At the risk of sounding redundant, it bears repeating that proper core training is more important than ever during and after pregnancy. A strong and properly functioning core is essential for preventing pregnancy-induced pains and injuries, improving fetal growth environment, facilitating an easier and more efficient labor, and expediting your postpartum recovery. The keyword though is “proper,” which is quite different than the traditional crunches and planks you might be envisioning when you think of core training. Read on for the key steps to building a strong core – during and after pregnancy.
First Things First: Establish a Foundation
Just as building a house requires starting with a solid foundation, the same is true for your core. There are two steps to establishing that foundation, which apply to ANY individual regardless of whether you are pregnant or not.
- Eliminate excess tension: It’s difficult to strengthen muscles when they are being faced with unnecessary stress and tension. When your body is out of neutral alignment, unnecessary stress is placed on your muscles, especially your core muscles. So, the first step is to get rid of that excess tension by getting your body into neutral alignment.
- Master the “#1 Most Effective Core Exercise” With the excess tension cleared, you’re ready to begin laying the foundation, which — when it comes to your core — means learning how to activate your critical deep core muscles. This is accomplished by mastering what we refer to as the #1 most effective core exercise: 360° Breathing.
Increase Strength with “Anti-Core” Exercises
With your body in alignment and your Core Canister muscles firing properly, you’re ready to focus on increasing your core strength. We do this by creating conditions that force your core muscles to work harder, which causes them to adapt to meet the demands by growing stronger. One great way that we can do this is through movements that attempt to pull your torso in different directions out of neutral alignment — forward, backward, sideways, or into rotation — forcing your core muscles to work against that resistance to keep your body in neutral. These are known as “anti” core exercises because they involve resisting the pull toward a certain direction. The easiest way to explain this is with some examples.
Anti-Extension Moves
We begin with this category because one of the most widely recognized examples of an anti-core movement is a plank. A plank is an anti-extension exercise because the body must resist being pulled into extension (or an excessive arch of the spine). In other words, think of doing a plank. If you completely relaxed, your hips would sink toward the floor, resulting in spinal extension of your lower back. Therefore, a plank requires you to recruit your core muscles to resist this pull and keep your body in a straight line. Anti-extension movements tax the muscles in the front of your core because they must work hard to help you resist going into that excessive spinal extension (or arch).
IMPORTANT: Since these moves tax the front of your core — which obviously has a lot of stress on it already from your growing belly during pregnancy — anti-extension movements should be regressed, beginning in the second trimester, when you begin to develop a belly. Below are some examples that are more appropriate for pregnancy (and early postpartum when the core muscles are still weak).
- Incline Plank: Notice how the incline is higher here. This is important during the later stages of pregnancy and early postpartum period to avoid placing excess stress on the external abdominal wall. Focus on a lighter inhale and stronger exhale as you hold.
- Incline Push-Ups: For the breath-to-movement coordination, you can inhale on the way down, then exhale as you push-up. Alternatively, you can inhale before beginning, then — all in one exhale — lower down and push back up. Do whatever feels natural and easier to you.
- Back Squat: The heavy bar will pull you backward, like you see at the end of this video. Resist that pull to keep your trunk neutral (no arching). Inhale on the way down. Exhale on the way up.
Doing these movements will help your body grow stronger to resist everyday stresses that attempt to pull you into extension. For example, wearing a heavy backpack on your back can pull you into extension just like that bar in the back squat. So, practicing the back squat could help you avoid the aches and pains that may otherwise be associated with heavy backpack wearing.
Anti-Flexion Moves
These movements are opposite from anti-extension in that they attempt to pull your body forward into flexion. Anti-flexion movements tax the muscles in the back of your body, as they have to work hard to keep you from collapsing forward. Some examples include:
- Goblet Squats: Be sure the weight you are holding is heavy enough that you really have to work hard to resist its pull forward. Holding a light weight for this will not have the same anti-flexion benefit. Inhale on the way down, exhale as you push back up.
- Deadlifts (or Ground Pickup): It’s quite common to see people doing this movement with a rounded spine as they lean down. Be sure to initiate the movement by sending your hips backward and keeping your spine in neutral (shoulders down and back). We often refer to a deadlift as a “ground pickup” as we want you to associate this movement with how you normally pick things up off the ground in your daily life.
