Form Matters: Pregnant Soldiers experience change in balance

Photo By Gail Parsons | Position 2 on the modified Bulgarian Split Squat.  

KS, UNITED STATES

01.17.2020

Story by Gail Parsons 

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

As a pregnant Soldier progresses through the trimesters, her belly is getting bigger and her balance may not be what it used to be.
Spc. Megan Hataway, Irwin Army Community Hospital, said every Pregnancy and Postpartum Physical Training program starts with a centering session to gauge shifts in the woman’s center of gravity.
One exercise that women need to be cognizant of their balance is the Bulgarian split squat. It is a variation of the single leg squat and targets the quads and glutes.
“It does require a little bit of flexibility and it does require a little bit of balance,” Hataway said. “One consideration that we have for pregnant women, is they’re going to have a lack of balance and a hyper elasticity because of the relaxin hormone that is produced during pregnancy.”
Relaxin is a hormone a woman produces to prepare her body for childbirth. It relaxes the ligaments in the pelvis and softens and widens the cervix.
“Our ligaments are making room for baby,” Hataway said. “Our body is constantly growing during that time. And so, order in order to accommodate the growth of the baby, (ligaments) have to be stretchier.”
A woman who has not weight trained may find themselves more flexible, which could make them more prone to injury,” she said.
“With an exercise like this, if they are more of a novice, they can omit the chair or bench completely,” she said. “You can get the same workout from simply stepping behind and dropping down similar to a lunge but the focus is still on that front leg. You’re still doing the quads and the glutes but you don’t have to worry about the balancing, you don’t have to worry about the weight falling over — things that we don’t want to put on our pregnant women.”
The goal is to hit the muscles in the front leg.
“That’s what should be firing,” she said. “I find that this is one that really does a good job of hitting the quads and glutes so you get that nice burn afterwards.”


TECHNIQUES

An added safety measure would be to hold onto something like PVC pipe for stability. Modifications include not holding weight or not using the bench. Hataway demonstrates two variations:
1. Rest the top of one foot on a bench. The ankle should be touching the edge of the bench.
2. Squat down in a slow, controlled motion keeping the knee behind the toes.
3. Firing through the heel, use the glutes and quads to return to an upright position.

If balance is an issue, eliminate the bench and do the same steps with both feet on the ground

• Date Taken: 01.17.2020
• Date Posted: 01.28.2020 17:29
• Story ID: 360731
• Location: KS, US