Bump to Birth | Pilates with Priya

Top 3 exercises for preparing for labour/birth

15 December, 2014 Priya Tew

Giving birth is amazing, scary, hard work, unpredictable, a miracle and beautiful. I’ve only been through it twice and both times it has been a different, but unbelievable experience. I’m completely in awe of how the female body nurtures the baby and then goes through the birthing process. I learnt so much from giving birth the first time that it has shaped the way I teach my classes, with a focus on remembering to practice breathing, relaxing the pelvic floor and releasing tight muscles groups.

So here are my top 3 exercises to help you prepare for labour.

I used hip circles throughout my second labour as I found I naturally wanted to do this movement and it helped me work through my contractions.

The “drop the baby” exercise is the one I so needed to know before baby 1 as I was rubbish at relaxing my core! There are disadvantages to having a strong core 😉

CAT is one of the favourite exercises in my pregnancy classes. It is great for helping release and mobilise tight lower backs and just feels so good when you are pregnancy.

Go practise ladies!

If you want more exercises to help you through prepare for labour, help you through pregnancy and also postnatally then please check out my DVD’s.

Strengthen your gluts (bum toners)

12 October, 2014 Priya Tew

The gluts have become something of a hobby horse of mine lately. Why? Because I’ve noticed so many of my clients need to strengthen them, or cannot work them in certain exercises.

The gluteals are made up of 3 parts: gluteus maximus, minimus and medius. In general terms these are the bum muscles 😉 Weak gluts can lead to lower back pain, poor posture and a saggy bum!

Gluteus maximus is the heaviest muscle in the body and makes up the bulk of the bottom. It attaches in the hip, goes round to the sacrum and coccyx, then inserts into the femur and IT band. A big muscle. It is used in movements that extend the hip such as getting up from sitting and running, walking up stairs and jumping. I certainly notice these muscles are weak in a lot of my postnatal clients, usually as a result of poor posture in pregnancy and post-birth but also as a result of SPD/pelvic girdle pain.

Gluteus medius and minimus are a deeper muscles that helps support the pelvis. They are used for movements that require moving the hip to the side, such as a side step. A tight muscle can lead to lower back, hip and knee pain.

Glut strengtheners:

Shoulder bridge.

One of my fav exercises. However you really need to make sure you are squeezing and using your bum muscles when doing this so you don’t compensate and use the lower back muscles.

Glut Extension prone.

Try lying on your tummy and lifting one leg by squeezing in the bum. Again not using the lower back but use the glut to do the work here. If it isn’t working, try turning you heels in and your toes out (think ballet first position).

Oyster or clam.

More for gluteus medius and minimus. Make sure you don’t roll back through the hips as you do this one.

Side lying leg lift.

Another for the glut medius and minimus. Focus on leg length and staying stretched out thought the waist (no squidging!). You should find you are not able to life the leg too high if you are stretched out.

Other good exercises include squats, plies and walking up hills or stairs squeezing your bum. My postnatal DVD “Beyond your Bump” has some good glut exercises on it that are suitable for all types of people, not just post-birth.

Watch out for glut stretches on a blog post very soon.

Abdominal Separation #ppnchat from 9/9/14

14 September, 2014 Priya Tew

Myself and the fabulous Claire Mockridge hosted the second twitter #ppnchat on 9/9/14, the topic was abdominal separation. Personally I’ve found these chats not only a chance to meet new people who work in the same field as me….but a chance to share knowledge, ask questions, be stimulated, be made to think about my practise and to learn. All of that in an hour, whilst sat at home. Pretty amazing networking and learning huh.

So if you work in the pre/postnatal field make sure you come along to our next #ppnchat on 7th October at 2.30pm.

If you missed the chat or want to catch up on some of the tweets and links (I know I do) then you can find a transcript of our chat here.

Lift without lower back pain

20 August, 2014 Priya Tew

Lower back pain, it’s the most common issue I see on our Pilates medical forms. Heavy lifting without engaging your core is often a cause of it. It’s common sense that if you lift badly or lift too heavy a weight it will hurt your back… but it is all too easy to do, especially when it is a child! For more on lifting babies see my video.

Think of the core as being the central point from which the power comes from or like a fulcrum that you pivot from. Every seen someone lift something far too heavy? You can see the force going into their back, not a good thing as it can damage the discs in the back. When I was pregnant and post birth I could instantly feel the effects when lifting my toddler, my core was far weaker and I couldn’t support my lower back.

Lifting safely involves engaging the core, bending the knees and thinking about your alignment. Here are my top tips:

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Keep the load close to your waist – easy to do when it’s cuddling a child, less so if it is a tantruming one 😉
Get a good grip.
Engage your core.
Maintain a stable base with your feet hip width apart.
Bend the knees and hips NOT the back. Keep a neutral spine.
Know your lifting limits, we aren’t all training for Ironman.
Think about using your legs rather than your back to lift.
Lower down safely, bending your knees.

