Ladies doing pilates & ab work

starbound6 · August 2011

Hi ladies,

I wanted to reply to a previous post about ab work during pregnancy, but for some reason silly Bump wouldn't let me.

I wanted to put in my 2 cents and say that there is no reason you can't do abdominals OR lay on your back during pilates. With my DS pregnancy I did pilates (Reformer Circuit) until the day I delivered, and I credit that to his fast, easy birth (under 4hrs from water breaking to birth) and my quick recovery. I think my abs/rest of body was so strong from continuing pilates, and it helped my labour a lot. I also went back to pilates 6wks post-partum.

I checked with my OB, and also I have a certified Pregnancy Pilates instructor, who both said laying on my back on the Reformer for 5-10 mins per class is fine. As long as I didn't have shortness of breath, or numbness anywhere. And I did this all 39 weeks of the pregnancy. I plan on continuing with this one too.

A lot of what you hear about exercise is alarmist, and there is no reason you can't continue pilates and stay in shape during your pregnancy. Of course consult with your Doctor and pilates instructor, and listen to your body.

Thanks for reading, I just wanted to share:)