performed on the mat, Chair, Reformer, and Cadillac. My favorite version throughout pregnancy has been on the Reformer. This exercise is great because it stretches out the side waist and hips. Carey modified my leg position so that rather than having one leg stacked on top of the other, I position one bent leg up against the shoulder blocks and the other bent leg opens to the side of the carriage (see picture below).
2. Leg springs with my head supported. Using the Cadillac or Tower systems, Carey has me rest my head and neck on a small half barrel. I rest my arms beside me and she helps me get my feet into the leg springs. The added lift of the half barrel makes it more work to keep my hips stable, but also prevents heartburn or too much pressure from lying flat on my back. Leg springs feel great on both my inner thighs and outer hips, which are tighter now than they were before becoming pregnant.
3. Thigh stretch over the big ball. To do thigh stretch over the big ball, Carey has me sit back on my heels and then she positions the big ball directly behind me. I drape my body back over the ball so that my head rests on the ball. Even without moving this is a big stretch for my quads. To get the full thigh stretch, I lift my hips a few inches away from my heels on the inhale and then relax them back down on the exhale. Since everything in my hips/quads/lower abdomen region is tight, this exercise helps to gently stretch those muscles (see picture below).
4. Cat. My low back has felt tight or sore off and on during the second and third trimesters. There are many variations of Cat, but my two favorites are standing with my hands holding onto either side of the Chair, and kneeling with both palms flat on a big exercise ball. While holding either of those positions, I transition through a rounding and extension of the spine. I perform some variation of this exercise every day and it never fails to help relieve my low back pain.
5. Standing arm springs. Unlike the previous four exercises, the standing arm springs series does not stretch or relieve any pregnancy-induced tightness. However, this series is great for keeping up arm strength and working on shoulder stability (see picture below).