There are many benefits to doing core training during pregnancy! 3-action boob stick, conducive to normal delivery and accelerated postpartum recovery

Core Training

Is it still safe to train your abs while pregnant? The answer is yes, strong abdominal muscles can support the weight of the growing fetus and share the burden of overused lower back muscles. Many pregnant women begin to experience tight and sore lower back muscles in the middle to late stages of pregnancy. This is mainly due to insufficient core strength, which causes the body's center of gravity to change and increases the burden on the lower back muscles. Strong core muscles can also help push the baby during delivery, and a strong core can also help us recover faster after delivery.

As mentioned in the previous myths about exercise during pregnancy (see page 35, Myth 9), when we exercise our abdominal muscles during pregnancy, we should not focus on developing six-pack abs or waistline, but should focus on training the transverse abdominal muscle. The transverse abdominal muscle is like a belt that wraps horizontally around the deep part of our abdomen. A strong transverse abdominal muscle can help us tie our big belly to our body more powerfully. The transverse abdominal muscle is a key muscle that helps maintain a healthy and good posture during pregnancy.

How to exercise the transverse abdominal muscle? It’s actually not difficult at all. You can do it while lying on the bed, sitting on a chair, or kneeling on the floor. I personally feel that I can get a better feel for it by kneeling at the beginning:

1. First inhale and feel your stomach filling with air.

2. Exhale slowly, and as you exhale, pull your stomach inward. Imagine your navel is pushing towards your spine. When it reaches the limit, hold on to that position and stay still. You can breathe lightly without holding your breath, but feel the muscles tightening, probably the kind that makes your stomach sore when you laugh or cough.

3. Hold on until you can't hold on any longer, then relax your stomach and return to its original position. You can do 3 to 4 sets a day.

Other suitable core-relieving exercises include the following:

Bird Dog

1. Kneel on all fours with your knees directly below your hip joints.

2. Straighten your arms with your palms flat on the floor, directly below your shoulders.

3. Keep your head, cervical vertebrae and spine in the same straight line, and keep your back straight. Be careful not to shrug your shoulders and round your back.

4. Contract the muscles of the trunk (core) to keep the body stable.

5. Slowly raise your right leg and extend it backward to hip height. At the same time, slowly raise your left arm and extend it forward to shoulder height.

6. Maintain this position for 10 seconds, then slowly return to the starting position.

7. Pay attention to exerting strength in your core throughout the process and keep your body stable without shaking.

[Lying on your back with your knees bent and your legs raised]

1. Lie flat on the floor, adjust the position of your feet so that your knees and hips are bent at 90 degrees, place your hands flat on both sides of your waist and keep your body stable.

2. Tighten the core strength of your torso, slowly lift your right foot off the ground, keeping your knee bent at 90 degrees, hold for 10 seconds, then slowly lower it back to the starting position.

3. When doing this movement, please be careful not to do it too fast. The purpose is not to practice the mobility of the legs, but to use the slow movement of the legs to exercise the stability of the core.

【Pelvic floor muscle training】

Some pregnant women may experience urinary incontinence during late pregnancy and after delivery when laughing, sneezing, or engaging in cardiopulmonary exercise. Therefore, performing pelvic floor muscle exercises every day throughout pregnancy, not just in the first trimester, can help slow down or even prevent this problem.

Kegel exercises are a type of training that assists the muscles around the bladder, uterus, and intestines. If we have strong pelvic floor muscles, we will also have strong abdominal muscles. The pelvic floor muscles and abdominal muscles are related and contract together. When the pelvic floor muscles contract, the transverse abdominal muscles will also contract spontaneously. Therefore, when doing Kegel exercises, training the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles is a good training that kills two birds with one stone.

Find the location and feeling of the pelvic floor muscles. The muscle that stops the urine flow when you hold your urine or urinate halfway, or the muscle that closes the anus is the pelvic floor muscle.

Imagine your pelvic floor muscles are an elevator, and try to raise them in three times with different strengths: imagine the pelvic floor muscles on the first floor (pelvic floor muscles relaxed), the second floor (pelvic floor muscles half contracted), and the third floor (pelvic floor muscles completely tightened). Pull up like this, stay on the third floor for 3-5 seconds, and finally slowly descend to the first floor (slowly relax).

You can do this exercise anytime and anywhere every day, while watching TV, taking the bus, or lying in bed. It is best to do 8-12 sets a day to achieve the effect of building muscle strength.

This article is from the book "STAY FIT WITH MI: A popular fitness coach's complete plan for healthy exercise, nutritious eating, and keeping the fetus healthy without gaining weight during pregnancy" published by Chunguang Publishing