MYTH 👉🏼 You can’t exercise your abs during pregnancy.
TRUTH 👉🏼 You CAN 100% exercise your abs during pregnancy BUT the the exercises that you choose matter.
First things first. Let’s ditch the term “abs” forever please. “Abs” refer specifically to the rectus abdominus (aka 6-pack muscle) and your CORE is made up of so much more than that - including your internal/external obliques, transverse abdominus, diaphragm, low back (which is like 4 other muscles combined), glutes AND pelvic floor.
So yeah. There’s a lot more involved than just “abs”.
Second, the position of the exercise matters. You may have heard that you can’t lay on your stomach or back after a certain point and there is merit to this. Laying on your stomach is going to be uncomfortable for obvious reasons when your bump starts to pop. Lying on your back can cause discomfort or light headedness because the weight of your uterus will start to put pressure on your inferior vena cava (the vessel that returns deoxygenated blood back to your lungs). But being in this position for short periods of time - like the amount of time it takes to perform one set of an exercise - is completely safe well into your 3rd trimester unless you notice any symptoms.
The movement pattern is the kicker here. Exercising your “abs” requires FORWARD FLEXION of the body (brining rib cage towards hips) and in turn puts a lot of pressure on your already stretched out rectus abdominus. Plus it can exacerbate any diastasis recti (abdominal separation) symptoms.
Let's take a minute to explain diastasis recti a bit more. It is an increase in the distance between the two sides of the rectus abdominus along the mid-line of the body - usually above and/or below the belly button. NOTE that it is NOT a tear. The fascia (connective tissue) that holds the muscles together is NOT torn, it is STRETCHED due to the small human growing inside.
It might cause telltale bulging, peaking or coning in the middle of the abdomen where the two muscles separate. It might be noticeable only when the abdominal muscles are tense, such as when you move from lying down to sitting up (aka flexion). It is very common to have some abdominal separation during (and after) pregnancy and that is why we want to start avoiding flexion based exercises around the halfway point so we don't add more stress to the already stretched muscles and fascia.
After around the 20 week point of pregnancy we do want to avoid the FORWARD FLEXION movement pattern BUT we can still work with SIDE/LATERAL FLEXION, ROTATION and STATIC CONTRACTION.
So there really IS a lot we can do during pregnancy to exercise the CORE!
I have created an entire guide to help you safely and effectively strengthen your CORE through each trimester in my Prenatal STRONG Core Guide.
This guide is for you if:
➡️ If you’re at ANY point in your pregnancy and want to make sure you’re maintaining your core strength WITHOUT risking injury
➡️ If you don’t have access to a gym or fancy equipment (I’ve got you covered with 6 different types of at-home equipment, including your own body!)
➡️ If you like to have a visual demonstration to follow along with so you know you’re doing the exercise correctly (there are 12 video demos for EACH trimester!)
➡️ If you are short on time or energy but know that your body FEELS better when it moves!
If you haven't already gotten your FREE copy of the Prenatal STRONG Core Guide get it HERE!
And if you already have your copy, please let me know how it's helped you maintain your core strength and manage low back pain throughout your pregnancy.
Or share the link to this blog post with a friend who's expecting and is looking for some resources for a STRONG pregnancy!
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