Getting preggers is not the end of the world when it comes to enjoying life and gaining fitness. You can still maintain a regular exercise routine throughout your pregnancy to stay healthy and feel your best.
When you regularly exercise during pregnancy it can improve your posture and reduce backaches and fatigue which are common discomforts. And pregnancy exercises increase the stamina too which is needed for delivery and labor.
But before you start out pregnancy workouts it is essential to check with your doctor, because a registered medical practitioner is the best one to tell you if it is safe for you to do prenatal workout.
Meanwhile, here are some tips on safe exercises during pregnancy which you can inculcate in your routine in your free time. Happy reading and doing antenatal exercises and pregnancy fitness!
Benefits Of Doing Exercise During Pregnancy
When you are doing exercise during pregnancy you and your baby stand to gain provided you do pregnancy workouts in a slow and steady manner.
The pregnancy exercises are beneficial as they do the following:
- Improve your fitness quotient which leads to good health;
- Give you increased energy;
- Improved mood;
- Improved sleep;
- Improved brain activity in your new born;
- Reduced risk of gestational diabetes;
- Better management of gestational diabetes; and
- Relief from constipation, backache and swelling.
Is It Safe To Exercise?
Once again I repeat – it makes sense to consult your General Practitioner or Obstetrician before you start doing exercise during pregnancy. After all, better safe than sorry. Confide in your fitness instructor or coach the moment you get the news of confirmation of your pregnancy. A healthy woman can either begin or continue with pregnancy exercises.
Talking about safe exercises during pregnancy, when you walk (brisk walking would be better off), swim and do stationary cycling indoors, you are well in the bracket of go-to pregnancy exercises. Things like tennis and racquetball are safe activities but changes in pregnancy month after month could affect rapid movements. Do jogging but in moderation.
But yes, pregnancy and exercise should be seen as enjoyable and something that enhances your well-being not as a classroom task. When any doubts or distress step in while doing pregnancy workouts, then it reduces the benefits you could possibly gain out of doing prenatal workout.
You will be surprised to learn that many female athletes continue doing their usual exercise routine right until delivery. Isn’t this nice to know and get impressed about and inculcate?
Sample Exercises You Can Do During Pregnancy
1. Stretching Exercises
Doing stretching exercises helps make the muscles of pregnant women limber and warm.
Neck Rotation: Just relax your neck and shoulders. Then drop your head forward. Follow it up by rotating your head to the right shoulder, then back to the middle, and finally to your left shoulder. Complete these rotations four times.
Shoulder Rotation: In this pregnancy workout, you need to bring your shoulders forward, then rotate them up towards your ears and then bring them back down.
Leg Shake: Sit on a chair with your legs and feet extended. Now move your legs up and down in a gentle shaking motion.
Thigh Shift: Stand in such a way that one foot of yours is about 2 feet ahead of the other. The toes should be facing in the same direction. Now lean forward and support your weight on the forward placed thigh. Change sides and repeat. Do it four times on each side.
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2. Tailor Exercises
These pregnancy exercises help strengthen the pelvic, hip region and thigh muscles and help relieve lower back pain.
Tailor Sit: In this exercise, you need to sit on the floor with knees bent and ankles crossed. Lean forward slightly, and keep your back straight and relaxed. Keep using this position for most part of the day whenever possible.
Tailor Press: Sit on the floor with your knees bent and get the bottoms of your feet together. By grasping your ankles, pull your feet toward your body. Now place your hands under your knees and inhale. While doing it, press your hands up against your knees (counter-pressure). Do a count of five.
Precautions To Follow While Exercising During Pregnancy
This is a subject of high importance, because it involves two lives – mother and the foetus. Avoid sports-related activities that will increase your risk of falls or injury. Even the mild and mildest of injuries to your tummy area can turn out to be grave when you are pregnant.
The first trimester of pregnancy is actually the most critical one. So whatever exercises you do during this period should be bearable and tolerable. The more you try to show your bravery, more are your chances of falling and hurting your womb.
Here are some don’ts in pregnancy and exercise you need to follow:
- Refrain from doing routines that need you to lie on your back, since the weight of your baby might interfere with your proper blood circulation; and
- Avoid doing exercises that need you to stand for a longer time.
Hope you found these tips for exercise during pregnancy useful and beneficial enough. Put in your comments if you have any more suggestions on pregnancy and exercise and safe exercises during pregnancy.