Prenatal & Postpartum Pilates
Why it Works
While it may seem counterintuitive to work on your core muscles while pregnant, Pilates creates length, flexibility AND strength in the abdomen and pelvic floor, which will help support and assist you as you both carry and deliver your baby. Keeping these muscles strong and long will also help prevent tearing of the abdominal wall (Diastasis Recti). Pilates is stress free on your joints and gentle, while still working your muscles enough to stay stable as your body evolves during your journey through pregnancy.
When you’re ready to resume your workouts (everyone is different, and every birth is different, but 6-8 weeks is around when you can expect to get back to working out) , nothing is as effective as Pilates for getting the abdominal and core stabilizer muscles back in action, and helping you feel like yourself again. With new parenthood, comes a lot of new movements and positions for you to adjust to...you may find your body has some interesting new challenges: neck issues that can arise from breast-feeding, hip and back strain from holding and caring for your little one, a lack of stability from ligament laxity due to hormone levels. We will address all of this as well as anything else you may be experiencing, and help you regain control of your changing body.
Why Us?
The skilled team at Bolder Pilates have all had years of continuing education and experience working with women to strengthen and prepare their bodies for birth, as well as to recover their conditioning after pregnancy. Many of our mamas are in classes with us right up until their due date, and count the days until they can come back and continue their Pilates journeys to strength and wellness.
“I discovered Bolder Pilates at the beginning of my third trimester of pregnancy. As I gained more weight in my belly, I felt I needed help to achieve a good sweaty workout without overdoing it and causing harm to my body or baby. That’s exactly what Bolder Pilates offers! During every session I got a great full-body workout, exercising muscle groups that I wasn’t even aware of. Donna made sure I didn’t overdo any of the exercises, since ligaments are more prone to over-stretch while pregnant. She taught me how to engage my abdominal muscles while breathing, a simple exercise that when practiced regularly, would help prevent me from Diastasis Recti. I wasn’t aware of this possible side-effect of pregnancy, and now 3 months postpartum, I think those exercises helped prevent my abdominal muscles from separating making the healing process much easier. I also learned safe exercises I could do at home on my exercise ball and foam roller that helped alleviate the daily aches and pains during late stages of pregnancy. I left every session feeling energized and looked forward to the next session, since Donna is so fun to hang out with!”
- Leslie L.
How to Book
To book a prenatal or postpartum session with us, simply request a private pilates session, and in the “notes” let us know where you are in your pregnancy. At this time we do not offer any specific prenatal or postpartum group classes, but that may change. We see MANY clients in our regular group classes throughout the entirety of their pregnancy. Because class sizes are very small, we are able to make all necessary modifications and give your body the attention it deserves.