12 DAYS OF FITMAS

Welcome to my 12 days of FITMAS challenge. I have put together 12 videos for you to try and do every day for 12 days followed by 6 tiny habits to help improve your health and wellbeing heading towards Christmas with the aim to keep some (perhaps not all) of them up into the new year!

Day 1 - Cold Shower Challenge - now this can be really hard as its freezing outside at the moment but you could start with your legs or your back or just go for it and submerge yourself for 30sec to 1min under the cold shower!

Day 2 - Veggie Challenge - this may be easy for some and not for others, but I challenge you to count the number of veg you eat in a day and see if you can push it up by another 3-5 portions. Perhaps just eating carrots as a snack is good enough for you but even better would be making a lovely veggie curry for example and load it up with aubergine, peppers, chickpeas, sweetcorn, broccoli to name a few. Choose your favourite ones.

Day 3 - Sleep and screen challenge - I challenge you to turn off your computer and TV screen by 9pm and either go soak in the bath tub or read a book you have always wanted to get stuck into. There will plenty of festive movie watching during the holidays so why not take a break and see how this affects your sleep! You might even surprise yourself as to how much better you sleep getting to bed early but also cutting out the light.

Day 4 - 20min Cardio Challenge - I challenge you to add a little more cardio into your life! Can you perhaps meet a friend and go for a 20min power walk, take a break from the screen and do one of my Weight HIIT workouts or jump into your Peloton Bike (if you are lucky enough to have one) and give yourself an extra blast of cardio fitness. This is so beneficial to keeping our heart healthy and promoting those all important endorphins we need to feel happy!

Day 5 - Meditation Challenge - Lets be honest! we all need this in our lives! So, why not try put a mindful soundtrack on (I like Alpha, Beta and Theta Meditation sounds on youtube) and its a lovely calming sound to relax to. Take 10-20min to make an effort to lie down and just focus on your breathing. If you need a more guided meditation you can always download one of the may apps out there but a popular one is Headspace.

Day 6 - Reduce Snacking Challenge - This is also another biggie in our lives. Its so easy to pass the fridge or cupboard and pick something yummy out and put it into our mouths without even thinking! So, I challenge you to only eat something that can be put onto a plate and eaten. So if you are rushing out the door (STOP!) don't eat on the run!

I hope you enjoy trying some of these or creating your own little tiny habit changes to see you through the festive season and into the new year ahead. Remember it does not have to be everything in one go, you could start with just being more active or improving your breakfast or reducing your caffeine intake by not having that extra cup of coffee! You choose and give something a go!

If you find yourself pregnant and not sure what you can and can’t do with regards to exercises, then starting Pilates is a great low impact, strengthening workout that will keep you strong during your pregnancy but also prepare you for the demands of labour and motherhood. 

Pilates involves a variety of movements that can be adapted to suit all stages of pregnancy. The movements are done in a controlled way and in a variety of positions such as standing, side lying, kneeling or on hands and knees. Although Pilates can adapt exercises to suit you, its important to listen to your body and stop if there is pain!

A specific prenatal Pilates class will ensure you work your whole body to build strength, and it will also help ensure you develop a more functional core connection by integrating breathe and pelvic floor through movement. This will better support your growing bump and also reduce the loading (from your growing bump) down in your pelvis. 

Aim to do atleast 2 sessions of building strength per week and give yourself a rest day between these two sessions. If you are new to Pilates, keep the intensity low and build moderately. Your breathing will be able to help you with this, if you can talk through an exercise you are not overexerting. If you can’t talk then you may be over working and need to slow down a little. 

Although Pilates is a fabulous exercise to start and continue through your pregnancy, there are a few things you should avoid; 

First Trimester (1-12 weeks)

This is where you are at the most risk of a miscarriage. Pilates is a safe exercise to perform but the intensity must be lighter to avoid increase in body temperature and heart rate. Elevating too much can increase risk of a miscarriage. Although your bump may not show, I would recommend reducing the amount of ‘crunch’ type exercises and focus on pelvic floor and a more integrated functional approach to core strength. 

Second Trimester (13-26 weeks)

1. Avoid Flexion to help reduce increasing pressure on your abdominal midline which can increase chances of Diastasis Recti.
2. Avoid lying on your back. We want to reduce the effects of supine hypotensive disorder (a compression of a main artery that returns blood back to the heart. This may cause you to feel faint or dizzy and reduce the oxygen supply to the baby. 
3. Avoid lying on your stomach, this may just start to feel uncomfortable and be too much pressure on your growing belly. 

