Abdominal Exercises For Pregnancy- What to Do and What Not to Do

This weekend I got a great question from a colleagues client. She is 6 months pregnant and wanted some abdominal exercises because her SEPARATION was bugging her. As pregnancy progresses rectus diastase is inevitable but there are ways to prevent early separation and have relative comfort. Managing this is the key.

What Not To Do

1. No Lumbar Flexion Exercises- that's right crunches, mini crunches when pregnant are not good and can contribute to further abdominal separation. Lumbar flexion is obsolete anyways, the main function of abdominal muscles are to prevent rotation of the lumbar spine, not to flex the lumbar spine. Forward flexion should be initiated from the hips, like a waiters bow.

2. Reduce oblique exercises, as when they flex with a separation your muscle will pull towards the insertion or side of your torso, further widening your rectus diastase.

What To Do

1. Plank and plank variations for lumbar stabilization, not flexion.

2. Side Planks for stabilization of the small muscles in your lumbar spine called multifidi- do in reps not for a steady amount of time

3. Bilateral Back Extension - to use your abdominals as anti rotators, what they are meant to do.

All of these exercises are featured in the Baby Bump Pregnancy Fitness Program.

Have a great day and enjoy your pregnancy,

Jacqueline
www.babybumpfitness.com

Best Pregnancy Exercise

The bilateral back extension exercise is one of the BEST Busy Mom exercises for pregnancy and a new mom. Yes it's origin is rehabilitative in nature, but why is it so important for you. From a 4 point kneel you are cued to lift up one of your back legs straight out by contracting your glut muscle- you are not to let your pelvis drop or shift during this leg lift and your abdominals need to be tight for your pelvis to be held steady. This is step one and testing if you are able to hold your 3 point stance working on your pillar and anti-rotation muscles in your core to hold your pelvis steady. Next (or is you are advance you can lift arm and glut simultaneously) lift your opposite arm straight out in front of you, trying to get your arm in line with your ear, but again not letting your pelvis drop or rotate. You are now in a 2 point stance. This is beneficial because your anti-rotator muscles are firing (increasing lumbar stability), your glut medius of the pillar leg is working, your glut max muscle of the suspended leg is firing, your shoulder stability muscles are firing of your support arm and your core and back muscles are firing of the extended arm. This is a lot of bang for your buck- highly efficient exercise, perfect for busy moms. Many athletes use this 1-2 x per week in their dynamic warmup program so everything is firing for performance. For a new mom and for a a pregnancy exercise this should be part of your regular routine as you are overcoming changes in your body. During pregnancy your hips are widening making your glut medius less effective, you lumbar spine is mobilizing in the joints due to relaxin and your belly is expanding putting your pelvis into anterior tilt. The pregnancy waddle or gait associated with late pregnancy is inevitable. Performing the bilateral back extension will help prevent discomfort from joint instability and pregnancy posture. You can learn how to manage your new changing body by firing your muscles to help prevent loss of balance and aid in recovery.

During Pregnancy Fitness Routine the Key Reasons For performing the Bilateral Back Extension are;

1. Manage lumbar instability that can lead to discomfort

2. Fire your abdominals at their new changing lengths for aid in daily activities and recovery after baby is born

3. Shoulder stability

For a NEW MOM regaining lumbar stability is mandatory. You are now carrying around a baby, your body is constantly changing shape and you are under physical stress from sleep deprivation and delivery recovery. The main goals of performing the bilateral back extension for a new mom is to

1. Retrain deep abdominal muscle firing and anti rotational muscles ( the true function of the abdominals)

2. Strengthening your glut muscles for pelvic stability to avoid lifting with your back instead of legs

3. Stabilizing the shoulders by horizontal pressing and vertical lifting

Like mentioned earlier once you go through your pregnancy fitness and recovery new mom fitness this exercise is a great warm up for any routine. It is commonly performed incorrectly as people allow there belly to sag, pelvis to rotate and lift their back leg with their back not by firing their glut. Be aware of these when you perform this exercise.

Preventing Swine Flu

7 Simple Techniques to Minimize Your

Swine Flu Risk


It is that time of the year when the weather changes in most parts of the world and the common cold starts rearing its ugly head. Flu season also begins. This season is causing more anxiety amongst the general population because of the H1N1 swine flu.

There is almost a panic because the experts feel that this flu virus is more severe than the others.



Let me give you some statistics.

• Seasonal flu annually sickens 5-20% of the population.
• More than 200,000 people are hospitalized with flu complications
• About 36,000 people die from influenza related complications each year in the United States alone.
• 75 million work days are lost each year
• 1765 deaths are due to influenza annually

Now I didn’t give these statistics to scare you or alarm you. I provided these to show you that these statistics are from what we know as general flu, which means that the swine flu is not necessarily more harmful.

