Planning Your Pregnancy Workout
Pregnancy will most likely make a woman feel fatigued, have pains in some parts of the body, and generally have discomfort. With such feelings and conditions, exercise can make you feel better and enhance your health, which has great benefits for both you and your child. Also, workouts will prepare your body for the delivery. However, it will be necessary to adjust your workout routine, more so in the last months of your pregnancy.
What are the benefits to pregnant women of working out?
Exercise during pregnancy may help the body when it is not feeling like normal. Workouts will help you to feel better physically and mentally, to keep your energy high, and to minimize several minor pregnancy problems. In addition, it will help in the following ways:
- They will minimize excess weight gain and enable your body to be in good shape and ready for delivery. You also won’t have as much fat to lose after the birth to get back your pre-pregnancy physique.
- Workouts are vital for maintaining muscle and body tone, as they promote blood circulation. Other benefits of toning muscles include easy delivery and labor, and reduced backache with weight increase.
- They keep the body in a good aerobic condition, which is crucial for good heart health and overall fitness.
- Exercises help to improve your mood by activating the release of endorphins, which make you feel energized, and even help provide a restful night with quality sleep.
While exercising before pregnancy, you can supplement your workout by obtaining great products available at Valkyrie Online that help in enhancing your performance and improving your overall wellbeing. It is advisable to seek the advice of your doctor before using any product while expecting.
Who should exercise during pregnancy?
If you are a pregnant woman with no health conditions, prenatal exercises should be good for you. It does not matter if you were active before pregnancy or had a sedentary lifestyle; you can exercise and reap the benefits of the workouts.
What workouts are safe during pregnancy?
Generally, it is reasonably safe to perform most exercises during pregnancy, provided you do so with caution and do not overdo them. Some safe and beneficial activities include swimming, brisk walking, indoor cycling, and low-impact aerobics. The beauty of these physical activities is that they have minimal risk of injury, work out the entire body, and can be continued after childbirth. Although tennis and racquetball are safe, the changes in balance during pregnancy can make rapid movements more difficult. You should also do activities like jogging in moderation if you were doing them before pregnancy. During the later months of pregnancy, you should choose activities that require less balance and coordination, since the body will be a bit unstable with increased weight.
What exercises should be avoided during pregnancy?
Some exercises and activities may pose serious risks when performed during pregnancy, and should thus be avoided. These include:
- Lying on your back, especially after 16 weeks, since the weight of the bump exerts pressure on big blood vessels, potentially making you feel faint and interfering with blood flow to your body.
- Holding your breath while performing any activity.
- Any activity that poses a risk of being hit, like judo, kickboxing, rugby, and football.
- Any activity where there is a possibility of falling, like horseback riding and skiing.
- Repetitive high-impact exercises with many turns and twists, high stepping, or sudden stops, which bring about joint discomfort.
- Scuba diving—the baby has no shield against decompression sickness and gas embolism (gas bubbles in the bloodstream).
- Bouncing as you stretch.
- Any workout that may cause even slight abdominal trauma, which include rapid changes in directions and jarring motions.
- Workouts in hot, humid weather.
What are some of the warning signs of exercising during pregnancy?
You are discouraged from working out if you have a medical problem like asthma, diabetes, or heart disease. It is also harmful to exercise if you have pregnancy-related conditions, such as:
- Low placenta
- Bleeding and sporting
- Weak cervix
- Recurrent miscarriage
- A history of early labor or premature birth
Conclusion
It is crucial to exercise during pregnancy, but the activities need to be adjusted. Also, ensure you have the right apparel—proper shoes, a supporting bra, and fitting and comfortable clothes. Perform your activities on flat surfaces to reduce the chance of injuries. Ensure you eat enough food to meet the caloric needs for you and your baby. Drink a sufficient amount of water before and after workouts. Finally, seek the advice of your doctor before trying anything new, in case of any pain or problem, and for all issues related to your workouts while pregnant.