It’s all about building community: the first pre/postnatal #ppnchat.

13 August, 2014 Priya Tew

Yesterday myself and Claire Mockridge hosted the first Pre/Postnatal Chat on twitter. There is a real need for education in this area and those who work in the field can find themselves a little isolated. So this chat was all about connecting people, sharing tips and information, learning from each other and thinking about how we can build community for our pre/postnatal clients and how we can work in our local community.

Here is a transcript of our first chat

Pilates with Priya: Almost 37 Weeks Pregnant. — My second baby bump at 37 weeks after a Step Aerobics class 😉

We had a great response, THANKYOU to all who tweeted along with us, the hour went fast! I loved meeting some new faces and am already looking forward to the next one.

Save the date:

Tuesday 9th September at 2.30pm

Use the hash tag #ppnchat

More details on the topic and questions to come!

The FIRST Pre/Postnatal Twitter Chat – Tues 12 Aug 2014 #ppnchat

8 August, 2014 Priya Tew

How exciting is this? I’m working with Claire Mockridge (another fab pre/postnatal instructor) to bring you the first pre/postnatal twitter chat. A great chance for instructors to network, information share and learn from each other.

Twitter is a great place to meet others and pick up top tips. I’m regularly found taking part in twitter chats.

So… if, like me, you work with pregnant or postnatal women, pop this date/time in your diary: Beautiful pregnant woman.

Tuesday 12 August 2014
2:30pm GMT (click here to calculate your timezone if you’re not in the UK/Europe)

Make sure you’re following me on Twitter here:

@pilateswpriya

Save this hashtag now: #ppnchat

The will be centred around the word ‘community’.

It can be pretty lonely out there if you’re one of the only Pre/Postnatal Experts in your area. This is where social media can be a Godsend. I often ask advice and seek out others who I can learn from in this way. Community is important so come and build it with us.

Don’t worry if you’re a complete novice when it comes to Twitter.

This Twitter chat is for ANYONE who works with pregnant or postnatal women, eg Reflexologists, Fertility Experts, Massage Therapists, Baby Yoga Teachers, Physios, Chiropractors, Osteopaths – you name it!

We will be encouraging people to introduce themselves, answer a few community-themed questions to get the conversation flowing and hopefully enable you to connect with others around you in similar fields of study or locality.

A FEW GUIDELINES…

Every tweet you send must contain the hashtag #ppnchat (otherwise you’ll be just talking to yourself)
There will be 5 questions on the #ppnchat which will be numbered Q1, Q2, Q3 and so on, as follows:
- Q1 – What products/services do you provide for pre/postnatal women and which city/area are you based? #ppnchat
- Q2 – How important is it for pre/postnatal women to be introduced to other mums-to-be and new mums nowadays? #ppnchat
- Q3 – How do you help your pre/postnatal clients find other women just like them? #ppnchat
- Q4 – Do you find it lonely sometimes working in this specialist field? How do you combat that? #ppnchat
- Q5 – What local businesses do you network with to help promote your products/services? #ppnchat
When answering a question, please include ‘Q1′ at the beginning, followed by your answer eg Q1 I’m Claire, an Ante/Postnatal Fitness Expert running fitness and Pilates classes for pre/postnatal women in Nottingham#ppnchat
Tweets must be fewer than 140 characters, so keep things short where
Twitter’s tagline is ‘Join the Conversation’, so please don’t be shy!

And, there you have it!

If you can’t make the FIRST #ppnchat on Tuesday 12 August 2014, don’t worry – just search the hashtag when you’re next online and connect with those who took part afterwards. It won’t be a waste, I’m sure.

Please help spread the word about #ppnchat on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or via your mailing list.

See you ‘virtually’ on Tuesday at 2:30pm!

Regards

Claire Mockridge and Priya Tew

Say NO to Sit Ups

8 August, 2014 Priya Tew

Sit-ups are one of those exercises that I’m really not keen on. Many people perform them incorrectly, they are not safe in pregnancy or post-birth… and yet they are often one of the main exercises people will be doing.

A sit up or any variation of this movement where you go into forward flexion , bringing your upper body towards your knees, is not a good thing for postnatal women. In fact it can cause more harm than good as it works the tummy muscles in the wrong way. So, if you’ve recently had a baby and you’re doing sit ups, STOP them immediately.

Sit ups work the tummy muscles that run vetically down the tummy, called the Rectus Abdominis but commonly known as the six-pack muscle. These lengthen in pregnancy and as your baby grows and your bump gets bigger, this muscle my start to separate around your belly button. The abdominals can take time to come back to normal after your baby has been born, so for several weeks and indeed months after birth, these muscle remains in a lengthened, separated state.

The danger of doing sit ups in this state is that you can widen any separation you may have of the abdominals and you can actually strengthen the muscles to stay in this separated state. The long term problems with separation include the risk of a hernia (the intestines poke out as there are no tummy muscles covering them), pelvic floor weakness and it also means you won’t get a flat tummy back again.