- Crib Reach: This movement is similar to a deadlift, but it involves hinging over a barrier. Initiate the movement by sending your hips backward (keeping your shoulders pulled down and back) instead of reaching your arms forward with your spine rounded and shoulders raised like you see at the end here. Inhale as you lower down. Exhale as you stand back up.
If you’re a parent (or soon to be), anti-flexion movements are even more important than anti-extension moves because there are a greater number of daily tasks that you’ll face that tend to pull you forward into flexion, like baby wearing, lifting and lowering baby out of crib/stroller/car seat, picking heavy objects up from the ground, etc. Doing anti-flexion movements can help you grow stronger to resist the forward pull of these frequent activities, while helping you avoid the aches and pains that can result from them.
Anti-Lateral Flexion Moves
This is probably the most important one for new and expecting parents (and any caregiver of little ones). These are moves that attempt to pull your body into a side bend, like holding a heavy car seat, diaper bag, or bag of groceries. Practicing anti-lateral flexion moves, like the ones below, train your body to resist the many forces throughout your day that attempt to pull you into lateral flexion:
- Carries: Specifically, single-sided (or asymmetrical) carries. You can do a low carry, like you see here (holding a heavy object of some sort). Or, you can do it racked (at your shoulder) or overhead. The point is to resist being pulled into a side-bend – either in the direction of the heavy weight, or toward the opposite side as you attempt to counterbalance.
- Suitcase squat: Just as you can add some anti-flexion work into your squat by holding a weight in front for a goblet squat, you could also add in anti-lateral flexion work by holding that weight down by one side instead. Notice how you have to work to keep your trunk your trunk from falling toward the side of the weight like you see at the end here. Inhale as you lower down. Exhale as you stand back up.
- Lunge with single-sided hold: Just as you can add some anti-lateral flexion work to your squats, you can do the same with lunges. You can hold the weight low (like you see here), or racked, or high. Inhale stepping into the lunge, and exhale as you stand back up.
Anti-Rotation Moves
These are moves that attempt to pull your body into rotation. Allowing your body to rotate isn’t inherently problematic (rotating is a fundamental human movement pattern). However, if you are pregnant or recovering from pregnancy, you want to avoid rotation with disassociation of hips and shoulders (or twisting). In other words, we want to keep our trunk in neutral — hips and shoulders moving together — during rotation. The movements below will help you practice.
- Pallof Press: This movement can be done with a cable at the gym or a simple resistance band and door anchor at home. With the band or cable anchored at one end, it will try to pull you into rotation, so you will have to work hard to resist this rotation, especially when your arms are extended further away from your body. You can add challenge to this movement by moving your feet closer together, or even stand on one foot. You can also progress this by adding an overhead reach.
- Bird-Dog: This highly beneficial core exercise is an anti-rotation movement because you have to resist tipping toward the direction of the extended arm, as shown at the end. It’s also a bit of an anti-extension movement, as you have to resist sinking into the lower back arch as you extend you extend your arm and leg (which is a common error). Inhale before beginning, then do the entire movement on the exhale. When done properly, Bird Dog is a challenging and highly beneficial core movement. Once you master this, you can work on holding the extended position for a few breath cycles.
- Standing Single Arm Row: Horizontal pulls are highly beneficial upper body moves that help improve posture, but doing them single-sided like this also adds in some anti-rotation core work. Notice how when the arm extends forward on the release, the body wants to get pulled into rotation (as shown at the end). Therefore, the core muscles must work to maintain a stiff trunk to avoid this twisting motion.
Incorporate a blend of “anti” core exercises into your training (especially anti-flexion and anti-lateral flexion). The more you practice them, the stronger your core gets, and the more you are able to resist the everyday forces that pull your body out of neutral alignment. This means easier and more efficient movement, fewer pains and injuries, and yes…even a flatter tummy post-baby.
Want Additional Resources?
For additional resources to help you exercise safely and effectively during pregnancy, explore our training programs and services. You’ll find a variety of offerings tailored to different needs — from education, to self-guided programs, to the ability to work with an expert coach.
Or, if you’re a health & fitness pro interested in coaching pre & postnatal clients, check out our ProNatal Education & Certification.