Fitness
Listening to your body and the importance of exercise during pregnancy and beyond
“I always feel so much better after a workout,” 38-year-old Melanie Luu says.
Melanie is 32 weeks pregnant at the time of our chat. She’s been exercising at boutique gym, Sassi Fit, in inner-city Melbourne for several years, including throughout her pregnancy.
But training during pregnancy and after giving birth can be difficult to navigate.
Some personal trainers and instructors don’t modify exercises or their classes for perinatal people as they would for someone recovering from injury.
Some new parents may be unaware of particular movements to avoid, held back by morning sickness or fatigue, or daunted by the prospect of injuring themselves.
Cultural expectations about losing weight after giving birth, led by a plethora of “fitspo” Instagram content, can also encourage some mothers to fixate on “getting their pre-baby bodies back” as soon as possible.
Rosie Purdue is a physiotherapist who specialises in pelvic floor and continence physiotherapy.
She has more than a decade of experience and is the founder of Hatched House, which provides allied health services for women.
Rosie says that it’s not surprising how delicate the return to exercise after giving birth can be, given the myriad of changes that happen to the body.
“Anatomical and physiological changes affect every single organ system in the body. At no other time in life does this happen,” she explains.
“During pregnancy, the mother’s weight and posture changes, and there is a significant stretch of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles.”
Rosie says that after giving birth, “internally the placenta organ detaches from the uterus. This wound takes a minimum of 4-6 weeks to heal, regardless of how the baby is born [i.e. via caesarean or vaginally].”
Exercise encouraged during pregnancy
However, it’s partly for these reasons that maintaining exercise during pregnancy and beyond can be very beneficial for the parent’s health.
For those with uncomplicated pregnancies, exercise is actually encouraged. Among its many advantages, exercise can improve mood, sleep, sense of well-being and, of course, fitness levels.
Exercise during pregnancy has additional benefits including a decreased risk of developing gestational diabetes, hypertension, and pre-eclampsia.
It’s why the World Health Organisation recommends those with uncomplicated pregnancies participate in at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise per week.
A recent University of Wollongong study surveyed nearly 700 women on their attitudes and beliefs around exercise during pregnancy.
While most believed that “regular exercise during pregnancy is safe” for themselves and their baby (94 per cent), many reported receiving “no or little advice from their healthcare provider”.
This meant that they were unaware of or not meeting the World Health Organisation recommendations about exercising during pregnancy.
“If you stay physically active and strong during your pregnancy, then your recovery is likely to be faster and you’re more likely to return to exercise and sport,” Rosie says.
Melanie agrees.
“As a first-time mum, I’ve enjoyed modified exercises during my pregnancy and have learnt what is safe for me,” she says.
While Melanie finds the idea of returning to exercise after giving birth “a little bit daunting”, she’s aware that she can, and should, ease back into it.
She finds the social aspect of group classes help keep her motivated.
Adapting and modifying workouts key to pregnancy fitness
Melanie’s trainer, Caroline Molloy, owned Sassi Fit for seven years.
Caroline aims to help women achieve their health and fitness goals in a non-judgemental environment, specialising in pre- and post-natal exercise.
She was inspired to pivot from her career as a teacher to start the business after having her own troubling experiences when exercising while pregnant and after giving birth.
“There was a big lack of understanding on the pressure that has already been on the pelvic floor,” Caroline explains.
For her, and many other new parents, this meant that trainers were prescribing exercises that added to that pressure. This had the potential to cause pain, discomfort, and even further damage.
“Some weren’t really understanding what it felt like to have just had a baby and then be asked to do a burpee or jump around with weights.”
Rosie notes that important modifications to exercise during pregnancy can include “making sure you can hold a conversation while you’re working out and avoiding exercising on your back during the later stages [of pregnancy].”
Shrugging off the pressure and taking it slow
Unrealistic pressure to return to pre-pregnancy weight and appearance is also something that Caroline has seen encouraged by some gyms and studios and repeated by clients.
This can include encouraging impractical fitness goals too soon after giving birth, and body-shaming or framing anyone who doesn’t achieve them as “lazy”.
“They’re often feeling that pressure of ‘fitspo’ stuff on Instagram,” Caroline says.