Instead of doing sit ups, you need to focus on strengthening the pelvic floor and the Transversus Abdominis, which runs like a corset around your lower tummy. By strenghtening these muscle that are deep inside you will strengthen the body from the outside in. These muscles are your foundation, once they are working then they will help realign any abdominal separation you may have and will knit you together again.

Our specialist Postnatal Pilates class and our DVD focuses on strengthening these muscles in the correct order. So we find the lower tummy (transversus abdominus) muscle first, along with the pelvic floor. We then shorten the rectus abdominus muscles running down the tummy. When this is strong enough and any abdominal separation has been realigned, then the other tummy muscles can be worked.

Fit Pro Awards 2014: A night of glamour.

20 July, 2014 Priya Tew

Excitingly I was recently named as a finalist for the National Fitness Professionals Awards. What a complete shock and honour to be recognised in this way by the fitness industry! So on 18th July I went up to London for Fit Pro Live 2014. This was my first time at Fit Pro Live and it was buzzing! Loads of great seminars to attend and masterclasses to watch. I enjoyed watching the Tabata team work themselves extremely hard as well as seeing the latest Insanity class being done by a lot of crazy Fit Pro’s 😉

Unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of Pilates related content but I did get to meet with Claire Mockridge another pre/postnatal Pilates instructor and we had a good catch up. Networking and meeting others in the same field is so important for me.

I had a 10 minute interview in front of a panel of 5 judges, rather nerve-wracking and I certainly didn’t say quite what I probably should have said, but they were lovely and I survived!

The evening event itself was full of glamour. The initial challenge for me was to get both children settled and the baby to sleep. Once that mountain was crossed it was time for dressing up and some Prosecco. I didn’t win the award but another pre/postnatal instructor won an award on the night so that was fabulous!

A great night of networking, top music and food. It’s inspired me to keep going and keep doing what I’m doing but also opened my mind to think about the next stages for Pilates with Priya. Watch out…

How to Exercise with Your Baby!

13 July, 2014 Priya Tew

Life changes dramatically after your have a baby. Everyone told me this before I had baby 1 but I didn’t really believe it until it happened. Suddenly I went from someone who could spend long periods of time in the gym and go for a run whenever I wanted… to someone who had a baby who fed for 14 hours a day, someone who was living off a few hours sleep, someone who had a small person dependant on them.

Yet I can tell you I still managed to fit in exercise. Even after baby 2 when I had even less sleep and even less time. I wouldn’t say I’m a fitness addict or a superstar mum. I’m just someone who knows that exercise: 1) Boosts my endorphin levels so makes me feel good, 2) Gives me more energy, 3) Helps me tone up and get back in shape.

This is how I fit exercise in…

Walks with the pram. With my first baby I regularly went out for an afternoon walk to help her sleep and to get myself some exercise and fresh air. With my second baby I combine with with a trip to the park to wear out the toddler!
Running with the pram. I did this alot with my first baby, she loved it and still does at 3 1/2 years “Mummy go faster”.

I went back to teaching my Step Aerobics and Pilates classes as soon as I could. Personally I needed this baby free time. If you can find a postnatal exercise class then go and do it.
Put the baby in a door bouncer or a bouncy chair, put on a postnatal fitness DVD and let them watch. I now do this with the baby watching and the toddler copying me.
Wear the baby in a sling and go walking, up hill or up and down the stairs is especially good.
Once the small ones are asleep have a set night you go out to exercise or do some exercise at home.
Exercise with other mummies – either in a class or go walking together.

I’ve even been know to teach and do Pilates classes with baby asleep in the sling…. but I wouldn’t recommend you try this out.

Try it out, I promise it will make you feel good 🙂

Beyond Your Bump: Postnatal Pilates DVD

10 May, 2014 Priya Tew

Having a new born baby is hard work. Amongst the nappy changes, feeds, lack of sleep and recovering from the birth itself, there can be little time to think about exercise! The demands of pregnancy and then the energies of labour put a great stress on your body and it needs time to recover and heal. So you may not feel like rushing straight back into exercise and that is understandable. However your body also needs the strength to carry, feed and lift without causing aches, pains and issues later down the line.

Pilates is the perfect compromise with this. It is exercise that can be started soon after birth but won’t feel too strenuous. Being able to do just 10 minutes a day will make such a difference to your body. Getting to a class can be stressful with a baby. Help is at hand. We run postnatal classes with a creche provided. Or our “Beyond Your Bump” DVD means you get the experience and benefit of a postnatal class devised by a Pilates specialist, ready to do in your home around your baby.

This is an hour long DVD in several sections that will:

Strengthen your abdominals.
Targets your bum, legs and tum.
Help with any pelvis pain.
Work your pelvic floor in a functional manner.
Correct upper body posture.

ESSENTIAL FOR ALL NEW MUMS.

My little ones have always loved sitting in a bouncy chair watching me do exercise – why not see if yours does too!

Category: Bump to Birth