Ep 70: Tips for Exercising During Pregnancy

There are many important physical, mental, and emotional benefits of exercising during pregnancy. In this episode, Dr. Shannon and Doula Rachael discuss:

• The recommendations for exercise during pregnancy for beginners and for those who are working out at advanced levels prior to pregnancy
• Benefits of exercising during pregnancy
• Fun, safe, and beneficial exercise to try during pregnancy
• Daily stretches and exercise to help you feel great
• Tips for exercising during pregnancy
• Things to avoid prenatal exercises 

Other Aligned Birth Podcast episodes mentioned in this episode:

Ep 55: Tips for Optimal Fetal Positioning

Ep 41: BIRTHFIT Prenatal Chiropractor and Leader, Dr. Ashley Harper

Ep 22 Prenatal Fitness - Running During Pregnancy

Episode 61: Finding Your Breath: 5 breathing exercises for pregnancy and postpartum

Additional resources:

Fit4Mom - Prenatal and Postpartum Group Fitness and Community (find a class near you!)

BIRTHFIT - Education, Resources, and Classes 

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Transcript

0:03

Hello Hello, this is the aligned birth Podcast. I'm Dr. Shannon and doula Rachel is here today we are the hosts of the aligned Earth podcast and today, our birthing topic is all about prenatal movement and prenatal movement resources. So, as a prenatal chiropractor myself, I'm going over a lot of movement things in the office and then Rachel as a birth labor doula is also going over certain movements and things with her clients as well. And so it's something that has come up quite a bit. And so we wanted to chat about it today, and kind of highlight some of the things that we go over with our people. So we want to talk a little bit about why you know, movement is so good some of the benefits to remind yourself on the days when the movement can be really difficult because yes, movement and pregnancy can be difficult, but hopefully you can remind yourself of the benefits that are there. And then we want to go into some of our favorite exercises, some of our favorite stretches, what it can help with to help yourself again, remind yourself that okay, I can get up and move today. And then just a few tips that we have and then obviously talking about certain things that you maybe want to avoid in that movement world as being a prenatal person.

1:37

Hello, and welcome to the aligned birth podcast. We are so glad you're here. I'm Dr. Shannon, a prenatal chiropractor. And I'm Rachel a birth doula and childbirth educator and we are the team behind the aligned birth podcast. Between us we have experienced a cesarean birth a VBAC, hospital births and a home birth. Our personal experiences led us to where we are today we share a lot in common. We are friends from high school who reconnected through our work. We both changed career paths after the birth of our own children. We light up when talking about health and birth and we are both moms to two young boys. This podcast was created to share conversations and interviews about topics from pregnancy and birth to motherhood and the importance of a healthy body and mind through it all. Our goal is to bring new fun, interesting and helpful conversations that excite you and make you want to learn more. We believe that when you are aligned and body, mind and your intuition you can conquer anything. We hope you enjoy the episode

2:46

so I'm excited to chat about this today because like I said, this comes up in the office a lot and I know it comes up quite a bit with you to Rachel. Yes, hi dr. Shannon. Hey, this this is a topic we get asked a lot about when people are kind of looking to hire us for our to be their birth doula. And they're kind of like you know, you're gonna help me learn like about the movements and exercises that are going to help me have this baby right.

3:13

And where am I? We got to Don't worry.

3:16

And then in my childbirth education class to like I have a whole section on like, prenatal wellness and, and healthy habits. And that includes movement and exercise. And I had actually just written that note down. I was like, I need to ask Rachel if this is part of her childbirth education. Yeah, it is. So yeah, so in the very first lesson, because it's a found a it's an important foundation to a healthy pregnancy is movement and part of that is I share in my class and I wanted to share here too is about kind of the guidelines, a lot of people and I say a lot of people but some people will ask like, can I exercise or what is safe exercise what is safe movement, like, you know, we're they might hear like, okay, exercise every day or move every day. But then they're like, not every day but you know, they hear that and I don't know what to do. I don't know what okay, I don't know what's safe. And so the guidelines per ACOG is to exercise three to five times a day. I think they have like a they have like a timeframe like 150 minutes of like cardiovascular right away and then like two days of like, if you can add in some like resistance or strength training, and they're kind of mixing up the cardio So moral of the story is movement is perfectly safe during pregnancy and I'll say movement, but also exercise right? Exercise is safe. During pregnancy. So there's two kind of categories you might fall into. And one is if you've never if you weren't exercising prior to pregnancy, it is recommended that you begin exercising as early as possible in your pregnancy and start gently and start slowly and build up from there. You can start with like 30 minutes a day, three to five times a week. Start slowly and build as you go. Don't go and start something new and overdo it or hurt yourself because this can cause injury right you could overdo like strain your muscles and then you're really sore for a week and then you don't want to do that activity again. So go in if it's something new if you haven't been working out like start gently and slowly and then build from there. And then the other category is if you were previously exercising, then continue as you were before, and then of course listening to your body and adjust accordingly. So don't do anything that causes pain or hurts.

