Strengthen your body and marriage, with couple pre-natal pilates

The hubby and I have been working on our fitness by attending couple prenatal pilates together over the past four weeks.

I’ve done reformer pilates before so this was not altogether new for me, but after my first lesson, my aching back and arms were a telltale sign of how weak my core muscles were.

After the first lesson, hubby and I collapsed in a heap the moment we reached our bed. (Haha, how’s that for strength and fitness?)

Because I haven’t been working on my core muscles all throughout my pregnancy, I found I was unable to support too heavy a resistance without arching my back and losing the correct posture and stability for some of the workouts.

But thankfully, our instructor Linda was patient and encouraging, and allowed me to progress at my own pace.(She told us it’s important to listen to our bodies, and not over-exert ourselves. The perk of being in a prenatal class is that we don’t need to feel ashamed if we need to reduce the resistance or just take a 3-minute breather.)

By the third lesson, I had already made some progress, and I could actually tell the difference!

So what’s good about prenatal pilates anyway?

According to babycentre, regular pilates will help to:

• Strengthen your tummy muscles
• Reduce back pain
• Strengthen your pelvic floor, which will help to support your bowel, bladder and womb as your baby grows
• Improve balance
• Take the strain off your back and pelvis
• Relax and control your breathing (a skill that helps during labour)

Pilates can also improve your body awareness and knowledge of which muscles you are working, and which muscles you need to engage during delivery.

I’m thankful that hubby has been really supportive! So far, he’s been attending all the classes with me. The bonus is he’s also benefitting from the classes too. He’s been wearing a slouchy posture for a long time due to frequent computer work, and these exercises help to improve his posture by strengthening the core ab muscles and the back and shoulder muscles.

Although the lessons are held at a slower pace to cater to us preggie mums, the hubbies have to deal with greater weight resistance, so don’t think they can just breeze through the class okay! ;)

And here’s the happy giveaway part:

~~~GIVEAWAY~~~

For pregnant readers
Thanks to Pilates Fitness, I’m giving away Couple Prenatal Pilates classes (worth $75) to 2 lucky winners. Just follow the instructions via Rafflecopter app below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions:

1. Valid for 1st time customers and Singapore residents only. Winners must redeem the Couple Prenatal Pilates class by 21 Feb 2014. (Do note that for health reasons, you must be in your second or third trimester before taking the class.)
2. Participants must ‘Like’ Pilates Fitness Facebook Page to be eligible for the contest.
3. Winners will be announced on our Facebook page & Pilates Fitness Facebook page on 6 December, 10.30pm.