Can I squat during pregnancy?

Now we all know how popular squats are in this fitness world. Im sure if you speak to any trainer or exercise instructor they will tell you to 'squat squat squat......' but the question is 'Can I squat during and throughout my pregnancy?'

Here are 5 reasons why you should continue or begin to squat during your pregnancy:

Prepare you for labour

Squatting is one of the most natural positions for giving birth. This position can help you cope with contractions in early or late labour. Squats can also help your baby move deeper down into the pelvis, which is what we want during the late stage of pregnancy.  

Prevents lower back and pelvic pain

Strengthening your glutes maximus muscles helps decrease lower back and pelvic pain. By strengthening your glutes you help stabilise and support your pelvis by supporting your sacroiliac joint which loosens due to pregnancy hormone (relaxin and progesterone which effects the whole body). 

Stronger birth position

Squats will help keep your glutes and legs strong throughout your pregnancy. Not only will this help the body adapt to the extra weight that is gained but this will also help with your birthing positions during labour. Labour requires a lot of physical strength and control so keeping your lower body strong and active is very beneficial. 

Increase pelvic floor strength

Depending on how often you squat (with correct technique) your squats will help strengthen your pelvic floor muscles even more than your kegel exercises. Quality over quantity! 

A great derriere

Obviously you want a fabulous perky bottom, who doesn't? 

 If you are a fitness fanatic/love to squat you may just need to hold out until post pregnancy. This sometimes happens, pregnancy is very unpredictable. You may have had an amazing previous pregnancy or you may be the fittest woman out their but yet this pregnancy you may just be limited in what you can do.

There are always alternatives in exercise so please do not feel disheartened if you find you cannot continue to squat, you can always return/begin to squat after pregnancy. Baby comes first. 

Here are 3 reasons why you may not be able to squat during your pregnancy:

Medical reasons

Some of us won't be able to squat or even exercise during pregnancy. If you are someone that could have early labour, squatting maybe one of the exercises you will need to AVOID. Please listen to your doctor/midwife! There are always alternatives. 

Pain

Never continue if you are feeling abnormal pain. Of course you will feel uncomfortable and exercises will be challenging but no abnormal pain should occur at all. Please seek for professional advise or do not risk it at all. 

When baby is not in optimal birth position after 30 weeks gestation

Squats help your baby descend deeper down into the pelvis so if your baby is feet or bottom down after 30 weeks we don't want to encourage them to go further down. Wait until baby is head down then resume back to your squats.

How often should I squat?

If you have read that statement "Squat 300 times a day and you are going to give birth quicker" Ina MayGaskin.  You may just be questioning whether this is what you should be doing?

I can tell you squatting 300 times a day is a crazy. Not only will you loose the benefits from squats but you will most likely cause yourself an injury which is something you definitely do not want to do especially during pregnancy. 
I would recommend 12-15 repetitions in one set, 2-4 rounds depending on you and where you are in your pregnancy. I would suggest having squats in your exercise routine 2-3 days a week. 
Do remember you are maintaining your fitness or decreasing, this is not the time to set for any personal bests, Save them for your post-pregnancy body as you will feel you can conquer the world once you have been through labour!
You will also notice the later you get on into your pregnancy the more you will actually squat. By this I mean squatting in your day-to-day tasks which you should be doing anyway.(I.e lifting)

All the best for you during your pregnancy, Us women really are incredible......

I hope you have enjoyed the read.... Please do check out my other blogs if you have missed them.. Keep following me: kimmy_fitness on my social media for safe and effective pregnancy and post pregnancy workouts. Make sure you sign up to my mymummyfitness post pregnancy exercise program I have had amazing results from mothers. 

Birth doesn't always go to plan

A Massive Congratulations to ME woohooooo.... I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy Jaxton-Black on the 13/12/2016. 

But did my birth plan go to plan?.....

Nope.

So many people said to me "your so fit, you will probably have a really good birth", and if I am honest I thought I would too. I planned for this amazing holistic mindfulness water birth in the home-from-home centre, I was actually quite excited but unfortunately it didn't happen. I must say I actually thought my Jaxton-Black was going to be two weeks early but he was actually 4 days LATE(already like his dad..hehe).

If you have been following me on my social networks (kimmy_fitness) you would have seen that I exercised right up until birth day. I am so fortunate that I was able to exercise throughout my pregnancy, as I know it incredibly helped me through labour not just physically but mentally too. I highly recommend exercising throughout pregnancy if you can because labour is a marathon/HIIT session in itself. Labour requires your mental strength as well as your physical strength/endurance and of course training through pregnancy will help with your recovery too.