Third Trimester (27 weeks to birth)

During this trimester, your baby may an increased growth spurt and this can cause more of a dramatic posture change. Its important in pilates during this stage to focus on reducing the pressure of the lower back and doing more stretching and back strengthening exercises. 

Other considerations

1. Always wear layers so that you can adjust your temperature to keep cool during your workouts! A baby cannot regulate their temperature so relies on you to control overheating!
2. Stay hydrated during and after your workouts
3. Avoid any contact/hitting sports such as Boxing, Kickboxing or Jujitsu.
4. Always do a longer than usual warm up and cool down to avoid blood pooling and leg cramps!
5. Activate your pelvic floor throughout all your movements to ensure you remain strong and supported in your pelvis. 
6. Stop if you feel dizzy, nauseous, vaginal bleeding or leakage of amniotic fluid. 

I hope this helps to put you at ease that being active and healthy throughout your pregnancy is so important for mind and body. I hope you find doing Pilates regularly helps to support you and build strength and confidence throughout your pregnancy. 

Everyone wants a flat stomach, but are we doing the right exercises to help achieve our ultimate goal of that wash board stomach?! Current trends in the fitness industry encourage us all to do 100 crunches, rotational crunches, knees bent or straight crunches, crunches on a stability ball to name a few. However, after years of doing the same popular ‘core’ exercises you still continue to do them although you see no changes in your shape or stomach tone. In fact you suffer back and neck pain from perhaps over-doing it! So, you ask yourself what is going wrong?!
Well, I will tell you. When we perform a crunch we are not training for a stronger middle. We are training our superficial muscles that are overloading our spine in a dangerous way. According to a study by Professor Stuart McGill, he identified how dangerous this loading is. He took several spines of a pig and placed them in machines that bent and flexed them hundreds of times to replicate sit ups. The spinal discs were almost completely ruptured by the end of the experiments. Thus, highlighting that doing crunches can cause back pain leading to a bulging disc or herniation of discs in the lumbar spine. Therefore doing hundreds of reps is going to put your lower back at grave risk!

Don’t fret, there is a safe variation called a curl-up or what I like to call a Pilates ‘Ab Prep’ that involves keeping your back in ‘Neutral’ (where your hip bones and pubic bones line up and where your spine follows its natural curves) and performing a lift of your head and shoulders slightly where you do not move your pelvis or spine away from this neutral position. McGill States ‘You don’t need to crunch up much to get the desired response from your entire abdominal muscle complex.’

The most effective way to get integral core strength throughout your body is to do training that involves Pillar Strength. Pillar strength is the foundation for all movement. It consists of your hip, core and shoulder stability. Those three areas provide a centre axis from which to move. Think of your body as a wheel. Your pillar is the hub and your limbs are the spokes.
How it works?

It’s impossible to move your limbs efficiently and forcefully if they’re not attached to something solid and stable. That’s your pillar—all the muscles that connect your hips, torso and shoulders. When these areas are properly aligned, you can transfer energy throughout your body more effectively, so you’ll produce more strength and power with less fatigue.
Without pillar strength, you will significantly increase the potential for injury in a chain reaction that starts with your lower back, descends all the way to your knees and ankles, and rises up to your neck, shoulders and elbows.

Here are some exercises that involve you using your pillar strength
1. Side plank – right and left
2. Front plank with alternating arms reaching forward
3. Front plank with alternating leg raises 

Try holding each of these positions for 15-20seconds with a 5 sec rest between each exercise. Build up to holding each exercise for 30seconds. Repeat as a circuit style workout X 3 sets

Good luck and I hope you enjoy your newly found core strength!

If you are currently pregnant or recently postnatal, taking a moment to think about nutrition and how to make sure you are best equipped with as much energy as possible to cope with the delivery, the initial recovery post delivery and then looking after a little new one should be one of your top priorities. Doing this will really help with your recovery, it will help a diastasis recti and c-section recovery and ensure your moods are more levelled when you are sleep deprived.

Here are some ideas to help you make better decisions when out and about, and of course being prepared is the best way to avoid grabbing the first thing that you can to satisfy your sugar craving.

