Oh Baby! Fitness Blog

While preparing a speech on pregnancy and exercise this weekend, I started to think about all the different pregnancy symptoms that I’ve seen exercise help. I say the phrase all the time – “exercise can help manage almost all the crazy (and let’s be real, often painful or at least uncomfortable) pregnancy symptoms” but I’d never written it down to make a list of what I know exercise can help with. As a ran through my mental rolodex of clients, I was astounded by how many different symptoms and physical complaints exercise has helped with. Here’s my running list so far:

Swelling (feet and hands)

Calf Cramps/Charlie horses

Varicose Veins

Pelvic Pain

Pubic Symphysis

Hip pain

SI Joint pain

Sciatic pain

Spinning breech babies to head down position

Carpel Tunnel

Nausea

Insomnia

Control/Manage Gestational Diabetes

Control overall weight gain

That’s a pretty big list! Seeing it all listed out is a great reminder about why exercise can be so beneficial during pregnancy—it’s not only good for the health benefits (for both mom and baby), it also can really, clearly, immediately help manage the worst parts of pregnancy. Pretty incredible stuff!

Check out our video on how to perform a self-check to see if you have any abdominal muscle separation during your pregnancy. It’s good to know it you have a split, so you can know what exercises to do to repair it after your baby is born. Weak/split stomach muscles can cause back pain if not corrected.

If you’d like more info on safe pregnancy and mom & baby exercise to go www.ohbabyfitness.com

Partner Pose in Oh Baby! Fitness Prenatal Yoga Class

Oh Baby! Fitness classes are a great way to get fit, bond with your baby and make new friends. In all of our classes, we’ll often partner women up for different exercises. It gives women time to talk, share and work on better form during exercise. This partner pose in our prenatal yoga class this week is so beautiful! Truly relying on your partner to hold you up and get the full stretch the pose allows. Come try one of our pregnancy classes. You’ll get in the best shape of your life, and you’ll make some lifelong friends.

You may have seen the headline, “Exercise May Not Limit Pregnancy Weight Gain.” The story comes from a new Brazilian study of obese women who joined a study group half way through their pregnancy (around 3 – 5 months). The researchers split the women into two groups. Half went to weekly exercise classes and got counseled on nutrition, weight gain and home exercises or walking they could do daily. The other women received standard prenatal care advice, but no extra information on exercise.

Regardless of whether they were assigned to do group and at-home exercise, about half of the women gained more weight than recommended upper limits. Read the full story on the study here.

What do these findings mean?
1- Exercise during pregnancy isn’t about weight loss, it’s about establishing good habits.
Pregnancy is the perfect time to build habits that will last for the rest of your life. As the study states, pregnancy is an “ideal time for behavioral modification for the benefit of both mother and the baby.” Becoming pregnant can inspire women to make important, healthy changes to their lifestyle that can become a model for their children. At Oh Baby! Fitness, we’ve watched lots of women start exercising for the first time during their pregnancy. A healthy habit is created, and after pregnancy, women continue to exercise and feel great and the weight truly starts to come off.

2- Being in shape before getting pregnant matters
Weight is harder to control during pregnancy. Starting your pregnancy at a healthy weight is a great way to lower your risk for c-section and having a large baby. If you start your pregnancy obese or overweight, start an exercise program as soon as your doctor advises. As the article says, “starting an exercise or diet program mid-way through pregnancy probably isn’t as useful as intervening very early in pregnancy — or better yet, before.”

3- Doctors recommend 30 minutes of exercise a day for ALL pregnant women, regardless of weight
Even obese and overweight pregnant women are advised to exercise for 30 minutes a day on most if not all days of the week. These 30 minutes can help you deal with pregnancy complaints (everything from swelling to heart burn to back pain to insomnia can be helped by exercise) while also preparing you for labor and being a new mom. Take the time during your pregnancy to create the healthy habit of exercise and activity that you can pass on to your child.

Senior Oh Baby! Fitness Instructor, Kathleen Donahoe, helps answer all the questions we get about stability balls and exercise during pregnancy:
What kind of Stability Ball is best for me to purchase when pregnant?
How do I sit on the ball properly?
What kind of exercises can I do to relieve low back and pelvic pain?