This means all flu may be potentially harmful and life threatening. That is why you need to take the proper steps to avoid all types of flu this season and not just worry about the swine flu.

The National Institute for Health and Center for Disease Control also states that 62 million cases of the common cold are reported each year.

So what are we to do?



We have all heard of the common tips that we should be doing and these are pretty powerful.

1. Consistently wash your hands
2. Avoid contacting your face with your hands unless you have recently washed them of germs.
3. If you are in contact with public areas where germs tend to thrive make sure you wash your hands afterwards and avoid touching your face prior to washing your hands.


Did you know that your nutritional habits play an important role in combating the common cold and flu?

More and more research is showing that Vitamin D can play an important role in fighting off the flu.

The problem with this is we have become so scared of the sun and skin cancer that we tend to cover our bodies in sunscreen, which limits the amount of Vitamin D we can absorb from the sun.

The result is we are actually starting to see a deficiency in Vitamin D, which the experts thought would never happen.



Which type of Vitamin D should I take?


You can take a good multi-vitamin that has Vitamin D in it, but many multivitamins contain Vitamin D2 instead of D3. Both are usable forms of Vitamin D, but D3 converts 500% faster and binds with protein more effectively than D2.

The other solution is to spend 10-15 minutes a day in the sun without sunscreen on. This is more difficult in climates where the wind is blowing and the temperature is 20 degrees during the winter months. That is why a good multi-vitamin that contains Vitamin D3 is a good alternative.

Many experts believe this is why flu is worst in the fall and winter because most people spend their time indoors because of the nasty weather.

Here are 7 simple inexpensive ways to dramatically boost your immune system and reduce the risk of the cold or flu this year.

1. Vitamin D through sun exposure or a good multi-vitamin that contains Vitamin D3
2. Avoid sugar and processed foods
3. Exercise
4. Daily Omega 3 fats from krill oil to boost your immune system
5. Get enough rest. Some believe getting less than 6 hours of sleep a night dramatically increases you chances of contracting the flu
6. Wash your hands thoroughly throughout the day
7. Consume anti-oxidants to help fight off free radicals that can weaken your immune system

If you're looking for the way to stay healthy this year then that means following all 7 seven steps above.

Can you think of any reason not to take care of your health this year?

Now there is no one miracle solution and relying on the swine flu vaccination which for many won't be available until sometime in December is not the safest route to go. Combining as many solutions as possible is going to give you the best defense against colds and flu this season.

We have put together a package for you that is called our Total Wellness package. The name says it all. It provides total wellness. After researching the cold and flu remedies we realized that it makes a very good cold/flu defense system by helping to boost your immune system.


Don't risk your health on poor nutrition.



Order your Total Wellness Package Right Now!




Or use our 100% secure online ordering system below.

Avoid Pregnancy Related Muscles Cramps

Muscle cramps are a nagging part of pregnancy. A few way to avoid muscle cramps are;

1. Preform a proper warm up and cool down during your exercise routine. Your cool down should be extended and gradually bring your heart rate back to resting before perform static stretching. This will keep blood from pooling in your extremities and contributing to muscle cramps. You blood vessels are relaxed due to hormonal changes and pumping blood from extremities is more of a chore, allowing pooling- this is another reason why a cool down is important.

2. Foam Rolling- perform foam rolling as a form of self myofacial release to keep blood flowing around your muscles and help relax the unavoidable tightness is certain muscles caused by pregnancy posture. You can get a copy of the foam rolling routine as a free bonus product in the Baby Bump Pregnancy Fitness System.

3. Stretch- static stretch your calves, hamstrings, low back (in length not rotation), chest muscles, gluteals and hip flexors.

4. Diet and hydration- each your potassium, calcium and magnesium to avoid muscle cramps. Drink plenty of water. Potassium rich foods are potatoes and bananas.

Following these 4 steps can help you get a better night sleep and avoid pregnancy muscles cramps.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline

Avoid Pregnancy Related Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps are a nagging part of pregnancy. A few way to avoid muscle cramps are;

1. Preform a proper warm up and cool down during your exercise routine. Your cool down should be extended and gradually bring your heart rate back to resting before perform static stretching. This will keep blood from pooling in your extremities and contributing to muscle cramps. You blood vessels are relaxed due to hormonal changes and pumping blood from extremities is more of a chore, allowing pooling- this is another reason why a cool down is important.

2. Foam Rolling- perform foam rolling as a form of self myofacial release to keep blood flowing around your muscles and help relax the unavoidable tightness is certain muscles caused by pregnancy posture. You can get a copy of the foam rolling routine as a free bonus product in the Baby Bump Pregnancy Fitness System.
3. Stretch- static stretch your calves, hamstrings, low back (in length not rotation), chest muscles, gluteals and hip flexors.