Want to keep fit throughout your pregnancy?  Click hear to email Kimmy

Jaxton-Black's Birth 

Sunday night (11/12/16) my waters started leaking slowly, at first I did think I had actually wet myself and then I realised my waters had broken. This then meant that labour needed to start within 24hours incase of infection. In most cases this does happen but of course not in my case haha... and I wouldn't have expected any different either(I tend to do things the long way round), plus my boy was just wayyyyy to comfy.

After speaking with my midwife, she then booked us in for 6pm inducement at the hospital on the Monday night if labour did not start naturally(which it didn't). Of course we reached the hospital for 6pm and didn't get seen until 8.30pm but I couldn't have really expected any different, babies do not stick to any schedule.

Later that evening Jaxton-Black's heart rate was monitored when they were just about to start the inducement. About 11.45pm they induced me with the gel and a swoop which got things moving pretty rapidly, this was all completely new to me as I went into labour naturally with my first. 

Unfortunately after being induced we did have a little scare, my contractions started immediately which was fabulous(the midwife did say my cervix was favourable) but during the second contraction my tummy went rock solid and my baby boy's heart rate dropped and kept dropping. I told Hendrick(my husband) to run and get someone which then about 6-8 doctors & midwives rushed around my bed. During these few moments I thought the worst, I thought only this amount of doctors would be around my bed if something bad is happening. 

After them all staring at me and the heart rate monitor for what seemed like an hour but were only a few minutes they turned me to my side which slowly made Jaxtons' heart rate begin to rise. During this moment I really felt I had to tune into my body and calm my body down and calm Jaxton down, this seemed so crazy as I was so scared and normally when we are in fear we flee, but not in labour. In labour you have to control your body whilst dealing with extreme pain/fear. It's pretty incredible that us women actually have the ability to do this.

From this moment I just wanted my boy in my arms, most of the midwives seemed to be telling us different information, which made me feel even more unsettled, this just made me realise all I can do is focus on bringing this boy into our world safely. 

We then got moved into the labour room about 2.00am with a new midwife who seemed very unwelcoming and made me feel uneasy, I thought this was the last thing I needed. I asked her "if everything was okay" even though I were the one in labour. She didn't respond very well and questioned whether I wanted a different midwife which I then took the opportunity and said yes. It was very strange, I totally understand they must be so busy but this is a very precious, scary time for us women, a time where 'mother nature' takes over our body which makes us feel vulnerable, we need their professional support. 

We were then given another midwife who was absolutely lovely so I am very pleased I did speak up as I really needed this encouragement and professional support. Of course my husband was amazing, stuck to my side and supported me throughout but it was important for me to have a midwife I could feel comfortable with.

Throughout the rest of my labour Jaxtons' heart rate was monitored and I were given antibiotics and fluids due to the slow water breakage and Jaxtons' heart rate dropping. 

Contractions began to get more intense which then I chose to have some of the 'Gas & Air'....did that feel good or did that feel good...I could have sang my heart out being high on that stuff hehe...  

About 3.15am my contractions began to get even more intense I just knew I were in the final stages. Hendrick decided to pop to the toilet and my midwife had gone to use the computer, for a split second I thought after all of that chaos I am now about to give birth to my son on my own hehe... but it didn't happen thank goodness.

 As they returned I told the midwife he was coming soon so she checked how dilated I were which was only 3cm. Now for a first pregnancy 3cm means you have quite a way to go so it made me think he wasn't coming anytime soon. 

Labour then started to become more familiar, not that that made it any less painful. I must say there was a moment where I felt I could not do this, it was so painful, but I knew I totally could, I mean you only have that option anyways.

I kept telling myself.. "stay focused, go into a trance, take your mind to a place where only you are, be incontrol and listen to your body". 

Then about 3.45am I knew I were in the last one or two contractions, it was pretty amazing knowing that he was actually coming. As I came to my final contraction the midwife had called for more midwives then the midwife guided me to go slow-........ his head was out, she told me "ok the next contraction you need to really push" so I did, "push- Go slow, but push, but go slow, but push, in painnnnn, push, go slow, more pain".... And........He was here...

Jaxton-Black born on the 13/12/2016 at 3.52am

3.52am my boy arrived, safe and sound. Weighing 6lb 4oz. Crying as he came out but not a peep from him since. No tears, uterus has gone down nicely, breastfeeding has felt natural and breastmilk flowing through. My recovery has been amazing, thank goodness as that is what you need with a very active two and half year old. Massively recommend pregnancy exercise especially if you do need a quick recovery.

I can definitely say, I trained for Jaxtons' birth. Every hit session, Every 30/40min cardio session, Every pilates session, all massively helped me. 
If you need help exercising through your pregnancy or post-pregnancy click here to email me. 
Do check out my Pregnancy information page for lots of information about pregnancy and my 'Personal Training/ Mummyfitness' page for more information on my training programs.


