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Pregnancy

Safe pilates in pregnancy: is exercising on back okay?

7 replies

AppleOrchid · 29/01/2013 13:08

Hi all,

I'm 24-weeks pregnant and am suffering from lower back pain. Prior to pregnancies I did a few pilates classes and found doing pelvic tilts while lying on back very helpful (basically lying on back and pushing my bum into the air and then lowering carefully vertebrae-by-vertebrae). This exercise seems to do the job now too, but I think I've heard something about not exercising on your back. Does anyone know if this is the case?

Thanks.

OP posts:

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HazleNutt · 29/01/2013 15:12

generally it is not advised to be flat on your back as the weight of the uterus would compress the blood vessels and you'll get dizzy. If you feel that this is the case, what about some modifications, like here:
www.livestrong.com/article/262134-pelvic-tilt-exercises-during-pregnancy/

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CareerGirl01 · 29/01/2013 16:32

Hi there I've been doing modified Pilates at the end of my workout. Trainer used step with some lifts on one side so I could keep doing some lower ab work. You mustn't lie on your back tho.

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NatashaBee · 29/01/2013 16:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AmitPilates · 29/01/2013 18:28

Exercising on your back can be absolutely OK as long as you feel comfortable and stay mobile rather than lie flat without moving for a few minutes... if lying on your back doing the pelvic tilts makes you feel good then I believe you should go a head and do it! If you do feel dizzy then simply lie on your side and the dizziness will go... Saying that, I think that the link Hazlenutt posted is a good one and you can find many more such exercises and classes on www.pilatesod.com/bumps-and-mums Exercising during and after the pregnancy is SSOOO important to you and will make a huge difference!

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Mrsbirchall · 29/01/2013 19:06

I've been doing antenatal classes at my hospital since 20 weeks (now 36 weeks) and part of the class is on our backs- I can't see they'd let us do that if it was bad for us- only in small bursts of course but don't see why not...

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LetMeAtTheWine · 29/01/2013 23:29

I have a pregnancy yoga DVD and they tell you on there not to lie on your back if you are over 30 weeks.

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AppleOrchid · 30/01/2013 08:23

Thanks for all the advice everyone! Will check out those links and see what's what...

Have a good morning!