My Baby's Prenatal Pilates

It's been tough to hold this little secret for past 3 months. Finally I got the green light from my doctor that I can announce the news: I am EXPECTING. ^o^

That's why I was so crazy over the topic of exercise prescription for pregnant women. I had my own hidden agenda while completing my Masters, heh.

I spent my whole Sunday writing on my private love blog and uploading my ultrasound scans on my Facebook. Then hubby came along and insisted that I should put up the ultrasound on P-Latte as well.

"You have to mention it on your blog! I saw it with my own eyes. Our baby WAS doing Pilates! "

When we went for our 3rd prenatal check up 2 weeks ago, our little one was already ultra-active. Our doctor used terms like "running", "dancing", "jumping around" and "doing sit-and-reach" to describe our baby's movements. After the check up Ed was so excited! He said he saw our little one doing exactly what I always do at home - Double Straight Leg Stretch + Roll Up + Spine Stretch!


Is it genetic or 胎教 (prenatal education) at work?

Christian's Views on Pilates

In another post "Can Christians Practice Pilates" I wrote that Pilates is different from Yoga and it does not involve meditation, so it is ok for Christians to do Pilates.

I came across yet another friend who has have spine condition and chronic back pain that really bother him and even affect his quality of life. Regardless the numerous recommendations his friends (aka me) and even doctors or physiotherapists gave, he is reluctant to try Pilates. He said his pastor is really against Pilates, yoga and Taichi kind of exercise.

This is a really a sad misunderstanding that some religious personels have on Pilates. This really stems from lack of understanding of what Pilates is really about.

Here is a Christian's perspective from "A Christian Response":

"So far, we found nothing of major concern regarding the history and practice of the Pilates Method. Though most accounts of Pilates’ life mentioned his adaptation of yoga positions in some of his exercises, there was no indication that the Hindu yogi philosophy was also grafted in. As with tai chi, the physical postures of yoga are not of themselves harmful—uncomfortable, perhaps, but spiritually innocuous. The danger in these practices lies in their religious and philosophical teachings, but there is no sign of such teachings in standard Pilates material."

However the website warned that while the "Pilates exercises themselves may be spiritually neutral, sometimes those that market Pilates material are not". So watch out if the person/ company that is selling Pilates material (whether the studios/ instructors/ DVDs/ books etc) are promoting beliefs that are contradictory to the central tenets of Christianity. Or if they have blended in methods that involve spiritual philosophies (such as hybrid program Yogalates / Yogilates). So before signing up any Pilates class, you might want to do some homework of reading up the provider's website, or speak to your instructor to understand their standpoint or if they have any intention in promoting their own religious beliefs in their pilates class.

Budget Pilates

Many have heard about the goodness of Pilates, but they are worried that good stuff like Pilates comes with high cost.

Well, honestly, it can be quite costly for some to learn pilates in professional studios, but then again "costly" is a relatively term. I always feel that classes at studios are "value-for-money" as they really give solid/ superb/ noticeable results.

If you have a tighter budget but want to do Pilates, you may consider these:

1. Community centres or public sports complexes. Class rate is about $110 for 10-12 classes. Remember to try out classes at A FEW centres near your home or workplace, as standard and teaching style of instructors vary. Same as choosing a pilates studio, you will need to find a class where you are comfortable with its location and its instructor.
   
2. Some professional studios offer periodic promotions/ packages which are quite affordable. For example VF-Studio has a recent promo such that you may attend unlimited number of mat sessions for S$180 within a month, or 3 beginner reformer (machine) classes at S$100. I think this is a pretty good deal. So sign up for the mailing list with various Pilates studios to stay updated on promotions (of course you can stay updated by reading P-latte too ^_^).
3. Hire a freelance instructor to teach at your workplace/ condo/ school/ parks etc, so that your peers (ideally about 4 or more people) can help split the cost with you. Market rate of such instructors range from $80-150/hour, and it depends on various factors such as your prefered location & time of the class and instructor's experience.
   

Zii and MK, hope this answer your questions :)

Exercise for Pregnancy

HURRAY!! I got an A- for my Master degree's final project. YAY!!!!!!! I am officially done with my master and convocation will be on 26th July. Finally, the ordeal is over...

