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Safe, Fun, Effective Exercise for Pregnant
Women and New Mothers
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Prenatal and Postnatal Exercise
Classes with Marie
San Francisco East Bay Area (West Contra Costa County)
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Prenatal Class
Details
Goals
The objectives of the prenatal exercise classes are to:
- Provide a safe and appropriate exercise environment for
pregnant women
- Define exercise expectations
- Provide for social interaction, support, motivation,
and encouragement
- Educate the participants about exercise as it relates
to pregnancy, childbirth, and recovery
- Maintain fitness levels of the participants
- Help participants adjust to changing body image, weight
gain, and related issues
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Components
The classes include the following components:
- Posture and body alignment
- Body awareness
- Cardio endurance
- Stretching
- Balance Training
- Relaxation
Class segments
The class is broken into the following five segments:
- Warm-up. The warm-up involves large muscle activity,
joint preparation, and static stretching. Warming up the low
back, pelvis, hip joints, and postural alignment is emphasized.
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- Cardio. The aerobic segment involves low impact mild-to-moderate
intensity movement. The choreography is kept simple and speed
of movement is slower (no greater than 135 beats per minute)
and more fluid than standard high-intensity aerobic classes.
The choreography ensures that hips are always squared, and avoids
quick directional changes, sudden lateral, and spinal rotation
movements. Complete range of motion is incorporated. Modifications
for intensity are demonstrated and participants are encouraged
to adjust their intensity based on their perceived exertion.
Heart rate checks are incorporated during the cardio segment
to help participants gauge their intensity level.
- Muscle strength and endurance. This segment includes
upper and lower body strength training, as well as abdominal
work. Plies and squats (chair assisted) are integrated, as well
as kegels and pelvic exercises. Abdominal exercises are illustrated
in supine position (recommended only during first four months
of pregnancy) and in side lying and chair assisted positions
(for participants beyond their fourth month of pregnancy). The
strength training is focused on the muscles needed to maintain
proper posture during pregnancy, the muscles required during
labor, and the muscles used to hold the child after birth.
- Cool-Down. The cool-down includes stretching and relaxation.
- Education. The class ends with an exercise tip of
the day or handout. This is an opportunity to educate participants
and answer their questions.
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