Our model, Maggie, wore a Blanqi during the exercise videos. They really help to give you support while exercising and make you shapely too. If you want one for yourself, Oh Baby! Fitness clients get FREE shipping. Enter code OhBaby at online checkout to take advantage of this special deal.

A big shout out to Piedmont Hospital Health and Fitness Club for letting us shoot our videos in their beautiful space. Oh Baby LOVES Piedmont Hospital!!

The plank is an excellent exercise to strengthen the chest, abdominal and lower back muscles. Senior Oh Baby! Fitness instructor Kathleen Donahoe gives three different variations on this awesome exercise for the core and lower back. Great exercise for pregnant women AND new moms!

Push ups are a great exercise to build chest, triceps and abdominal strength. Use this quick modification to make push ups safe for pregnant and new moms. Proper modification taught by Senior Oh Baby! Fitness Instructor, Kathleen Donahoe.

Dear Oh Baby! Fitness,

As we finish my first session of Oh Baby classes, I just wanted to send you a quick note of thanks. I have absolutely LOVED my Pilates, combo, and water aerobics classes these last two months. I have learned so much about my body, my pregnancy, and all that goes with that from your great instructors and fellow classmates. Even on the days that I thought I would fall over from exhaustion, going to class renewed my energy and my spirit. I knew that I would enjoy being around other pregnant women, but had no idea how much information and support I would take from everyone.

I started my pregnancy with too much weight already, and I had great concerns about risking my health and our baby’s by gaining too much more. The classes have helped me to stay in shape and stay motivated to watch my food intake as well. My OB and my husband are both thrilled with my progress. I feel amazing, and give lots of credit to these classes for helping me stay active and in great spirits as so much in my life is changing!

Kathleen and Elizabeth are wonderful, and I’m so excited that I’ll be able to continue the same class schedule with the same instructors. They are so supportive, educated, interested, and funny. They make even Pilates side series and combo lunges fun! You have done an excellent job in staffing with lovely women that inspire and educate us. Even my makeup classes with various instructors have been so welcoming and helpful.

I wanted you to know that I am a walking advertisement for your program. My friends and family are amazed at my progress and commitment to classes 3 days a week, and I highly recommend your program to every pregnant person I run into! Thank you so much for developing such a great outlet for pregnant women. I look forward to starting the next session with your team!

Sincerely,
Heidi
20 weeks pregnant

You hear us talk about Kegel Exercises all the time in our prenatal and mom & baby fitness classes. It’s one of the most important exercises you can do before, during and after your pregnancy. Why?

Strong pelvic floor muscles help you in several ways:

1. You’ll avoid incontinence (peeing when you sneeze, jump or laugh).
Did you know 67% of women suffer incontinence after pregnancy?
You don’t have to be a statistic! Learn how to do Kegels now!

2. By doing Kegel exercises properly, you’ll learn how to tighten and RELEASE your pelvic floor muscles. Knowing where your pelvic floor is located and how to engage it is SUPER important during delivery. If you can release your pelvic floor muscle, you can easily push your baby out.

3. Kegel exercises strengthen your pelvic floor and in turn helps strengthen your inner abdominals. Strong abdominals mean better posture and less back pain.

4. Women who perform Kegel exercises during pregnancy and immediately after delivery will recover FASTER than women who don’t do Kegels.

Oh Baby! Fitness Senior Instructor Kathleen Donahoe demonstrates how to perform a proper Kegel Exercise in this short video:

Oh Baby! Fitness Senior Instructor Kathleen Donahoe leads us through a proper wall sit for pregnant women. Wall sits are a great exercise for building lower back and glute strength during pregnancy. It’s also a great way to prepare for labor. Wall sits are also a great exercise to rebuild strength AFTER you’ve delivered your baby. You always have a wall and you always have a minute. Go ahead, get strong and do a wall sit.. or two or three today! Go to www.ohbabyfitness.com for tips and videos regarding safe exercise for new and expectant moms.