1. Plan ahead your week if possible and buy your food online. Firstly this will make it less stressful when taking baby to the shops plus stop you buying unwanted foods that you are trying to avoid that may stare at your from the shelf! If you don’t have them at home you won’t want to snack on them!
2. Start your day with a high protein breakfast or smoothie (very easy to do and make the night before if you are time pressured in the mornings) or eggs and smoked salmon on rye bread. If you want to omit the bread you can always add half an avocado and a few oat cakes.
3. Swap fruit juices for water or try and mix half fruit juice with half water to reduce the sugar content.
4. Dried fruits and nuts are a great protein source that together will reduce your need for a chocolate bar. Very easy to keep a stash in your handbag.
5. Try making foods in advance and freeze them such as flapjacks and raw date balls. Then you have a snack to grab and go or keep in your bag when you are out and about.
6. Plan a week of meals in advance, snacks desserts and drinks included.
7. Indulge every so often – When you do go and meet your mummy friends in a café, try avoid sugar loaded foods but if you are planning it into your week maybe have it as a treat day and indulge yourself. You are allowed to! As long as it’s not every day if your goal is to get your body back to pre-baby state and feel good about yourself!
8. Drink herbal teas as often as you can as this does not get an association with having a piece of cake (in general), whereas a coffee and cake go quite nicely together, so changing your drink choice can help to reduce the need and want for unwanted sugar and calories.
9. Having snacks prepared for you in your bag when you are out and about can also reduce the quick fix of buying the first chocolate or cake you see and eating it whilst walking. You won’t even remember you ate it when eating on the move.
10. Eat regularly – during the early months your body will be using every ounce of energy to help you recover from delivery, create milk, provide for your baby and just survive, eating regularly will help to keep your emotions and mood level, and keep energy levels balanced.

FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF!!

I am sure my father in law would not mind me using him as a reference but a few years ago now, he had a hip operation to help repair his hip joint after falling from his road bike on a closed circuit cycling event. Since his operation he has had multiple follow up appointments with his surgeon, physiotherapist and hydrotherapy to help his recovery with plenty of ‘homework’ to be done at home in between appointments. He has worked very hard to recover and rehab his hip and he has had to retrain his body to return to his ‘normal’ pre-injured activity level and he is still not quite there yet.

Since the arrival of my baby boy via a C-section it got me thinking about all the women who return to exercise post a C-section and how little information women are given about the process. After my boy was born, I was told the following

• 1. Dont lift anything (heavier than your newborn baby)
• 2. Dont drive for 6 weeks
• 3. Dont go up and down stairs if you can help it

WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT?! How am I supposed to cope? I have just had MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY!!!

Luckily for me I had 2 of the most amazing women in my life come and save the day, my mom and mother in law! Phew! Without them I am not sure how I would have gotten through it! They came and did the washing, cooking, cleaning, school pick up and drop off and walking the dog. I could not have done it without them! Oh! and not to forget my fabulous childminder who came to collect and drop off my daughter so she had some fun and other kiddies to play with whilst I could rest and recuperate. Plus, my brilliant husband who took the bull by the horns, and did so much more than I could have asked him to do so that I could just rest and recover.  So, it took a team to help me within the first 6 weeks, but thats not even mentioning my active steps to recovery!

WHAT!!! A women who has had MAJOR (and I say MAJOR) abdominal surgery should wait 6 weeks before they are signed off by their GP to get going and start exercising again! STOP! NO! PLEASE WAIT!!

Where is your physiotherapy referral?

What about how to move during those first 6 weeks?

What exercises are safe for me to do and what should I avoid?

How do I care for other siblings whilst I have a newborn?

I am here to tell you how you can start to do things within the first 6 weeks to help with your healing process; so take a deep breathe and lets begin…..

• 1. Rest and relax as much as you possibly can

• 2. Rolling over every time you aim to sit up or lie down, aim to lie on your side first. This will avoid any crunching or sit up type position which will put a lot of pressure on the scar and abdominals.

• 3. Restore your breathing. Start re-connecting with your breathe. Super easy and simple to do when lying in bed resting. Breathe in to feel ribcage and belly gently expand and relax and breathe out to feel ribcage soften in and down, naval draw gently towards spine and engage your pelvic floor gently. Before you do any lifting, rolling or sit to stand movements try practicing your breathe and breathe out to perform the movement or lift.

• 4. Walking  – increase your walking slowly depending on your energy levels. Some days you will feel great and other days you might feel like you have taken a step backwards. That’s quite normal. Go with your body, and if you feel great do some more walking and if not, rest more. Eventually you will feel up for doing more even if at the time you don’t feel like that will ever happen!

