Contrary to popular belief, it’s crucially important for women to continue to focus on their core when exercising during pregnancy. In fact, avoiding core engagement and strengthening exercises can lead to more issues later in pregnancy and postpartum.
As a society, we like to tell pregnant women all the things they are not allowed to do while they have a “baby on board.” For nine months or more, sushi, alcohol, coffee, and sleeping on your back are just a few of the things considered dangerous - even taboo. Advice is often delivered in terms of absolutes - never do this - instead of addressing the massive grey area that exists for all of these topics.
All too often, specialists prefer not to discuss the nuances of this advice for fear of confusing women. Beyond the fact that the “women are easily confused” mindset is sexist, insulting and blatantly wrong - it has created a massive gap in real, science-based information, and that gap is where fear has grown.
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This grey area is where the topic of doing core or abdominal work during pregnancy exists. Instead of information about how to safely strengthen your core, many providers have chosen to just discourage all abdominal workouts with scary admonitions about causing Diastasis Recti or hurting the baby. And mama - that is simply not true.
When done correctly, core exercises during pregnancy can be game-changing. Strengthening your abs during pregnancy can help you to stabilize your pelvis, avoid back pain, and safely perform everyday maneuvers like getting out of bed or off the couch, climbing out of the car, walking up stairs, or picking up/playing with another child as your belly grows. By preventing these issues during pregnancy, you’ll make your postpartum recovery faster.
This mama is utilizing one of The Bloom Method’s foundational exercises - the active core breath - in order to control her intraabdominal pressure and maintain her core engagement against the tension of performing this exercise.
Safe & Effective Abdominal (ab) Exercises During Pregnancy
In order to perform core exercises safely during pregnancy, you need to master this kind of deep core connection (this is something we teach inside Studio Bloom) in order to recruit your core in an optimal way while building the endurance and capability of your core muscles. Both the active core beath and the belly pumping technique can be applied for optimal results.
The better you understand how your core should be reacting to an exercise, the better you can prevent injuries like Diastasis Recti, address issues postpartum, and return to exercise stronger than before.
Exercise is more than simply moving. It’s about the connection to your breath, your form, and oftentimes your entire approach to (and relationship with) fitness.
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As your bump grows, so does the pressure within your abdomen. For this reason, it’s smart to make changes to your core routine (but not to stop altogether!) starting at around 20 weeks. Making simple shifts can be easy and help to protect and prevent damage to your core and connective tissue.
Notice WHERE you feel the engagement. The obliques have a tendency to over recruit during and post-pregnancy so make sure they aren’t working overtime and you maintain activation through your midline
Keep your ribs down (no flare), shoulders relaxed, gaze forward and FEEL for accessory muscles (glutes, inner thighs, hip flexors, etc) trying to play a role.
Benefits Of Ab Exercise During Pregnancy
As much as we love and encourage good core engagement, breathing is equally important. Make sure that each inhale (lengthening of the core unit) is a TRUE release. When you breathe, it should be slow and controlled, lengthening down into the pelvic floor muscles.
If the exercise calls for active core breath, make sure you’re actually breathing! All too often when exertion is required, we subconsciously hold our breath. Breathing needs to be a conscious effort, especially when working the core during pregnancy. If you’re at all uncertain about your technique, you can learn the fundamentals of how to apply active core breath inside Studio Bloom, and then apply it to different kinds of workouts.
Training the core towards the end of pregnancy isn’t about achieving that core burn or exhausting the muscles, it’s about maintaining optimal pressure. To help manage your IAP with a baby just about ready to come earthside, tap into the muscle memory that surrounds your larger torso circumference. By staying connected in a functional way to the core muscles you can continue to exercise and perform everyday tasks without fear of injury, and have an easier time pushing during birth.
