Do Prenatal Exercise Guidelines Provide Enough Guidance?

Exercise during pregnancy benefits both you and your baby. It’s one of the first decisions you can make for the health of your child. Unfortunately less than 25% of moms-to-be are meeting the physical activity recommendations. The reason? Lack of guidance. Your doctor has probably encouraged you to exercise, and may have even reviewed the prenatal exercise guidelines with you. So why do so many people feel like they don’t have enough guidance to exercise? My assumption is that most moms don’t have the experience to translate the recommendations into practice. At a time when you may be worried about safety, and feel scared that you’re going to do something to harm you or the baby, a little more specificity and support implementing the guidelines can go along way. It’s not necessarily that guidelines don’t provide guidance, but rather more moms need access to professionals that can help them understand how to put them into practice. Let’s take a look and translate the American College of Sports Medicine Prenatal Exercise Guidelines a bit further so that you don’t end up in the 75+% of moms that don’t get enough activity during pregnancy.

Recommendation One: “Accumulate 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week. Physical Activity is encouraged everyday, but should occur over a minimum of 3 days per week.”

The Breakdown: Moderate refers to intensity. There is no longer a heart rate max. limit during pregnancy. The best way to monitor intensity is to use the Borg Scale, which measures perceived exertion. A moderate intensity generally falls between 12-14 (breathing harder, but can still talk). If you were active before pregnancy, higher intensities may be appropriate, however maximum intensities for most people should be avoided. Suggesting you accumulate 150 minutes means the amount of activity can fluctuate each day, but you’re aiming to total 150.

My Take: Structured Exercise is important, but just as important is not being sedentary. Move more to make your pregnant body feel good. I’ve seen such success with strength training that I’d recommend two days of full body 30-minute strength workouts (more if you enjoy it and have energy), and walking on most other days (around 20-30 min. each day). If you like to do different forms of cardio you can supplement the walking.

Recommendation Two: “A variety of physical activities should be incorporated, both aerobic and resistance in nature, along with yoga and gentle stretching.”

The Breakdown: Aerobic is another word for cardio workouts and refers to workouts that challenge the cardio-respiratory system (walking, dancing, possibly jogging/biking). “Resistance in nature” refers to workouts that use resistance to target muscle strength (bodyweight, free weights, machines, bands, etc.). The guidelines state yoga or gentle stretching because you can usually find prenatal options, but the purpose here is to emphasize lengthening muscles that tend to get tight during pregnancy.

My Take: In terms of resistance training, rather than focusing on training specific muscle groups, emphasize training movement patterns like squats, lunges, hip hinges, push, pull and (anti) rotational movements. This will ensure you’re able to continue to move well as your body changes. The guidelines may give you the impression by using the term “gentle”, that you need to be worried about the type of mobility work you do, but even with the relaxin hormone there isn’t a ton of evidence saying that it will contribute to injury. Yoga is a great option, but for the non-yogis, a dynamic warm up before a strength session, or some targeted stretching at the end of a walk can serve the same purpose. The goal is really to keep your joints moving as they should, despite some muscles being shortened due to the changes in your body while pregnant….hips are usually an area that feels tight for pregnant moms.

Recommendation Three: “Pelvic Floor related exercises (e.g., Kegels) should be performed daily”

The Breakdown:Your pelvic floor muscles are impacted both by hormones, change in function of abdominal muscles, changed breathing, and weight of the baby. Unfortunately most people don’t know much about the pelvic floor until pregnancy, and usually when they experience incontinence. Your pelvic floor muscles can be considered the basement of your core, so to have a functional and strong core during pregnancy, training these muscles can’t be ignored.

My Take: Aiming to daily kegels is a bit unrealistic and not super helpful for most people. However this recommendation is new to the guidelines and a very important addition. More effective than stationary and isolated exercises like kegels, is being able to incorporate both contraction and relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles during movement. I’d prefer people do this during strength training and major movement patterns because that’s when you need to be the most functional. Use kegels to teach yourself what activation of these muscles feels like, and then learn to coordinate activation with breath and movement.

