Exercises to Help You Prepare for Childbirth

1.Tailor Sitting

Get your body ready for childbirth with the following exercises from the Mayo Clinic. Check with your doctor to make sure you don't have any limitations before you attempt any of these exercises.

• What is it? This is an exercise that strengthens and stretches muscles in your back, thighs, and pelvis, and improves your posture. It also keeps your pelvic joints flexible, improves blood flow to your lower body, and eases delivery.
• How do I do it? Sit on the floor with your back straight in the "butterfly position" (the bottoms of your feet together and your knees dropped comfortably). As you press both knees gently toward the floor using your elbows, you should feel a stretch in your inner thighs. Don't bounce your knees up and down rapidly. If you find it difficult at first to keep your back straight, use a wall to support your back. Hold the position for 10 or 15 seconds and repeat the stretch five or 10 times.

You'll find this exercise is not difficult to do, and it feels great. Your body is more flexible during pregnancy, and this exercise capitalizes on your newfound flexibility.

2.Kegel exercises

• What is it? The pelvic floor muscles help support the pelvic organs: the uterus, bladder, and bowels. If you tone them you'll ease many discomforts of late pregnancy such as hemorrhoids and leakage of urine.
• How do I do it? Try to stop the flow of urine when you are sitting on the toilet without tightening your abdominal, buttock, or thigh muscles. When you're able to successfully start and stop urinating, or you feel the vaginal muscle contract, you are using your pelvic floor muscle, the muscle you should be contracting during Kegel exercises.
• You can do Kegel exercises two ways: either by holding or quickly contracting the pelvic floor muscle. To do slow Kegels, contract the pelvic floor muscle and hold for three to 10 seconds. Then relax and repeat up to 10 times. To do fast Kegels, quickly contract and relax your pelvic floor muscle 25 to 50 times. Relax for 5 seconds and repeat the set up to four times.

3.Squatting

• What is it? Squatting is helpful during labor because it opens the pelvic outlet an extra quarter to half inch, allowing more room for the baby to descend. But squatting is tiring, so you should practice it frequently during pregnancy to strengthen the muscles needed.
• How do I do it? An exercise called a wall slide is especially helpful. Stand with your back straight against a wall, place your feet shoulder width apart and about six inches from the wall, and keep your arms relaxed at your sides. Slowly and gently slide down the wall to a squatting position (keeping your back straight) until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Hold the position for five to 10 seconds, slowly slide back to a standing position. Repeat five or 10 times.

4.Pelvic tilt

• What is it? Pelvic tilts strengthen abdominal muscles, help relieve backache during pregnancy and labor, and ease delivery. This exercise can also improve the flexibility of your back, and ward off back pain.
• How do I do it? You can do pelvic tilts in various positions, but down on your hands and knees is the easiest way to learn it. Get comfortably on your hands and knees, keeping your head in line with your back. Pull in your stomach and arch your back upward. Hold this position for several seconds. Then relax your stomach and back, keeping your back flat and not allowing your stomach to sag. Repeat this exercise three to five times. Gradually work your way up to 10 repetitions.

BUTT WORKOUT

The Get-Your-Dream-Butt Workout

Exercise 1: Skater Squat

Stand on your right leg (A), then bend your right knee to lower your body until your thigh is nearly parallel to the floor (B). Make it more challenging by slowly lowering until your left knee touches the floor. Stand and repeat for six to 12 reps, then switch sides.

Exercise 2: Glute Bridge

Stand on your right leg (A), then bend your right knee to lower your body until your thigh is nearly parallel to the floor (B). Make it more challenging by slowly lowering until your left knee touches the floor. Stand and repeat for six to 12 reps, then switch sides.

Exercise 3: Single-Leg Dumbbell Deadlift

Holding dumbbells (10 to 25 pounds) at your sides, stand with knees slightly bent (A). Bend forward and raise your right leg behind you (keep hips pointed down and back flat) (B). Return to start. Do 10 to 15 reps on each side.

