Waddle Warning

Don't let the pregnancy 'waddle' wreak havoc on your body.What does a pregnant waddle look like?

Toes out, short strides, torso leaning back.

Why is it bad? 

It puts excessive strain on the lower back and contributes to the weakening and shortening of the gluteal muscles, abductors (outer thighs), hamstrings and lower back.  The result? Back an pelvic girdle pain....and more waddling....so more back and pelvic girdle pain.  

What can we do about it?

• Walk with a long but natural stride.
• Lightly engage deep core muscles while walking.
• Keep your toes pointing forward.
• Strengthen the adductors (inner thighs), abductors (outer thighs), glutes, hamstrings and core (pelvic floor, TVA, rectus abdominals and erector spinae).
• Stretch and lengthen the abductors (outer thighs), glutes, hamstrings and low back.

Waddle Prevention Routine

Always seek medical advice before beginning or continuing an exercise program during pregnancy.  We recommend completing a PARmed-X for Pregnancy with your health care provider.

1. Warm Up: 10 minute walk with mindful posture and stride. Gradually increase speed to the point where you feel warm enough to do your workout.

2. Stationary Lunges:  Make sure your stride is long enough so that your front knee does not go over your front toes.  Stay tall in your torso.  Hold onto the wall if needed.  Make sure your pelvis is square and both toes are pointing forward.  Push your front heel into the earth as you come up in order to better activate the hamstrings and glutes. 10/leg.

3. Active Recovery: 2 minute brisk walk.  Focus on lightly engaging your deep core muscles.
 


4. Walking Lunges: Begin with a right leg forward stationary lunge.  Step forward with your left leg into a left leg forward lunge.  Continue alternating forward legs as you travel forward.  If you do not feel safe, stick with stationary lunges.  20 reps.

5. Active Recovery: 2 minute brisk walk. Focus on a natural stride and a tall torso. 

6. Repeat steps 2-5

7. Cool down: 5 minute walk.  Maintain good posture and gait.

8. Super Moms: Begin on hands and knees.  Extend opposite arm and leg.  Hug baby to spine.  Breath naturally. 5/side.

9. Baby Hugs: Sit cross legged or tall on a ball/chair.  Inhale to prepare.  As you exhale, activate your pelvic floor and hug your baby into your spine using your TVA muscles.



10. Wide Leg Forward Bend: Stand with legs wide, toes pointing forward or slightly in.  Hinge from the hips keeping spine as long as possible.  Use a chair as support if needed.
Note: It is okay to bend your knees.





Child's Pose: Widen knees to make room for breasts and belly.  While in this position, engage your pelvic floor each time you exhale.






Side Laying Quads/Hip Flexor Stretch: Rest head and neck.  Keep legs parallel and tilt pelvis under to lengthen the hip flexors.  Hold for 30-60 seconds and repeat on other side.

   

Pre and Postnatal Posture Part Two

How does your lower back feel today? 

The number one complaint during pregnancy is low back pain. For new moms, it is definitely in the top three (right behind fatigue and mommy brain). So what causes low back pain? How do we prevent it? How do we manage it?

During pregnancy (10 months!) the weight of your uterus pulls your pelvis forward into an anterior tilt.  Think of your pelvis like a bowl of water and you are pouring the water out in front of you.  This leads to a larger than normal curvature of your lumbar spine (lower back) called excessive lordosis.  The result?  A sore lower back.  After baby is born, you may find it takes several weeks or even months for your pelvis to move back into a neutral position.  This postural shift coupled with caring for baby means many new moms suffer from chronic lower back pain as well.

Here you can see a typical progression from a neutral spine to excessive lordosis.

Enough of the doom and gloom.  What can we do about it?!

1. Get to know your deep core muscles.  Your pelvic floor and transverses abominal muscles (TVA) are key in preventing and reducing excessive lordosis.  Aim for 10 pelvic floor lifts (aka Kegels) on the exhale and 10 TVA (aka belly button to spine or baby to spine) activations on the exhale 3X a day.  As you get stronger, aim to contract and hold these muscles while maintaining normal breath. Click here for more info on pelvic floor.

This graphic gives you a visual of the importnance of a strong pelvic floor.

2. Stretch!  Spend extra time stretching your low back, hip flexor, quadricep and hamstring stretches. 

Child's pose, pictured below, is a restorative stretch that targets the lower back, thighs and glutes. With arms extended, it also lengthens the anterior deltoids and Pectorals.

A side lying quadriceps stretch with a posterior pelvic tilt (tuck pelvis) helps to lengthen quadriceps and hip flexors. 


3. Find neutral.  Just like Kegels, we recommend setting certain times of day that you check in with your pelvis.  For example in the elevator or each time you get up from your desk/feeding baby.  Place your hands on your hips and tilt your pelvis under and back a few times before settling into neutral. 