Recommendation Four: “Warm-up and cool-down periods should be included in any Physical Activity regimen”

The Breakdown: Think of a warm-up and cool-down as transition periods. The warm-up should prepare your body for the type of exercise you’re going to do, and the cool-down should help you return to a resting state after working out.

My Take: Your body’s cardiovascular system changes quite a bit during pregnancy. The higher blood volume can mean a higher heart rate. A warm-up and cool-down can help you gradually increase and decrease your heart and respiratory rates, so for those of you that didn’t make much time for that before, you may find it more beneficial during pregnancy. However, you don’t necessarily need a specific routine. If you’re going for a brisk walk, your warm-up might mean starting slow and gradually increasing your pace. If you’re working out first thing in the morning, it might mean a longer period of mobilizing areas that tend to get tight during pregnancy, like back and hips. Your warm-up should mimic your workout and your cool-down should be to bring your body closer to a relaxed, resting state.

Recommendation Five: “Physical Activity programs should be individualized for each woman based on situation, experience, and current health status”

The Breakdown: Avoid any one-size-fits-all fitness advice. Factors like exercise history, pregnancy complications, access to equipment, energy level, and ability to perform strength exercises with good form…it all should be considered in workout selection or program design.

My Take: In reality, fitness should always be individualized, but it’s unrealistic to think everyone can have access to a fitness professional that can customize your program. However, if there is anytime to be thoughtful about exercise, it’s during pregnancy. Exercise can be your most powerful tool in combatting the aches and pains of pregnancy, and feeling strong and confident. Take some time to self-assess your needs and abilities. Don’t get caught up in the internet rabbit hole of Do’s and Don’ts, or best exercises for each trimester. Don’t overcomplicate things. If you aren’t able to seek the support of a prenatal exercise specialist, keep it simple: Walk often, hit the major movement patterns twice per week incorporating pelvic floor work, and stay mobile.

Hopefully, this breakdown has eased some anxiety and motivate you to exercise during pregnancy. Continue to follow this blog for tips or @activemomfitness on Instagram.

Five Reasons for Moms to Workout on Vacation

Summertime tends to be packed with weekend getaways to the beach and family vacations and when it comes time to pack, we often pause and wonder if we should throw our workout clothes into the suitcase. We all deserve to disconnect, relax and stray from our normal routine, so you’ll get no judgment from me if you choose to leave your sneakers at home. However, for those of you throwing your mini bands in your luggage, I also support that. Here are 5 reasons why working out on vacation may be beneficial for moms:

1. Try a new activity: At home, you probably tend to use the same fitness app, or walk the same route, or go to the same classes, but vacation is a great time to experiment with a new activity. On my last vacation, I didn’t necessarily change the exercises, but by doing lunges in the sand my muscles worked in an entirely different way. Check to see if paddle boarding or yoga in the water is an option on your next trip.

2. Explore a new city: If you’re staying away from the beach and heading to a cultural destination, renting a bike or jogging through neighborhoods is a great way to explore the city. Stopping along your route to take pictures or marvel at art, won’t even feel like exercise. So next time you find yourself in a new city, skip the bus tour and hit the pavement.

3. Planning ahead: How often do we go on vacation only to end up with double the work and emails when we get back? This happened to me recently after taking a couple of days off. The week of my return was busier than ever and finding time to get back to exercise felt impossible. If you’re anticipating missed workouts when you get home, consider staying active while away.

4. Avoid pain and stiffness: Our body needs to move to feel good. Whether you’re traveling by train or car, if your destination involves sitting for a long period of time then setting some time aside for physical activity when you arrive makes sense. At the very minimum, go for a walk once you get to your destination so you don’t wake up stiff and with a sore back.

5. Maintain consistency: I believe fitness is a lifestyle. Your overall fitness level isn’t going to change a ton if you’re consistent year-round with the exception of a few weeks you take vacations. However, if you tend to travel every other weekend in the summer, you might want to include exercise in those plans. If it’s possible that you’ll be skipping workouts week after week, by incorporating activity into your travel plans you’ll avoid the feeling of needing to “get back on track” after Labor Day.