5:50

But it is perfectly fine if you were CrossFitting or if you were running long distance or swimming you know whatever it was you were doing, continue as normal and just adjust based on how you're feeling.

6:05

Yes, I know and that's me. These are all things that I say as well to an office because it's a you got to think you know, the regular population that is that is not pregnant, like it's recommended for everybody to move. Right and so because that can impact some of your health factors, you know, that can that can impact you know, blood pressure, all of those health factors and health stats it can impact and it can have that same impact during pregnancy as well, too. So, though, it's definitely recommended, again to not starting something new or I think the big thing is really tuning into your body and like what movement feels good to you. And what is something that you enjoy doing that you're going to want to continue to do during pregnancy? Yes, that is what I I harp on is like it doesn't have to be this awful experience like exercise is most beneficial when you're doing something I'm sorry that it makes sense. Exercise is most beneficial. Like you're doing something that you enjoy that brings you joy that feels good that you know flows right and like you know, and I get it not everyone loves exercise and that's that's why I would want to encourage and we're going to share some a variety of you know, great ways to move your body and then go try those things and then find what resonates with you and do that. And so it doesn't have to be rigid. It doesn't have to be dreaded, and then knowing what the benefits are like being motivated by okay in this moment, I don't really want to go do that thing or go, go exercise but then we're being reminded of the benefits of exercise, especially during pregnancy, as it can improve your overall sleep where you might still be have disrupted sleep, but it's going to improve your sleep function. It's going to improve your energy again, you're probably still going to feel a little bit tired, but overall it's going to help you feel less tired and less fatigued and less drained. It's going to give you energy. We know that that is a true benefit of exercise during pregnancy. It can also improve fetal positioning, so doing exercise, especially specific exercises and we have a whole episode on optimal fetal positioning. But moving your body is helpful for fetal positioning.

8:29

It can also help with your endurance for labor. You know your if you're exercising during pregnancy, it's going to help give you that strength and endurance you need to get through labor, labor is no small feat for most people. And so it helps you prepare mentally and physically for one of the biggest events of your lifetime. It also improves mental wellness and mental health. You know, when you're able to move your body and get the energy flowing, get the blood flowing. It can help lighten your your mental load to it's not a it's not a fix all of course, but it definitely can help like you said with lowering your blood pressure and keeping your cardiovascular fitness in tune. I think it's a really wonderful thing to do during pregnancy that you have some benefits as well I was gonna say well, you you had met mentioned like that mental aspect and I was just saying I was just thinking of like, you know, helping to decrease stress you know, and like the bad stress there is good stress and like exercise can be a good stress on the body. Like when I wear my watch to sleep don't do all the time. But when I do and if I've exercise that day, the next day I wake up and they'll be like, Oh, you got such good sleep because of that movement you did yesterday and I was like Why thank you, you know, urging that yeah, now you can't overdo it, obviously. But that's just one of those. i Yeah, that I wanted to touch on was like definitely sleep, decreasing that stress and then just those other aspects of health benefits.

10:03

Yeah, like blood pressure, like you had mentioned. So.

10:06

Yeah, so those are some benefits. So when you're feeling like hey, I don't really feel like moving my body then you can no mind yourself and I just have these benefits.

10:18

And then you know, especially if you can get outside to get some fresh air and get some vitamin D that's also that's really helpful too.

10:24

So what are some exercises that you think are helpful during pregnancy? I really enjoyed I still lifted weights and then I did running and so I think it helped with my morning sickness too. So I because I felt much better. So I did want to add that little you know, caveat as well. Not that that's like, you know, a tried and true research study, but your experience, that was my experience, and that was yeah, um, I think walking. Well, it depends on depends on who we're talking to. Because, again, if someone has been active, I like that to continue those activities. But if they maybe haven't I really love walking and then yoga as well. So um, I think it is important to get that heart rate up a bit, nothing too strenuous, you know, but even like going to kind of some bursts of like power walking can be huge. Now of course, later in pregnancy, that walking speed, you know, you get the wattle and that can definitely can be decreased. But those I feel like those are my favorite. Those are good places to start the ones that I like.

