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

Pregnancy Fitness and Massage Therapy

Please visit BABY BUMP SOCIAL for a guest blog post by experienced registered massage therapist Anna Lui. Anna has written a small post on the benefits of pregnancy massage. She is available for questions through the BABY BUMP SOCIAL site.

Make the most of your pregnancy, you may not feel like to have time to stop and smell the roses or even go for a massage. Whether you have 0 or 5 children right now, things will only get busier when your baby is born so please take an hour for yourself and try a massage by a registered therapist.

PREGNANCY EXERCISE AND PUBIC PAIN

One of many symptoms of pregnancy is pubic pain. Loosened ligaments increase the mobility of the pelvic joint and can cause pain and irritation. This irritation may be worsened by exercise, impact and weight bearing activities. If you suffer from this irritation while performing hip adduction, hip abduction (side lying leg lifts) and to a lesser extent hip extension you can modify these movement and perform the exercises from a standing position. If pubis symphysis irritation still persists you need to reduce weight bearing activities.

Change from a lying leg lift to a standing version.

Morning Sickness

I have found a great natural do it yourself/self-help ebook to help with morning sickness. Please follow my link at in the sidebar or click on the title. I have never suffered from severe morning sickness, but know many women who have. I understand it is debilitating for many women. During my pregnancies I had the occasional bought of nausea that was bad enough, I could not imagine dealing with more. I hope this link can help you.

Pregnancy Posture-Interview 2

Question BBF -Dr A, can you list the muscles that become tight during pregnancy and the muscles that become weak during pregnancy as the body changes?

Dr. A- A woman's posture changes significantly throughout pregnancy. This is accompanied by many imbalances in the body where some muscles become too tight while others become too weak. The end result of all of this is pain - usually in the neck and low back area. With regards to pain in the neck/shoulder area the muscles that become too tight are the pectoral (chest) muscles and the muscles in the back of the neck. This occurs because the shoulders are often rounded and the head juts forward. When you're pregnant this rounded posture occurs to compensate for the added weight gain in the belly and breasts. Post-partum this posture occurs out of habit with breast-feeding and holding your baby. The muscles that become weak are those between the shoulder blades and in front of the neck. When these muscles are strong they allow your shoulders to be drawn back together and your head to be tucked in (rather than poked forward).

With low back pain the muscles that become tight are the hip flexors and low back. With pregnancy the low back assumes a sway (arched) position because of the added weight gain. This posture often continues after delivery because the abdominals and glutes (bum) aren't strong enough to hold a more upright position.

Question BBF - Dr A Can you explain pregnancy related piriformis syndrome and what is the best way to manage this issue?

Dr. A. The piriformis is a muscle that travels behind the hip joint. This muscle helps with external rotation (turning out) of the hip joint. It is thought that when the piriformis muscle is tight it may put tension on the sciatic nerve, causing compression and irritation. The result is pain, tingling and/or numbness in the buttocks and along the sciatic nerve (down the back of the thigh). This is by far one of the most common conditions that I treat in pregnant women. I often see women during the third trimester but it can happen at any point during pregnancy.
There are many causes for this condition. Some of the common culprits include over-pronation (flat feet), weak glutes, tight adductors (inner thigh) and overuse. The higher incidence occurs during pregnancy because the feet tend to turn out to make more room in front for your growing belly. This position of the feet puts added tension on the piriformis because it is now is a shortened position all of the time. The glutes also have to support more weight during pregnancy so they are put under more tension.

Management for piriformis symdrome includes a combined approach. Treatment should be aimed at releasing the tension in the glutes, adductors and other tight muscles. I have found Active Release Techniques (activerelease.com) to be very helpful in treating these types of patients. Stretching and foam rolling of the adductors (inner thigh) and glutes is an important supplement to treatment. Strengthening of the glutes and any other weaknesses is key for full healing and prevention of future episodes.

Dr. Erica Ainsworth
Chiropractor, Active Release Techniques, Acupuncture
The Urban Athlete505 Eglinton Ave W, Suite 302Toronto, ON M5N 1B1416.481.8880www.theurbanathlete.ca
www.drerica.com