4. Diet and hydration- each your potassium, calcium and magnesium to avoid muscle cramps. Drink plenty of water. Potassium rich foods are potatoes and bananas.

Following these 4 steps can help you get a better night sleep and avoid pregnancy muscles cramps.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline

3 Great Pregnancy Snacks

Today I'll report on some easy nutrition tips, with some modifications so you can give them to your children or send them to a "nut free" child zone such as school, daycare or birthday parties. These are also great snacks when you are pregnant. Eating is essential for all, but to get in healthy snacks when pregnant can be the difference between feeling nauseous and not. Keep your blood sugar stabilized if you are pregnant-eat.

1. Blueberries, walnuts, cottage cheese. This is a great busy super mom snack as blueberries contain antioxidants, walnuts contain essential fatty acids or omegas and cottage cheese contains whey protein to stabilize blood sugar. For the super kids snack version you can leave out the walnuts and a touch of applesauce for added fruity sweetness for the kids.

2. Apple slices and cheese. This super mom snack contain fiber, protein and fat to reduce blood sugar fluctuations. Mom may prefer apple-wood smoked cheddar and kids mozzarella, it all works. Eat the skin on the apple as this contain a few grams of fibre on its own.

3. Dried apricots and almonds. This busy mom snack again contain fibre and omega fatty acids. For the super kids version you can add some dried apricot slices to yogurt or cottage cheese. OK so you or your child is lactose sensitive or intolerant- so add some dried apricots (sliced) into nut free granola with a few dark chocolate chips(or carob)- I guarantee they'll gobble this down.

These snacks are easy to make, relatively not messy for children and mom, and have a balance of nutrients to stabilize blood sugar. I use the almond /apricot combo as my go to snack. I always have a bag of this in my backpack because it doesn't go bad. You can always have your food on hand. None of the snacks are low fat as you will notice, actually quite the opposite. Fats are essential in your eating plan to be successful at health and weight loss.

For the mom that is ready to take her nutrition to the next level I am going to refer you to this complete comprehensive eating program with great tasting recipes I am going to refer you to an ebook call The Diet Solution. I think you will find this easy to follow and is full of great ingredients such as coconut oils and medium chain fats to boost your metabolism. A great compliment to your busy mom workouts.

Also for a complete Busy Mom Fitness program or Pregnancy Fitness program check my Baby Bump ebooks. Everything you will need from pregnancy, post delivery, and fat loss/fitness. A comprehensive system.

My Busy Mom Fitness workout today- dynamic warmup and circuts

circut #1 2x- modified pullups, squat press, prone jack knife with pushup, kettlebell snatch

Busy Mom Fat Loss circut #2- lunge kettlebell row, burpee with jumpsquat, lunge xover row, jump squat 10 of each 2x through the circut

To get more workouts like the one listed aboven in a 16 week program get a copy of your Baby Bump Busy Mom Fitness ebook.

PREGNACY FITNESS- Keys To Pregnancy Fitness Success with These Moves

Congratulations, now where do you begin? Everything you read, advice from friends and doctors indicates having a fit and healthy pregnancy is the key to making a healthy baby. You want to do the best for you and your baby, but where do you start.

If you are a complete beginner to fitness, meaning you have not exercised regularly for the past 3 months walking within your age predicted heart rate zone is the activity recommended for you in your first trimester. I do personally feel this guideline in Canada is outdated. Start performing kegel pelvic floor exercises NOW on a regular basis. Mobility moves such as CAT/CAMEL and the Bialteral Back Extension(shown above) exercises are also great during pregnancy, beginner or advanced. Once you hit your second trimester it is safe to add in some other forms of exercise.

If you have been exercising regularly you can continue BUT adjust your program using your age predicted heart rate guide. Add more focus on your warm-up (lengthening it to about 10 minutes) and be diligent performing a cool down regime to prevent and blood from pooling in you extremities and to help prevent hemorrhoids. Yes without a gradual decrease in heart rate during pregnancy exercise blood can pool around your pelvic floor area further expose you to the risk of hemorrhoids.

As your belly grows your posture is changing dramatically Pregnancy workouts should focus on postural exercises so you can prevent aches and pains of pregnancy. To get a free pregnancy workout please sign up below.

If you have been regularly active for 3 months or more please start this complimentary program right away. If you are a beginner to exercise please wait until your second trimester to add full range squats and lunges, but bilateral back extensions, hip rotations and shoulder clocks which are all mobility move are great.

OK, so I am editing my post today (Aug 13) as I have just come across an article that supports my view of current pregnancy exercise guidelines being outdated-please enjoy through this link Pregnant Women Should Start An Exercise Program-study GREAT STUFF.