11:38

Yeah, like if you haven't been working out like you said in a specific way, like you were a runner, like if you weren't doing something very specific before and you're not sure where to start. I think walking I mean walking 20 to 30 minutes a day. If you do nothing else is great. It's so good. Yeah, pretty accessible. It's free. You don't need equipment. Like just even if like you don't have somewhere to go on a long walk, you know if you can find somewhere to walk laps or loops, you know, my kids school has a track. You can go walk around there. You know, just finding a place to walk. Walking is wonderful and yoga. Yoga is wonderful and I think doing a prenatal specific yoga. You want some modifications to Yes, you know, you're not going to be able to do all of this stuff, which is fine, but those modifications can be so good. Yes. And so and I think so start starting there. Those are two great, I think activities that are really have great full body effects.

12:38

And then also like if you're in the category of people who was doing like long distance running like yourself or a bit CrossFit or those are the two that was kind of my mind is like kind of extreme X but then I mean I'm sure there's a there are other ones, but maybe you're like okay, I really want to continue to challenge myself but but long distance running no longer feels good. So I was a runner before pregnancy. I was not a long distance runner. I was like to a happy three to six mile runner. And yeah, and and then but once I became pregnant, running became very uncomfortable for me. I did not like the way it felt. And so I was like, What am I gonna do now? Like I just felt like I was always just I was a runner. That was what that's how I got like most of my exercise and our hiking or stuff like that. So I did I shifted more towards other things like yoga and hiking. So it's kind of like what are some other things we could shift towards?

13:30

And I think Pilates is another one similar to the right and then swimming. I think swimming is a really wonderful prenatal activity that can be it takes like so much pressure off of your joints and that like and still you can get up that cardiovascular you get the heart going and just being in the water feels so good. So I would recommend trying out swimming. And then like resistance bands are is another alternative to lifting weights. If lifting weights doesn't feel good, like extreme weights or anything like that you can still get that good resistance of where the muscle is happened to work and your your toning and strengthening the muscles. So kind of shifting gears if and then weightlifting is still safe. I'm saying if it doesn't feel good, like you can explore other options. Yeah, I definitely.

14:17

I am a runner, I love running and I I did a feel like I did an episode on piano like running like spin Yeah. Where I kind of talked about it so I enjoyed it during pregnancy as well too. So and I remember I did a lot of Treadmill stuff so I would go to I'd go to the gym and do like treadmill because you know later on it got a little bit easier and there's just so many frickin hills in our area and I was just like, I can't breathe. So you kind of kind of play around with that a bit too. And just give yourself maybe you do more of a treadmill instead of the road or you switch it up or something like that. But there's like pregnancy belts and things that you can do to help support yourself too. If you're feeling like aches and pains but you do want to do it like even like weightlifting or whatnot. So and I did a lot of that too. I really I loved being pregnant and I loved moving my body during pregnancy. I don't know what it was like I just I freakin loved it. And so um, I still did weights and everything obviously. I remember being a little freaked out with my first and so I ran the Peachtree road race after I had found out that because I found out in May that I was pregnant and that's July 4 weekend. That road race and so I remember being like, I've got to keep my heart rate low like kind of freaking out a bit. And taking that like really super slow and easy and then realizing I didn't have to do that. So now things do like I did some like mountain bike races and do Athlon stuff. And so I didn't really do that.

15:58

With pregnancy. That's something that I would probably like, you know, avoid and maybe we'll get to that. Sorry, I'm kind of jumping ahead but I'm thinking of things that I did and shifted away from Yeah, and that was just because that's just not really that safe. Well, you're right because I was always running well that's where it's important to talk about as like okay well if there's a risk of like falling in or injuring yourself pretty badly then you probably like course, do that type of thing. Yeah, doesn't feel too great right now, with my pregnancy as well. But understanding too that I just never I got a lot of looks at the gym like and people just commented like, oh, I can't believe you're still you know, doing that lifting and I'm like, I just don't understand why I would and you're showing them how it can be done. Yeah, breaking the misnomer that you can't exercise fully ingrained. 12 years ago, you know, so that's true. Like you said, it's not a handicap. It's not a it's not a reason to not exercise unless you have an actual thing preventing you from moving your body. Right. We understand that everyone has the ability to move, and all the same way. So it's obviously finding what works for you, but in a normal quote unquote, normal healthy pregnancy like exercise is like perfectly safe. Yes. Um, so yeah, so those are some of the things that I remember doing and and loving so much. So what are some daily stretches and exercises that you guys recommend and talk about with your clients? Yeah, so I love these because, you know, I think some people are like, Well, what do I do now? You know, like, I want to have some activities to do what do I do? Or even if you are walking or running or doing yoga or doing some sort of other exercise, you can still incorporate these stretches and exercises that are just going to be optimal for pregnancy and help you feel your best help with baby's positioning and help you know have a have a smooth and successful delivery.

