Tag Archive for: Pilates Iowa City

Pilates and Pregnancy: 5 Weeks After Baby and Ready to Work Out

Cassie and FinnHello and welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog. I am five weeks postpartum and feeling ready for some movement! At my doctor’s appointment next week my physician will hopefully clear me for all forms of exercise. For now, Carey prepared a safe session to ease me back into Pilates.

We started with a few Pilates fundamentals: arm circles, knee folds, and knee sways. Then Carey had me do Hundreds. I hadn’t done Hundreds since some time during the second trimester! To start with, I held my legs at table top (which was a lot of work) and pumped my arms with my head down instead of in an upper ab curl. The upper ab curl is great, but I need to work on tightening my abdominal muscles safely. To do that, Carey had me focus on three things: wrapping my abdominal muscles up and in, engaging my pelvic floor muscles, and mentally picturing my stomach muscles reconnecting.

Next, we used the Tower to do Chest Expansion. Chest Expansion is one of my favorite exercises, but I didn’t realize how much it works your abs! Carey had to remind me that I wasn’t competing with my pre-pregnancy self, but instead was trying to regain that strength in as safe and healthy a way as possible. We continued our ab work with single leg and double leg stretches with my head down. Not only was it challenging to engage my abdominal muscles, but my legs felt weak too. Still, it felt good to move.

At the end of our session, Carey gave me homework. Each day, I am to lie on my foam roller and breathe, do arm circles, and knee folds. I have done the homework for a few days now and it’s amazing how difficult it is to find five minutes to myself with a newborn (that aren’t used for brushing my teeth or performing other tasks that require two hands!). I have always been a good student, however, and so I do my best to find the time. The arm circles help to stretch the front of my chest, which gets tight from breastfeeding and holding Finn. The knee folds work my abdominal muscles. The breathing is the best part: for a minute I just lay on the roller and take deep breaths, letting the rest of the day go as my body relaxes around the roller.

Now it’s your turn. Try the homework for yourself. It takes less than 5 minutes and I bet you’ll be feeling better for taking the time to breathe and move.

See you next week,

Cassie

Pilates and Pregnancy: The First Month After Baby

Hello and welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! I am happy to announce that I gave birth to a healthy baby boy on April 20, 2014. This post will chronicle his birth and my first month as a new mom, including adjusting to my new body, enduring the baby blues, and attempting to exercise!

Finn’s birth story

My water broke around 5 a.m. on Sunday, April 20th. We were admitted to the hospital by 6:45 a.m. and Finnegan James was delivered via C-Section at 9:08 Finn at birtha.m.

Toward the end of the pregnancy, my doctor and I discussed the probability of delivery via C-Section because Finn was measuring large (nearly 11 pounds). The C-Section was surreal and a little frightening. My husband and I had taken a class on Caesareans and I had also done some Pilates continuing education on recovery post-Caesarean, but nothing really prepares you for the cold sterility of the operating room. A kind nurse held my hands during the epidural. I was amazed at how quickly the epidural took effect. Within moments, several hands were guiding me to lie down on the table and securing my arms in place out at my sides. I remember being very cold and scared. My husband came into the room just before the procedure began.

I didn’t expect to feel anything, but did feel pressure when the doctor opened the incision to pull Finn out. Only a few minutes passed from the time my husband entered the room until I heard him say, “I can see his head,” and like that – Finn was born. He weighed 10 lbs. 5 oz, and was 21 ¾ inches long!

We spent three days in the hospital because of the C-Section. Our nurse the first night was amazed at how easily I was able to get out of bed and how eager I was to walk around. I walked slowly at first, but it felt good to get up and move. My family and another nurse commented the next day on how well I seemed to be doing. In particular my sister, who had a C-Section just over a year ago, noticed that I was up and moving around much sooner than she had been and attributed the difference to my Pilates practice.

Week 2

Walking with Finn

The second week was rough emotionally. I had read about the baby blues, but couldn’t believe that I could hold my perfect baby boy and be sad. My husband and family were all very supportive. Two of the big things that helped were going on walks and getting outside of the house.

Physically my body was still recovering. My incision was uncomfortable and I was only getting two or three hour stretches of sleep at night. On a happy note, by the end of the second week I had lost two-thirds of the pregnancy weight.

Weeks 3-4

The next two weeks were much better. Finn started sleeping for four hour stretches. I was getting out for walks and feeling good. I even tried some Pilates.

Pilates has always been my happy place and so I was curious about how much I’d be able to do. I started really slowly, lying on the floor for some arm circles and knee folds. I was amazed at how difficult knee folds were (where you keep your knees bent and lift one knee up over your hip and then slowly lower it back down). Between the stretching of my muscles during pregnancy and then physically cutting through some of them for the C-Section, I have a lot of ground to recover!Finn1month

I tried a few other exercises on my own. Shoulder Bridge and Spine Stretch felt great. Upper Ab Curl and Swan didn’t feel awesome and so I decided to skip them until I was officially cleared to exercise and could get back into the studio with Carey.

Finn is now one month old and I am ready to start Pilates in ernest! Look for future blogs coming soon as Carey and I work together to help me safely tone and strengthen my body post-baby.

