kickboxing - Sheila?

G

gina

Cathlete
Sheila--or anyone else of course!-- do you have anything to add to this comment about kickboxing while pregnant.

"By the way, I've been told not to do serious kickboxing while you're pregnant because it's really stressful on your pelvic floor muscles."


P.S. Can't wait until Cathe is done filiming and can "kick" in here now and again. But I'll be patient and let her get those videos done for us. Ooooh I hope I can do them!
 
Gina,

Where did this statement come from? The reason that kickboxing may not be an appropriate mode of exercise for some moms is that kickboxing involves many quick moves, kicks, punches etc. The hormone relaxin is responsible for loosening up connective tissue (and therefore your joints) during pregnancy. Mom's joints may not be as stable as they were prepregnancy. Since relaxin could potentially affect the joints of the pelvis, hip joints, knee joints, shoulder joints, the rapid movements involved may be uncomfortable for some pregnant moms. Also, the round ligaments, which are like "tie downs" for the pregnant uterus, could be stressed by movements involved in kickboxing classes causing shooting pains down into the groin. The pubic symphysis, a vulnerable joint found in the pelvis between the 2 pubic bones, may loosen up during pregnancy as well causing "play" in the joint. If mom is experiencing this "loosening" of the pubic symphysis, kickboxing moves may be uncomfortable for her as well.

To comment on the pelvic floor comment above..... For any form of exercise, if mom cannot do a move without simultaneously holding a pelvic floor contraction, she shouldn't be doing the move. The weight of the growing baby as well as the hormones of pregnancy (i.e. relaxin and progesterone) place a lot of stress on the pelvic floor. You must be able to "hold up" your pelvic floor while doing any weight bearing exercise in order not to place additional stress on it. This is not only true for kickboxing, but any other form of weight bearing exercise.

Hope this helps. Let me know....

Sheila

Sheila S. Watkins, MLSci.
Founder and National Program Director
Healthy Moms(R) Fitness Programs
 
Sheila,

Thank you for such a detailed, informed, and quick response. It is *so* nice to know I can turn here for information and advice!

Someone here in this group made the statement I quoted. She was recalling something she had previously heard.

For the most part I understood your response. However, I guess
I am still looking for the more simple, take home message. Although, I do feel it was responsible of you to provide the whole explanation and I am pleased to hear it.

QUESTIONS #1 a & b:
(a) Do you think a pregnant woman may continue to do kickboxing as long as she does not feel pain or discomfort? Or do you think it is best avoided for now so as not to risk an injury --say loosening up the pubic symphysis? (b) If it is best avoided, at what point in pregnancy should one start to avoid?

QUESTIONS #2 a & b:
I have never given conscious thought to holding a pelvic floor contraction when doing an exercise. (a)If I am unable to hold this contraction when doing a particular exercise will I somehow know it? (b)Is this another place where Kiegels would prove useful?

Thank you again. I truly appreciate your expertise,
Gina
 
Hi Gina,

I'm not Sheila (obviously!) and I'm sure she will answer your questions in more detail than I, but I just wanted to share my experiences with regard to kickboxing as my pregnancy has progressed.

I am currently 31 weeks pg and still doing kickboxing workouts. I am still able to do the punches synonymous with these workouts at "full force". However, I have just started to modify the kicks. I am finding that, as the ligaments are now stretching in my groin and pelvic area, taking the kicks as high as I used to is proving uncomfortable (particularly so with side kicks). I simply make the kicks lower so that they feel comfortable and don't place undue strain through these areas. There is a section in Cardio Kicks, where Cathe does Power Drills and does these jumping kicks on the spot and then moving forward (not sure if you are familiar with these?). I have found in the last month or so, that I cannot do these jumping kicks as the impact puts too much strain through my groin and bladder. Therefore, I just do standing kicks at the same tempo, but without the jump, which causes me no discomfort.

My interpretation of holding a pelvic contraction, is NOT "leaking" whilst doing any of the movements. If you find that you are (please excuse my bluntness here!) peeing yourself when doing any of the movements, then you are not holding your pelvic floor properly and shouldn't do that particular movement.
Again, if my interpretation of this is incorrect, I'm sure Sheila will correct me.

I know it is a bit of a "blanket statement" but every woman's body handles pregnancy differently. For eg, I personally stopped doing "traditional" ab work after 12 weeks as it just didn't feel comfortable, whereas another woman may be able to continue quite happily with traditional ab work. Instead, I
have carried on doing kiegels and modified plank work on a regular basis as these exercises have continued to feel comfortable and useful.

