Move
Our Approach To Prenatal And Postnatal Workouts
Is it safe to do barre3 while I’m pregnant and after I have my baby?
This is a question we get a lot—and it’s one we love to answer. While the short response is yes!, we love digging into the details of barre3’s approach to movement during pregnancy and beyond.
Read on to learn more about modifications for making any barre3 workout pregnancy-friendly, tips to consider for prenatal and postnatal exercise, and ideas for keeping your barre3 practice strong before and after you have your baby.
Before You Start
First off, as with pretty much anything pregnancy-related, it’s important to have a conversation with your doctor about whether or not exercise is safe for you. Once you’ve been cleared, barre3 is a great prenatal and postnatal workout option.
Practicing barre3 While Pregnant
Barre3 online includes a dedicated prenatal collection with workouts designed to support your changing body by safely building strength and balance. Beyond that, our online platform offers hundreds of workout videos—and below, we’re sharing options for modifications to make every workout safe and healthy for your body as it makes room for your baby.
Core Work
Your abdominal wall already has a lot of pressure on it from your growing baby, and as a result, your core muscles can no longer do the job they need to successfully support you in traditional core-focused postures. The good news, however, is that you have options to keep these muscles active in a new way.
- Plank Instead of taking a traditional Plank, try coming down to your forearms or your knees. If that doesn’t feel stable enough for you, you can take Plank at a waist-high surface like a countertop or the back of a sturdy chair. This takes pressure off of the abdominal wall, giving you the same benefits of traditional Plank with less pressure on the body.
- Flat-Back, Incline, or Mid-Core Each of these core-specific postures can be tricky to do while pregnant. An option you can try instead is Upright Core. Taking this modification will lift your spine higher so you’re not experiencing as much resistance on your abdominals, providing a gentle way to work these muscles and strengthen your pelvic floor.
- Diamonds Another good alternative to Flat-Back and Mid-Core is to work in a Diamond Series, which will activate both the side of your seat and core. Diamonds are a great way to spice up your core options if you’re looking to try something different!
Things To Consider
- Honor Your Energy Level Every pregnancy is different, and you may find that your energy levels will shift throughout your journey. It’s important to take each day as it comes, listen to your body, and take plenty of breaks. If something doesn’t feel right for you at this moment, you can experiment with the many modifications that are available to you.
- Find Stability In Balance-Challenge Postures As your baby grows, your body can be thrown out of balance, making postures that challenge your balance more difficult. For these postures, many of the modifications we already cue in workouts will work well if you’re pregnant. Explore the modification that feels the most stable and secure for you, whether that’s keeping both feet on the floor or resting your hands on a waist-high surface.
- Work Higher, Smaller, Slower Many postures like Horse Pose, Power Leg, or Sumo can be modified by working up higher and walking your feet in closer together. You’re also always welcome to try working more slowly, like taking a posture at a four-count instead of two-count.
- Be Mindful of Stretching In some pregnancies, it can feel like the body is more flexible. As your body prepares for labor, it releases the hormone relaxin that relaxes muscles and loosens your joints, making them more unstable. While the release of this hormone may help you go deeper into postures, continue to listen to your body so you don’t overextend and push yourself too far.
Working Out Postnatal
When you’re ready to begin postnatal exercise, the barre3 online postnatal collection is a great place to start. This collection was designed specifically for you, with workouts that put a special emphasis on safely rebuilding the core and pelvic floor. Once you’re ready to explore beyond these postnatal-specific workouts, remember that your body has experienced major changes and might not be able to do all the things your pre-pregnancy body could. Instead of jumping back in full-throttle, we recommend easing back in by picking up where you left off with the modifications you were taking while working out prenatal.
We often hear from postnatal clients that their body feels foreign to them, particularly during the first six months post-baby. As always, it’s important to meet your body where it is, without shame or judgement. As you start to build back strength, you can begin reintroducing resistance by gradually exploring the traditional options of the postures you’ve been modifying.
Breathwork Is Key
An important part of postnatal recovery is creating space for practicing breathwork. Focusing on your breathing as you move through postures is one of the most powerful ways you can connect deeper with a workout, and breathwork will help your body stay aligned as your core heals.
What’s more, breathwork delivers the many benefits of mindfulness that new moms need. With late nights and the extra energy expenditure that comes with taking care of a little one, energy depletion and sleep deprivation can impact your body’s ability to recover. It’s important to give yourself patience and time to tap into what you’re feeling, and honoring your body when it needs a break.
Slow And Steady
Don’t overlook the power of micro-workouts! Embracing brief movement sessions, like our 10-minute workouts, is a great way to build up momentum through small wins. At the end of even just 10 minutes, you’ll feel more accomplished and energized than before you pressed play.
When Can I Progress?
This is a common question among postnatal clients, and the answer depends both on how you feel and your doctor’s recommendations. During postnatal check-ups, we encourage you to talk to your doctor about how your body, joints, and back are feeling, as you want to ensure that you’re moving forward without negative pain. Pushing yourself too quickly can have the opposite effect of prolonging the recovery period.
Every pregnancy and postpartum journey is unique and the best thing you can do for yourself is to listen to your body throughout. In every workout, you are your own best teacher, and you know best what’s right for your body.
As always, your instructors are here to support you, providing you with the modifications, resources, and the support you need to make sure you get a safe and effective workout. Ready to try? Find your local studio or get started with a 15-day free trial of barre3 online.
