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Now that we have touched on stretching a little, you know about the importance of postural alignment.  Stretching helps loosen the muscles that are tight, pulling your body out of alignment, but how do you strengthen the muscles that are loose?

Proper alignment or good postural alignment is important in preventing joint aches and pains, as well as averting muscular cramping that often occurs in pregnancy, like in your calf muscles.  Along with your diaphragm and core, holding yourself in proper alignment can reduce a tremendous amount of pregnancy discomfort.

Since every pregnant woman is unique "postural alignment" exercises specifically difficult to recommend.  What helps one woman's muscle balance is likely to worsen another's.  If you are concerned with your postural alignment, please seek a qualified Corrective Exercise Specialist for consultation.  Please note that most trainers do not understand muscle imbalances or corrective exercise.  You can try chekinstitute.com for CHEK certified trainers in your area.  Here are some basics to get you started.

Neutral Alignment
"Neutral Alignment" is the position of least stress for the body.  It is called the starting position and ending position of all movement.  And it is the position your joints "should" be located if not in use.  The objective of the exercises below is for you to obtain good postural alignment, otherwise referred to as a "Neutral Alignment."

 

Pelvic Tilting
Pelvic tilting corrects hip and back alignment and helps alleviate back pains and knee pains.

Stand up and place your hands on your hips. Imagine that your hands are holding a bowl of water (your pelvis).  Now tuck your "tail" under like a dog, as if you are pouring water out the back of your "pelvis bowl." Next, move your hips opposite, as if you are pouring water out the front of your "pelvis bowl."  Continue for ten repetitions in each direction. 

 

Advanced Pelvic Tilting
Determine which direction is more difficult and simply repeat that direction more often, longer and with more intensity.  Instead of tilting fully in both directions, you will tilt completely into the direction that is difficult and then return to neutral alignment, not continuing all the way into the other direction.

Scapular Protraction
Scapular protraction corrects shoulder alignment and helps alleviate neck tension.

Place your arms straight out in front of you with your thumbs touching.  Keeping your elbows straight, pull your shoulder blades together and hold.  Then, allow your shoulders to move slightly forward and pull them back again.  Make sure you use the muscles between your shoulder blades to perform this movement, and not the muscles of your neck and upper "shoulder" areas. 

 

Calf Stretching

Calf stretching corrects ankle alignment and helps alleviate flat-feet, plantar fascitis, shin splints, and calf cramps.

If you've ever worn high heels, it's likely you need calf stretches to correct your postural imbalances.  Simply stand on a step and let your body weight sit into your heels.  Make sure your knees do not hyperextend (super straight), but keep them just slightly bent.  Also, keep your knees in line with your toes, usually by "twisting your knees slightly outward" compared to your toes.  You can also do one leg at a time.  

 

Head Placement

Head placement corrects neck and head alignment and helps alleviate neck tension and tension headaches.
Stand with your back against the wall, keeping your hips, shoulders, and head against the wall.  Keeping your head on the wall, tuck your shin into your neck and hold.  Hold for about 60 seconds or perform repetitions by subtly increasing the intensity of your chin into your neck and then releasing pressure a bit.  Your objective is to teach your head to remain above your shoulders, not stuck out in front.
 

Balance
Your growing tummy will change your center of gravity.  As this occurs, your stability and balance will feel extra challenge, possibly increasing your likelihood of muscle strains, falls, and other injuries. With one simple change, however, you can turn pregnancy from a time of instability to an incredible opportunity for mastery.
 
How often is a person standing on just one leg?  All the time.  You use only one leg with every step you take.  100% of your bodyweight is placed onto your right leg as your left leg swings forward in step.  Your right leg carries you to your left and your left leg carries you to back to your right.  The fact is, even at times when you bend, reach, and pick things like your purse from the floor, you are using primarily one leg, often 80-90% of your entire bodyweight placed upon this one segment of support.  Why not spend a few minutes each day to master this essential ability?

Beginner: 1-Leg Balance
Simply lift one leg from the floor and stand still upon the other leg.  Take note that your knee remains slightly bent and is in line with your toe and make sure your hip stays even, not hiking or dropping into muscle imbalance.  It helps to "stick your butt out" slightly.  Remain for 1-3 minutes.  You will know you are mastering this exercise when fatigue moves from your arch, shin and calf, up to your hips (glute muscles).  Try it once, we promise it's harder than you think.
 
Advanced: 1-Leg Balance + Leg Swing

Once you can simply stand still in good form for at least 2 minutes on one leg, you are ready to increase your challenge.  Take your free leg and raise it out to your side just a few feet, then slowly let it return to start position near your other leg (but not touching, if you can). By moving one leg laterally repeatedly, you challenge your standing leg hip to balance in a dynamic state, just like it is required to do in all your activities of pregnancy life.