I really do think that your body will tell you when it is time to modify something, or to stop doing it altogether. Personally I have exercised by the rule of, if a particular move feels uncomfortable or causes me pain, I modify. If it is still causing me problems with modifications, I simply don't do it.

Anyway, sorry to go on, but I just wanted to share my experience with you in the hope that it may help a little.

Take care!

Kaz.

Today Is The Tomorrow We Worried About Yesterday And All Is Well.
 
Oh... there you are! LOL :)

Hi Sheila...

I didn't see your post until now... hope you are feeling better!

Hey... let me add ('cause Sheila was the one who first brought this to my attention, and it was SO true in my case!) that if you make it through your whole pregnancy with no kegel problems, you need to re-evaluate the situation postpartum. Very often, the strain of pushing during labor will stretch out those pelvic floor muscles, and you want to hold off on impact activities until you rehabilitate them.

I'm always so glad that Sheila was so adamant about this in her prenatal/postpartum classes and in her training because then I wasn't so freaked out about it when I had a few weeks of it postpartum after #1. Interestingly, I never had urinary incontinence during most high impact exercises except for jacks. I have noticed that, when I've taught postpartum moms that if I give a high and low modification for jacks, 9 times out of 10, all of the moms will choose the low... even moms who will go all out high impact the rest of the workout.

Hee hee... my OB this time says, "50 kegels a day keep the doctor away!" She is the first OB/GYN I've had that even mentioned kegels. She actually even checked my kegels at my 6 week postpartum visit and at my yearly checkup 4 mos. later. She says she makes it her mission to make women aware of how to avoid incontinence (which, by the way, is a HUGE problem for many women after menopause... and the risk of urinary incontinence in menopause increases with parity!). BTW, she let me know (and I would not have known otherwise) that I had a slight rectocele... that is when the rectum sags into vagina a bit... and I did my kegels throughout my pregnancy and had a c-section. All I know is that I'm doing extra kegels to try to strengthen that part of my pelvic floor... and I'm SO glad that I have an OB/GYN who was thorough. I don't know why so many OB's avoid the topic. I was in a group practice (primarily male doctors) with my first pregnancy, and not one of the doctors mentioned kegels, and they all knew that I was exercising. If I hadn't been in Sheila's fitness classes, I'd have had no clue!!

Soooo... now I'm babbling... but, I guess I'm glad that Sheila keeps preaching this topic! SO important if you want to avoid the Depends aisle when you are 50!
Susan
 
RE: Oh... there you are! LOL :)

Oh wow, rectocele sounds like it would make one even more prone to getting UTIs! Any idea as to how to make sure to avoid this? Doing more kegels?

I have a bad feeling I haven't been doing enough kegels considering I've been having some violent sneezes lately and sometimes, on the third or fourth one, I end up leaking just a bit, ugh! I think I'd better ‘step it up' a bit since I don't want to end up making myself prone to incontinence as well as UTIs!

Come to think of it, my doctors haven't said anything about kegels to me. They're encouraging me to exercise and they always ask me if I have any questions but never mention anything about strengthening those pelvic floor muscles. I hadn't even thought about it until now because I keep hearing it from the pregnancy/recovery videos I've been previewing and seeing the subject on this forum. I guess once we start going to child birth classes, they'll be addressing the importance of kegels there.
 
Thanks everyone for the kickbox info. And thank you for the Kegel info. I have also been lazy about doing Kegels, but vowed to do them. I don't want to pee myself, ever! I have done them 3 times a day for the past 2 days. I think I might make a face when I do them, so I won't just do them "anywhere, anytime". Gina
 
ROFL...

... that is too funny :)

I usually do mine in the shower... and in the car when I'm driving... I don't think I make faces, but at least no one's really there to watch LOL :)
Susan
 
RE: Oh... there you are! LOL :)

I don't think (at least my OB didn't say anything about it) that it makes me any more prone to UTIs... my understanding is that the muscles around the wall between the vaginal area and the rectum are just stretched out... so that the rectum sags a bit toward the vaginal area. I honestly don't notice it at all (thank goodness)... but I don't intend to let it get any worse, either. Some women do experience fecal incontinence postpartum or even postmenopause... there's an article on that topic in the December Pregnancy Magazine that I've been meaning to read (I get the magazine earlier since I'm a contributor).

What kind of childbirth class are you going to take?
Susan
 
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