If anyone knows me reading this will find this very predictable and funny what I am about to tell you... But yes I bought my own breakfast into the hospital haha ...I know I am a health freak, but I know they will not be serving any Gluten free cereal/none cows milk in the morning haha. I must say this was a savour as they did ask me to have a snack before being induced so it is worth taking in your own foods. 

9 Stretches That You Will Love During And After Pregnancy

Stretching during pregnancy can relieve a lot of discomfort and pain. Im pretty sure most of us complain about back/hip pain as well as that horrendous cramp some of us can get in our calves in the middle of the night.

During pregnancy your body massively changes to make room for your baby and prepare for birth. As pregnancy goes on you will find that you will become a bit off balance due to your growing uterus, this can make you feel a bit wobbly on your feet at times. Your body will also produce a  hormone called relaxin, this loosens your body in preparation for your baby bypassing down through your birth canal. However this hormone affects the whole body which makes it difficult for your other joints to keep stable and supported.
This is why stretching can be really beneficial during and after pregnancy as not only will it help you with your pain/discomfort, but it will help strengthen and realign your muscles which will help stabilise and support your body.

Before we get to the stretches here are some important Tips:

Warm up

Before your begin your stretches make sure you warm up as you do not want to cause any injury. e.g A brisk walk/dancing around/ glute kicks/arm swings/ knee raises ect. 

No bouncing

Make sure you do not bounce during stretching as this can result in pulling your muscles. Focus on holding the stretch until your tension feels at ease. Ideally you want to hold your stretch between 30- 60 seconds.

Do not over stretch

As I mentioned above your body contains a hormone called relaxin' which loosens up your joints. You will find that this will make you more flexible and your range of movement will be more than what it used to be. Some women can actually have the reverse affect which is the bodies way of protecting itself from over stretching. So you could actually find you are a bit stiff throughout your pregnancy. However, if you do find that you have become very flexible make sure you do not over stretch so your stretch should feel nice rather than painful as you do not want to cause an injury. 

Breathing 

Breathing helps you relax and you need to be relaxed during stretching. This can also help you practise your breathing for birth as the more relaxed you are the better your birth will go. Unfortunately our bodies naturally tense up to protect us when something feels like pain so really try and focus on your breathe during stretching as this will help you gain control for your big day. Breathe in through your nose into your diaphragm(not chest) and slowly out through your mouth. 

9 Pregnancy Stretches

Child pose
Muscles: Back, hips, pelvis, adductors(inner thighs), shoulder, quadriceps(tops of thighs).
Tips: Knees wide toes together, push your bottom back to your heels, get your bump comfy and leave your arms extended with your palms facing up for an open rotation through your arms and shoulders.

Cat Stretch
Muscles: Back, shoulders, neck, hips/pelvis, tummy.
Tips: On all fours, weight equally spread between limbs, wrists underneath shoulders and knees underneath your hips. Relax your head down, exhale and round up through your spine, inhale taking your spine back to neutral spine/starting position.

Glute stretch
Muscles: Glutes, hips/pelvis, lower back, adductors. (This can also be done sitting on a chair. My fav stretch)
Tips: Sitting comfortably lift one leg over the other and open up through your hip. Apply a little pressure to your open thigh if you need too. 

Neck lengthening
Muscles: Shoulder, neck and spine.
Tips: Kneeling/sitting/standing lift your spine tall pushing your shoulders down your spine towards the floor making space between your shoulders and neck. Slightly tuck your chin in to lengthen through your neck(Think of a ballerina).

Shoulder stretch
Muscles: Shoulders', neck, arms, back.
Tips: Kneeling/sitting/standing round your spine forward caving in your chest, clasp your hands together relaxing your head in, taking your arms out in front, stretching your shoulder blades apart.

Hip stretch 
Muscles: Hips/pelvis, adductors, back, glutes(bottom)
Tips: Sitting as tall as your feel comfortable with no unsettling pain, open up through your hips, apply a little pressure to both thighs so they stay in one position, lengthen through your spine and push your shoulders'  down making space between your shoulders and neck.

Side bend
Muscles: Obliques, hips/pelvis, chest, ribs, back.
Tips: Sitting/standing bending over to one side. Lengthen through your side, right through to the tips of your fingers, keep your heart and bump open. Make sure you do not hold onto tension in your neck.

Chest stretch
Muscles: Chest, neck, ribs, shoulders, tummy.
Tips: Lengthen both arms out pulling thumbs back, relax your head back comfortably, and relax your shoulders.

Hip flexor stretch
Muscles: Hips/pelvis, quads.
Tips: Try to keep weight into the front leg/foot, tuck pelvis under, lengthen through your spine pushing your weight forwards, but keep your front knee behind your toes..