“Things like ‘I did this, and I’ve had five children – this is how I look, and you should be the same.’”
Caroline says it’s understandable that being bombarded with these messages may mean some new parents need reminding that no two journeys back to exercise will look the same.
“Everything that you can do is not the same as what someone else can do,” she says.
She recommends that perinatal people looking for a personal trainer, or even attending a gym class, ask if their trainers have qualifications in pre- and post-natal training.
“Even fitness instructors, I think, should be qualified in that, particularly when they’re running a group class,” she says.
Rosie recommends new parents “take it slow and listen to your body.”
“For the first six weeks try doing your pelvic floor exercises, stretching and building up to walk comfortably for 30 minutes,” she explains.
“When your baby is around six weeks, get a check-up with a pelvic health physio. They can guide your strength and fitness program for the next six weeks, before returning to higher intensity exercise.
“If something doesn’t feel right, then get professional help.”
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Chester County has an elaborate new outdoor gym, installed as part of a national campaign to encourage exercise and combat obesity.
The infrastructure is called a Fitness Court and it features seven stations that enable people to get a workout in seven minutes.
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The Fitness Court was funded by Independence Blue Cross as part of the National Fitness Campaign. The $100 million initiative will work in collaboration with schools and municipalities to build 5,000 outdoor gyms across the country by 2030.
“By investing in accessible, welcoming spaces like this, we’re helping remove barriers to healthier lifestyles and ensuring more residents across Chester County have opportunities to stay active and connected close to home,” Marian Moskowitz, vice chair of the Chester County Board of Commissioners, said in a statement.
Last year, approximately 37% of the people in the United States were obese, down slightly from a record-high of nearly 40% in 2022, a recent Gallup poll reports. The drop is due in part to the rise in GLP-1 weight-loss medications. More than 34% of adults and more than 15% of children in Pennsylvania are obese, according to statistics from the Obesity Action Network, a national nonprofit advocacy group.
Obesity is a chronic condition that increases the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and other serious health issues.
The Fitness Court is located at Charlestown Township Park, which already had play structures, basketball courts, picnic pavilions and a one-mile paved trail. The new outdoor gym is designed for people 14 and older and adaptable to different fitness levels.
People can use the Fitness Court app for workout challenges and metrics to help people track their exercise goals and outcomes.
Horsham Township in Montgomery County also has a Fitness Court at Lukens Park at 540 Dresher Road.
Other municipalities, schools and organizations throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania that own accessible public space may apply for grants to help build Fitness Courts, according to IBX.
InnerCity Weightlifting volunteers find a sense of fulfillment by helping clients improve their fitness.
When people think about treating or managing their mental health, therapy, journaling and reading are often among the first solutions that come to mind. While those are all valuable tools, one of the most effective outlets is often overlooked: physical fitness.
At the Lift US Foundation, based in Oakland, leaders emphasize the mental benefits of exercise for adolescents through a strength-training-focused approach. Through its partnership with the NBA Foundation, the organization has expanded its efforts to empower young people and, as founder Mike Jenkins describes it, “create superheroes.”
“The need in the community is very foundational about strength and health in general, physical and mental,” Jenkins said. “I locked in on a term I like to call generational health, and what that means is the young people in our program become the healthiest in their families, and they take those values going forward in their own.”
As for InnerCity Weightlifting, which is based in Boston and Chicago, the organization uses personal training to help people affected by systemic barriers and past challenges build a new path forward. The nonprofit helps individuals with histories of gang involvement earn personal training certifications before connecting them with paying clients.
Though some people may not want to pursue personal training full-time, ICW still provides them with fitness tools they can carry throughout life while also helping guide their next steps into the workforce.
“Learn how to work out safely, learn how to give your friends a workout and then tell us what you need, what kind of jobs you’re interested in, what’s holding you back from some stability,” said ICW’s head of development Ian Kilpatrick.
Fitness to opportunity
From the ground up, Lift US focuses on teaching young people how to understand their bodies through fitness, nutrition education, counseling, mentorship and mental health support, all while helping them develop a future-focused mindset beyond the program.
Seeing a program participant progress through each phase and ultimately succeed is Lift US’s ultimate goal.