Abdominal Exercises During Pregnancy
When you’re not loading the spine, use your belly pump and let your breath be your guide. Lengthen on the inhale and create an intentional activation on the exhale. Move slowly, never pushing or dumping the abdomen outward, and never sucking in the belly. The core is the primary mover so if you feel leg movements coming from the quads or hip flexors, reassess and tap deeper into your core recruitment.
Want to see an example? Bloom Founder Brooke Cates demonstrates how to train your core while 39.5 weeks pregnant with her son Leven:
There are a lot of ways you can move during pregnancy. We want to make sure you’re following workouts that truly keep you in the clear of unnecessary injury mixed with an equal burn. So grab a set of ankle weights - our personal favorites are by Bala - and let’s sweat it out.
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Perform 3 rounds of the above workout spending one and a half minutes on each exercise and making sure to bring the belly pump along for the ride.
The more you connect to your breath and let your belly pump flow through each movement, the deeper this circuit will connect you to your core and pelvic floor!
Avoiding core engagement and strengthening exercises during pregnancy can lead to more issues as your belly grows, and after giving birth, as you heal postpartum. Deep core training is vital in aiding the stability of your pelvis and spine. As your baby and belly grow, the correct recruitment of your core and continued strengthening allow you to maintain optimal control with everything you do as a mama, from functional everyday tasks, to giving birth, to healing afterward.When many of us thing of our core, we think of our 6-pack muscles. When you think of abdominal exercises, maybe you think of sit-ups, crunches and planks. But our core is much more than just our 6-pack, and during pregnancy (and really- this is for anyone) it’s beneficial to do a well-rounded suite of core exercises.
Safe & Effective Abdominal Exercises For Every Trimester During Pregnancy
Our core is literally our body’s center. It is the platform off of which we generate power in our limbs and perform all of our distal movements. It’s not just for looks.
Our core is made up of a few layers of muscle. It’s the inner-most layer- the so-called inner core canister, that is responsible for stabilizing our spine and torso, controlling continence (keeping us dry!) and supporting our pelvic organs. During pregnancy, these muscles are stretched, the coordination between them is disrupted and a breakdown in their smooth functioning leads to common pregnancy symptoms liking leaking urine, low back pain and feelings of heaviness through the vagina and pelvic floor.
Although not strictly a member of the inner core canister, the glutes (butt muscles) work closely and synergistically with these muscles and are frequently denoted the inner core’s BFFs. As we program our core exercises, we can’t forget the glutes if we want to build a strong and functional core.
How To Safely Work Your Core During Pregnancy — The Bloom Method
The innermost core, the so-called “core canister”, is composed of the diaphragm, transverse abdominals, pelvic floor and multifidus. Permission to use copyright image from Pelvic Guru, LLC pelvicguru.com
On inhale, the diaphragm contracts downward and the pelvic floor and transverse abdominals reflexively lengthen (pelvic floor releases slightly down, transverse abs release slightly outwards). On exhale, the reverse occurs: The diaphragm contracts upwards, the pelvic floor and transverse abdominals recoil and contract upward and inward, respectively.
If you are breathing in a coordinated fashion, your pelvic floor and innermost abs are getting a workout on every exhale. In addition, they’re experiencing their full range of motion on each breath cycle, which means that they are optimized to function well and respond to fluctuations in demands placed on them by exercise or activities of daily living.
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Your core should function reflexively (without your conscious effort) to anticipate increased demands required when you do hard things. For example, just prior to lifting a heavy load, your pelvic floor and transverse abs should co-contract to stabilize your spine and provide support for your task. Pregnancy often throws a wrench in the coordination and reflexive response of your core, which is why core training in pregnancy and postpartum is so essential to maintain and rebuild strength in these muscles.
During pregnancy, the most fundamental core exercise, and pre-requisite to any and all higher level moves, is the Connection Breath. This breath is the tool that allows you to manage the pressure generated in your abdomen during exertion. If you can’t manage this pressure well, it manifests as doming through the abdominal midline or pressure through the pelvic floor. In the long-term, poor
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