fit mom – Mom Belly Fitness

Why Exercising is Essential for Your Journey Through Motherhood

Motherhood is beautiful and transformative. It’s filled with joy, fulfillment, and a mountain of emotions. It does, however, also come with some challenges – both mental and physical.

One key to thriving throughout motherhood – from preconception and beyond – is to build and maintain a consistent movement and exercise routine.

Regular physical activity not only enhances your overall health, but also plays a critical role in ensuring you have the energy, strength, and resilience to keep up with your growing kids and all the physical and mental tasks that come with motherhood.

Benefits of Exercising Throughout Motherhood

Enhanced Energy Levels – Consistent exercise boosts your energy levels by improving cardiovascular health, blood flow, and physiological mechanisms that help enhance the body’s efficiency.

Exercise strengthens the heart and improves its ability to pump blood more efficiently, which in turn, improves nutrient and oxygen delivery to your cells.

Exercise also stimulates the production of mitochondria in the cell. Mitochondria generates ATP (energy) needed for cellular functions. It also enhances the efficiency of existing mitochondria, increasing their ability to produce ATP.

Overtime, this transfer of energy is going to improve your stamina and vitality!

Strength And Endurance – Motherhood is very physical.

Think of all the times you pick up your baby, the car-seat, or your baby AND the car-seat. Think about how often you bend over to bathe or change your little one, pick up and hold your growing toddler while carrying a heavy diaper bag, load the stroller, etc.… I’m exhausted just thinking about it!

Strength training can help you build the muscle and endurance needed to lift, carry, and care for your kids.

By engaging in functional exercises that mimic motherhood (like the farmers carry, single-leg deadlifts, and surrenders), you’re going to have an easier time managing the physical demands that moms endure, reducing the risk of injury and fatigue.

Mental Well-Being – Exercise is a really powerful tool for managing stress, anxiety, and depression – all of which are common among postpartum women and busy moms.

Physical activity triggers the release of endorphins, which are natural mood lifters, helping you stay balanced, positive, and focused.

Improved Sleep – Quality sleep is so important for our health, yet many of us moms know a good night’s sleep is often elusive when we have a newborn or young baby.

When we don’t sleep, cortisol levels increase. Consistent, high levels of cortisol can interfere with production and balance of other hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone.

Prioritizing a routine for quality sleep – for both you and baby – is important. Though, we all know this is easier said than done. Don’t beat yourself up if restful nights are few and far between. In time, this will come with the right mindset and routine.

Try this: Practice stress relieving breath-work and mindfulness in the evening with baby in tow to see if you both can fall into a pattern of improved sleep.

Breath-Work Practice For Relaxation: Inhale 4 seconds (through your nose), Hold for 7 seconds, Exhale for 8 seconds (through your nose). Repeat this for 5-10 cycles.

Mindfulness Practice:

Hormonal Balance – Exercise has a profound impact on hormone regulation. Exercise influences various hormones crucial for our reproductive function, and overall health and well-being.

Exercise can regulate hormones that are critical for reproductive health and postpartum recovery.

Exercise enhances insulin sensitivity, meaning your muscles use glucose more effectively, lowering blood sugar levels. This helps prevent insulin resistance, the precursor to type 2 diabetes.

Longevity and Disease Prevention – Regular physical activity reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and certain cancers.

According to Dr. Peter Attia, the author of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, “Exercise might be the most potent “drug” we have for extending the quality and perhaps quantity of our years of life”.

Attia attributes daily training, specifically – stability, strength, aerobic zone 2 training, and anaerobic zone 5 training to living a long, healthy life.

Aim to strength train 2-3 times per week, focusing on upper-body, lower-body, and upper and lower-body combined strength training.

If you’re new to weight training, start with bodyweight. Be sure you can move without pain and without sitting into your joints for 12-20 reps. If you can achieve this, aim to hold weights that you can lift for 8-12 reps, for 3-4 sets without losing quality of movement.

For the days between strength training, supplement your workouts with things like walking, running, biking, swimming, hiking, rucking, pilates, core training, or yoga. Aim for 30-60 minutes of movement daily and don’t skip your recovery.

Looking for a little more detailed guidance? Join Realigned Mama!

Realigned Mama: Your Pathway to a Stronger, Healthier You

A few times per year, I offer a program called REALIGND MAMA. It’s a comprehensive 4-week training program that focuses on building a solid movement foundation to support the physical demands of motherhood.

