Why I am Boycotting Pregnancy Front Splits

Alma & AnyFer 72 (c) Edgarholgin
CC Attribution 2.0 License

The splits are my holy grail. I made it a point to get back my splits when I lost flexibility despite recovering from anemia, being in school, and balancing all sorts of craziness in my life. Being pregnant didn't stop flexibility from being a part of my life. In fact, I made more progress in all areas of flexibility while expecting than ever before.

But I still am quitting my front splits.

The problem with front splits snuck up on me. With so much that I'm doing right now it was hard to pin point what was causing gradually progressing pain. Groin pain. I considered all the textbooks I carry from taking classes and tutoring. It could also be my light strength training because even though last pregnancy I did a lot more it is possible for my body's tolerance to change. Sex of course was another worry--I sure did not want it to be that. haha

Try getting out of bed with crotch pain. Yeah.

Every morning I would roll out of bed onward to Chemistry tutoring with a little more discomfort. If I woke up in the middle of the night to turn over (yep, pregnancy makes it a whole ordeal to flip over with an eight month belly) it hurt. As it got worse I found that certain stretches were causing the exact same pain as I experienced in the mornings. Lunges, inverse lunges, and getting into that front splits needle scale on the floor hurt. Badly. I just had to quit.

The more I research the more it seems like softened pelvic and pubic connective tissues are the issue. In other words: baby time draws near. My doctor confirmed it for me; it's just a natural part of pregnancy for some women, especially those of us who have previously been pregnant. At least I can take comfort in knowing it was not caused by my stretching! Sadly the last month of my pregnancy will not have any cute front splits pictures for me. Luckily back stretching is still a great pain reliever and has only given me benefits. Middle splits stretching is ironically getting easier--this used to be my nemesis! For now I will have to focus on these and resist the urge to lunge.