Month: April 2022

Categories
Exercises

Abdominal Decompression

Abdominal Decompression (Exercise Classification: beginner)

Equipment: wall

  • Place the outside of your pinky fingers just above your hip creases with your hands laying flat with no inward pressure against your belly.
  • Use your hands to gently scoop under and lift your belly up and hold. This helps to decompress your belly and take pressure off of the structures in and around your hip crease.
  • Hold the upward lift for 10-15 seconds then relax. If this feels good, you can hold for a longer period of time as it is not dangerous.
Categories
Exercises

Shoulder Wall Slides Facing the Wall

Shoulder Wall Slides Facing Wall (Exercise Classification: Beginner)

Equipment: wall

  • Face a wall and start by standing ~ 6 inches from the wall
  • Rest the pinky finger side of your hands and forearms on the wall shoulder distance apart with your elbows at chest height.
  • Your feet should be hip distance, or a little wider, apart and your knees soft with a small bend.
  • Slide your arms up with wall in a straight line.
  • At the very top, take a deep breath in through your nose as you reach towards the ceiling and lean into the wall a little.
  • If it feels good, you can also shrug your shoulders towards your ears as you do this.
  • Then exhale gently through your mouth as you let your forearms slide back down the wall to their starting position, leading with your elbows.
  • Forearms should touch the wall the entire time.
  • Repeat for 5-10 repetitions. 
Categories
Exercises

Back to Wall Shoulder Flexion

Back to wall shoulder Flexion (Exercise Classification: beginner)

Equipment: wall

  • Start standing with your back resting against a wall
  • Walk your feet out so that the wall is supporting your low back and your thighs do not feel like they are working to hold your up
  • Place your feet roughly hip distance apart.
  • Breathing normally through your nose, start with your arms down at your side and your thumbs facing the ceiling in a “thumbs up” position
  • Keeping your elbows straight and your low back on the wall, raise your arms in front of you moving them overhead. The movement should come from your shoulders.
  • Once they are above you, take a deep breath in through your nose as you reach up like you were trying to make yourself tall and touch then ceiling.
  • Then gently and slowly exhale through pursed lips as if blowing through a straw as you bring your arms back down to your sides.
  • Repeat 5-10 repetitions.
Categories
Yoga

360 Breathing

Exercise Classification: Beginner

  • Start on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders, your knees under or wider than your hips and your back flat. (You can do this on a bed or the floor)
  • Your elbows should be soft with a small bend.
  • Take a deep slow breath in through your nose as you think about the bottom of your ribs opening up in all directions (360 degrees) like an umbrella. You should feel this in your ribs, back, chest, and belly.
  • Then gently exhale through your mouth or nose as you let the lower ribs return to their starting position.
  • Repeat for 2-3 minutes.
  • If you are not used to taking big breaths and you get dizzy, STOP and take a break. The next time you try, you may want to start with 30 seconds and slowly build up to 2-3 minutes.
  • This can also be performed in sitting, side lying, standing, and on your back (or 30-degree incline with pillow/wedge support if > 20 weeks pregnant)
Categories
Aerobics

How to Lift a Carrier Correctly

Life and Carry Carrier (Exercise Classification: Beginner)

Equipment: baby carrier

  • Stand to one side of the carrier and face the baby carrier and baby so the baby is facing towards your back
  • Squat down and put your arm through the handle so that the handle is in line with your elbow
  • Grab the plastic side piece of the handle  and get a firm grip.
  • Stand up by pushing with your legs.
Categories
Aerobics

Abdominal Massage

Note: You will need to be logged into a YouTube account to see this video.