In this program, you’ll reset your foundation so that you can train your body to move with better stability, stamina, and ease – and less pain and dysfunction. Throughout the program, you’ll learn how to strength train safely and how to train your core and pelvic floor to support you in the most optimal way for your life as a mom (and whatever else you desire!).

In this program you’ll:

Correct Muscular Imbalances
Improve Core and Pelvic Floor Strength
Start Building Functional Strength
Improve Flexibility and Mobility
Reduce Stress
Build a Routine for Consistent Exercise

Are you ready to embark on a journey toward a stronger, healthier you? Register for Realigned Mama today and take the first step toward enhancing your longevity and life as a mom!

Early-Bird discount available now through August 15! Register today!

Need accountability? Join with a friend and receive bonus sessions!

Invest in your future health and well-being as a mom of growing kids.

Follow @mombellyfitness on Facebook and Instagram for more info!

Prenatal fitness is an important aspect of a healthy pregnancy, but there are many misconceptions and myths surrounding it.

One of the most common misconceptions is that pregnant women should avoid exercising altogether. However, studies show that regular exercise during pregnancy can have many benefits for both the mother and the baby.

This includes things like a more positive labor and delivery experience – such as an easier delivery and a decreased need for interventions – and a more optimal postpartum recovery.

Beyond regular exercise, corrective exercise can be beneficial for both moms and pregnant women in several ways. It can help to alleviate aches, pains, and discomforts during pregnancy, improve posture and alignment, and prevent or rehabilitate common pregnancy-related conditions such as diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles) and pelvic floor dysfunction.

Benefits For Baby

The benefits for the baby are just as impressive! Research shows that babies born to mom’s who exercised during pregnancy have higher Apgar scores compared to babies born to mother’s who didn’t exercise during pregnancy.

Studies have found that regular exercise during pregnancy is associated with improved fetal oxygenation, which can promote better fetal growth and development. Additionally, regular exercise during pregnancy has been associated with improved maternal cardiovascular fitness, which can help to support the baby’s cardiovascular system and promote better fetal oxygenation. These mechanisms may contribute to increased newborn alertness immediately after birth.

However, it is important to note that the correlation between increased newborn alertness immediately after birth and mothers who exercised during pregnancy is not conclusive, as many other factors such as genetics, prenatal care, and overall health of the mother can also play a role in newborn alertness.

Similarly, newborns who were exposed to exercise while in the womb have also been shown to have an easier time latching after birth, perhaps due to increased alertness.

Picture showing group of pregnant women during fitness class

Other Misconceptions When Exercising During Pregnancy

In the past, pregnant women were often told to only do low-impact exercises. While it’s important to listen to your body and not push yourself too hard, many women can continue with their normal exercise routine during pregnancy, as long as they are cleared by their doctor. Let’s be clear, pregnancy is not the best time to go learn something exceptionally challenging that could pose harm to mom and baby. However, if you enjoy a particular strenuous activity that you were comfortable doing before pregnancy, chances are you can continue the same challenging activity during pregnancy, or at least a variation of it. Seek help from an expert who specializes in prenatal fitness if you are unsure if you should continue with your regular training routine.

Another misconception is that pregnant women should avoid certain types of exercises, such as weightlifting or high-intensity interval training (HIIT). These types of exercises can be safe and beneficial for pregnant women as long as they are done in moderation and with proper form and muscle balance. Women who train with Mom Belly Fitness during their pregnancy often comment that “Labor HIIT Training” exercises were a great tool that helped to prepare them for the physical challenge of labor and delivery.

Lastly, it is not always necessary for pregnant women to avoid lying on their back during exercise, as long as the woman is comfortable. Understanding proper diaphragmatic breathing techniques can assist with a more optimal posture to help disperse pressure on the spine.

5 Beneficial Exercises For Pregnant Women

It is always important to understand your specific muscle imbalances and to focus your training to correct these imbalances before progressing your routines. However, if you’re just getting started, here are some key exercises to support your fitness routine during your pregnancy.

1. Pelvic Tilts

This exercise helps to strengthen the abdominal muscles and improve posture, which can alleviate lower back pain during pregnancy.

