Hello everybody! Welcome back to my blog. The purpose of this blog is to help people find their way to a healthier lifestyle. I mostly talk about exercise, nutrition and the science behind them, which are my areas of expertise, but I also talk about sleeping habits, minimalism and many other subjects related to wellbeing and healthy lifestyle.
Can a pregnant person do exercise? The answer is, unless advised otherwise by a doctor, yes! A person can do exercise until the moment of giving birth, and from shortly after. Nonetheless, there are some adjustments that must be made in order to ensure the safety of both the baby and the pregnant person.
- Yes, you can and MUST do exercise when you’re pregnant.
Without going into too much detail about the benefits of doing exercise while pregnant, not only is it safe to do exercise but it’s also beneficial for the pregnant person and the future baby or babies. Unless you are told otherwise by a GP, exercising will help you stay strong and healthy to support your weight and the baby’s weight, it’ll help you at the time of delivery (particularly if you do Kegel exercises), it’ll prepare you for the hard months after giving birth, exercising will make you release certain hormones that can assist you with the potential mood swings and other mental issues related to being pregnant and having a baby, just to mention a few. It’s good for your baby as well as all of the hormones you release will affect the baby. If you want to find out more about hormones and exercise, check out my post on this subject!
- What kind of exercise can you do when you’re pregnant.
Although you can do exercise while pregnant, it’s important to make sure that you’re doing the right thing. Especially if you’re not used to doing exercise, there are some extra precautions you need to take in order to ensure your safety and that of your baby’s. People who are used to do exercise regularly will find it easy to keep doing the same kind of exercises the first trimester or two, until their belly is too big or they put on enough weight to make it more difficult, but there are other types of exercises you can do when you reach this point or if you haven’t done exercise before. Some examples of exercises you can do while pregnant are: fast walk, sitting down or standing up resistance training (avoid laying on your tummy), static bike or cross trainer, certain Yoga exercises, Kegel exercises, swimming, among others.
All these exercises are safe to practice while pregnant, as well as a good way to improve circulation, muscle strength, relief pain related to pregnancy, and of course improve your mood.
- What kind of exercise should you avoid when pregnant.
Avoid any kind of exercise that may provoke a fall or a risk to bump your belly. Activities such as rock climbing, bike riding, exercises laying on your belly, not to mention dangerous sports such as skydiving should be avoided while pregnant. The reason behind it is the risk of falling and hitting the belly. If you fall while you’re pregnant you may compromise the health of the baby, provoking injuries, complications, contractions, and sometimes even death. As a personal tip, avoid doing extraneous exercises if you’re not used to them. If you are a regular runner, just to give an example, and you want to run while pregnant, it should not be a problem (unless you’re told otherwise by a doctor) until the point in which you put on enough weight. At this point it’s better to stop running because your weight may provoke other issues, such as knee or ankle injuries, apart from a higher risk of tripping and falling because of the extra weight.
The best way to ensure you do exercise is to stay active, listen to your body, and be sensible about the type of exercise you do.
- Starting to do exercise for the first time while pregnant.
It’s absolutely fine to start doing exercise for the first time in your life when you’re already pregnant. The process for a beginner, pregnant or not, is the same. Making sure you avoid the exercises mentioned before, you must start with more movement in your daily life, more walking, and an anatomical adaptation. To find out more about exercise for beginners, click on the link below!
- Seek professional help.
In any moment of your life when you don’t know what to do, ask for help. There are many great professionals out there who know what to do in this particular situation. First of all, listen to your doctor’s advice. Nowadays, it’s very rare to hear a doctor discouraging anyone to do any type of exercise, but there could be exceptions. Hear them out and ask all the questions you may have. Next step would be to find an exercise professional specialised in or with a broad knowledge about pregnancy. This is very important to bear in mind as not all of the PTs know how to train an expectant parent. If you already have a PT and they are not trained to treat you, you might need to find another one for the time being.
That’s it for today! I really hope that you enjoy it. If you like what I do and you want to support this project, follow me on Instagram and Facebook, like the post and comment! Should you have feedback you’d like to leave, a comment to share with me, or a cool idea for a post, send me an email to sanchisayslifestyle@gmail.com
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