17:59

calf stretches people are always likely to say my calves have to do with anything, and they have a lot to do with a lot. They're connected, you know all the way up to everything and you can probably elaborate on that but your pelvis and your pelvic floor and your lower back. So stretching out those calves, five to 10 minutes a day. You can go as far as getting on like your hands and knees and putting one foot behind you and just like leaning into the heel pressing into the heel. That feels really nice. That gets a little bit harder as your belly grows. So you could just simply like put your toes up against like a baseboard in your house. Or on the wall and just sort of lean into it. And just hang out there for a few minutes at a time and just try to get five to 10 minutes a day total.

18:45

Adding in squats, aiming for fun

18:51

and squat throughout the day. So like just Do you know five squats in the morning five squats in the afternoon and five squats in the evening. You can kind of connect them to another thing you're already doing like maybe if you go to the bathroom or brush your teeth or unloading the dishwasher wherever you can incorporate some squats squats are great for building strength and endurance for labor.

19:13

So we encourage those and then I love like the deep labor they call it the labor squat. It's where your bottom is all the way down and your knees are out and your heels are in and your heels are on the on the earth on the ground.

19:27

And that again can get harder as you progress. In labor. But if you started earlier in pregnancy, it you're you're strengthening and lengthening those muscles so it gets easier to do for longer periods of time. And if you do the deep labor squat and your heels are coming off the ground, try and put something underneath your heels so that they can have some support and then work towards getting those heels on to the earth onto the flat on the ground. And hanging out in that labor squat can be really beneficial.

19:55

We also talk a lot about belly breathing as an exercise to prepare for labor and birth and to help reduce stress and anxiety during pregnancy. So belly breathing, is when you're taking a big long inhale and you're filling up your abdominal area and pushing out your like abdominal muscles as far as you can like a big big balloon and then you're filling your lungs last. So you're taking a long, slow inhale, doing it in that way and if you can get like five to seven seconds on the inhale and then pause at the top and then exhale very slowly and you want to go longer on the exhale. So like eight to nine seconds based on you know, just a couple seconds longer than your inhale and then emptying out your, your, the you're emptying out your lungs. So at the end of that breath, you're gonna think there's nothing left and then you kind of push it out even further. And at that point, when you do that it lifts your pelvic floor and draws your belly button in towards your spine. And then you do that again and you do that for five times and I try to do that two or three times a day you can do it, you know, at your desk, or when you're going to the bathroom or wherever you can kind of tie it into your day. And that can help reduce stress. I do it now as an nonpregnant person. I learned it when I was pregnant. And it is a tool we share with our clients. In moments of stress that can help reduce stress before bed. It's a great activity can help you ease into sleep a lot, lot easier and then it helps tone the pelvic floor as well. I was going to talk about the breath and the connection to the diaphragm and then the diaphragm is connected to the pelvic floor as well. So yeah, I did that I have the episode of some of the breathing exercises that I go over. And I talk in that one I connected all like how that impacts the nervous system. And how that can decrease that stress. That's like Yeah, that's so good. I loved I remember being in yoga, and I would like hold.

21:54

When I was pregnant, you can hold like your side's like right at like, like above your waist and you breathe and you can like breathe and like push out like you know where to push and send the air so you can like visualize sending the air to those parts of your body and then like holding it like you said and then exhaling longer than the inhale and then like squeezing so you can kind of like squeeze the air out. That was the I just love that. I mean I still I but I love it. And I think the hands on either the belly or the ribs can really help with with focusing on pushing that area out instead of filling up the the chest because a lot of people fill up the chest. We are free to shallow Yeah, yes. And then I guess tight shoulders. It's all bad. Yeah, the hands are really great place like using your hands is a great tool and you're learning and practicing and it's a good time to connect with your body and your baby. You know we're in that moment where you're just taking this five breaths so I love that definitely listened to that episode on breathing exercises with Dr. Shannon.

22:53

So yeah, that's a good like full body you know, you get the it helps calm down the nervous system and helps determine your pelvic floor. It helps you know, just like so many things. I know the next one is the extended standing Mountain Pose. So if you're familiar with yoga, you're familiar with the mountain pose, but this is a slightly different version. And I'll try and walk you through it. But you could always Google standing mountain pose, and I'm sure you probably get like a YouTube video or your video. This is where you take your hands above your head and standing mountain pose so your feet are flat on the earth and their hip width apart and think about like spreading out your toes as much as you can and really reading down on the earth and it's standing straight up and trying not to like arch your back or tilt your pelvis out too much just trying to have everything neutral. And then you take your hands and you bring them over your head keeping them again cowlick, shoulder with the part straight up and your palms are facing each other. And you take a big inhale and when you inhale you're reaching for the sky reaching for the stars. And you kind of feel that expansion in your ribs. And then you you stay there so you reach for the sky. Inhale and then as you exhale, you kind of roll your shoulders back. And so you're keeping your hands up but then bringing your shoulders back and down. And then you take another inhale and you try and reach further. You try and stretch further and with each breath you should be able to it's almost like you feel yourself growing. And you kind of reach up out of those ribs.