Abdominal Massage

Equipment: none

  • Begin laying on your back with your legs resting on 2-3 pillows under the knees.
  • If you are >20 weeks pregnant, put pillows or a wedge under you upper back, shoulders, and head so that you are propped up and not completely flat (~30 degrees).
  • You can perform this technique over clothing or directly on skin.
  • This is sometimes called the “I Love You” massage because you will be tracing the letters “I” “L” and “U” on your belly.
  • “I”- put your left hand flat on the left side of your belly, up near your bottom ribs. Use the palm and heel of your hand to rub from the back to the front and down towards your feet with whatever amount of pressure feels good. You do not need a lot of pressure for this to work.
  • It should take 3-5 strokes to work your way down your left side.
  • Repeat the “I” 5-10 times.
  • “L”- Now move to the upper right side of your belly by your lower ribs. You will use the same technique to massage across the front of your belly just under your ribs and then repeat the “I”.
  • Repeat 5-10 times
  • CAUTION: Do not do this within 30 minutes of eating. The area under your ribs can be very sensitive and uncomfortable as food digests.
  • “U”- Now you will move down to the right lower side of your belly by your right hip bone. You will use a flat hand, palm, and heel of your hand to massage from back to front and up towards your head. When you get the bottom of your rib cage on the right (starting position for the “L”) repeat the “L” and then the “I”
  • Repeat 5-10 times
  • This can be done at anytime during the day but works best at night before going to bed or in the morning just after waking up.
Categories
Exercises

Modified Quadruped Rocking

Quad Rocking Modification (Exercise classification: beginner)

Equipment: table or flat surface

  • Start standing facing a countertop that is at least as high as your belly button.
  • Move your feet apart so they are just as wide or wider than your hips and rest your forearms onto the counter
  • Keep a soft bend in your knees and your back flat
  • While keeping your arms on the counter, rock your bottom back towards the wall behind you “as if there was a string tied to your belt loop and someone was pulling your backwards”.
  • As you rock backwards your elbows should straighten.
  • Sit back until you feel a stretch in your shoulders and back.
  • Then you can either rock forward to your starting position or you can hold the stretch for 5-10 seconds before rocking forward to your starting position.
  • Repeat 5-10 repetitions.
Categories
Exercises

Quadruped Rocking

Quadruped Rocking (Exercise classification: beginner)

Equipment: none

  • Start on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders, your knees under or wider than your hips and your back flat. (You can do this on a bed or the floor)
  • Keeping your back flat and your hands in contact with the floor, rock your hips back towards your heels.
  • Once you sit back as far as you can comfortably, you can either return to your starting position immediately or you can hold the stretch 5-10 seconds.
  • If you feel pinching in the front of your hips as you rock back, try either bringing your legs a little farther apart or try turning your knees out and bringing your feet towards each other.
  • Repeat 5- 10 repetitions.
Categories
Exercises

Hook Lying Trunk Rotation

Hook Lying Trunk Rotation (Exercise classification: beginner)

Equipment: none

  • Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
  • Bring your feet together so the big toes and inside of your heels are touching.
  • After 20 weeks, place pillows behind your head and back so that you are not completely flat (goal:30-45 degree include)
  • Let your arms rest down by your sides OR lay them flat out to your sides in a “T” position with your palms up towards the ceiling
  • Gently let your knees fall to one side until you feel a light stretch or pull.
  • Hold for 2-3 seconds then bring your knees back up to the starting position.
  • Repeat the opposite direction
  • Perform for 5 to 10 repetitions (right + left= 1 repetition)
Categories
Exercises

Hip Swings

Hip Swings (Exercise classification: beginner)

Equipment: wall or countertop

  • Begin standing next to a wall or a countertop with the right side of your body closest to the wall or countertop
  • Place your right hand on the surface for balance
  • Your left hand can go on your hip or your can let your left arm hang comfortably at your side
  • Keeping your knee straight, swing your left leg back and forth in one smooth motion.
  • The movement should come from your hip at a comfortable speed. Keep your trunk still when you do this.
  • Keep height of leg in a comfortable range
  • You can perform on both sides but for constipation you want to make sure to do the left side.
  • Repeat for 10-20 repetitions (forward swing and back swing of the leg = 1 repetition).