I don’t know why, but there seems to be a baby boom going on at my studio! In the past 3 months I’ve had four of our students deliver healthy, happy babies, after continuing with their Pilates workouts up to the very end! Two more expectant ladies are still working as hard as ever and keeping themselves strong and centered and feeling good through their Pilates sessions.
When I lived in New York, I was coordinator for the pre/post natal fitness program at a large health club and taught national teacher trainings in this specialty. This special population is such a rewarding one to get involved with because as a teacher you can really increase the comfort and energy levels of the woman, and they are just so thankful. While I was pregnant with my youngest child (now 17 : yikes), my classes had 25 pregnant women enrolled, and 10 of us were due on the same day! I remember thinking how strange it was that there were so many of us due at the same time! We became very close through our exercise classes, and I still keep in touch with some of them.
Now in Florida, I would have loved to have created a pregnancy class just for my current students, but their schedules didn’t mesh well enough to dedicate a weekly class just for them. Some of these women participated in our regular classes up until their 14th week, at which time our studio policy rules that for their safety they need to continue with personal training rather than group exercise. Some of the ladies came directly to me at the advice of their obstetrician or midwife and opted for private sessions right from the start of their pregnancy. All of them have enjoyed their workouts, and swear that Pilates helped alleviate the common discomforts of pregnancy like swelling, backaches, loss of energy, etc.
If you are working with a pregnant client, you should, first and foremost, be experienced and have a clear understanding of Pilates exercise and how to adapt it to best fit the needs of a the pregnant woman. Educate yourself on how to safely and effectively design and lead a general exercise program for the pregnant client. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have an excellent website (www.acog.org) that is full of information and client handouts. Excellent books on the subject are: “Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year” by Elizabeth Nobel, “Positive Pregnancy Fitness” by Sylvia Klein Olkin, and “Preparing for Birth with Yoga” by Janet Balaskas.
General guidelines for safe exercise during pregnancy are:
When teaching pregnant women, be mindful and observant. (Using the Peak Pilates 5-Part Formula for Success and paying strict attention my Presentation Skills helps me to stay focused.) During exercise, coach the client to pay attention to her body. Counsel her not to exercise to the point that she is exhausted. Watch carefully for signs of fatigue. Be aware of the warning signs of exercise intolerance in pregnancy and educate your client. If you notice any of these symptoms, have your client stop exercising and call her doctor.
Warning Signs include:
And now you’re saying to yourself, “Okay, now that the warning signs and general guidelines have been discussed, and I know what to look for and generally how to keep my client safe, what exercises on the equipment would be best for my client? What exercises should I leave out? How do I modify some of the back-lying exercises so that women in their 2nd and 3rd trimester can still get the benefits of frog and leg circles?”
In future blogs I will be discussing some of the things that have worked for me through the years in terms of modification and adaptation of exercises. I will also share some ideas on using the equipment and give you some ideas of workouts that are simply and effective for the pregnant woman. In the meantime, amazon some of those books!