OUICK WORKOUT TO BOOST YOUR FAT BURN

The Quick Workout That Will Boost Your Fat Burn

Perform each exercise as a one-minute interval: Do as many reps as you can in 30 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds before continuing to the next move. Rest one minute at the end, then repeat the circuit two more times. If you're not time-crunched, perform up to six intervals for a 30-minute workout.

Exercise 1: Lunge Run

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, arms at your sides (a). Step back and lower into a reverse lunge, then pump your arms like you're running for three to five seconds, keeping your core tight (b). Press through your front heel to return to standing, then quickly repeat on the other side; continuing alternating.

Exercise 2: Low-Box Burpee

Stand facing a box or step with your feet hip-width apart (a). Sit your hips back, bend your knees, and place your hands on the step (b), then jump both feet behind you so that your body forms a straight line from head to heels (c). Quickly reverse the movement to return to standing.

Exercise 3: Skier Swing

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent; hinge forward at the waist to lower your chest toward the ground, extending your arms straight behind you (a). In one explosive movement, push your hips forward and swing your arms overhead, rising onto your toes (b). Reverse the movement to return to start. Continue in a quick, rhythmic pattern.

Exercise 4: Primal Pushup

Start in a pushup position (a), then bend your knees and sit your hips back as far as you can, arms straight (b). In one motion, shift your weight onto your hands and drive your right foot forward into a lunge position, raising your right hand off the ground (c). 

GET UR ABS WITH 5 MOVES THAN CRUNCHES

Tone Your Abs on a Mat: 5 Moves Better Than Crunches

1.Weighted Russian Twist
With both hands, hold the ends of a dumbbell, the sides of a weight plate, or a medicine ball. Sit on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat. Hold your arms straight out in front of your chest with your palms together. Lean back so your torso is at a 45-degree angle to the floor (A). Brace your core, and rotate your torso to the right as far as you can (B). Rotate to the left as far as you can (C). Return to the starting position. That's one rep.

 

2.Modified V-Up 
Lie faceup on the floor with your legs straight and your arms at your sides (A). In one movement, quickly lift your torso into an upright position as you pull your knees to your chest (B). Lower your body back to the starting position. That's one rep.

3.Foam Roller Reverse Crunch with Dumbbell
Lie faceup on the floor and hold a foam roller between the backs of your ankles and thighs. The fronts of your thighs should be facing your chest. Grasp a heavy dumbbell that's set on the floor behind you (A). Raise your hips and bring your knees to your chest (B). Return to the starting position. That's one rep.

4.Leg Lowering Drill
Lie faceup on the floor, and raise your upper legs until they're perpendicular to the floor. Bend your knees slightly (A). Without changing the arch in your lower back or the angle of your knees, brace your core and try to take 3 to 5 seconds to lower your feet as close to the floor as you can. One trick: Press your lower back toward the floor as you perform the movement (B). Once your feet touch the floor, raise them back to the starting position. That's one rep.

5.
Lie faceup on the floor with your right leg straight and flat on the floor. Your left knee should be bent, and your left food flat. Place your palms on the floor underneath the natural arch in your lower back. (Don't flatten your back) (A). Slowly raise your head and shoulders off the floor without bending your lower back and hold this position for 7 or 8 seconds, breathing deeply the entire time (B). That's one rep. Complete the prescribed number of reps, then do the same number with your left leg straight and your right bent.