Rucker Johnson Jr. joined the organization at age 10 with a passion for science, art and drawing. Over time, he developed a love for weightlifting as well, eventually earning a spot on Team USA and setting his sights on representing the country at the 2028 Olympic Games.
“A complete human. A complete person, physically strong, mentally strong, academically strong, and not relying on getting a football or baseball scholarship. They are just doing it to empower themselves,” Jenkins said.
Johnson Jr. also branched out to the Hidden Genius Project, an Oakland-based nonprofit that trains and mentors young Black men in technology, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The organization has partnered with the NBA Foundation for several years.
Job pathways beyond fitness
As mentioned before, ICW ultimately helps place participants into jobs even outside the fitness industry, with their interactions with clients playing a key role.
The organization has seen numerous trainers transition into different industries simply by networking and performing well with the people they train. “We had guys get jobs at Toyota because a training client was a manager at Toyota, we’ve had a client start a dog grooming business and hire her trainer as one of the first employees,” said Kilpatrick.
The organization also builds partnerships with corporations such as UPS and Home Depot to streamline job pathways for participants.
Looking ahead, ICW is also focusing on creating more in-house managerial roles for participants who may not want to become full-fledged trainers. Either way, the organization provides volunteers with a sense of belonging and direction that helps them rebuild stability in their lives.
At their core, both organizations aim to build belonging and long-term success through fitness, which is a great place to start.
Fitness
Alexandra Daddario, 40, Relies on This Underrated Crunch Upgrade for Strong Abs – Here’s How to Do It Properly
From enduring some serious physical prep for Baywatch to working consistently with elite trainer Patrick Murphy, Alexandra Daddario’s dedication to fitness is well-documented. She often shares insights on social media, and in a recent Instagram post, the White Lotus star gave an insight into how she trains her core with one powerhouse movement: the reverse crunch into shoulder stand.
Why is it so good? Most traditional ab exercises require repetitive spinal flexion—the process of pulling your chest down toward your knees, like in a standard crunch. This isolates only the upper section of your abs, and for women who spend hours sitting at a desk, it can reinforce a slouched, rounded posture.
Daddario’s movement flips the mechanics entirely since you actively curl your pelvis up toward your chest. In doing so, you target not only your upper abs, but the lower portion and your obliques (the sides) simultaneously, all while keeping your chest open and your neck unstrained. This translates into a much stronger core, better posture and crucial lower back protection. Research also shows that a controlled posterior tilt – the lower-body curl that initiates Daddario’s move – recruits a significantly higher percentage of deep core muscle fibers than traditional crunches.
Daddario then drives her hips directly up into a vertical shoulder stand. This completely removes momentum from the equation (meaning you can’t “cheat”) and forces your abs—particularly your obliques—to balance your body and prevent you from tipping sideways.
She then takes it one step further into a Pilates plow position with her legs overhead, before reversing the movement and, again, using her abs to control the lowering of her entire lower body as she slowly unrolls her spine down onto the mat. The plow portion is optional (and super advanced); the slow, controlled, lowering phase, which happens whether you move into plow or not, is where the magic happens, challenging your core through both lifting and resisting gravity. Inspired? Here’s exactly how to do the move with good form, and how many reps and sets to aim for.
How to do a reverse crunch into shoulder stand
- Lie on your back (either on a mat, or on a reformer Pilates machine, like Daddario, with your arms anchored tightly to the floor.
- Engage your core to curl your knees toward your chest, then fluidly press your feet straight up toward the ceiling, lifting your hips and lower back off the floor.
- Slowly lower down, one vertebra at a time. Aim for 3 sets of 6-8 controlled reps.
Optional progression:
- As you reach shoulder stand with your legs extended to the ceiling, slowly start to lower your toes toward the floor over your head. Your weight should rest entirely on your shoulders and upper back – not your neck.
- Keeping your legs straight, use your core to extend them straight back up to the ceiling, then control the descent by rolling your spine down one vertebra at a time, with your legs remaining straight.
As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism.
After earning a first-class degree in journalism and NCTJ accreditation, she secured her first role at Look Magazine, where she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!
Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red. Today, she oversees all fitness content across Women’s Health online and in print, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, which showcases the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise.
She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how. Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.
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