• 5. See a women’s wellness physiotherapist in your area. Even if you don’t have pain or discomfort it would be a good idea just to have an overall clearance with a professional who understands what you have gone through and can really tell you how your body is healing.

• 6. Start some gentle exercises. (guided my a fitness professional who specializes in women’s health and fitness)  This very much depends on each person, some feel ready to go within 2 weeks of a C-section and others take much longer.

• 7. Don’t be hard on yourself and this is not a time to push yourself to test your limits, go with your body and if it says yes I am ready to try and do more, then do, and if you feel exhausted the next day it’s a sign your body is still recovering and building its strength so do less. Eventually your body will just do what you are asking.

Happy Healing! 

Go slow and build a strong foundation!

Fitness post delivery (whether recent or a few year later) can be a totally different experience to when you were pregnant, as now you need to firstly have the extra energy to expend on doing some exercise plus having some spare time.

Well, I have some exciting news for you all. We can all find 10min I am sure at some time during our day.  Have a think and if you struggling to find this then perhaps its time to evaluate what’s important in your life, and what’s just ‘getting in your way.’ Once you can do this then you can conquer that challenge and free up some ‘YOU TIME.’ Its important to value yourself and if you do and want to exercise then its time to STOP THE EXCUSES and find the time.

Here are my top tips to help you find the time and what you will need to get started….!

1.FIND 10-20min within your day. Look at your diary/week and find the time to dedicate to yourself!

2. BUY THE RIGHT HOME EQUIPMENT

Gym membership can be expensive so why not keep some kit under your bed or sofa for the quick ‘go to’ when you have your ’10min YOU TIME’

What to buy? 2 x 4-8kg Dumbbells, a resistance band, 8kg Kettlebell, exercise mat.

Although an out lay initially it will be worth it long term and much cheaper than a gym membership.

(This is only a guide if you know you can lift heavier then adjust what you buy according to your strength.)

3. WALKING IS A GREAT WAY TO STAY FIT AND HEALTHY

just 10mins a day will help to maintain your fitness levels and keep your heart strong and healthy

4. FREE PT/CLASS ONLINE– join the physically-fit online video membership to have access to a variety of classes to suit your needs. Choose one you like and follow along. Baby can even watch you whilst you workout.

5. INVITE A FRIEND – instead of meeting for a coffee and cake why not walk and talk. With Covid, you could always meet online and do a workout together for extra motivation!

6. ADD MUSIC TO YOUR WORKOUT – if you enjoy music put together your favourite music into a playlist and head out on your brisk walk or run. Or perhaps listen to a podcast that you have been wanting to do for a while. A great way to kill two birds with one stone.

7. SET YOUR DAYS AND TIMES – if you pencil the day and time during the week you will aim to exercise into your diary, this can help to keep you on track and dedicated to your ‘YOU TIME’ give it a go!

Hope this helps you to find a way to get some movement/exercise into your day. It does not need to be hours long, a little goes a long way but more importantly is trying to do it regularly.

Happy Exercising x

I was thinking about my pilates for runners workshop and what really came through as a topic of interest to everyone that attended was the stability of your pelvis when running. So, I thought I would discuss this a little deeper for those interested.

We may know we need this but may not know how to achieve it. We often know that we should strengthen our ‘core muscles’ for running but are we doing this as effectively as we can when we are doing it and remember each rep counts!

When we run, one leg moves forward whilst the other leg moves backwards. The pelvis is what makes this happen. Without our pelvis we would not move at all.

The Pelvis is a large body structure in the middle of your body surrounded from above your core muscles and from your legs below. In order to run efficiently these muscles (your core and legs) need to work together. If your back swinging leg pulled your pelvis with it, this would result in a very unstable pelvis which would also limit the movement of the front leg. This continual tilting of the pelvis could  result in lower back pain.

In order to run efficiently you need to stabilize your pelvis when you move your legs.

Here are a few of my go-to core exercises to help stabilize the pelvis.

1. Supine – single leg foot

Starting on your back, engage pelvic floor and breathe out to lift one foot off the floor, slowly lower back down and repeat to the other leg. Think not only about lifting the foot but the transfer of load from one leg to the other leg. We are aiming for no rotation or arching of the pelvis as we perform these exercises.

2. Supine – alternating toe taps

Start supine and engage pelvic floor and breathe and lift one leg to  90 degrees followed by the other leg so both legs are starting in a table top position. Keep stomach engaged and breathe out to tap one toe to the floor and return to table top, repeat with the other leg. Avoid arching back and doming stomach. Keep pelvis stable. Repeat for about 30sec. rest and repeat.