Anyway the theme of my final project was "Exercise for Pregnancy". I reviewed the literature of exercise guidelines available from various governing bodies in US, UK & Australia, conducted mini surveys with some local obstericians & gynaecologists, and interviews with some pregnant ladies to understand their attitude towards exercise during pregnancy. There have been lots of paradigm change within the medical world over past decades regarding exercise prescription for pregnant women. Let me share what I have found in my project, but for certain sensitivity issues, I shall keep the "attitude" of the local doctors portion of my project discrete here ^_^

I would actually prefer any mom-to-be (or dad-to-be) to read the whole guideline from American College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, so to fully understand the physiological changes happening during pregnancy, the benefits of exercise during pregnancy for mom & growing foetus and what can be done and what not. But if you find it contain too much jargons and alien language (aka medical terms), you may find the patient info (pdf) published by the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaegologists concise and easy-to -read.

Anyway, below are important pointers below, for easy reference:

• It is safe to exercise if your pregnancy has NO complication (ie. pregnancy with no health issues such as hypertension, gestational diabetes, etc). Get clearance from your doctor.
  
• Most local women cut down exercise or even stop it all together, as they think that being active may harm their growing baby. It is actually a myth that all pregnant women need to cut down the frequency and intensity of exericse during pregnancy. The rule of thumb is, do not exceed the frequency & intensity of what you have been doing before pregnant. Pregnancy is really not the ideal time to take up new physical challenge. Thus forget about training for your 1st marathon if you had only been running regularly at 10km-distance. Exercise within your pre-pregnancy fitness level.
  
• Do not over-exert. Listen to your body, stop when you are tired.
  
• Avoid being over-heated, dehydrated, exercise in supine position (lying flat on the back) from 2nd trimester onwards, over-stretched (or ballistic/ jerky stretches), exercise at high altitude and sports that require sudden change in directions.
• Type of exercise: NO scuba diving, water skiing, martial arts, gymnastics, trampoline, etc.
  
• Eat well during pregnancy, do not exercise continuously for more than 45 min to prevent depleting blood sugar level to dangerous level.
  

As for the Pilates Lovers, good news is that Pilates is fantastic for pregnant woman. Because it is non-impact, and it stregthens all the important muscles (respiratory muscles, core muscles, pelvic floor muscles and so on) which will all come in handy during childbirth and when taking care of the newborn. However, it is very important for you to inform your instructor that you are pregnant, so that he/she can give you extra attention and modify the exercises for your safety.

Exercise is good for you and your baby, it improves your fitness level and uplifts your spirit. So stay active during pregnancy if there is no complication!

Buying Pilates Mat

Many people thought that Pilates and yoga mats are the same, because they are similar in size and are used for exercises done on the floor. Actually, a Pilates mat needs to be thicker than most yoga mats.

This is simply because there are many standing poses in yoga, mats used for yoga have to let the practitioner feel the floor for balance. This is not so important with a Pilates. In fact, Pilates mats are thicker so that our spine and other bony structures are padded from the floor. Trust me, doing exercises like "Rolling like a ball" or "Open Leg Rocker" without sufficient padding will give u more of painful bruises than a relaxing massage on the back! Also, yoga mats are sticky, designed to prevent slipping, a hazard which is not as likely with Pilates exercises.

So, a good Pilates mat must be:

• At least a half inch thick.
  
• Firm. A mat that is too soft will not support balance and alignment properly. These mats are usually made of dense foam/ closed cell foam or rubber.
• "Non-stretch". I used to enjoy using AIREX mat, but I realise it stretches length-wise when u do weight-bearing exericses on all-fours, such as "Inverted-V" or "Leg Pull". This make it difficult to keep proper positioning of palms and feet thus causing the body to lose alignment. It can be quite annoying having to keep adjusting the palm and feet position while u do the exercises, just because they "slide" away as the mat stretches.
  

So far, personally I find that the mat available for sales at Focus Pilates Studio is quite good and is reasonably priced too. I bought a used mat for myself and a new mat for my student from there. The only down thing about this mat is that it is so firm that it leaves some pressure lines on the forehead after lying face-down for awhile (like after doing "Prone Press-up". But of course the pressure lines are just temporary :)

Drop me a note if you know where else to get good mats for Pilates. I am sure many of the readers and my students will appreciate it.

Updated on 6 Jun: Heard that Option Studio also has pilates mat for sale. let me check it out one of these days and write a review soon!! ha