Dublin Holistic Centre
28 South William St.
Dublin 2.
(opp Metro Café)
Pilates helps maintain and improve the condition of both your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles.
Pilates will not put a strain on the joints or back, but rather back will be strengthened as will the stomach muscles around the pelvic area – allowing for and easier pregnancy, delivery and recovery.
We only recommend pilates during the first trimester if you have been regularly practising pilates before you became pregnant. If you new to pilates you should wait until your pregnancy is well established from weeks 12-16 depending on how you feel. In the first 3 months, the changing hormones in the body can make you feel exhausted and nauseous, but gentle exercise can even be done while lying in bed. Often a little exercise can energise the body and make you feel mentally and physically better due to the endorphin or “happy hormone” release that occurs when you exercise. If you are feeling exhausted and fatigued then best to wait until the 14th to 16th week. You can discuss your pregnancy with our instructors at studio 23 and we will advise you on when to start.
The second Trimester is for most women the easier part of pregnancy as energy levels are generally higher and you can do more exercise at this stage for maximum benefit. Your pilates exercises will be modified on a case-by-case basis to your ability and stage of pregnancy. The program will include exercises to strengthen upper and lower back muscles, to help with lower trunk mobility, to keep bum and tums toned and the pelvic floor muscles active which will help during labour and will really help to get the body back in shape post pregnancy.
The last trimester can be the most uncomfortable for the mother. As you become heavier and more restricted in your movements it is important to keep up your mobility and flexibility and breathing exercises. It is important with any exercise that you do not spend more than 3 minutes on your back. Pilates at this stage will combine gentle exercises with mobility exercises to help with the increased pull on the shoulders, back and legs.
Price: $120 euros 6 week - course
Starting on the 28th of Sep (Tue) or the 29th Sep (Wed)
Time: 1pm (45 min class)
The national guidelines for post natal pilates to get the body back into shape is recommended as 6 weeks post birth, generally after your 6 week check up.
If you have had a caesarean birth or tearing of the tissue and stitches during birth it will be up to your doctor of midwife when they recommend that you come back to pilates or begin an exercise program.
Pilates is a wonderful way to get rid of baby fat and tone up the abdominal muscles.
Ladies have been amazed at the results after 6-8 weeks of pilates once a week to give them flatter tummies and increased strength which helps with holding the baby during breast feeding.
They are also amazed at how much easier it is to hold and cradle the baby for extended periods of time, and happy that their backs aren’t hurting with all the bending over when changing nappies.
Pilates also helps to bring you back to good posture following the 9 months of extension of the neck and pull on the lower back.
It will also help with regulating your hormones.
It takes about 9 months post pregnancy for the hormones to settle and for your body to return to normal.
The best results are achieved by a slow steady build up of strength.
During pregnancy there are a lot of hormonal and physiological changes. Due to the pull of the weight of the baby to the front of the body the back is put into a position of lordsis or sway back putting pressure on the legs and the upper back. At the same time with the shift of weight in the body the upper back is put into a position of kyphosis or slight hump back with rounded shoulders and extended head and neck. This puts the body off balance and out of postural balance.
Pilates will increase strength to both upper and lower muscles of the body front and back to help maintain posture during pregnancy and to help bring the body back to good posture post pregnancy. It will strengthen the tummy muscles which help during labour and again post pregnancy to bring the tummy muscles back into shape.
Women are generally quite weak in the upper body area, upper back, shoulders and arms. Pilates will help to strengthen the shoulders and arms which will help during lifting, carrying and cradling of the baby.
The muscles of the thighs and calves are under new pressure as the pregnancy increases so the stretching and lengthening of the muscles during pilates is of great benefit to fatigued legs.