Body aches, constipation, dizziness, heartburn, stretch marks, varicose veins...the list goes on and on! Pregnancy is an exciting time in our lives, but our bodies go through a lot! It's commonly accepted that exercising throughout pregnancy can help decrease discomfort, and is a great way to prepare for labor and delivery.
But the big question is what exactly are you allowed to do and what is safe for both you and your baby. When I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to be as healthy as possible, but I didn't know exactly what to do. Due to my background as a German actress and fitness enthusiast, I decided to create something that would help moms-to-be feel healthy and fit throughout pregnancy, be better prepared for labor and delivery, and recover faster after childbirth.
I designed my MOVE IT MAMA workouts to be 15 - 30 minutes long - so busy women could squeeze this important 'me-time' into their schedules.
Cardio, pelvic floor, booty, core, and stretching exercises all have significant benefits from building muscle tone to supporting your growing belly. They can also help increase your endurance for labor and delivery, provide support for your inner organs, back, and core, and help you maintain a healthy weight gain.
Here are some of my suggestions:
Let's take Mama's Little Middle – the workout series in MOVE IT MAMA that focuses on your abs, core, and lower back.
Core workouts are important to stabilize your "little middle," prevent you from experiencing back pain and help you to get back to feeling like yourself again after baby. Many women believe that you should not do any ab workouts while pregnant, but the key is to do the right exercises at the right time!
In your first trimester, you are still allowed to do almost all exercises as long as you feel good. Listening to your body is so important.
This example below shows how to work the straight abs and obliques. Sit nice and tall, feet on the ground, press your hands together, lean back a little bit and open to one side, then back to center and to the other side. Do this exercise for 30-45 seconds.
In your second trimester, you want to make sure not to crunch your abs anymore. You also want to make sure not to put too much pressure on your core in order to prevent the risk of diastasis recti.
Can you still plank? Yes, you can, but as you move later into your 2nd trimester, I recommend to modify onto your knees. Now try to pull your growing baby against the spine, bring the knee in and out, then pull it into the side of your body.
In your third trimester, I suggest focusing on your side muscles as they stabilize your core and help to reduce back pain.
I love the exercise lying on my side, bringing up my legs a bit and from here scissor the legs for 30 seconds, then switch sides. It works your side abs but also the lower back muscles!
This is how I supported my body and mind from the inside-out throughout my pregnancy. I was supporting my body by wearing the Belly Bandit® 2-in-1 Bandit™ While the 3rd-trimester I wore the Belly Bandit® Bump Support™ Capri Leggings during my 100% low-impact-cardio training.
I was fortunate to have an easy pregnancy and gave birth vaginally. I felt physically and mentally prepared due to the right exercises, diet, and having the love of my life at my side. Postpartum, I was wearing a Belly Bandit Belly Wrap all day long and starting with gentle workouts to ease back into exercising. Still, my body and mind needed much more time to fully recover, but I already felt that I was on the right path due to all the pregnancy workouts I had done.
And that motivated me to get back into exercising postpartum even though I felt tired and overwhelmed with the new situation. But postnatal workouts is another full blog post, so let's say we'll see each other here again for another post. For now, I'd like to wish you all the best, enjoy every moment of your pregnancy, find your perfect workouts, and don't forget to check out MOVE IT MAMA.
Downloadable in your app store and google play store. Send an email to mama@moveitmama.de with “Birte+BellyBandit” as the subject line and get one month free.
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About Birte Glang:
Birte, mommy of one, well-known German actress, fitness expert, lawyer and entrepreneur, and a 100% Belly Bandit fan!
She founded MOVE IT MAMA in 2017. 2020 MOVE IT MAMA was launched as the world's most comprehensive Mommy-Workout-App for iOS and Android. All workouts were filmed in Los Angeles and show Birte's own body transformation through all phases of pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and beyond. She lives in Cologne/Germany and Santa Monica/California and is married to known DJ MOGUAI.