24:27

And again, this is something I enjoy doing now. As I say that sounds good now, but it's really helpful during pregnancy when you're feeling the space in your abdomen shrink like I mean it's growing but like space on the inside. It feels like there's no room especially if you are shorter torsos.

24:47

This can really help open up that area and give your baby more room to have a new feel like just lighter. And that can also help with that that's a good one for fetal positioning to give them more room if they need to turn.

25:02

I just think that's a great, great reset for yourself too. So we incorporate that and then sitting on the yoga ball. So incorporating the yoga ball in your exercise routine or in your daily activities. This is kind of more of a daily activities focus. So can you put a yoga ball in your living room and sit on it while you're watching TV or at your desk while you're working or at the dining room table while you're eating and doing big hip circles or figure eights and I should say and figure eight so drawing big circles with your hips and then drawing an eight with your hips as if you have a pencil attached and visualized drawing that aid and doing those you know a few times a day if possible. And doing those like opposite directions too. So if you're always you know going one way going that's important. Balance everything if you're doing one side do the other side equally. Balance is huge.

25:53

But that can feel good. It can help support your pelvic floor and your hips. And it can also help a baby's positioning and then walking which we kind of already said that doing like 20 to 30 minutes a day if possible. So those are like the daily stretches and exercises that that we like to share about I love some of the ones I do. I love cat cow. And I talk about that one a lot with that yoga move where you're kind of in that tabletop and to really like stretch out the spine. The cat one is probably better where you're really like arched.

26:25

Cow can get a little bit tough The later you are in pregnancy to really drop that belly down because it's already you already have a little bit and most people that usually have that sway back anyway, so you don't necessarily want to exaggerate that. But that can really help open up that low back open up those spaces. And it's really good for optimal fetal positioning as well too, because that heaviest part of the baby is the spine that lets the spine rock down towards mom's belly and then that can get baby facing towards Mom's back which is what you want. So I really love cat cow. I tell all of my people do that. And that's a big one if you're gonna look at the daily activities of what the pregnant mom is doing as well too. So like are they sitting a lot? So these would be you definitely need to be doing some of these things to help combat some of that sitting as well too.

27:19

So cat cow was is one of my favorites. And then I also talked about the yoga ball. And I love to do like the figure eights or you can get that like anterior tilt to the pelvis as well to kind of letting the belly hang a bit and so because the yoga ball is so good because you do have to engage some of the muscles it's not like you it's like active sitting, I suppose. So it can get tiring. So obviously, you know, short bursts of it or whatnot. But that movement with it is so good and you can't help but like when you get on a yoga ball to just like start bouncing around and moving like it's yeah, that's just like a little kid with it. Most people are so that one can feel really, really good as well. Yep, yeah. So what are some other things that you think help with prenatal movement and exercise like kind of facilitating it and feeling good during it? Um, obviously, I think getting adjusted Yes.

28:19

I, I had this mom, this family and recently and the it was a postpartum re exam. And we were talking about her birth and she was able to have her VBAC, which was awesome. And she stood up for herself and it was like finding a doctor that you know, would support her like it was just really freaking awesome to watch that journey. And then

0:01

She said that her husband was like shocked because She kneeled to give birth. So she had like, just like kneeled on one knee, you know and he was like you could barely move because she had really bad sciatica during her patient her during her pregnancy you could barely move and yet you're over here now to give birth and shoot she was so sweet she says Dr. Shannon but I was like No that was you coming in and getting adjusted and body doing you know what it could I just thought that was so freakin cool because I was like, Oh, I hadn't thought of that like ripple effect of like, yeah, not only could you move during pregnancy better, but then that equated to like you were able to not be on your back for birth,

0:45

facilitates overall wellness and feel and thriving and feeling great. And so yeah, chiropractic care is incredibly beneficial for reducing some of those discomforts during pregnancy. And if you have fewer discomforts, then you're going to be more likely to want to go move your body in a way that's going to help you feel better and have hopefully an easier labor and delivery.