Is it safe to do barre3 while I’m pregnant and after I have my baby?
This is a question we get a lot—and it’s one we love to answer. While the short response is yes!, we love digging into the details of barre3’s approach to movement during pregnancy and beyond.
Read on to learn more about modifications for making any barre3 workout pregnancy-friendly, tips to consider for prenatal and postnatal exercise, and ideas for keeping your barre3 practice strong before and after you have your baby.
Before You Start
First off, as with pretty much anything pregnancy-related, it’s important to have a conversation with your doctor about whether or not exercise is safe for you. Once you’ve been cleared, barre3 is a great prenatal and postnatal workout option.
Practicing barre3 While Pregnant
Barre3 online includes a dedicated prenatal collection with workouts designed to support your changing body by safely building strength and balance. Beyond that, our online platform offers hundreds of workout videos—and below, we’re sharing options for modifications to make every workout safe and healthy for your body as it makes room for your baby.
Core Work
Your abdominal wall already has a lot of pressure on it from your growing baby, and as a result, your core muscles can no longer do the job they need to successfully support you in traditional core-focused postures. The good news, however, is that you have options to keep these muscles active in a new way.
- Plank Instead of taking a traditional Plank, try coming down to your forearms or your knees. If that doesn’t feel stable enough for you, you can take Plank at a waist-high surface like a countertop or the back of a sturdy chair. This takes pressure off of the abdominal wall, giving you the same benefits of traditional Plank with less pressure on the body.
- Flat-Back, Incline, or Mid-Core Each of these core-specific postures can be tricky to do while pregnant. An option you can try instead is Upright Core. Taking this modification will lift your spine higher so you’re not experiencing as much resistance on your abdominals, providing a gentle way to work these muscles and strengthen your pelvic floor.
- Diamonds Another good alternative to Flat-Back and Mid-Core is to work in a Diamond Series, which will activate both the side of your seat and core. Diamonds are a great way to spice up your core options if you’re looking to try something different!
Things To Consider
- Honor Your Energy Level Every pregnancy is different, and you may find that your energy levels will shift throughout your journey. It’s important to take each day as it comes, listen to your body, and take plenty of breaks. If something doesn’t feel right for you at this moment, you can experiment with the many modifications that are available to you.
- Find Stability In Balance-Challenge Postures As your baby grows, your body can be thrown out of balance, making postures that challenge your balance more difficult. For these postures, many of the modifications we already cue in workouts will work well if you’re pregnant. Explore the modification that feels the most stable and secure for you, whether that’s keeping both feet on the floor or resting your hands on a waist-high surface.
- Work Higher, Smaller, Slower Many postures like Horse Pose, Power Leg, or Sumo can be modified by working up higher and walking your feet in closer together. You’re also always welcome to try working more slowly, like taking a posture at a four-count instead of two-count.
- Be Mindful of Stretching In some pregnancies, it can feel like the body is more flexible. As your body prepares for labor, it releases the hormone relaxin that relaxes muscles and loosens your joints, making them more unstable. While the release of this hormone may help you go deeper into postures, continue to listen to your body so you don’t overextend and push yourself too far.
Working Out Postnatal
When you’re ready to begin postnatal exercise, the barre3 online postnatal collection is a great place to start. This collection was designed specifically for you, with workouts that put a special emphasis on safely rebuilding the core and pelvic floor. Once you’re ready to explore beyond these postnatal-specific workouts, remember that your body has experienced major changes and might not be able to do all the things your pre-pregnancy body could. Instead of jumping back in full-throttle, we recommend easing back in by picking up where you left off with the modifications you were taking while working out prenatal.
We often hear from postnatal clients that their body feels foreign to them, particularly during the first six months post-baby. As always, it’s important to meet your body where it is, without shame or judgement. As you start to build back strength, you can begin reintroducing resistance by gradually exploring the traditional options of the postures you’ve been modifying.
Breathwork Is Key
An important part of postnatal recovery is creating space for practicing breathwork. Focusing on your breathing as you move through postures is one of the most powerful ways you can connect deeper with a workout, and breathwork will help your body stay aligned as your core heals.
What’s more, breathwork delivers the many benefits of mindfulness that new moms need. With late nights and the extra energy expenditure that comes with taking care of a little one, energy depletion and sleep deprivation can impact your body’s ability to recover. It’s important to give yourself patience and time to tap into what you’re feeling, and honoring your body when it needs a break.
Slow And Steady
Don’t overlook the power of micro-workouts! Embracing brief movement sessions, like our 10-minute workouts, is a great way to build up momentum through small wins. At the end of even just 10 minutes, you’ll feel more accomplished and energized than before you pressed play.
When Can I Progress?
This is a common question among postnatal clients, and the answer depends both on how you feel and your doctor’s recommendations. During postnatal check-ups, we encourage you to talk to your doctor about how your body, joints, and back are feeling, as you want to ensure that you’re moving forward without negative pain. Pushing yourself too quickly can have the opposite effect of prolonging the recovery period.
Every pregnancy and postpartum journey is unique and the best thing you can do for yourself is to listen to your body throughout. In every workout, you are your own best teacher, and you know best what’s right for your body.
As always, your instructors are here to support you, providing you with the modifications, resources, and the support you need to make sure you get a safe and effective workout. Ready to try? Find your local studio or get started with a 15-day free trial of barre3 online.