Now that I’ve discussed the five reasons you should work out, let me make mention that fear of gaining weight is NOT a good reason for most consistent exercisers. If you’re good about exercising weekly at home, a few days away may mean a few extra pounds if you’re indulging in good food and drinks, but as soon as you return from vacation your body will strive to get back to your baseline. Enjoy your vacation and return to your healthiest habits when you get home.

Help Your Hips By Training This Muscle

If you’ve ever worked with me, you know that I’m slightly obsessed with training glutes, but it’s about way more than aesthetics…although “mom butt” is a thing, so glute exercises are key to combat the flat butt appearance that can occur during or after pregnancy. 

The reason I include glute exercises in every session is because they play a major role in both hip stability and movement (they also provide stability for the knee, SI joint, and spine, but that’s for another post). In this article, I’m hoping I can convince you that training your glutes two times per week is essential for your hips…and aesthetics.

Let’s talk about anatomy first. You actually have three muscles that make up the glutes. When any of these muscles are weak or tight, your hips are impacted. 

The gluteus maximus is the superficial gluteal muscle and is the largest of the trio. This is the one that makes up the shape of your butt/hips. The gluteus maximus is responsible for the force required to stand from a seated position, go up the stairs, or generate power in athletic movements. The primary movement of the gluteus maximus is to extend your hip (bring the leg backward or stand upright from a bent position), as well as external rotation of the hip. 

Image from Knee-pain-explained.com

The glute medius is a broad fan-shaped muscle found between the maximus and minimus, as a middle layer. It works with the minimus to provide hip stability when one leg is off the ground, like when you’re standing on one leg or during walking and running. The gluteus medius also works with the minimus to abduct your hip (lift your leg out to the side). Your pelvis won’t be as stable if your glute medius is weak, which can then cause issues in your knees and lower back.

The glute minimus is also fan-shaped and is the smallest of the glute muscles. It also lies deepest, under the glute medius. The glute minimus assists the glute medius in the stability of the pelvis, hip abduction, and hip rotation. If you’re lifting your leg out to the side, or standing on one leg, this muscle is activated.

So now that you know there are three glute muscles, let’s talk a bit more about what they do and the exercises that train them.

As already mentioned, they are stabilizers. They work with other core muscles to help stabilize your trunk and hip, which helps with posture and proper alignment. This is why if you’ve ever been in physical therapy, glutes are usually a part of the program. Outside of stability, you’ve learned that glutes are responsible for hip movement, which are as follows:

• Hip extension refers to straightening at the hip joint. This can happen when standing from a bent or seated position, or when you extend your leg backward. If your glutes are weak then you might overuse your back muscles when bending and lifting, causing pain or even injury.

• Hip abduction is when your leg moves away from the midline of your body. Your glutes help your legs move in this direction, but also provide stability by activating in movements that could cause too much or too little rotation, like when you perform wide stance squats.

• Hip rotation is when your thigh rotates away from your midline.

Now let’s take a quick look at examples of glute exercises.

There are several variations of hip abduction, extension, and rotation exercises, which means you can continue to make progress by progressively challenging yourself.

The gluteus maximus is activated both in horizontal and vertical exercises. Vertical exercises would be variations of squats, lunges, deadlifts, step-ups, and kickbacks. Horizontal exercises would be variations of hip thrusts and glute bridges.

The glute medius and minimus are activated during hip abduction and rotational exercises. Examples of these include the quadruped fire hydrant, seated abduction machine, clam shells, band wood chops, or lateral mini band exercises like shuffling and side leg lifts.

After you become pregnant, you probably become more aware of your hips than ever before. If you’re in need of more strength and stability, glutes are a key factor. With so many exercises to choose from, if you’re just starting out don’t complicate things. Choose one horizontal hip extension exercise, one vertical hip extension exercise, and one hip abduction exercise. As you progress, or if you’re looking to do a bit more sculpting, your volume may need to increase and you’ll experiment with different variations, but for now…get those two days per week of glute training! 