3. Deadbug

Start supine on your back with knees at table top and arms reaching towards the ceiling. Reach right leg away from pelvis and left arm overhead. Return to start and repeat with the other side. You can add a weight like a small toning ball in the hand. Continue this for         30-60sec.

4. Scissor legs (start single leg and move to double legs if your pelvis is stable)

Start supine with both legs reaching straight up towards the ceiling. Engage pelvic floor and breathe out to lower leg towards the floor (about 45 degrees) without arching back or doming stomach. Return to start and repeat with the other leg. 30-60sec.

5. Plank with knee drops

Start on elbows and knees, slightly tuck your pelvis, squeeze your butt and engage pelvic floor. Then, lift both knees off the floor and alternatively tap right knee to floor return to straight and then left knee to floor and return to straight. Repeat for 30sec. The aim would be not to rotate your pelvis whilst knee tapping. If you are, then start on your knees and lift one knee to straight and return to floor and repeat to the other knee lifting.

All these exercises seem easy but done with a focus of keeping pelvis stable, avoiding arching and rotating can change the way your body will benefit from doing these correctly and slowly.

A Diastasis Recti or DR is the widening of the gap between the 2 sections of the Rectus Abdominus or (6 pack muscles)

The split occurs at the Linea Alba, the mid line collagen structures of connective tissue at the front of the abdomen. (see image)

100% of women have some level of diastasis of the rectus abdominis in the third trimester (Diane Lee, 2013)

66% of women with a DR have some level of pelvic floor dysfunction

The Linea Alba no longer provides tension and stability. All the muscles of the abdomen, which includes the Transverse Abdominus or TVA, internal and external obliques and Rec Abdominus meet at the center of the midline. When this gets stretched the Linea Alba is no longer able to provide tension and stability for the body. Therefore your whole body is affected by this weakness.

WHAT CAUSES DR?

DR is a result of excessive intra-abdominal pressure or loading. It is common in later stages of pregnancy but can occur earlier and in multiple pregnancies. When the Linea Alba is stretched due to a growing bump, the connective tissue is weakened and this affects the surrounding muscles and fascia. This then leaves the front of the abdominals very weak and unsupported. This connective tissue down the mid line is meant to be taut and at full length and aligned from breastbone to pubic bone, when it is pulled wide due to a growing bump then it is not at full strength and cannot work optimally, therefore we need to address this line and get it ‘in line’ to restore full strength of the abdominals and repair the diastasis.

Diastasis is a symptom of excessive and unsupported intra-abdominal pressure and therefore should be treated as part of an integrated programme to re-align, re-connect and re-store strength to your whole core structure not just ‘closing the gap’.

HOW TO TEST FOR DIASTASIS RECTI?

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Relax your head and shoulders and place your fingers just above your belly button.

Lift your head and neck very slightly off the floor and press down with your fingertips. If you feel a gap that’s the diastasis. You will feel the muscles close around your fingers as you lift your head. Relax your head down and move fingers to below belly button and repeat the movement and then repeat this movement with fingers on your belly button.

The gap is measured in finger width’s.

EXERCISES TO AVOID IF YOU HAVE A DIASTASIS

Crunches

Sit ups

Oblique twists

Scissor legs (both legs at the same time)

Roll up

Roll over

WHAT EXERCISES CAN I DO TO HELP CLOSE A DIASTASIS?

BREATHE

If I just highlight what I mentioned earlier that a DR is about too much excess and un-supported intra-abdominal pressure, therefore we need to FIND and connect with your deep core muscles first. So, lets breathe to find it. Take a big breath in through nose and expand ribcage and belly, as you breathe out gently draw pelvic floor upwards and feel a light connection in your stomach. You are not ‘sucking’ it in, holding it flat or forcing a movement to occur. Let your breath do it for you! You should feel your breath expand the ribs and belly and avoid lifting shoulders as you breathe. As you breathe out you should feel your ribs soften in and down and your belly flatten towards spine gently!

POSTURE

You need to correct your posture and address your alignment. The cause of the excessive pressure and loading was due to the bump expanding. We need to teach our bodies where we are again in space without a bump and if we can align our pelvis and ribs this can help correct our diastasis. A correct alignment can also address any pelvic floor issues as it is more likely to function more effectively if your pelvis is in neutral.

