During Oh Baby! Fitness pregnancy classes, our instructors are always asking moms to “hug your baby” or “draw the baby up and in” while exercising. The instructors are cuing clients to engage their abdominal muscles. Contracting the abdominal muscles leads to better posture, stronger inner abdominal muscles (called the transverse abdominals) and aids in pelvic floor strengthening too.
Moms want to try to have engaged abs most of the time as good posture is one of the quickest fixes for most pregnancy complaints. Knowing how to ‘hug your baby’ during pregnancy is a challenge for some women. Senior Oh Baby! Fitness Instructor Kathleen Donahoe shows you what it looks like to engage the abdominal muscles and hug your baby in this video:
REALLY BIG HUG
Once your baby is on the outside.. you’ll want to do lots of hugging on him or her. My baby is now six years old. A while ago, we realized we were hugging every day, but we weren’t always having BIG hugs. My daughter invented the R.B.H. — A Really Big Hug.
Now, each day.. we ask, “Did I get an R.B.H today?” It makes hugging so special and guarantees we get and give hugs every day! It’s surprising, but as your little one gets older, the hugs and cuddles are fewer and farther between. Really Big Hugs have definitely helped increase my hug count.. and spouses, grandparents, friends.. kitties and doggies.. love R.B.H’s too. Try a Really Big Hug today.. and let me know the response you get!!
Hugs!
Clare Schexnyder
Owner, Oh Baby! Fitness