PS. If your hips are feeling tight, try this hip mobility flow!

Nap or Workout? What's More Beneficial For You?

Do you get enough sleep? Yikes, I know this might be a sensitive subject or silly question for moms with babies. But, it is a question worth asking if it is rephrased to, “Do you get enough sleep to work out?” Exercise is a physical stressor on the body. So is sleep deprivation. So if you exercise while sleep-deprived, you need to consider the consequences. However, we also know that exercise has many benefits, including aiding in sleep and providing energy…so avoiding it all together isn’t always the best solution either. 

For many moms there probably won’t be one answer. It will probably vary week to week based on cumulative sleep loss and type of physical activity, knowing some workouts are more intense than others. So although I can’t give you a definitive answer, I can provide you with some factors to consider when you’re debating whether the 30-minute nap vs. 30 minutes of exercise is more beneficial for you.

If you are strength training and not getting adequate sleep after workouts, your results could be compromised. During resistance training your muscles essentially break down and it’s in repairing that you see results like increased strength and definition. Growth Hormone is the hormone responsible for this repair, however, this hormone is produced during sleep. So if you’re not sleeping enough, your muscles may not have sufficient repair time to see the results you’re working for. So in this case it may sound like a nap is more beneficial, but a 30-minute nap may not get you to the stage of sleep you need to produce Growth Hormone. You could choose the workout, but if you do, make sure you can get enough sleep that night to support your efforts or perform a workout that does less damage to your muscles.

If you find that when you are participating in the same type of exercise as usual, but your workouts are seemingly harder, this could mean the lack of sleep is impacting your perceived level of exertion. Research has shown that with insufficient sleep, your workouts may feel more challenging than you’d normally think they are. Most people don’t like to suffer through workouts they believe they should be able to do, so this change in perception might dissuade you from keeping up with your exercise plan. However, studies do show that interval training with intervals of 30 seconds or less may not impact your perception of exertion quite as much as longer intervals.

If you’re exercising with a weight loss goal, lack of sleep can interfere with your progress. You have hormones like Lepitin, ghrelin, and endocannabinoids and their role is to regulate appetite. Without proper sleep, they may cause you to crave carbohydrates. Cortisol is another hormone that is impacted by sleep. With the stress of sleep deprivation, your levels of cortisol may remain high which then affects both weight loss and can disrupt sleep.

If you’re wondering if there are actually any benefits to napping, there are. Studies have shown that napping can improve cognitive function. If your brain feels foggy, or your attention span isn’t great, or your memory seems off, napping could be of benefit to you. The best time to nap is between 1-4 pm and between 20-40 minutes so that you don’t disrupt your bedtime sleep. Additionally, when observing sleep deprived athletes, there is evidence that napping can improve physical performance (the same improvement was not seen in well rested athletes). 

Well, I started this post saying that there won’t be one answer, but I’ve definitely given you some things to consider. My best advice would be if your sleep deprivation is chronic, that you should aim for low to moderate-intensity exercise, and just enough to meet the physical activity recommendations for health. If your sleep deprivation is more acute, considering the timing of your workout may be beneficial. Because exercise performance decreases each hour after waking, aiming for physical activity early in the day can lead to a better workout. If there is a possibility for a nap, I’d suggest not planning to work out in the afternoon between 1-4, as that would be prime time for a nap. If you decide to nap before a workout, giving yourself at least 30 minutes of wake time before activity is recommended.

As you navigate your sleep cycle, a flexible exercise plan can feel more manageable. On days you get good rest, maybe a workout later in the day is possible. On days you wake up early, aim for a morning workout. If your sleep deprivation is sporadic, maybe you skip the workout altogether, or aim for shorter intervals rather than the endurance workout you planned.

At Active Mom Fitness, sleep and the ability to recover are always a factor. If you need more guidance navigating a workout program that works while you’re sleep-deprived, schedule a consultation.