I would recommend that you carry on stretching post pregnancy as you will find new aches and pains due to different repetitive mummy requirements. i.e picking up your baby, breastfeeding, holding baby, lifting/carry, rocking ect. Your core muscles will also be very weak which will easily allow pain and tension to occur so be aware as you will need to restrengthen these muscles correctly. You can do this safe and effectively with my 'myMummyFitness' program or my 'Rehab your abs' (diastasic-recti) program. Email kimmyfitnesspt@gmail.com for more information on my mummy exercises programs and make sure you check out my 'pregnancy' page for lots of useful pregnancy information.

10 Reasons Why You Should Exercise During Pregnancy

Exercising during pregnancy is very beneficial for yourself and for your baby 'If mummy feels good baby feels good too'. Of course this does not mean you have to run marathons or throw gigantic weights around, you can choose to maintain your current fitness routine or take it down a notch but I wouldn't suggest aiming for any personal bests or participating in extreme sports. 


As some of you may know i am 37 weeks pregnant! Woohayyy...  My second baby boy is on the way.Luckily I have been able to keep active during my pregnancies which is good for me as I am very passionate about exercise. And of course I need to keep up with my 2 and half year old son(an athlete already).
If you are new to exercise then I would recommend prenatal Pilates/Yoga classes and swimming. 




Exercising during pregnancy is completely your choice. You have to expect yourself to be very unpredictable and to allow your body to take the lead. Sometimes your brain will want to do more but your body just can not, please listen to your body (I am forever telling myself this). Focus on yourself and your growing baby, try not to compare yourself to others' as every ladies' pregnancy is different. 

However, if you have been doing regular exercising before pregnancy then definitely continue, just listen to your body and make the changes when you need too, 'mumma' knows best'.

10 reasons why you should exercise during your pregnancy

• Happy Hormones- pregnancy is like riding an emotional rollacoaster for 9 months. Sometimes you will feel on top of the world and sometimes you will have some pregnancy blues. This is very normal, yes it is wonderful that you are pregnant but sometimes you may suffer with anxiety/depression. You are flooded with so many new hormones your body is rapidly changing you have to expect yourself to feel a little low now and again. This is where exercising can hugely help as serotonin is released which will naturally increase your mood. You don't have to go crazy to release this hormone, so get moving! However, please seeker further advice if you do feel constantly low. 

• Helps prevent extra weight gain- Some struggle with the body changes that can occur during pregnancy so keeping active throughout will help you maintain a healthy pregnancy weight gain. Click here to workout how much weight you will gain during pregnancy

• Helps maintains fitness levels- If you loved your fitness before being pregnant you will be keen to stay on top of it during. Of course you will have to amend the way you train but you can still push yourself and walk away feeling fabulous. 

• Reduce stress- Exercise can be very therapeutic for some individuals. Therefore some may feel it is very important for them to carry on with exercise during pregnancy to help manage their stress.

• Prepares your body for labour- Childbirth requires stamina, strength and plenty of determination. Exercise demands the exact same. This is where you can help prepare yourself for childbirth so you are familiar with the determination and are able to use your strength and control that you have been using in your exercises. Labour massively requires control and stamina, some may feel completely out of control during childbirth especially in your first pregnancy so it is very useful staying connected with your body. (I describe childbirth similar to a HIIT session hehe)

• Reduces constipation- Constipation is very common during pregnancy so say hello' to very slow bowel movement. Throughout most of our pregnancy our intestines are squashed which means our digestive system goes at a snail pace. So move more to get things moving, and eat less but more regularly to feel more comfortable.

• Improves sleep- Getting a full nights sleep becomes impossible. Your mind is constantly thinking/worrying, legs are cramping, you just cannot get comfortable and the amount of times you will need to pass urine is uncountable... Exercising can help relax the mind and body aswel as stimulate blood circulation which will reduce leg cramping and calf pain- so you do have hope with being able to sleep better.

• Reduces pregnancy discomfort- It is no secret that our growing baby puts extra pressure on our joints and back therefore keeping active will reduce discomforts. Stretching can help with your back pains as well as pregnancy pilates/yoga. Cardio/walking can help increase blood circulation, leg cramps and vicarious veins. Swimming/water aerobics can be very soothing due to the water being able to support your bump. (I must say I love being in water with this pregnancy). Exercising can also safely get the baby to shift around abit if they are causing discomfort in a certain position.

• Me time- Exercising during your pregnancy will allow you to get some time to yourself which is very important. Whether it is a pregnancy class or your own gym session, either one is great.

• Quicker post labour recovery- Your body is more likely to 'bounce back' quicker if you were able to workout throughout your pregnancy. This is due to your body being fitter and most likely to have gained excessive unnecessary weight. 

Have a Happy,Healthy Pregnancy!