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How dangerous is stretching during pregnancy?

Do I have to give up stretching and mobilizing my body during pregnancy to protect myself from the increased risk of injury? Some claim it’s better to forgo stretching as a pregnant woman. Ligaments and tendons become softer and the risk of injury increases. Yet your body needs to remain especially flexible and agile during pregnancy. The right stretching is therefore a fundamental pillar in your mom-to-be fitness program. There are just a few important points to keep in mind:

Warm Up before your Momma Workout

Stretching exercises are perfect for warming up before your muscle or cardio workout. Your muscles, tendons and ligaments will be stretched, become more supple and powerful and thus best prepared for the following efforts. This way, you not only reduce the risk of injury, but also achieve faster results in your subsequent workout, since you have already stimulated your muscles beforehand!

My tip: Stretching should always be good for you. Therefore, always go only so far into the stretch until a feeling of tension in the muscle occurs, but you should not feel any real pain. 

What you need to be aware of when doing twists

It is important that you do not twist your belly too much. While this is not a problem in the 1st trimester, you should refrain from “Closed Twists” from the 2nd trimester and replace them with so-called “Open Twists”.

Closed twists are not allowed during pregnancy, because the abdomen is compressed too much and the exercises go too deep into the lower spine. Opened Twists, on the other hand, are! These focus more on mobilizing the upper part of the spine and are safe and beneficial while for expectant moms. This is probably most illustrated by the attached pictures.

My tip: If you need a good stretch for your back then you can, for example, do an Open Twist while sitting, twisting away from the knee. By the way, in our RELAX& ROLL IT MAMA series we have numerous stretching exercises for you that have been developed by experts exactly for Mamas-To-Be in the respective phase. So you can keep your entire body supple with a clear conscience.

Stretching in der Schwangerschaft

Preparation for birth through hip flexibility

Regularly stretching your glutes and hips serves as the best way to prepare your body for the birth of your little one. Plié squat, sumo squat and all kinds of wide squats and v-sits could do great here. Since the bands are extra soft, you may even find yourself coming further down toward the floor with your torso in the V-Sit Stretch, for example (you’re sitting on the floor, legs extended straight out in front of you in the V). As long as it feels good, you can do this with a clear conscience.

In the squatting position you also stretch the pelvic floor muscles, which also play a crucial role during childbirth. At the same time, with these exercises you practice conscious relaxation, which will also be an advantage for you during the subsequent birth. A relaxed and straight on flexible pelvic floor musculature makes the exit of the baby easier and the birth goes faster, because the pelvic floor stretches more easily.

My tip: Make sure you include a good pelvic floor workout in your mom-to-be training plan. Flexibility and relaxation exercises are especially important.

Relieve pregnancy discomfort

Stretching is also essential to help you relieve pregnancy discomfort through controlled and slow exercises. During pregnancy, there is a risk of developing bad postures (such as a hollow back) because movements are now slower and more difficult to perform. Over 50% of mom-to-be’s also suffer from back pain due to their growing abdominal girth. Special stretch flows and fascia roller exercises help prevent and relieve these aches and pains.

Proper twists (opened twists) release tension in the spinal muscles and upper back.

My experience: even during my first pregnancy I realized the benefits of good stretching exercises, stretching flows and also. Fascia Rollers really started to appreciate them. They helped me release tension and just did me good. Yoga and Pilates Flows, Fascia Roller and Deep Stretches are also part of our RELAX & ROLL IT MAMA series workouts.

I hope the tips will help you to be flexible, mobile and relaxed through your pregnancy 🙂 If you’re still worried and unsure about exactly which stretching exercises you’re allowed to do, try our RELAX & ROLL IT workout series. There, we’ll guide you through stretching with the perfect mommy exercises and you won’t have to worry about which exercises are appropriate for you – we’ll take care of that for you!

 

Keep it Moving,

Yours, Birte.

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