Rowing is a great full body cardio exercise! However, we may need to modify how we approach rowing during pregnancy and then early postpartum. Here are some helpful tips on how to support your changing body and healing core during this phase of life.
The typical rowing sequence includes extending in the legs, leaning backwards from the hip, and then pulling the handle towards the chest. Rowing can be very leg and back intensive, but the core needs to be able to counter the lean back. This becomes problematic when the core is more easily overloaded during pregnancy and healing in the postpartum.
During pregnancy, the core muscles and tissues are stretched and having more difficulty contracting. In the postpartum, we spend months healing our core muscles and connective tissues. This limitation in core function can result in compensation patterns if the core’s functional capacity is exceeded.
Compensation patterns tend to include coning of the linea alba or doming of the rectus abdominis. When we experience excessive coning, we may find that diastasis recti linger longer in the postpartum due to increased damage and strain on the tissues.
How can we approach rowing to support our core??
Remove the lean back.
When we row, we can remove the lean back portion of the pull. This may limit how fast or hard you can row, but it will ultimately support your core in the long run. The row movement will adjust to extension in the legs, maintaining an upright torso position, and then pulling the handle towards the chest.
Sync your breathing pattern
When we row, we want to focus on syncing our breathing pattern to our movement to better manage pressure in our abdominal cavity. On extension, exhale in an up and in manner. Think move forward to inhale down and out, and exhale to extend.
Add external props to support cueing
The next approach is to activate the transverse abdominals and pelvic floor more, to support pressure management in the abdominal cavity. We can do this with a ball squeeze between the thighs when we extend the legs. Place a Pilates ball between the thighs, and exhale to squeeze on extension.
Hope these tips help you approach rowing during pregnancy and the early postpartum! You can experiment with reincorporating the lean back of the row slowly; see if you can maintain your core position or if you experience coning. If you can maintain the core position, lean away! If not, give it some time.
Learn more on how to approach fitness during pregnancy and the postpartum in our fitness education courses that can be purchased as a stand-alone or complimentary to our online fitness programs! We offer in-person training to help guide you through your pre/postnatal journey!