Lifting Little Ones: Yoga Poses to Enhance Functional Strength for Mums
As mums, we know that motherhood is a full-body workout. From lifting and carrying our little ones to tackling household chores and running errands, our bodies are constantly in motion. To ensure we can meet the demands of daily life with ease and grace, it's essential to build functional strength – strength that supports our movements and activities. Often we don’t realise how heavy things are and how much we do until the end of the day and we are in severe pain and can’t move. To avoid straining our body it’s important to have good technique and strength to avoid injuries.
Yoga offers a holistic approach to enhancing functional strength, combining physical postures with breath awareness and mindfulness.
In this blog post, we'll explore specific yoga poses that target the muscles and movements commonly used in motherhood, helping mums feel strong, capable, and empowered in their daily tasks.
Why is functional strength so important for mums?
Building functional strength for mums lifting kids is not just about physical fitness; it's about enhancing overall well-being, reducing the risk of injury, and fostering a deeper connection with their children through active engagement and caregiving.
Functional strength will help you with.
Injury Prevention: Lifting children, especially as they grow, can put strain on various muscle groups and joints. Functional strength training helps strengthen these areas, reducing the risk of injury while lifting and carrying children.
Daily Tasks: Motherhood involves a wide range of physical activities beyond just lifting children, such as carrying groceries, pushing strollers, and picking up toys. Functional strength enables mums to perform these tasks with greater ease and efficiency, reducing the risk of strain or fatigue.
Posture Support: Strong core muscles and back muscles are essential for maintaining good posture, especially when carrying children. Functional strength training helps improve posture and alignment, reducing the likelihood of developing back pain or postural imbalances.
Enhanced Mobility: Functional strength exercises often involve movements that mimic real-life activities, such as squatting, bending, and reaching. By improving mobility and flexibility, mums can move more freely and comfortably while caring for their children.
Confidence and Independence: Building functional strength empowers mums to feel confident and capable in their ability to care for their children independently. This sense of confidence can positively impact mental well-being and overall quality of life.
Bonding Opportunities: Physical activities like playing and carrying children are not only essential for their development but also provide valuable bonding opportunities for mums and their kids. Building functional strength allows mums to engage in these activities more comfortably and joyfully, strengthening the parent-child bond.
How yoga can build your body strength
When you think about yoga you often think about flexibility and relaxation but yoga can also be a powerful tool to build strength.
Here are some ways yoga can build strength.
Bodyweight Resistance: Many yoga poses require you to support your own body weight in various positions, such as plank, downward dog, and warrior poses. Holding these poses strengthens muscles throughout your body, including your arms, shoulders, core, legs, and back.
Isometric Contractions: Yoga often involves isometric contractions, where you hold a position without movement. Isometric exercises can significantly improve muscle endurance and strength. Poses like chair pose (Utkatasana) or warrior II (Virabhadrasana II) require you to hold a position, engaging multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
Balance and Stability: Yoga poses challenge your balance and stability, requiring engagement of smaller stabilizing muscles in addition to major muscle groups. Poses like tree pose (Vrksasana) and eagle pose (Garudasana) help strengthen muscles in the legs, ankles, and feet, enhancing overall stability and balance.
Dynamic Movement: Some styles of yoga incorporate flowing sequences (vinyasa) that involve moving dynamically from one pose to another. This movement-based practice can build strength through controlled transitions and continuous engagement of muscles. Sun salutations (Surya Namaskar) are a classic example of dynamic movement in yoga.
Core Strength: A strong core is essential for overall strength and stability. Many yoga poses engage the core muscles, including abdominal muscles, obliques, and lower back muscles. Poses like plank, boat pose (Navasana), and forearm plank are particularly effective for strengthening the core.
Breath Awareness: Yoga emphasizes conscious breathing, and coordinating breath with movement can enhance strength and endurance. Proper breathing techniques help oxygenate the muscles, improve stamina, and support muscle function during challenging poses.
Progressive Overload: Like any strength-building activity, yoga allows for progressive overload by gradually increasing the difficulty of poses or holding them for longer durations. As you advance in your practice, you can explore more challenging variations of poses or hold them for extended periods to continue building strength.
Yoga flow for building strength
Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II): Benefits: Strengthens the legs, hips, and core muscles, improves balance and stability.
How to Do It: Begin in a standing position, step your right foot back, and turn your right foot out to the side. Bend your left knee, keeping it directly over your ankle, while straightening your right leg. Extend your arms out to the sides at shoulder height, with your gaze over your left fingertips. Hold for several breaths, then switch sides.
Chair Pose (Utkatasana):
Benefits: Strengthens the quadriceps, glutes, and core muscles, improves posture and balance.
How to Do It: Stand with your feet together, bend your knees, and lower your hips as if sitting back into a chair. Extend your arms overhead, keeping them parallel to each other or bringing your palms together. Engage your core and lengthen your spine as you hold the pose, breathing deeply.
Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana):
Benefits: Strengthens the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back muscles, improves spinal mobility.
How to Do It: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet hip-width apart. Press into your feet as you lift your hips towards the ceiling, creating a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Clasp your hands underneath your body or keep them by your sides. Hold for several breaths, then release back down to the mat.
Plank Pose:
Benefits: Strengthens the core, arms, shoulders, and wrists, improves overall stability and endurance.
How to Do It: Begin in a push-up position with your hands under your shoulders and legs extended behind you. Engage your core and keep your body in a straight line from head to heels. Hold the pose for as long as you can while maintaining proper form, breathing steadily.
Boat Pose (Navasana):
Benefits: Strengthens the core muscles, improves balance and coordination.
How to Do It: Sit on the mat with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Lean back slightly, engage your core, and lift your feet off the ground, bringing your shins parallel to the floor. Extend your arms forward alongside your legs, keeping your chest lifted and spine straight. Hold for several breaths, then release back down with control.
Incorporating these yoga poses into your regular practice can help mums build functional strength that supports the demands of motherhood. By cultivating strength, balance, and awareness in both body and mind, mums can feel empowered to lift and carry their little ones with ease, tackle household tasks with confidence, and navigate the ups and downs of motherhood with grace and resilience. Remember to listen to your body, honor your limits, and breathe deeply as you embrace the journey of motherhood with strength and love.