1:04

And that's what I hear a lot is the if we've got that debilitating pain, it makes it difficult to move and so we you know, we've got tons of other episodes talking about like, you know, benefits of prenatal chiropractic care, but with this episode, I just want to focus on that aspect of if we can get the body functioning better, and yes, reduce some of that pain, then it makes the movement so much better because I'll have moms that are like, Oh my gosh, I can move now and they feel so much better, because they wanted to move they were just in so much pain with any sort of movement that they did. So that's definitely one thing to think about with prenatal movement and ways to support yourself there. I would also mention pelvic floor, physical therapy because if we've got some really tight muscles and muscle imbalance and that aspect of things of not only pelvic floor but kind of like in just in the body in general as well, because I'll even have moms that are seeing a physical therapist and it's not even a pelvic floor specific, but they've also got some really, you know, super tight low back muscles or something along those lines. addressing those issues and dysfunctions can help you move better as well, too.

2:25

Yeah, pelvic floor therapy during pregnancy is huge. It's so incredibly beneficial and and your pelvic floor can be over tight or or loose like there's can kind of like be either and so kind of learning what yours is and doing the right exercises. The black people just go in and think I'm gonna do these giggles Yeah, that's gonna be the right thing for me. And the reality is it's like it just really depends on your pelvic floor. And so kind of learning about it or working with a pelvic floor therapist or doing your own research and kind of figuring out what the signs are for each so you can do the right exercises that are going to help keep your pelvic floor down.

3:02

That's correct.

3:03

That's correct.

3:05

What do you what do you have for that?

3:08

Well, I think body awareness just like you know, we're talking about helping prenatal movement is being aware of what feels good to you and what doesn't like where are you feeling the pain? Where are you feeling the discomfort if you're having any and what feels good? What are you like, when you do it? You're like, oh, yeah, that felt great. But and so just like tapping into your body awareness can help improve your overall experience and maybe even help you identify if you're having challenges or issues. kind of pinpoint. Okay, what can I do? To help alleviate these things and then hopefully, get you on the right path to having a better feeling pregnancy so yeah, avoiding too much discomfort and really optimizing your health throughout pregnancy so that you can have a smooth labor and delivery and feeling your best. That's it. Oh, yeah, cuz

3:53

it's really got this like prenatal movements. It's kind of like that birth prep as well because Sure, yeah, it is going to take some work so I'll never forget I had was at the hospital. I think this was when I was giving birth to my first and on my shoes I had since I run a lot I had like one of those little like emergency tags or whatever. You know, if somebody ever finds my foot and they need like, it always freaks me out. But But, like the little help alert thing. Yeah, and I remember the lady saying she was like, I see that your router I see that little tag on your shoe. She's like, I know you could do this and I was like, I can't you know like that was fun to kind of remind myself Okay, I put in this work and I have moved my body you know, and like I've I've trained for this. Yes, absolutely. No, kind of like that. But and you know another one that I love. So yes, technically you're not supposed to lay on your back for extended periods of time. So I always preface this one but when I was pregnant like you would I would get that low back like ache. I never really had severe pains. It was just I would get that real achiness in the low back. And I love the happy baby pose. So where you're like laying on your back and like your knees are bent but your feet are up in the air. And technically you reach in and grab like your feet but you can come around to like the outside edges or what not even grabbing your knees just depending upon how big the belly is. But because you've got that extra weight at your belly. It like pushes on that low back and you can rock like side to side and I just I still remember I'm like ah that sounds so good. That is that was one of my favorite ones. So yeah, but I always preface that like, you know don't do it if it's causing pain and don't do of course yeah,

5:45

but yeah, that was my favorite. So yeah, sorry. No, no, I love that. That's a great one. I love that one too. It's a wonderful pose. And if you do like a prenatal yoga class, they can kind of guide you through these poses, and then get you able to like it sometimes even with some bolsters, and some blocks and a comfortable lying position where you're like, Oh, I didn't even know I could lay like this. So holsters

6:06

are amazing. Yeah, yeah, even now I still prop you up. And those blocks Okay, so what are some tips that you have for prenatal movement?

6:20

Okay, well, we're gonna start with something pretty obvious and that is stay hydrated. And as obviously this is this We all need that reminder. Especially during pregnancy, you need to drink all the water that you can, and especially during physical activity and especially if you're doing it like outside and it's warm. So just always keep some water with you and sip it throughout the day and you'll be in a good good place. wearing comfortable clothes, especially a good supportive sports bra. So you know you're no matter what size chest you had, prior to pregnancy, your boobs are probably going to grow in some way. So that's some for some people that is a blessing and for some people that is a curse. But either way, having a good supportive sports bra for movement is key. So definitely invest in that