More importantly, by understanding the position of your pelvis, you can focus the work during your pelvic tilts to work achieve a more neutral position which can provide you with better access to your core and pelvic floor muscles. A comprehensive physical assessment can help you understand if you have a more anteriorly dominant or posteriorly dominant tilt in your pelvis. It is common for pregnant women to have a more anteriorly dominant pelvic tilt which can lead to pregnancy-related low back pain and mis-managed pressure on the pelvic floor.

Pelvic tilts can be performed while standing, back-lying, side-lying, or while on all fours (such as in “Cat-Cow”).

2. Pelvic Floor Exercises (Like Kegals)

These exercises help to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which can prevent or treat incontinence and other pelvic floor dysfunctions that may occur during pregnancy.

Note: It is strongly recommended that you complete a pelvic floor assessment either before, during, or after your pregnancy (it is even better to do so at each stage, since these muscles can change throughout your pregnancy and after delivery) to understand if your pelvic floor muscles are over-active or under-active. By understanding the way in which your pelvic floor muscles are firing, you’ll be more equipped to perform Kegals in a way that is best going to support your hips, pelvis, core, and low back as your uterus grows as well as during the postpartum period. For example, it may not be wise to perform Kegals consisistently throughout the day if you are presenting with over-active pelvic floor muscles.

Weak pelvic floor muscles can present in women who are both under-active or over-active in the muscles supporting their pelvis.

3. Cat-Cow Stretch

This exercise is a gentle way to stretch and strengthen the back, which can help to alleviate pain and improve posture.

This is also a great position to perform pelvic tilts and to practice diaphragmatic breath techniques.

Depending on the tilt of your pelvis, you may want to focus your range to be more dominant posterior or anterior to help rebalance the muscles that support the pelvis. For example, a pelvis that presents more anteriorly dominant can cause low-back pain and a weak pelvic floor over time. It is a good idea to have a prenatal fitness specialist assess the tilt of your pelvis, so you can work to correct it throughout your pregnancy. It is common for pregnant women to have an anteriorly tilted pelvic tilt as baby grows and the pelvis dumps forward.

4. Squats

Squats can help to strengthen the legs and prepare the body for labor and delivery. It’s important to use proper form and to be mindful of your range of motion. It is often recommended that pregnant women avoid going too deep to avoid putting pressure on the pelvic floor. However, with the proper use of your core, pelvic floor, and postural muscles, you may be able to safely increase your range of motion.

Squats are also very beneficial to practice throughout your pregnancy and ahead of birth. Squatting during childbirth is believed to open up the pelvis and potentially make more room for the baby to pass through the birth canal. Some studies have found that squatting may slightly increase the diameter of the pelvic outlet, while others have found no significant difference. A squat position also allows for gravity to assist with delivery.

Start with bodyweight squats to get a feel for what muscles are taking over during a squat movement. Aim to recruit the glute and core muscles during a squat and allow your quads to assist you during this movement. To keep pressure out of your knees during a squat, be sure to focus on sitting the hips back and down to keep the knees from going forward of the toes. If your quads feel dominant during your squat, try tucking your tailbone slightly and driving through your heels to rise from a squat.

5. Hip-Bridges

This exercise helps to strengthen the glutes and core, which can alleviate lower back pain and improve posture. If you have trouble loading your glutes or if you are noticing you have low-back pain during a bend or deadlift movement, hip-bridges are a good way to train your bend pattern without putting unnecessary strain on your low back. Once you feel you have proper glute load in a hip bridge, try transitioning to an upright bend position and aim to keep work in the glutes and out of the low-back.

Find What’s Best For You During Your Pregnancy

Whether you are just starting to exercise during your pregnancy or you are researching the best prenatal exercises to incorporate into your regular exercise routine, it is important to feel safe, comfortable, and pain-free. Look for exercises you enjoy and for movement patterns that will support your growing uterus and assist you with your labor, delivery, and recovery.

It is important to remember that weight gain is a natural and necessary part of pregnancy, and pregnant women should not be overly concerned about gaining too much weight.

Lastly, be sure to avoid holding your breath while exercising or performing physical activities (unless you are swimming under water without oxygen support!). If you find you are breath-holding during any of the above movements, you are potentially putting unnecessary pressure on your pelvic floor muscles, which can lead to leakage, pain, and other dysfunctions down the line.

It is always recommended to seek out guidance from a certified prenatal fitness expert or your medical provider during your pregnancy journey and Postpartum recovery.

Click Here to schedule a free clarity call or a mini-movement-assessment.

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