Pregnancy Info HOME

Why is Pilates better than conventional workouts?

Crunches do very little to alleviate the low belly sagging that is a compliment of pregnancy and a c-section. Top that off with the reality that if you are not more than two months past your surgery, there's a good chance you'll develop a hernia from doing crunches.

The best route is to do exactly as you were told after the surgery - give yourself time to heal. Walking around the house or going for short walks outside is great to get blood flowing, thus reducing the risk of blood clots and pneumonia.

Otherwise, an aerobic workout may cause more grief than good and end up setting you back in your healing process.

Joseph Pilates developed his method as a result of being a sickly child, having suffered with asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever. He dedicated his entire life to improving his own physical strength.

His philosophy was that the so-called modern lifestyle of the day (this would be the early 1900s) led to bad posture, poor eating, and inefficient breathing, which undermined good health.

As a result, he developed a system of exercise and training techniques and designed equipment to help people achieve better health and strength. His method was used extensively after World War 1 to help rehabilitate injured soldiers.

The Value of Pilates

Pilates is a great way to recover your strength and flatten your belly because it works the deeper layers of muscles, the ones that stretch the most when you're pregnant. The exercises don't require crunches or weights, but they aren't altogether easy, either.

So, it is important to wait until you get the go-ahead from your physician before you get serious with Pilates (or any other type of exercise for that matter).

There a many excellent Pilates DVDs and classes available for post-cesarean mothers. In order to achieve good fitness, strength and yes - a flat tummy - it is important to honor your body where it is and then train it patiently and over time to do what you want it to do.

Pushing hard and doing a thousand crunches isn't the best way.

Fitness is an essential part of a healthy pregnancy. Read more about it here.