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Exercise during pregnancy

Exercise during pregnancy is very important not just for being fit but it will also help you cope with labour and on top of everything it also has a positive impact on your child's health. While being pregnant it is necessary to focus on your pelvic area and hip joints, do abdominal exercises and relax your back muscles which later in pregnancy can eventually cause back pain. Spiral Stabilization is based on stretching and strengthening muscular chains which means that while exercising Spiral stabilization you make sure to decrease the risk of pregnancy-related complications and at the same time it is your preparation for the physical demands of labour.


1. Fit while being pregnant 

Let's begin with an explanation why exercising regularly during pregnancy is important. First of all, maintaining a regular exercise routine throughout your pregnancy can help you stay healthy and feel your best. Pregnancy is the most beautiful experience one could ever be part of but at the same time it is physically and emotionally very demanding. Being pregnant, future moms experience a lot of changes during their pregnancies. It is important not to forget that pregnancy is not a disease and exercising can help promote better physical and mental health and decrease some common discomforts such as backaches, swollen feet or movement difficulties in the last stage of pregnancy. 

Before you start exercising, take your time to find out what type of body you have and if it is better for you to do some kind of workout or if going for a walk would be a better option. 

a) Hypermobile body type: 

Description: soft muscle mass and hypermobile joints 
Pay attention to: strengthening, exercising with a cord with bigger resistance (cord with green endings), not straighten your knees and elbows while exercising 
Benefits of exercise: preventing diastasis recti, lower back won't be bended, your hypermobile joints will be stronger thanks to a growing muscle mass 


b) Stiff body type 

Description: muscle mass is very consistent, body is not very flexible 
Pay attention to: stretching (preferably), exercising with a cord with lower resistance (cord with red endings), going for walks until the due date, from the middle part of the pregnancy slow down when it comes to workout, exercise should not be strenuous 
Benefits of exercise: natural birth, having soften and open birth canal, shorter and easier labour 

Back pain in pregnancy

One of benefits that exercising Spiral stabilization offers is that exercises are based on exercising muscle chains that are part of abdominal muscles (often referred to as the "corset muscle”). The principle of this method is that muscles are being stretched and relaxed at the same time. When we activate the core we relax the back muscles which relieves back pain, let alone during pregnancy. There is no need to avoid strengthening the core while being pregnant because exercises of Spiral stabilization are always performed while standing and besides that while using just a little bit of strength so there is no risk for the baby. 


Irrigating the pelvic area with blood

There is one more benefit of stretching and relaxing muscles and that is boosting arteries and veins. This brings a lot of energy to organs situated in the pelvic area and stimulates them with a massage at the same time. When there is not enough incoming blood into organs there is a big risk of chronic inflammations and incontinency. During pregnancy it is essential to align your pelvic muscles: to irrigate all organs needed with blood, to boost your pelvic floor, to activate your core muscles and to relax the pelvic area. When organs are not supplied with blood sufficiently there is also a risk of hypertension (high blood pressure).


Swollen feet

It's not unusual to start noticing swollen feet when sitting for extended periods of time in everyday life even not being pregnant. When sitting your core muscles and gluteal muscles are inactive which is not good for your body. On contrary, natural countermovement of pelvis and chest while walking is the most beneficial. While sitting, veins can't pump body fluids back up toward the heart and organs in pelvic area are not supplied with blood sufficiently. Furthermore, bending legs in hip joints for a long time stops circulation of lymph and blood which can lead to edema. That is one of the reasons why pregnant women are recommended to take short walks and exercise regularly. Some leg‘s work and exercising in general can reduce feet swelling.


2. Preparing for labour

Another reason why pregnant women should exercise regularly is the labour itself. During the delivery it is important to know how to engage stomach muscles and relax the pelvic floor muscles simultaneously. Spiral stabilization exercises are based on exercising muscle chains that are connected to each other and that is the main reason why it is not enough to strengthen just the core, but you need to build up the "corset muscle” and use all the muscles needed at the same time. 


Increase your chances of having a healthy baby 

Exercising regularly activates your core, relaxes sacroiliac joints and pelvis and stretches iliopsoas muscle. Thanks to these the mother-to-be will learn how to control core muscles and muscles in the pelvic area which make passing your baby through the birth canal and healing after delivery easier. 


Bounce back after pregnancy 

To get fit after pregnancy it is essential to start exercising Spiral stabilization as soon as possible after the delivery. If there are no serious health problems, it is possible to start exercising one week after the childbirth. We recommend to exercise with an elastic cord with 1 kg resistance because that one is the most suitable for the new mother to start with. The exercise itself is not difficult, it takes about 10-15 minutes (preferably every day). It should be taken easy at the beginning and add more difficult strengthening and coordinative exercises later on.


Problems with diastasis recti

After giving birth many women suffer from diastasis recti. Diastasis recti means your belly sticks out because the space between your left and right belly muscles has widened and it is caused by an excessive inner-abdominal pressure of the growing baby. After the childbirth the muscles should go back to normal but if the corset muscle is weakened it won't be as easy. As you already know Spiral stabilization is based on exercising muscle chains in a natural way which create the corset muscle. It is the only exercise that stretches the body and spine upwards. This allows the stretching of transverse abdominal muscle and at the same time the waistline is being narrowed. So if your diastasis recti after giving birth is big, we recommend this exercise to make it disappear and at the same time the pelvic floor will be strengthened.


Exercises in the mobile app

During pregnancy the exercises you need to focus on are the ones based on aligning the pelvic area and lower abdomen that are directly related with genital organs. The woman needs to move the pelvic area as much as possible and challenge the muscles to work together. 
Basic exercises in standing position from group B (B1 Book, B11 Circles, B12 Crawl) can be replaced with exercises from group F (those are performed on a matt). This way back muscles can be stretched better and legs will be engaged as well. 
It is also very important to perform exercises for legs - thanks to those gluteal muscles will be stretched, pelvic floor muscles will be irrigated with blood, plus you will strengthen the buttocks and lateral parts of the thighs that protect hip joints. 

  • F1 Book - stretching back muscles, alternate legs 
  • F11 Circles - stretching rhomboid muscles, relaxing back muscles 
  • F12 Crawl - stretching rhomboid muscles, relaxing back muscles 
  • C32 Samurai - stretching hip joints, relaxing pelvic muscles 
  • C29 Front Fencer - relaxing pelvic muscles, stretching femoral muscles, engaging pelvic floor muscles 
  • C31 Back Fencer - relaxing pelvic muscles, stretching femoral muscles, engaging pelvic floor muscles 
  • D34 Flamingo with wings - coordinated walking exercises, engaging arms, strengthening gluteal muscles 
  • E43 Tourist - preparation for lumbar spine stabilization (while walking)
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