Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., August 04, 2008 Av 3, 5768 | | Israel Time: 13:20 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Working out for two By Ariel Rubinsky Tags: Pregnancy, exercise Most people agree about the advantages of physical activity during pregnancy, and some actually see it as being compulsory. The good news is that there is now a variety of options for pregnant women who want to exercise - from training and special classes at gyms, to movement classes offered by the many birth-preparation centers that have sprung up around the country. The less good news is that women all experience pregnancy differently, and while some continue to work out right up to the birth, there are those for whom the mere thought of this is exhausting. Noga Tayar, 32, of Ramat Gan, was in the sixth month of her first pregnancy when she was accepted to work as a fitness and body-shaping coach at the Holmes Place chain. "I didn't see this as something that I couldn't do: I was pregnant, but life goes on. I went to work and I worked out up to the birth," she relates. Today she is the mother of a three-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. "I was sufficiently prepared physically and psychologically to ignore the difficulties and to keep on working out, but this definitely isn't the case for everyone. Nevertheless, I think that my case could serve as an example, that if you really want to continue to behave as usual during pregnancy - it is possible." Advertisement Is this a way of ignoring your situation? Tayar: "No, I definitely did relate to the changes in my body and I didn't take risks. At an early stage of the pregnancy I stopped running, for example. I felt that I couldn't and didn't want to run, so I swam instead, I did power walks and I rode a fitness bike. You have to behave cautiously and pay attention to your body, but not to stop because of pregnancy. And this is my message to the pregnant women I work with: If everything is all right medically it is possible to do nearly everything - but carefully." Is it also possible to take aerobic or weight-training classes? "If a woman worked out before the pregnancy she can continue, but at a lower intensity and in coordination with a fitness trainer, who will explain to her what is permissible and what she should be careful doing. Even a woman who has not done physical activity can start to work out at a gym during pregnancy, but with close guidance." "The beginning of my pregnancy was so difficult that I had to stop working out," says Efrat Hoch, a Pilates teacher in Beit Yanai, who studied body-sculpting at the Wingate Institute and is now in her sixth month of pregnancy. "Once the morning sickness ended I went back to working out energetically, but very quickly realized that my body was working more slowly and I had to listen to it. Today I work out two or three times a week and no more. "The emphases in the workout [during pregnancy] are different. The abdominal muscles are no longer strong and they don't stabilize the back the way they usually do, so we strengthen the circumferential muscles, the back, the pelvis and the limbs and we work a lot on breathing. I also make sure to work on the pelvic floor every day - this doesn't require any physical effort and it's important. All the pregnant women I worked with in the past told me that the Pilates had helped them focus their breathing during the birth and to connect with the pelvic floor, to know when to relax and when not to." Has your experience of pregnancy changed your professional attitude toward pregnant women in any way? Hoch: "Yes. Today I feel more empathy for the difficulties, for the exhaustion, for comments like, 'I haven't the strength,' which can sound like self-indulgence. Today I understand how necessary it is to encourage every woman who manages to come to classes at all." 'Birth dance' According to Gila Ronel, an administrator at the Dyada Center, "the most important thing in pregnancy is to listen to your body, to be attentive to changes." Dyada offers a variety of physical activities for pregnant women, among them yoga, Pilates, movement and calisthenics in the water. She stresses that physical activity and movement are essential for dealing with difficulties in pregnancy, and for preparing the body for birth and for rehabilitation afterward. She suggests that athletes also visit a birth-preparation center because the staff will "direct the attention to the body's new responses." "Somebody who does regular power walks, for example, now needs to be much more precise in her movements and attentive to the pelvic floor and the abdomen," explains Ronel. "As pregnancy advances there is a change in certain pressure points in the lower back because the pregnant woman does not hold her pelvic floor and abdomen correctly during activity, and this is not something they teach at every gym." "The body doesn't always restrict one's movements, but it suddenly reacts differently to activity that a specific woman was used to doing," says Shuli Bronstein, a Pilates and exercise instructor for pregnant women. "Running and jumping like in aerobics classes, which may be done in an unsupervised