Pregnancy Clams

Commonly Used For: Pregnancy-Related Pain.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to do a Clams Exercise, which is a good exercise to do while pregnant to help improve your pelvic stability. With the loosening of all those ligaments in there, you can get some instability, which can cause some sciatic nerve pain through that glute and leg pain that you might be getting. So, what you're going to do, is you're going to lay down on your side. If you do have a specific side that's bothering you, you definitely want to exercise that side. So, that would be the side that's facing up, but it's a good idea to do both sides. So, in this case, I'm exercising my left hip here. You're going to get on your side. Make sure that your hips are stacked straight on top of each other. They should be pointing up towards the ceiling. Feet are together, knees are together, and then, maintaining this position here with your hips nice and stacked, you're just going to open and close your knees, just like a clamshell. You want to make sure that you're not rocking your whole body back as you do it. Otherwise, you're not engaging those muscles, those pelvic muscles like you need to. So, once again, keeping your hips stacked straight on top of each other, and just opening and closing your knees, just like this. You should feel the muscle right in here working. If that's too easy for you, you can get an exercise band. [Here's one at Amazon.com] You're going to tie it around your knees, and that will just provide some resistance for you. So, back in your same position: on your side, knees together, feet together, hips stacked straight up towards the ceiling. And same thing, just opening and closing your knees, keeping your feet together and your hips stacked right on top of each other. If you feel any pain, cramping, contractions during this exercise, then stop and immediately call your doctor. All you should be feeling is the muscle working right here in your glutes, that stabilizing muscle. So, these are your Clams Exercise.

Hip Exercise - Standing Hip Abduction

Commonly Used For: Hip pain, knee pain and generalized leg weakness.

Video Transcription: This is standing hip abduction exercise, which is a low-level way of strengthening your gluteus medius on the side of your hip here. So, what you're going to do is you want to find something to hold on to, so a chair or a countertop, anything that has a sturdy surface for balancing. You're going to hold on. You want to bring your leg out to the side and a little bit backwards, and just repeat that. It's a small motion. You want to make sure that you're not hiking your hip up. Your hip should stay down and just your leg is moving. And again, you don't want to come straight out to the side. You want to go a little bit back and out to the side. You should feel it right here in the hip. And that's your standing hip abduction exercise.

Hip Exercise - Standing Hip Extension

Commonly Used For: Hip pain, knee pain and generalized leg weakness.

Video Transcription: This is a standing hip extension exercise which is a low level way to strengthen your glutes. What you are going to do is you want to find something to hold on to just for balance, so either a chair, counter top, anything sturdy. You are going to face that surface, tighten your stomach muscles and then slowly extend your leg back behind you. You want to make sure that you are not extending so far that you let you lower back arch. You want to keep that nice and tucked under and it is just a small arc of movement and you should feel it right here, right in your glutes. That is your standing hip extension exercise.