Ab work
Hi! First I'll share my personal experience and then I will tell you of ab exercises that you can do when your belly really starts to get big(or even before if you prefer).
When I was pregnant I modified abs at month four by doing traditional ab work but on my step in an incline position. So my back and butt were against the step on an incline with my knees bent and my feet on the floor. Then when that started getting uncomfortable I just relied on my weight training to maintin my ab firmness. What I mean is that most of the weight training that I was doing in the gym for my total body workouts, made me use my ab muscles for balance and stability. For instance, when I did the tricep press down, I had to use a lot of abdominal muscle to keep my body from pulling forward. When I did standing bicep curls, I had to use a lot of ab muscle to keep my back from arching and my arms from swinging. When I did bent over one arm rows, I had to use my ab muscles to keep my back from swaying. These are just a few examples. I also did kickbox up until the last trimester and all those kicks and punches sufficed as a great ab workout.
The following ab exercises are the ones that Sheila had demonstrated to us in her prenatal/postpartum certification coarse. I found these to work well at the point where my belly was so big that most else was uncomfortable(2 weeks before delivery).
1) C-Shape Pushback---Start by leaning back into a pillow. Push your lower back into the cushion, while rolling your upper body forward, therefore creating a c-shape. Contract your abs as you do these and then return back to your starting position. You can also do these curls on a diagonal for oblique work(rolling the opposite shoulder toward knee while curling forward).
2) Pelvic Tilt---Start on your hands and knees and keep your spine in a neutral position. Slowly curl tailbone forward. Think of curling your hips under toward your ribs and then return to your starting position. The weight of your belly will provide the challenge here.
3) Tail Wags---On your hands and knees again, slowly turn your head and buttocks to the right side of your body and then to the left---the way a dog looks when wagging its tail. Good for the obliques.
4) Belly Press---You can be seated. Take a deep breath allowing your belly to protrude but not letting your chest rise. Now exhale the air out contracting your abdominal muscles as you do this. Repeat.
When performing all of these exercises, concentrate on the intensity of the exercise rather than the number of repetitions. Do enough reps to slightly fatigue the abdominal muscle.
Hope this helps!
