Benefits of Doing Pilates During Pregnancy

For most people, pregnancy is a time when Pilates seems impossible. In reality, you can continue with Pilates safely during a normal pregnancy with the permission of your doctor. Pilates can help increases muscle tone, flexibility, and strength. Because Pilates focuses on your core muscle, practicing it regularly can alleviate backaches, improve posture, and eventually help with labor and delivery. Pilates is beneficial to pregnant women in several important ways that make it worthwhile. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key reasons why pregnant women should try Pilates.

Better Breathing

Studies have shown that breathing properly has many positive side-effects for pregnant women, some of which include lowering blood pressure and stress reduction. Pilates supports good breathing habits through activities such as abdominal release and diaphragm work, a combination of which offers a fuller breath. This shows that Pilates can be especially valuable for pregnant women who usually have trouble breathing.

Maintain Healthy Weight

Gaining weight throughout pregnancy is quite normal. However, if you put on more than the advised weight gain for pregnant women, you risk having gestational diabetes. This non-impact workout can help maintain a healthy weight throughout your pregnancy period. It can help maintain the mobility of the spine and work deep abdominal muscles to move the baby towards the spine.

Strengthens the Body and Mind

Emotional instability and mood swings are prevalent features during pregnancy. Emotional instability comes with lots of anxiety, which is not good for pregnant women. During the pregnancy period, physical strength is equally important as emotional well-being, and Pilates can help you achieve both. Pilates makes use of mindfulness and focused breathing, which has been shown to develop mental health by decreasing symptoms of anxiety and depression, promoting relation, and improving mood.

Better Labour

Pregnancy Pilates focuses on mobility rather than flexibility. Your body needs to be free and mobile to avoid aches and tightness while avoiding ligaments and overstretching. The hormone (Relaxin) that is released during pregnancy so that the hips can expand when giving birth increase the level of flexibility during pregnancy, so loose ligaments and joints can cause a greater risk of injury. Practicing Pilates can help you cope more with childbirth because it strengthens key muscles.

Safe at Every Stage

Besides Pilates helping keep your heart rate steady and being low-impact, it is also considered a great choice for pregnant women because it can be adapted to them as they progress through the different levels of their pregnancy. For example, inversions can be a no-go for pregnant women in their first trimester due to feelings of dizziness. Given that each pregnancy is unique, Pilates session with experts can be a better choice for prenatal women looking to keep it.

How Can We Help?

If you are interested in taking Pilates classes during your pregnancy, Movement 101 got you covered. Our teachers are pre-and postnatal trained and qualified to teach you. Our expert Pilates instructors are ready to guide you through your pregnancy to keep your bump safe and reap other numerous benefits Pilates has to offer.

Learn more about how we can help you.
Movement 101 Botany, Marrickville, Waterloo & Wolli Creek