A special thank you to Kyla Baker Photography and our mommy models Kait and Emma from Fit 4 Two Stroller Bootcamp.

As always, questions and comments welcome.

Click here to read Pre and Postnatal Posture Part One

Can exercising during pregnancy make labour shorter? Easier? Less painful?

This is one of the most challenging questions we get asked.  We would love to simply say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but neither answer is 100% true.

Clapp & Dickenson (1984) found that pregnant women who exercised regularly throughout their pregnancies had a higher incidence of uncomplicated, spontaneous delivery and their labours were 1/3 shorter than the control group.  They also observed that the pregnant women who stopped exercising regularly midway through pregnancy had similar outcomes to the control group.

There have been similar studies that support the labour benefits of regular exercise throughout pregnancy.  It makes sense that fitter women might have an advantage over women who are unfit.  That said, after working with pregnant women for over 9 years I also recognize that there are many factors out of our control.  For example, baby might decide to put her hand by her face while trying to exit the birth canal.  A fit mom is as likely as a non fit woman to have placenta previa.  A fit mom’s labour can be slowed by the same factors that can slow an unfit woman’s labour.

So what do we do with all this information?  Well, if we know that an active pregnancy is one factor that we can control (assuming a normal pregnancy) then it makes sense to get moving and keep moving.  Not sure where to start?  Read on.

Cardiovascular Endurance
Labour could be 4 hours.  Labour could be 2 days.  Either way, a strong cardiovascular system is going to help you to cope with the demands of childbirth.  If you have a caesarean birth, being fit can also help speed up your recovery.  Aim for 30 minutes of cardio (not including warm up or cool down) 4 days a week.

Muscular Endurance
Research shows that changing positions in labour and being able to get into a squat position significantly effects length of labour and increases your chance of having an uncomplicated vaginal birth. Labour takes strength and stamina.  Aim for 2 sets of 10-15 reps for each major muscle group.  A  Fit 4 Two class is great way to learn safe and effective muscular endurance exercises that you can also do on your own.

Hands and Knees
At Fit 4 Two, we like to incorporate several 4-point prone exercises into each class.  This position relieved lower back discomfort (most common complaint of pregnancy) during pregnancy and encourages the fetus to stay in the optimal position: head down, back against mom’s tummy.  Optimal fetal position usually means a less invasive, shorter, more comfortable birth.

Pelvic Floor
A toned pelvic floor is a more elastic pelvic floor. A more elastic pelvic floor means an easier exit for baby (all things being equal).  Be sure to incorporate pelvic floor exercises, often called Kegels, into your daily routine.  We recommend reading our recent posts 5 Reasons Pregnant Women Need a Strong Pelvic Floor and Dear Gymnasts, Dancers,Waitresses and Horseback Riders.

Mental Preparation
Many women who exercised regularly through their pregnancies report feeling that their labours were more manageable, easier or quicker.  Perhaps this is because these women had more confidence in their bodies' ability to cope with the sensations of labour.  Through exercise, they had seen what their bodies were capable of.  Perhaps they prepared themselves mentally for the strenuous task ahead of them and were able to send themselves the same positive messages like "I am safe", "My body was designed to birth my baby" and "Every contraction means I am closer to the "finish line".  It's food for thought.

Motivated to get moving?  Come try a Fit 4 Two class.  Click here to find a prenatal fitness classes in your community. 

Choosing the best fitness class for you and your baby

Spring marks the beginning of more class variety at Fit 4 Two. Before you register for a class, let's talk about the best choice for you and your baby.

1. Body Readiness
After having your baby, vaginally or by cesarean, you will be encouraged to do pelvic floor exercises, go for light walks and stretch.  If you had a vaginal birth, your health care provider will ask you to wait until your lochia (post partum bleeding) is complete, and the initial veil of fatigue has passed, before easing into a regular fitness program.  If you had a cesarean birth, your doctor will ask you to wait until s/he gives you the green light at your 6-week post operative check-up.


2. The Early Days
Are you body ready (see above)?  If you answered yes, then this is the time to ease back into fitness and establish a good base of muscular endurance.  Pregnancy, childbirth, post partum hormones, fatigue and the physical demands of parenting make your joints more vulnerable and susceptible to injury.  The following classes are excellent choices:
Indoors: Mom & Baby Fitness, Mom & Baby Spin and Strength, Mom & Baby Fitness Fusion, Tummies 4 Mommies, Stroller Fitness
Outdoors: Stroller Fitness

Check your local Fit 4 Two page to see what class types are being offered near you.


3. As you progress
Once you have eased back into a fitness routine and have been able to keep at it regularly (cardio and muscular endurance training at least 3 days a week) for at least 6 weeks, then you have a couple of choices.  Continue attending your current class and choose the more challenging options or try one of our boot camp style classes. 