CONNECT

Then you can learn to engage and ‘switch on’ your TVA and Pelvic floor muscles not only when you doing exercises but also when you performing your day to day tasks. You wont always have to do this but whilst there is an imbalance through the body we need to teach these muscles to engage when you doing movements in order to support our body.

STRENGTHEN

Once your pelvic floor and TVA are connecting then you learn to strengthen and load your core to pull the midline back together and ensuring that your stomach can take load again with a flatter and stronger stomach because of all of the above steps!

WHAT I SAY……

It’s a journey that won’t last forever. It’s a process. Follow the steps, get some support from a women’s physiotherapist or a local personal trainer who specializes in pre and post-natal wellbeing and start with your foundations. Once this is connected and strong you can do all the things you so want to do, but get strong and connected first! Don’t rush it, healing will happen if you practice and give it time. But more importantly practice it correctly!

Why you should do Pilates when you are Pregnant?

From the beginning of your pregnancy to the end, your body experiences the most amazing changes that are designed to help you carry your baby and eventually delivery your baby. With these changes, your body will become stretched, strained, weakened, tight and/or overused.  These adaptations can be very tiring for your body and can often increase over the length of your pregnancy. By maintaining good postural and body awareness from the start of your pregnancy can help to support and maintain your changing body over the different trimesters.

Pilates is the perfect low impact workout to do during pregnancy. Pilates is the type of exercise that involves using your core (the abdominals, pelvic floor, back muscles and diaphragm) to help you move efficiently and promotes restoring correct posture and alignment.  (This is important during pregnancy but REALLY IMPORTANT for your post- natal recovery especially if you have a diastasis recti separation.) It links movement exercises with your pelvic floor and this is greatly needed as a mum when your body is in such great demand to feed, carry, lift, push and care for your baby.

What physical changes take place in pregnancy?

1. Weakened abdominals (due to the growing bump)
2. Weak pelvic floor muscles (due to the downward pressure from carrying baby inside)
3. Increased lumbar (lower back) lordosis (arching)
4. Forward tilted pelvis (due to growing bump pulling pubic bone downward)
5. Weakened glute muscles
6. Thoracic tightness and kyphosis (due to growing breasts)
7. Tight adductor muscles (due to pelvic tilt forward)

At the end of your first trimester, the hormone, Relaxin is released into your body; however it can be present earlier. Relaxin’s main role is to loosen and relax the pelvic floor muscles making it ready for a vaginal delivery. Relaxin affects most of your ligaments and connective tissues in your body due to its ‘loosening’ affect and therefore helps to stretch your abdominals to accommodate the growing baby; and your ribcage so that your body can adjust to the pressure of the diaphragm from your growing uterus.

Pilates exercises will;

1. Strengthen your abdominals, back and pelvic floor muscles
2. Help relax you due to the focus each exercise needs. There is much evidence to show how effective relaxation is on your mental and physical health.
3. Establishes good breathing techniques. Exhale on the hard phase of the exercise and inhale on the easier phase of the exercise. The exhale increases your intra-abdominal pressure. This gives your body more strength during the movement which will be beneficial to know and do when you are lifting, carrying, holding and caring for your baby. Practice makes perfect, right!
4. Provide pelvic stability and strength to help support your growing bump. This can reduce Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) which is the umbrella term for all pelvic pain during pregnancy. (please see blog on PGP for more information)
5. Create mobility in your stiff areas such as spine, shoulders and neck. Due to the changing posture these areas are prone to more stiffness and our westernized lifestyles of Sitting, driving and watching TV does not help)
6. Open up the front of your body by enjoying some much needed stretches

7. Restore good posture
8. Create postural awareness throughout your pregnancy to help a better and faster post-natal recovery. This is important if you suffer with a Diastasis Recti separation as an imbalance in pelvic neutral, ribcage displacement (from carrying your baby) and chest breathing patterns can all inhibit the healing of a DR. (please see my blog on What is a diastasis recti?)
9. Strengthen all major muscles in preparation for delivery.
10. Strengthen all major muscles for the physical demands of being a mum!

Physically-fit Pilates is a fantastic class that will continue teach you about your posture, create awareness about your posture, teach you how to perform your pelvic floor exercises correctly, build body confidence during and after your pregnancy, breathe for abdominal strength as well as relaxation, teach you functional mum movements to get you strong for all the lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling you will be doing as a mum and of course a great place to meet other like minded mums and be yourself! I look forward to seeing you at a pilates class!