Pregnancy and Stretching Exercises

Featuring Tamarah Calyniuk, MPT, CAFCI, Physiotherapist Pregnancy and Stretching Exercises Duration: 2 minutes, 21 second

In pregnancy, the relaxin hormone is ever present, into the postpartum period, for about three to four months.

Therefore, it’s important to maintain a good stretching routine. Certain muscles will tighten and change with change of posture and centre of gravity, and also the change in the laxity of your joints.

So, it’s important to be progressive with your stretching program, but not to stretch too aggressively because you will have an increased range of motion of those joints.

You want to make sure that you’re stretching your hamstrings, your glutes, your hip flexors and your low back through pregnancy, because those are the ones that will tighten up. And, maintaining a decent flexibility in your upper body as well.

It’s important to stretch out the muscles that are going to be tightening, that is your hamstrings, your hip flexors, your back extensors and your glutes. And then you want to do some general stretching for your upper body as well.

In pregnancy, flexibility does change, you become tight in certain muscles compared to other areas, however flexibility and laxity are two things that need to be addressed. Laxity is caused due to the relaxin hormone, and you want to ensure that you’re not overstretching the muscles, so that you want to maintain a normal range of joint mobility.

You don’t want to stretch above and beyond that range. So even if it feels like you’re not getting a good stretch, you want to ensure that you’re not going past that range of motion because it may result in injury.

When you’re stretching you want to maintain your stretches for 40 minutes and repeat them at least twice, and you want to make sure that you’re engaging your pelvic floor and transverse abdominals to ensure good stability while stretching.

If you do have any questions or concerns regarding stretching it’s best to consult with a personal trainer who specializes in pre and postnatal.

Video produced for Health Choices First featuring Ms. Tamarah Nerreter, physiotherapist,

Presenter: Tamarah Nerreter, Physiotherapist, Surrey, BC

Local Practitioners: Physiotherapist