Keeping active while you are pregnant is not only recommended but widely encouraged for those who are not experiencing any medical complications. During pregnancy your body will go through many changes and regular exercise is considered an excellent way to remain healthy and happy throughout.
When performed correctly, exercise during pregnancy can bring many benefits for both mum and baby. These include:
- Reduced risk of gestational diabetes, diabetes and other issues related to these conditions
- Improved sense of well-being, self-esteem and body image
- Improved recovery from labour and childbirth
- Alleviated muscular related issues such as back and pelvic pain
- Reduced risk of developing hypertension and pre-eclampsia
- Improved cardiovascular fitness and physical conditioning required for labour and motherhood
- Prevention of many issues related to pregnancy including fatigue and constipation.
For most expecting mums, the recommendation is to perform 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise on most days of the week. So, what activities should you perform for this daily exercise? The following are three of the best:
Walking
Why pay to exercise when walking is free! Brisbane has a multitude of interesting walking paths just waiting to be explored. The advantage of walking outdoors is the variety, and the effect of walking over different terrains brings much more benefit than walking on a treadmill. In order to achieve a moderate intensity while walking, use your breathing as an indicator. If you are walking fast enough to feel slightly puffy, then this is adequate to experience an improvement in your fitness and benefits to your health. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water and make sure to plan your walks so that they are safe and don’t cause your body to overheat.
Swimming
Swimming and pool based activities are excellent choices during pregnancy, particularly in the latter stages when other types of exercise seem too hard on your body. The key advantage of pool exercise is the added support on your body from the water, which effectively reduces the amount of body weight placed on your back, hips and legs. Also, these activities are considered ‘low impact’ meaning that your joints don’t experience as much of a jolting experience when compared to land based exercise. This is particularly helpful near the end of the third trimester when many mums start to experience pain in their lower back, hips and sacrum due to the release of hormones that cause their ligaments to loosen.
Pilates
For mums wanting to minimise aches and pains during their pregnancy, Pilates could be considered their greatest ally! The main goal of this form of exercise is to stretch and strengthen particular sets of muscles in order to improve posture and balanced strength. The added advantage of Pilates is that it is considered a relatively gentle form of exercise and well suited for mums throughout the entire pregnancy. When searching for a Pilates instructor during your pregnancy though some discretion is advised as an increased level of expertise is required to ensure a safe and productive experience. It is therefore strongly recommended that you learn from an allied health practitioner such as a Physiotherapist or Exercise Physiologist who has been trained in the Pilates method.
If this blog has inspired you to become more active while you are pregnant then great! As an Exercise Physiologist, I am available here at Embrace to help you on this journey and happy to answer any questions that you may have.
