prenatal exercise podcasts
Nov 01, 2022
I want to share with you the biggest one pregnancy exercise mistakes I saw to prevent you from causing unwanted harm to you and the baby. Often, pregnant women are unsure of how to exercise safely during their pregnancy to optimize their health and keep their growing baby safe.
Let’s get started
As a prenatal exercise expert with over 10 years of experience helping pregnant women stay fit and healthy, I’m here to help. It is my mission to help women stay fit and healthy during pregnancy.
Let’s talk about five of the most common exercise mistakes pregnant women make and how you can avoid them. All women deserve to have this knowledge, especially during their pregnancy.
10 Pregnancy Exercise Mistakes to Avoid
So let’s get started with pregnancy exercise mistakes you should avoid to keep you AND baby safe!
1. You exercise like you did before pregnancy.
This is quite common because many women don’t know how to modify their workouts to accommodate their ever-changing and growing belly. The exercises you did when planning for pregnancy can now be dangerous for you and your growing baby so please learn about the exercises you should avoid now.
2. You avoid doing pelvic floor exercises.
It’s easy to skip your pelvic floor exercises because you can’t see these muscles. Having a strong pelvic floor will benefit you later because it will reduce the symptoms of urinary incontinence. It will also help you after giving birth to get back to the type of exercise you like and improve your sensation during sex.
3. Avoiding strength training is a big mistake
Trust me, from personal experience, doing strength training throughout my pregnancy only made my recovery easier. Having a strong body will also help you during labor and increase your recovery rate during the important postpartum period.
4. You’re not preparing for your postpartum recovery
The first twelve weeks following your pregnancy are a very important time as you allow your body to heal. The exercises you do during your pregnancy will also help strengthen your body for faster recovery after delivery.
5. Keep planking
One of the biggest pregnancy exercise mistakes I hate to hear is that a pregnant mama plans. Your abdominal muscles need to stretch to make room for your baby. They should also be strong enough to support your growing body.
During pregnancy, I want you to focus on exercises that help to strengthen your deep core. And I want you to avoid crunches (V sit up) and planking because it will only cause more strain and possible injury.
6. Not Activating the Core Unit Properly
Now, let’s go to this topic. I believe that everyone should have good core unit activation.
So many people suffer from back pain and poor quality of movement, when, if they have a good strong, functional core they may not be in too much discomfort.
Making your core unit activation work for you is not difficult.
It is really so simple and basic that people ignore it and look for something more difficult.
The key is to start with the foundations, master them and then progress with the foundations to add challenge. This is exactly what we do in my PregActive exercise programs, and it’s definitely what I recommend you do to help you now in your pregnancy, but also very importantly, in your postpartum recovery.
Okay, so you want to think about your pelvic floor first. Think of a tube of toothpaste.
If you don’t put the cap on the toothpaste tube and squeeze the middle, the toothpaste will come out.
Apply this scenario to your core unit activation.
If you don’t answer your pelvic floor first and squeeze your stomach there is a lot of downward pressure and this can worsen pelvic floor weakness and even pelvic organ prolapse.
This is why we say ‘core unit’ because there is a group of muscles involved, not just one. Your pelvic floor and abdominals work together.
So slowly lift and squeeze your pelvic floor (like you’re urinating and then as you lift and squeeze you’re stopping the flow) and then imagine having a scarf wrapped around your body and it’s slowly slowly tighten as you rub your deep abdominal muscles.
Sometimes a visual is good for this, so check out the link to the free core unit activation video below this show notes.
7. Choosing the Wrong Pregnancy Exercise
Okay, so if you want to be your friend during your pregnancy and in the weeks and months after you have your baby, then do high impact exercises that put a lot of pressure on your joints, pelvic floor and stomach.
Exercises like crunches, planks, heavy lifting, boxing and jumping can go out the door for now. You don’t need them and they will probably do more harm than good.
Your body changes, it makes room for your growing baby, and as a result, things change. Relaxin (the hormone that loosens everything up to help prepare your body for the birth of your baby), makes your body more unstable than ever.
Not to mention your center of gravity also moves as your belly grows.
Plus, your risk of aches and pains is increased as, by hitting weights, jumping around and performing high-impact movements, you further increase your risk of injury.
There are so many exercises you can do during pregnancy, which will help to reduce the aches and pains you feel, so focus on these specific prenatal exercises!
Prenatal specific workouts, prenatal yoga and pelvic floor focused routines (all of which are in our PregActive for Pregnancy program) are the types of exercise you want to help you.
8. Not Engaging in Proper Breathing Techniques
Are you someone who holds your breath when you exercise?
You are definitely not alone in the world. I’m surprised how many people can’t breathe comfortably when exercising.
Often people say ‘I love yoga, but breathing stresses me out’.
Honestly, I have to laugh at this, because breathing should be the foundation, with core unit activation next and then movement.
Often people want quick results, so they do the opposite.
They move, then think about their core so they ‘suck’ and then freak out about their breathing.
Can you imagine how unbalanced that would make everything?
And it certainly won’t make exercise enjoyable.
Starting with some deep breathing is important to help calm your mind and body and get you ready and focused for what lies ahead. During your exercise, remember to keep coming back to your breathing. If you can’t, you may be over it in your workout and it’s advisable to go back down a level.
A good guide for breathing is having the ability to talk while you exercise. You don’t have to actually communicate, but the ability to communicate is important.
If you’re huffing and puffing and can’t get any words out, then you need to step it back a notch in the intensity of your exercise.
9. Not Moving in a Performing Way
This is important to remember: your body is with you 24 hours a day.
If you choose to exercise for 30 minutes in your day, the other 23.5 hours you still have to be mindful of how you move and hold your body in your daily routine.
So I often see people who are focused when exercising, but as soon as their session is over, they go back to poor posture; lifting, pulling, pushing or twisting in a way that causes pain and suffering.
Think about how you pick up your bag from the floor, how you get out of bed, how you put it under the drawer.
Back pain and abdominal distension are common in pregnancy, and you can certainly do exercises to help, but you also need to be mindful of how you move your body throughout the day as well.
Rolling onto your side or helping yourself with your arms up is very important, otherwise it will look like you are doing a full sit up motion and can put unnecessary pressure on your stomach.
Getting out of bed or a low couch is where most pregnant women do this ‘sit-up’ move. Roll yourself onto your side or if sitting on a couch, shuffle to the side and use your arms to help you up.
Start thinking about where you currently sit now is also important, as low chairs or sofas are not good during your pregnancy, and particularly not good when you have a bub too.
10. Waiting to Begin Special Prenatal Exercises
A common pregnancy exercise mistake is to wait too long before you start a safe pregnancy exercise plan. All I can say is, don’t wait! I often get women at 5, 6 or 7 weeks pregnant asking when is a good time to start prenatal exercises. My answer is always NOW!
I also get women who say ‘I wish I had started sooner.’
And no one wants that regret.
Do yourself a favor and start preparing your body today. It takes a while for everyone to start adapting, so the sooner the better.
That being said, if you are in your third trimester, It’s not too late. Any help is good, so start now.
Plus, it will help you reduce aches and pains, keep your energy levels good throughout your pregnancy, feel strong in labor and recover faster after delivery.
Depending on what you’re doing now, you can compliment it with prenatal-specific exercise, or completely swap what you’re doing for prenatal-specific movements.
We want you to feel empowered, knowledgeable and confident in your exercise choices, because you deserve it!
Pregnancy Exercise Mistakes