See you next week,

Cassie

Inspiration of the Month

,
anne

When did you start Pilates and what inspired you to start? I have only been practicing Pilates since November 2013.  I had tried fitness classes and different types of yoga but never really found my niche.  An avid runner and self-described “gym-rat,” I really wanted something that would complement my usual work outs.  Pilates forced me to slow down and to balance my mental AND physical needs.

What benefits have you seen by committing to a regular Pilates practice? It’s surprising how many times I consider Pilates each day.  From my posture while sitting at my desk in the office, to feeling more strength in my legs and core on my long runs, and even just remembering to breathe, Pilates is really improving all aspects of my life.

Do you have a favorite exercise or piece of equipment (or both)?
My absolute favorite piece of equipment is the Chair. It’s small but packs a mighty work out!

What would you say to someone thinking about starting Pilates? It’s funny because I probably sound like a broken record to my friends and family because I’ve been recommending Pilates to everyone since I started.  It’s a great addition to your traditional cardio and weight training programs- the perfect combination of core work and mindfulness.  I even got my husband (a personal trainer up in Cedar Rapids) to come with me to a recent Saturday morning class. He loved the class  (and our classmates) and is definitely coming back!

Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 38: The Home Stretch

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! We are 38 weeks along and baby is still about the length of a watermelon – 18 to 22 inches. I had a doctor’s appointment this week and my physician said that baby’s head has dropped even further and boy can I tell! Not only does my belly feel lower, but it almost feels like I pulled a muscle at the lowest part of my baby bump. My guess is that those muscles have been stretched so far that any additional pressure from baby just tugs at them.

Other than feeling large and the occasional low back pain and foot/ankle/calf swelling, I really do feel quite well. Strangers at the grocery store smile at me and ask when I’m due. There’s something about a visibly pregnant woman that just makes people happy.

This week Carey and I focused again on stretching and gentle movements. We started seated on the big Pilates ball and did some side bending and small hip movements – side to side, tucking and extending, and circles each direction. We then moved to the mat and used the half barrel to prop me up into a semi-seated position. Carey placed a small ball under my head to support my head and neck. She then handed me a two-pound weight for each hand. We did arm circles in each direction and a straight arm open and close where my hands started above my chest and then opened out to the side and back. These arm movements really helped to stretch across my chest and it felt good to move my shoulders.

We then used the Tower for two traditional and unmodified Pilates exercises: chest expansion and thigh stretch. I wasn’t able to stretch as far back in thigh stretch as I could before becoming pregnant, but the stretch still felt great across my thighs and lower abdomen.

Week38

We finished with a standing shoulder stretch using the foam roller (see photo to the right). Generally we teach this stretch with the client lying on the mat with the foam roller under her shoulder blades. She then presses her feet into the mat to lift her hips and rolls front to back across her upper back and shoulder blades.

I can still lie flat on my back, but it’s considerably more work to lift my hips and move my body front to back than it was a few months ago. As a modification, Carey had me place the foam roller against the wall, and then get the stretch by straightening and bending my legs. This version felt great and is a gentle way to sneak in a few extra squats!

Thanks for sharing this experience with me! I’ll be back next week (unless baby comes first).

-Cassie

Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 37: Preparing for Delivery and Post-Pregnancy Recovery

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! According to my app, this week the baby is the length of a watermelon – about 19-22 inches. My app also says that he should be around 6.5 pounds, but we know from my last ultrasound that he blew past that landmark weeks ago! We’ll guess that he’s somewhere in the 8-9 pound range.

I’ve noticed this week that I am slowing down – big time. I have mastered the pregnant lady waddle and am not only slow moving, but slow to get up and down. This affects our Pilates lessons, as we’re able to fit fewer exercises into our 50 minutes together, but they are still fabulous nonetheless.

This week our workout focused on stretching and releasing muscle tension. Carey and I talked a little bit about delivery and the importance of learning to let go. We also started looking ahead to post-pregnancy recovery. As a mother of three and movement enthusiast, Carey shared some of the little movements she started doing after her children were born. These movements include Kegels, gently engaging her abdominal muscles, walking short distances, and arm circles in bed.

Note: the amount of exercise that you do post-pregnancy should be a decision that’s made between you and your healthcare provider.

So, with the focus on delivery and reducing muscle tightness, Carey had me start standing, holding on to the red rope. The red rope, which comes from the Ron Fletcher school of Pilates, is essentially three six-foot-long strips of terrycloth that are braided together. Because the rope is made of terrycloth it has a little bit of give. Carey had me hold the rope taut in front of my body with my hands near the ends. On an inhale, I slowly lifted the rope up over my head and then exhaled and brought the rope behind my body. We then reversed the movement, bringing the rope back in front of my body. This movement is great for opening up the shoulders and chest.

Next we worked on stretching the side waist and chest with some half barrel exercises. To begin, Carey had me lie on my side with the left side of my torso resting on the half barrel, my left arm reaching long to the mat, and my legs comfortably resting on the mat. Working to lengthen through my right side waist, Carey had me take a big inhale as I reached my right fingertips toward my left hand and then exhale as I brought the hand back down by my side (essentially a modified version of Mermaid).

Then, Carey had me start in the same position, except with both hands overhead. From there, I reached back with my right hand and rolled slightly onto my back, opening my chest in a very nice stretch. We repeated that move 5-8 times (see photos).

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See you next week (unless baby arrives first)!

-Cassie