7:10

and then I want to add something to that though, because I just had a mom and other day and where she was feeling some pain in the legs. We talked about what type of pants she was wearing. So making sure that things aren't real tight or restrictive around your waist as well. Because you're definitely gonna pack the nerve so that's, you know, whether it's maternity pants or just like the stretchy pants or something that's got that waist like, you know, just being graceful with yourself there. I mean, I know it's not the best thing to buy like maternity clothes I know that can you know, cause some issues but if you just don't want anything really tight around the waist,

7:53

right? Yeah, waist our ribs so like what the sports bra like? You want it to be supportive, not restrictive, like not like cutting into your ribs and stuff. So yeah, definitely Comfort is key and I think any pregnant person would tell you that but support is key to So finding that balance and and getting some maternity clothes that work for you and help are breathable right not gonna suffocate you to death. That's also important in terms of as always, and we said a couple of times I think throughout this but you know, listen to your body and definitely talk with your, your provider doctor or midwife about any concerns you have about exercise if you're feeling a certain way. Don't don't think they're going to think your question is silly and don't think that you have to stop everything. Consult with them and gather information from from different places to kind of make your decision about what what is best for you next. And you know, we can review your workout routine with your care provider. Yeah, and be like what do you what are your thoughts on this? I don't think it's permission asking, you know me in that, like I think it's all about like sharing with them your workout plan and this is what I've been doing. What are your thoughts on this? What do you recommend and then sort of, you know, go from there.

9:09

Yeah, no, I remember doing that too. Yeah. And you can phrase it in that way too. And it's not more of a like, you know, can I do this? Are you gonna let me do this type of thing. It's it can be more of that like, Hey, what are your thoughts on this? You know,

9:22

well, that collaboration. And I the reason I hesitated there a little bit and of course, I'm saying talk to provider like this is what I'm saying. Like if we know the right I want to win we are telling you what we know is the recommendation from the professional organizations is that it is safe to do the workouts you were doing before. Unless you're experiencing significant pain or discomfort. And so if they sort of are like, Well, you shouldn't be lifting weights. I want you to be like okay, well, yeah, you know, like it's just sort of like using what they say is one piece of the information. Really, it's how you feel. Yeah.

9:57

And you even keeping them informed, like Hey, I am doing these exercises just because they are you know, they're your, your probation, letting them know that you just be like, I'm going to do this. I know I kind of didn't think sort of like well, I have this race coming up and those type of things. So even kind of clearing you know, because they might know like your previous health history.

10:18

They might say no, we don't recommend that and that they have your personal and then they do your personal history. That's why it's a collaboration. Yeah, it's not a one way street and I think earlier we mentioned this too, but prenatal fitness classes, group fitness classes are wonderful in our area. We've got lots of fit for mom groups, and then they have fit for baby groups, where you can do prenatal fitness classes. And what's wonderful is that they are a group and I think when you're pregnant and even newly postpartum and you're looking for like other people having babies like this is your place. So you can check out try. Yeah, you can look up fit for mom and then find out if they have a fit for Baby Class near you. And yeah, I think and then also with prenatal fitness classes as you kind of learn, usually, you know, the instructor is informed and giving, you know, prenatal classes is like kind of learn forms and techniques and ways to adjust movements so that you don't hurt yourself or cause you know, issues down the line like like repetitive twists are kind of discouraged because it can cause torsion in the uterus, which can make the baby not sit down in an optimal settle down into an optimal fetal position. So like, if you're always leaning to one side, doing an exercise or picking up weights like that would be like something that you couldn't find trying to find a way to modify and maybe a group fitness class could could help you with that.

11:47

Yeah. And then there's also birth fit, which is a really good Oh, yeah, that

11:51

was the other one. I was trying to think I think last

11:52

as well. We're Yeah. And that's, they've got you know, a structure outlined for that prenatal fitness. So we'll link to those things too. And, you know, it's great on the lines of like body awareness. So if you are pregnant and you already have a child, depending upon the age of that older child, you might be still like picking up a car seat or picking that child up and this is something I go over in the office a lot is being aware of, do you always hold them on your right hip even while you're pregnant? You know, and or do you always sit them on the left hip? So you've been kind of talked about that balance and stuff does. That's kind of a I mean, lifting kids can be an exercise but that's, I don't really recommend is that always to the same side? So some weirdness.

12:43

Yeah, and then adding in some resistance training with that cardio, you know, try and build strength along with endurance together. I think that's a really helpful tip. You said you did you lifted weights. I did you focus on weight or repetition, repetition. Okay, lower weight. Petition, okay.

