You may have been told to do ALL the squats to prepare for birth. There is a famous birth quote to do 300 squats a day to prepare for birth and have an easier labor.
Did you know that HOW you squat can determine which part of your pelvis is opening? There is NO one movement that will open the ENTIRE pelvis!
If we want to open the TOP of the pelvis, we want to focus on deep squats.
If we want to open the BOTTOM of the pelvis, we want to focus on hinge squats.
Let’s break it down in this blog post + movements you can do during pregnancy to prepare to open each half of the pelvis!
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2 Squats to Open the Pelvis for Birth
There is no ONE movement that will open the entire pelvis. How we move our hips and tilt our pelvis will determine which pelvic level we are opening.
There are three main pelvic levels:
- Inlet: top of the pelvis that opens more with external rotation of the femurs and pelvic tilting
- Midpelvis: middle of the pelvis that opens more with asymmetrical external and internal rotation
- Outlet: bottom of the pelvis that opens more with internal rotation of the femurs and pelvic titling.
Squats can open the pelvis, but HOW we do our squats will determine WHICH pelvic level we are opening!
- Deep squats = top of the pelvis
- Hinge squats = bottom of the pelvis
1) Deep, Supported Squats
The top of the pelvis is opened more with:
- External rotation of the femurs (wide knees)
- Posterior Pelvic Tilt (tucking the butt under)
- Anterior Pelvic Tilt (changes pelvic angle
Deep, supported squats can open the TOP of the pelvis! You can hold onto fabric or your partner’s hands are you lower to the bottom of the squat.
If baby is trying to engage into the pelvis, then deep supported squats can be a great movement to try!
Labor Tip: During a contraction, lower to the bottom of the squat and move around as is comfortable.
During pregnancy, we can do movements to prepare for birth and open the top of the pelvis! Try doing squats, or supported squats, during your third trimester to ensure you can move into a deep squat position!
Watch this breakdown video for more!
During pregnancy, we can do movements that prepare us to open the TOP of the pelvis! We incorporate workouts like these into all our prenatal fitness programs so that you can prepare for your birth.
We can include exercises like squats and lunges, and also mobility movements like pelvic tilts and adductor rock backs. Our focus is ensuring the movement capability is there so we can more easily find labor positions during birth.
Watch the workout below for some ideas on movements you can do during your pregnancy to prep for birth.
If you want more of a breakdown of WHAT to do throughout your prenatal workouts, check out our prenatal fitness programs! We offer it in two formats:
- 40-Week Prenatal Strength in the Teambuildr App (traditional delivery format)
- Need shorter workouts? Try our 40-Week Prenatal Mini Program!
- Prenatal On-Demand with full-length workout videos that you follow along as you workout
2) Hinge Squats
If we want to open the bottom of the pelvis, we want to focus on:
- Internal rotation of the femurs (knees in, ankles out)
- Slight posterior pelvic tilt (makes internal rotation easier to find)
Hinge-focused movements open the bottom of the pelvis more! When doing a hinge focus on pushing your hips to the wall behind you, as opposed to the floor below you!
If baby is in the lower half of the pelvis, hinge-focused movements can help open the bottom of the pelvis more. We can either do more bilateral hinges (think deadlifts) or we can do asymmetrical hinge movements to open the lower half of the pelvis to allow baby to finish their rotation in the pelvis!
The supported standing hip shift is a great movement you can do both during pregnancy and labor to help open the lower midpelvis and help baby finish their rotation in the pelvis!
Our prenatal fitness programs include pelvic opening workouts that open each level of the pelvis!
We can include movements that focus more on internal rotation and pelvic tilting to open the lower half of the pelvis.
This is important, as many late labor stalls could be due to the inability to find internal rotation in the hip, making the lower midpelvis and outlet space smaller for baby.
Watch this workout video for an example of movements you could do to prepare to open the bottom of the pelvis!
How You Move Opens the Pelvis
Different types of movements open different pelvic levels! There is no one movement that opens the entire pelvis! How we move in our squat can either open the TOP or the BOTTOM of the pelvis.
The good news is there are a lot of things we can do during pregnancy to prepare to open our pelvic for birth!