10 PRE AND POSTNATAL SAFE EXERCISES YOU CAN DO AT HOME

Image: Bump Health

As if being pregnant wasn’t hard enough, now we have the joys of our new #Isolife to add to the mix. Staying active and keeping strong throughout your motherhood journey doesn’t come easily for many of us, and now that we are stuck at home with barely a dumbbell in sight, let alone a professional to guide us. It can be a little scary (and downright confusing) to know where to start and more importantly what is safe to be doing while you are pregnant or post-partum.

Pregnancy expert Calum Wilson from BUMP Health and Fitness has created his top 10 exercises that you can do from the comfort of your own home. These movements are not only safe for you and bub, but they also don’t require any equipment. They have been carefully selected to strengthen the entire body and are perfect for both prenatal and postnatal mums so you can rest assured, your body is in safe hands.

Watch the video below and keep reading for a full explanation of each exercise.

Please aim to complete 10 reps per exercise and do 3 to 5 rounds.

1. Curtsy Lunges

Strengthening your glute muscles is essential for all pre and post-natal workout as they provide lower back support, which has been lost due to your compromised core.

Whilst normal lunges are a great exercise, we find the curtsy lunge extra beneficial as it builds a smaller support stabiliser muscle called the Glute Med.

Stand with your feet hip-distance apart and let your arms fall at your sides. Draw a semicircle with your right foot, moving it clockwise until it crosses behind your left foot. Lunge down until your knee a couple of inches off the floor. Slowly return to the standing curtsy position.

2. Good Mornings

Most of you might not be too familiar with this movement, but it’s certainly great for all at home workouts when heavy equipment is hard to find. The movement replicates leaning forward to pick items up, which is ideal to help strengthen your hamstrings, glutes and lower back.

Ensure you have a nice straight back with shoulders pulled back and draw your belly button to spine. With a slight bend in both knees slowly lean forward until your head is almost parallel with your hips, and slowly return to the start. 

3. Single-Leg RDL

The single-leg deadlift will boast balance and strength as well as improving your posture.

Start by standing straight and tall with feet hip-width apart. Slightly bend one knee whilst taking your other leg slowly behind you. Ensure your belly button is drawn into towards your spine, keep shoulders back and take upper torso towards the floor. Once your back leg is parallel to your hips slowly return the leg back towards the floor and be careful not to fall.

It is important to note if you experience any hip pain then its best to give this exercise a miss.

4. Sumo Squats

During pregnancy and as you recover post-birth, any support you can provide for pelvic stability will be worth your while. Because of the feet position of the Sumo squats, you will work your inner thigh muscles as well as the outside of your glutes giving your body a different feeling than a normal squat.

To perform the Sumo squat start with your legs shoulder-width with your feet pointed out to 45 degrees. Focus on drawing your belly button toward your spine and sit back into a squat position, ensure you keep your heels on the floor and not to take your hips lowers than knees to protect your pelvis.

5. Scaptions  

As you creep into the later stages of your pregnancy, due to a decrease in core strength and an increase in breast size your shoulders will begin to roll forward which is known as Kyphosis,

A scaption exercise is perfectly designed to work the rotator cuff muscles to support the shoulder girdle and help ease the pain to your upper back.

You will need some light weights or tins to perform this movement to its fullest potential.

Stand with feet shoulders feet width apart, holding the weights palms facing towards the bod. Take both arms towards the sky forming a Y shape. Ensure you don’t arch your back. Once your biceps are next to your ears, pause, then slowly take your arms back to the start.

6. Reverse Fly

The reverse fly helps counteract bad posture by working anterior deltoids, rhomboids and traps, which are all upper and middle back muscles. This is another 5-star exercise to improve posture and help combat back pain.

Maintain a tight core, straight back, and slight knee bend. Exhale and raise both arms out to your side, squeezing the shoulder blades together. Keep a soft bend in your elbows as you pull your shoulder blades toward the spine. Inhale as you lower the weight back to start position.

7. Horse Stance

Four-point kneeling exercises are amongst some of the most important for Pre/Post Natal training. As it has many variations of difficulty it can be performed throughout the trimesters and post-natally. Focussing on deep inner core muscles such as the Transverse Abdominus will go far in counteracting the effects of Diastasis Recti, or abdominal separation as its more commonly known. Not only this, but it is a great way to practise your pelvic floor stabilisation exercise for pelvic floor control.

Get on your hands and knees. Make sure your back is flat and focus on drawing belly up towards your spine. Reach one arm forward while simultaneously extending your opposite leg straight back. Hold the position and then return to starting position to switch sides

8. Knee Hovers

A bodyweight exercise suitable for both pre and postnatal clients that focuses on strengthening the transverse abdominals by lifting the knees away from gravity.  Also, a great upper body weight-bearing exercise to increase strength of shoulders, pectoral muscles and deltoids.

Come into a Cat-Cow position as you would in yoga: hands under your shoulders, knees under your hips. Round your back and scoop your abdominals into your spine. Hover your knees an inch or two off the ground, before slowly lowering back towards the floor.

9. Side-Lying

The focus of this exercise is to increase strength of glute and hip muscles. Side-lying leg raises is an incredible secret tummy exercise. The side-lying position makes it a comfortable and practical way for pregnant ladies or those who are postnatal and rehabbing abdominal separation to safely exercise their abdominals without increasing abdominal pressure and therefore increasing the risk of diastasis recti.

Start on your side, arm under your head for support. Place your other hand on the floor in front of you.  Your legs can be bent (great start position) or long (increasing the challenge).Draw your tummy in and up; remember you are aiming to minimise pelvic movement. Gently swing the leg up and down whilst keeping the pelvis stable.

10. Tricep Dips

To help maintain a strong upper body and keep shape to your arms it’s great to include dips into your program. The tricep dip exercise isolates the tricep specifically and helps improve your push-ups and will help you carry your little ones around.

Begin sitting on a bench or seat with your heels on the ground and knees bent. Bring your palms slightly behind your hips, fingertips facing the heels, keeping your elbows bent. Press the heels of your feet and hands into the ground as you raise your hips few inches off the floor

If you loved this workout and want more, the team at BUMP Health are offering an exclusive discount for NOTSOMUMSY readers when you sign up to their program, using the code Mumsy5. Head to their website bumphealth.com.au/bump-at-home/ for more information.