Functional Strength

Functional strength is necessary simply for you to perform activities of daily pregnancy.  Strength, without function, is like sitting into a leg press machine, where your core, posture, and balance muscles are all instantly turned off, and practicing becoming stronger at leg pressing.  You will indeed become stronger at the leg press, but there is very little carry-over to real pregnant life.  In fact, there are strong arguments that these types of "dysfunctional exercise" actually accelerate your road to pain and injury.  We never advise anyone except body professional bodybuilders ever to use weight training machines.
 
In contrast to "dysfunctional strength," functional strength is absolutely mandatory for you to practice because you will be doing it every day anyway!  Every time you sit down in a chair and then stand up out of it, you perform a squat.  Every time you climb the stairs, you perform 1-legged squats.  Every time you bend to pick up your purse or your child, you perform a deadlift.  Wouldn't you rather be performing them correctly?

Performing these exercises "correctly" simply means using the "right" muscles of good form.  This is a huge area which can easily warrant the expertise of a corrective exercise specialist, but there are few basic exercises that every pregnant woman would benefit from practicing.  Please remember that "Postural Alignment" is a prerequisite to performing exercises in this section.

Squat

Place a chair or other sturdy object behind you, making sure it is not too low (for this exercise, it is ideal if your hips are higher than your knees when sitting on the chair).  You are going to practice sitting, or coming close to sitting, using the chair.  First, stick your hips backwards, as though your first priority was to give someone a "butt bump."  Then lower your hips "back and down" until you near the chair.  Using your glute (butt) muscles, return to standing.  It helps to keep your heels firmly planted on the floor.  Repeat 10-20+ times before resting. 

 

   
Remember to keep your spine in natural S-curve, neutral alignment.

Dead Lift

The Dead Lift is an easy alternative to the squat.  Again, you will stick your hips backwards, as though your first priority is to give someone a "butt bump."  This time, however, you will not remain as upright as the squat, but your hips can keep going backward and upward until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings (back of the thigh).  Naturally, your torso will be more parallel to the floor.  Once your hamstrings feel a stretch, you may drop your hips down a bit toward the floor, as if you needed to pick up something heavy from the floor.  Use the strength of your glutes to return to start.  It helps to keep your heels firmly planted on the floor. Repeat 10-20+ times before resting.
 
 
   

Bent Row

The Bent Row requires prior practice with the Dead Lift.  Hold your baby or another weight in your hands.  Once you have "bumped your butt backward" and feel a hamstring stretch, you hold this position.  You should feel like you are holding yourself with your hips (glute muscles) not overly in the lower back or front thighs.  Holding this position, lift and lower your baby 5-20 times before resting.  Lifting your baby means using your back muscles and arms to bring him or her to your chest and then lower her to straight arms again.  Make sure that you move your shoulder blades together so that your upper back muscles work along with your arms.  Attempt to feel it between your shoulder blades rather than in your neck and "shoulders" area.

 

 

Functional training uses exercises that require your body to support itself, rather than using a bench, chair, or machine.  And the benefits can be huge, including faster weight loss, increased strength, reduced risk of injury, and less chance of suffering daily aches and pains.

If you filled your workout with functional, rather than supported exercises, that additional calorie output would "burn far more calories," says exercise kinesiologist Paul Chek, MSS, leader of the Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology Institute in California.
"The key to functional exercise is integration," states WebMD, "It's about teaching all the muscles to work together rather than isolating them to work independently."  Your body and muscles are forced to recruit additional motor units in order to prevent a postural collapse, so overall core and postural strength improves.
Core and postural weakness account for much of the aches and pains people assume are "just part of getting older."  Low back pain is said to afflict 95% of the population, and there are so many other joint pains and tendonitis that afflict our population like knee, elbow, and neck problems, Serrano adds, "often leading down the 'slippery slope' that ends in inflammation, arthritis, steroid medications, and surgery"  

You can start exercising today with no equipment and no gym needed.  Exercise can happen right in your home using only a few square feet of space.  Preparing your body and your baby for labor can even happen in as little as ten minutes per day!
 

Please remember:  Since your health is most important, please consult your qualified exercise professional before altering your current exercise habit, especially if you are in your third trimester.
 

Below outlines a 3 points for specifically:

Minimizing your pain during contractions

Reducing your discomfort during pregnancy

Lessening your time in labor

Decreasing your risk of complications

Optimizing your toned, lean, sexy body!

...while...

Preparing your baby's physiology for the stress of labor

Shrinking your baby's risk of complications

Enhancing your baby's development in utero

Improving your baby's nutrient delivery and toxin removal