Indoors: Mom & Baby Bootcamp
Outdoors: Stroller Bootcamp

Check your local Fit 4 Two page to see what class types are being offered near you.

4. As your baby grows
Your baby's age and stage also factor into which class you choose.  Once your baby becomes mobile, you will need to choose one of our classes that can safely accomodate mobile babies: Stroller Fitness, Stroller Bootcamp or Mom and Baby AquaFit. 

5. Aquatic classes
Fit 4 Two Mom & Baby AquaFit is a fun way for moms to get in a full body workout while babies (6-24 months-old) get a positive introduction to the aquatic environment.  This unique class is offered in Winnipeg-West.

We hope you will find this information helpful as you register for spring classes.  Questions and comments are always welcome.

Coming to Class with a Newborn and an Older Sibling

 

No doubt about it, many parents are intimidated by the idea of working out with more than one child.

I remember my own experience easing back into fitness after my second babe. I was attending Stroller Fitness classes as a participant, pushing my Mountain Buggy Double packed to the gunwhales with snacks, diapers and a yoga mat. Fifteen minutes into my first class, I was sitting on the front nursing my youngest while passing Cheddar Bunnies to the other... a ton of work, indeed, and I wondered if I would manage to get any of the exercises in! But I stuck with it and I quickly learned to show up ahead of class to give my newborn a feeding on the park bench while my older daughter burned off a bit of energy at the playground, followed by a pit-stop & diaper change. At the beginning of class, I gave my eldest a Snack Trap full of granola and a sippy cup, while my youngest would soon doze off when we started moving. By the end of class, my eldest was happy to get out of the stroller to do her 'stretches' with the grown-ups and be a helper when I needed to attend to her little sister. It wasn't long before I was reaping both the physical and mental benefits that I so often preach as an instructor!

I've had many parents attend classes with siblings successfully, and here's what works:

• Class Types? Stroller Fitness and Stroller Bootcamp are both safe options for attending with a mobile older sibling.
• Try it out first! Two schedules, two sets of needs... consider trying class as a drop-in first to see what works. Contact your local instructor to be sure that the class type you are attending allows drop-ins.
• Be prepared. The night before, pack your diaper bag and stroller so getting out in the morning will be that much more stream-lined.
• Make it special. One very successful mom used to bring special plaintain chips for her older daughter to munch on while she worked out, and she reserved this snack as 'Stroller Fitness Only' - her 2yr old quickly caught on! This also works with special toys or new library books.
• Make a day of it! Since it takes so much work to get out in the first place, plan to make the day an outing. Visit the playground or indoor play gym ahead of time to burn off the energy of an older sibling. Pack a nutritious lunch for afterwards and have a picnic!
• Involve Your Child. Keeping safety in mind, let your older child be part of your workout. Let him help count out your reps, or have fun naming the exercises that you're doing. During core & stretch, encourage your older child to get down on their own 'mat' (diaper change pad, blanket, etc) and do the exercises with you - as you can see below, it's never to early to be a positive role model for your child!

  

What has worked for you?

Fit 4 Two tank tops now available

Healthy, fit, mother, strong, beautiful, role model, active, able, informed, inspirational, powerful! 

Do these words describe you?

We believe they do.

Our 2012 Fit 4 Two tank top has been a huge hit locally and we are pleased to announce that they are now for sale within Canada and the USA. Visit the Fit 4 Two shop.

Pre and Postnatal Posture Part One

What do you spend most of your day doing?  Sitting at a computer?  Driving?  Holding your child?  Chances are you spend a big chunk of your day with your spine in kyphosis.  In other words, rounding your upper back and jutting your chin forward as you lean over your lap top or steering wheel.  

Due to postural changes during pregnancy, this kyphosis often becomes excessive.  Enter baby, the kyphosis almost always becomes excessive.  Holding, carrying and feeding baby required hours spend in a hunched over position and a lot of that time you are also carrying an every growing load i.e. baby. 

The result? headaches, neck pain, back pain, sleeplessness and well....poor posture.  We all look and feel more attractive and more energized when we stand tall.

One of my favourite exercises for preventing and managing excessive kyphosis is the low row.  I like to use a resistance band because it can be used almost anywhere. 

Once you have the green light from your healthcare provider, begin with 1-2 sets of 10 reps 2-3 days a week.  Progress to 1-3 sets of 10-20 reps 2-3 days a week.  Stand with a staggered athletic stance.  Relax your jaw and neck.  As you exhale, squeeze your shoulder blades together.  Choose a good quality band so that the resistance is challenging enough to achieve results.  Fit 4 Two uses Ripcords because they have great tension and a lifetime warranty. They are for sale in the Fit 4 Two Shop 

Questions or comments welcome.