Expecting and Empowered, 101 E Main Street, Suite 2, Madison, WI (2026)

A COMPREHENSIVE PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
WORKOUT GUIDE

WE’VE GOT YOUR FIT MOTHERHOOD COVERED! This workout guide eliminates the questions of “What should I do today?” and “What modifications do I have to make?” out of the equation and lets you efficiently tackle your workout. The guide consists of 3 days per week of: flexibility, pelvic floor, and strength training sections along with 2 days of suggested cardio.

10/26/2026

There are 3 major areas you’ll want to focus on when prepping your body for a C-Section

In this post we focus on exercises that target creating space & strength in your thoracic spine but here is the full list of what you can focus on when prepping for your C-Section!

(Don’t worry…we have other posts about this coming out soon 😉)

1️⃣ Creating space and strength in your mid-upper back. The nerves of your Thoracic Spine “innervate” or “stimulate” your core muscles - which is the area that’s about to be affected!

2️⃣ You have to learn how to connect to your core through lifting your abdominal wall

3️⃣ You want to stack your pelvis underneath you to manage internal pressure better

SAVE THIS post and comment TRIAL to start your free 7 day trial with us ✨

The nerves from your Thoracic spine “innervate” or stimulate your core muscles (the part of your body that’s about to be impacted)

So we want to do prep work to LENGTHEN & STRENGTHEN these areas ✨

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Try this half kneeling thoracic book openers to start opening up your mid-upper back

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Then LENGTHEN & STRENGTHEN your side abs through triangle pose with reach over

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Next: lengthen your thoracic spine to get pressure off your back. Your back is already tight from pregnancy and about to be tighter after a C-section. Try this Child’s pose reach with Pilates ball.

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Lastly: “connect the dots” through lateral lunge with diagonal
core work which lengthens the thoracic spine and strengthens core control.

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SAVE THIS post and comment TRIAL to start your free 7 day trial with us ✨

10/23/2026

We program C-Section recovery a little differently at Expecting & Empowered. 👀

And there’s a reason why👇

I’ve spent the last 15 years as a women’s health physical therapist and have helped 5,860 C section moms rebuild strength and reconnect with their core.

But I’m also a mom of THREE C section babies myself…and even I didn’t know how to recover from my first C section. Crazy, right?!?!

When you think about C section recovery, it makes sense to focus on the area that just went through surgery: your scar.
But we actually start somewhere you might not expect.
UP TOP. With your rib cage. 🤯

Pregnancy doesn’t just change your belly. Your rib cage expands, your abdominal wall adapts and your entire pressure system changes. And your ribs, core, scar and pelvis don’t function as completely separate parts. They have to work together.

So before we rush into traditional ab exercises, we want to start restoring movement and connection throughout the system.

✨ FIRST ✨ open your middle upper back so you can actually reconnect to your core! Check out our C-Section recovery part one to see what we’re talking about - it’s in our profile!

THEN ✨ reconnect to your core through diagonal core work (we show detailed exercises in this video) it’s going to help you truly reconnect with your core!

And if you’re ready for more guidance, this is exactly how our C Section Core Program inside the Expecting & Empowered app progresses 🫶

10/21/2026

Your body is always giving you little clues about what it needs. 👀 💩🧻

And sometimes, the smallest changes in how you move can make the BIGGEST difference in how you feel.

Here are 4 exercises we LOVE to support your pelvic floor

1️⃣ Elevated Hip Drop (for our mamas with one-sided hip pain!)

Helps your pelvis move more freely from side to side, easing tension in the muscles surrounding your hips and pelvic floor.

2️⃣ Serratus DB Press (for better pressure management!)

Improves rib cage and mid-back mobility, helping your body distribute pressure more evenly instead of sending excess pressure down toward your pelvic floor.

3️⃣ Hamstring Strengthening (for our butt grippers and mamas with a lower belly pooch!)

Strong hamstrings help support a more neutral pelvic position, reducing the tendency to tip forward and place unnecessary load on your pelvic floor.

4️⃣ Triangle Reach to Oblique Crunch (for our postpartum mamas!)

Your obliques can become weaker during pregnancy. Strengthening them helps improve core support and pressure management, taking unnecessary strain off your pelvic floor.

At Expecting & Empowered, we take a whole-body approach to pelvic floor health because everything is connected. 🤍

Ready to stop guessing which exercises your body actually needs?

Comment TRIAL and we’ll send you a 7-day FREE trial of the Expecting & Empowered app! 🙌

10/19/2026

Save this post! And comment TRIAL - your (🍑)will thank you ☺️

We sequence our exercising program a little differently at E&E to help your body feel its best whether you’re pregnant or postpartum!

Inside our app you’ll find very specific (pelvic floor PT created and approved ✅) exercise programming that

1️⃣ Helps you BREATHE better (this is a huge piece of the puzzle)

2️⃣Creates SPACE and LENGTH in the body

3️⃣ Strategically LOADS or STRENGTHENS the body

This progression supports you from the inside out! Comment TRIAL and we’ll DM you a 7 day free trial to our app 🫶

10/07/2026

Save this workout 👇Pregnancy changes A LOT about how your body moves.

As your belly grows, it’s common for the pelvis to shift forward and for your upper + lower body to stop working together quite as efficiently.

So instead of just “strengthening your core,” we want to train your body to stay connected. 🤝

These exercises help you find a more supported pelvis, keep your hips moving and get your hamstrings, glutes, core + upper body working together.

Why does that matter?
✨ More support as your body changes
✨ Less unnecessary tension and compensation
✨ Strength + mobility to prepare for labor and delivery
✨ Better movement patterns to carry into postpartum

Here are 4 we love and feature inside our app! Can’t wait for you to start your free trial!

3️⃣ Bird Dog + Lat Pulldown
Your back and opposite leg connect through your core. Think: upper body + lower body working as ONE instead of your pelvis doing all the stabilizing.

2️⃣ Kickstand RDL + Internal Rotation
Pregnancy can make it easy to rely heavily on your quads. This wakes up those hamstrings while giving your pelvis and hips room to move.

3️⃣ Hip Airplanes
As your belly grows, your stance often gets wider and your hips may start turning out. Hip airplanes challenge your ability to rotate, stabilize and control your pelvis instead of getting stuck in one position.

4️⃣ Half-Kneeling Adductor Squeeze + Reverse Fly
Inner thigh + opposite arm = hello, core connection. 💪

You’re training your body to manage force across your trunk, which becomes pretty useful when there’s a baby permanently attached to one hip. 😂

The goal during pregnancy isn’t to hold your pelvis in one “perfect” position all day.

It’s to give your body OPTIONS.

Strength. Mobility. Connection. And the ability to move in and out of different positions as your body changes. 🤍

Address

101 E Main Street, Suite 2
Madison, WI
53597

Website

http://www.expectingandempowered.com/

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