13:06

And I still because I was at the gym,

13:10

and so I would still I would do like the squat, you know, machine and that type of thing to so that you kind of picking up some of those heavier weights like those 45 pound dumbbells so that it just, you know, I just was careful with it to like maybe do those deep squats to move that weight but I did. focus a little bit more on Yeah, those repetitions. Yeah, and if you want to incorporate resistance and weights and you weren't before you can incorporate it. Just work with someone or seek like some professional guidance as far as like how to move and hold hold your body. And protect your core, protect your back, and kind of a plan for starting out and growing with that. So there's, if you weren't doing it before, it's okay. You can start now just start kind of low and slow and build up so that you can don't hurt yourself. Exactly. So hurting ourselves. Talk about the things that we should we should avoid, you know, like focusing on the positive but there are some Yeah, you know, common sense things that you should avoid. Definitely activities. Yeah, that can cause you to overheat. So, and I'm also thinking, you know, if you're trying to like run now in Georgia, you know, it's like gonna be 90 degrees. And the humidity is a million I can't I can't with this anymore. So being mindful of that, like choosing the time of day if you are to go, you know, running outside or those type of things, but even activities like hot yoga and stuff like Yeah, that might be a little bit too warm or like the sauna. You know, like, sometimes the hot tub like all those type of things. That might be too might be too warm. So and I can think of to even like more likely lifestyle type stuff is like, if you're if you have an older child and you're like at a baseball field in the middle of summer all weekend, you know, that's also potential you're going to a festival and it's outside and it's hot and it's there's no real good shade cover. Like think about like, there's lots of places you can get overheated. So just trying to avoid that hydrating you can do cold towels, bring a fan and seek out shade or hear the umbrella or something. Yeah. Yeah, go for it. Yeah, and I think avoiding exercise routines that require lying flat on your back for too long. It's not that you can't be flat on your back like Hannah gave that example, Hannah. I call Hannah Shannon, and I call you Hannah, and Hannah as my other business, but I love Hannah. So it's okay. It's a compliment. But with the happy baby example, so you can be on your back. It's just trying to avoid for doing it too long especially in those last three to four months of pregnancy. And then avoiding activities that increase the risk of falling which you said earlier I didn't know your mountain bike by the way. Um, well, not very well. But yeah, I used to. I signed up I did a couple of triathlons and then I had done like a do Athlon as well too and I did like one of those it was called a muddy buddy race. So like you ran and mountain biked with like a friend or whatnot. This was like that was pregnant. Yeah, that's cool. But I swear this trees they like move and they just jump out in front of you and I like I said I was not the best at it. But I did enjoy it. That's awesome. That's a no I learned something about you. Yeah, yeah. I don't recommend that during Yeah, during pregnancy increased risk of falling. Yeah. Yes, mountain biking. Oh, I know what I did too. I did a lot of spin. So great. That's an other weenie. I need to put that Oh, that is Yeah, that's a wonderful I loved that. I felt so good. Now I will say this because your feet can kind of swell you know, as you get more pregnant and then I got the little clip in shoes and my feet would go numb. Sometimes if I was like standing on the bike because I had so much extra weight and then yeah, so my feet was sometimes gonna say that was not that was not fun about it. But I did really love Andrea and then sometimes if you're in like that aggressive pose where you kind of push the bottom over the seat like you're up your bottom isn't on the seat, but you push it over the seat and you're kind of leaning forward. That got a little bit hard so like obviously those modification things but yeah, and it feels like a spin class might be a little much because I when I've done spin I mean I get like really hot yeah, yeah, I was like I'm just gonna just spin in here. I'm not doing what you'll be prepared to modify. Yeah. Okay. Especially if you were biking cycling before like, yes. If you were mountain biking before now you can just take it to endorsement. It's not the same I know. But yeah, yeah. And I mean, y'all there are many important physical, mental and emotional benefits of exercising during pregnancy as we've shared here, so keep moving. Even if you need to adapt what you're doing. Yes, exactly. Um, what else did we have to avoid? The ones that were falling? Oh was back riding and then like well, I mean, trampolines, but I don't really know that. There are some trampoline fitness stuff. And there's just a lot more trampolines fall on the Do or do not, but I don't know why I just thought of that. That's kind of all that came to mind. Were those videos from like, maybe they're so popular, but like the the trampoline workout. Yeah, that's what I do. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. That makes me laugh. I have a hard time jumping on trampoline as an adult. So yeah, what else do we have avoiding exercises that do involve a change in oxygen levels so that can be a skydiving or that I'm like, I didn't want to go skydiving when I'm not pregnant. Right. Right. I'm good. But if that's your thing, let's just pause pause that till you're done until after baby's here. Oh, those were fun. I like that. Um, but yeah, definitely. Here's the thing, our take home point, hopefully you got it was that was fine. Find the thing if you enjoyed this episode.