WORK YOUR ABS AND BOOTY WITH LUNGE VARIATION

Work Your Abs AND Booty with This Buy-One-Get-One-Free Lunge Variation

Lunge with side bend: We know you're all about doing less and getting more because duh. So this move, which works your glutes, hamstrings, calves, obliques, upper back, and shoulders, is exactly what you need in your life this weekend. Bust this exercise out wherever your workout takes you to sculpt a seriously toned bod

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BOOST YOUR METABOLISM WITH 15 MIN WORKOUT

Eliminate Excuses and Boost Your Metabolism With This 15-Minute Workout

Make this set your travel go-to, or do it three times a week as a superefficient workout.
The Workout: Starting with the first exercise, perform as many reps as you can in 50 seconds, rest for 10, then move on to the next. After all four moves, rest for one minute. Repeat two more times for three circuits total.
Check out the pin-able step-by-step graphic of the workout below, then keep on scrolling for the breakdown of each of the four moves!

Exercise 1: Marching Glute Bridge

Lie faceup with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, arms by your sides. Press through your heels to raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees (A). Raise your right foot, knee bent at 90 degrees, until your shin is parallel to the floor (B). Hold for three seconds, then lower your foot and repeat with the left. Alternate.

Exercise 2: Alternating Reverse Lunge

Stand with feet hip-width apart, hands clasped behind your head (A). Step back with your right leg and lower your body until your left knee is bent to 90 degrees (B). Push back up to start. That's one rep. Switch legs and repeat.

Exercise 3 : Plank Walk-Up

Get into plank position, forearms on the floor, elbows under your shoulders, legs extended behind you (A). Place your right hand flat on the floor (B), and then your left, straightening your arms to pushup position (C). Return to start by lowering onto your right, then left, forearms. Repeat, leading with your left hand; alternate.

Exercise 4: Skater Hop

Cross your left leg behind your right and lower into a half-squat, your right arm out to the side, left arm across your hips (A). Hop to the left, switching your legs and arms (B). That's one rep. Keep hopping quickly, alternating from side to side.

5 MOVES YOU SHOULD DO FOR ABS

5 Abs Moves You're Not Doing—But Should B

The Workout: Complete one set of each of the five exercises below for the time or repetitions noted, in order, without resting between moves. After finishing all of the exercises, rest one minute and repeat for a total of three rounds.

Exercise 1: Swiss Ball Plank with Feet on Bench

Place a Swiss ball next to an exercise bench. Place your forearms on the ball so that your elbows are directly under your shoulders. Step one foot back onto the bench and then the other. Your feet should be separated about four to six inches apart. Keep your feet flexed, and hold your body in a straight line for 30 seconds. Release down. That’s one set. When you return to this move in the next round, hold for 15 more seconds. During the third round, add another 15 seconds for a total of 60 seconds.

Exercise 2: Hands-Free Side Plank

Lie on your left side perpendicular to an exercise bench. Bring both feet together on top of the bench with your right foot on top of the left. Keep your feet flexed, and cross your arms in front of your chest (A). Brace your torso, squeeze your butt muscles, and push into your feet to raise your hips. Rise until you form a straight line from your left shoulder to your ankles (B). Hold it for 10 seconds, and release down. That’s one rep; do a total of five, then switch sides.

Exercise 3: Front Plank with Pulldown

Position yourself perpendicular to a cable machine with a handle. Get on your hands and knees, and place your elbows under your shoulders. Grab the handle in your right hand, and step back into a plank position. Keeping your elbow bent, allow the handle to move upward until your upper arm is parallel with the floor (A). Pull the handle down until your elbow touches the ground (B). That’s one rep; do 15 on each side.

Exercise 4: Stability Ball Reverse Leg Lifts

Lie face-up so that the middle of your back is centered on a Swiss ball and your feet are on the floor with your knees bent. Reach overhead with both hands to hold your anchor (A). Contract your core muscles, and pull your legs upward until your feet are over your hips (B). Pause for two seconds, then slowly lower your legs back down until they're a few inches off the ground (C). That’s one rep; do a total of 15.

Exercise 5: Slide Out

Get on your hands and knees with your knees under your hips and your hands directly under your shoulders. Put a sliding disc under each hand (A). Bracing your core, slowly slide your hands forward with straight arms as far as you can (B). Use your core to pull your hands back to the starting position. That’s one rep; do 15.