way, can harm the pelvic floor, which consists of an important system of muscles and ligaments on which most of the internal organs in the abdominal cavity sit. We give specific solutions for each woman because every woman reacts differently, and we teach them how to continue the activity to which they are accustomed." What about someone who hasn't done any activity before pregnancy? Bronstein: "I recommend that she go in the direction of movement classes intended for pregnant women, because pregnancy isn't the right time to start working out at a gym and for a first experience of lifting weights. In movement and exercise classes for pregnant women the aim is to strengthen the body, especially the joints on which the burden increases during the pregnancy, to help the body cope better with the changes it is experiencing and to prepare it for birth, which nowadays, unlike in the past, is an event full of movement." Is that the case even in a birth with an epidural? "Yes, until the woman gets to the hospital and until the birth starts, a number of difficult hours go by, during which it is best that the woman be moving around because this helps her deal with the contractions and advances the birth. I am talking about rounded, circular movements - really a birth dance. Any woman can learn these movements in classes and if she practices this at home, she will also be able to do it at the time of the birth, with all the pain and the pressure, because the body is already familiar with the movement and works automatically." Ronel stresses that all of the physical activities offered at Dyada include work on the muscles of the pelvic floor, and notes that nowadays about one-third of all women who give birth suffer from some kind of damage to the pelvic floor during labor. One of the reasons, according to her, is that midwives encourage women to push in an intentional way - like we see in the movies, when women are exhorted to "push!" - instead of spontaneously with the bodily reflex, as it ought to be. Another reason is weak pelvic floor muscles. "Strengthening the pelvic floor is essential and the practice will also teach the woman how to work correctly at the time of birth," asserts Ronel, adding that after the birth as well this is the first thing that needs to be practiced. "It is usual to return to physical activity in the sixth week after the birth, and if there were complications or a Caesarean section, this could take a bit longer. But it is possible to start working on the pelvic floor muscles just a few days after the birth, even with the stitches and the swelling. It's a good idea to ask the doctor first, but for the most part he or she will approve." Says Ronel in conclusion: "A woman who correctly prepares her body for giving birth will give birth correctly and be concerned later about rehabilitating her body. It is reasonable to assume that she will avoid problems with secretions, drooping sex organs and all of those things women encounter after giving birth or after the age of 40." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Facing off in Gaza Bitter infighting in Gaza may bode ill for Israel's truce with Hamas. Syria's frequent flyer Assad went to Iran to explain rather than excuse peace talks with Israel.

Read & React Netanyahu: Kadima is selling Jerusalem Responses: 40 Court slams state for ignoring order to change West Bank fence route Responses: 24 Israel urges int'l pressure to stop Hezbollah arms smuggling Responses: 24 Israel to transfer some Fatah refugees to West Bank Responses: 7 Rights group: Shin Bet coerces ill Palestinians to become informants Responses: 13 More Headlines 11:11 IDF Chief: We know Shalit is alive and where he is 11:54 Israel to transfer some Fatah refugees to West Bank 09:15 Rights group: Shin Bet coerces ill Palestinians to become informants 13:06 Satirical jab at Sarkozy's son sparks cries of anti-Semitism 07:08 Court slams state for ignoring order to change West Bank fence route 12:09 Officials investigating threats of Al-Qaida attacks in Europe 13:07 Pollard sues Israel for failing to grant him financial assistance 13:07 Bulldozer terrorist shooter felt himself 'messenger from God' 11:14 Shfaram marks three years since Jewish terrorist killed four 10:03 Report: Iran tests naval destroyer with 300-km range 03:37 Israel urges int'l pressure to stop Hezbollah arms smuggling 12:08 19 years later, East German nuclear bunker opens to the public 12:44 VIDEO / IDF soldier who shot bound Palestinian faces court hearing 03:01 Officials: Hezbollah planning attack on Israelis in west Africa 11:09 City Hall ignores order to remove settlers from East Jerusalem house Previous Editions Select Day 03 aug 01 aug 31 jul 30 jul 29 jul 28 jul 27 jul 25 jul 24 jul 23 jul 22 jul 21 jul

Special Offers Advertisement Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Isaac Maimon at Dreamshoppe Special summer sale. Make an offer now. You will be surprised. MBA in Israel in English APPLY NOW! Limited spaces available Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Yossi Avrahami Presents: New Luxurious Projects in North Tel Aviv & Eilat Your vacation starts here Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved