Physical exercise is directly connected to health and well-being, and even more so during pregnancy. Sports may help you stay healthy, deliver a strong and well-developed baby and even have a less painful labor. With a few tips and recommendations from experts, your sports routine during pregnancy should be easy and effective to maintain.
What Can I Actually Do When Pregnant?
Moderate physical activity is very important, and most of the usual things we love to do we can also do while pregnant: yoga, swimming, tennis, dancing or Zumba.
Here is what it is better to avoid:
- lifting heavy weights, like bowling or powerlifting
- extreme abs and back exercises, like sit ups or abdominal crunches (do them only in the first trimester, if you must)
- jogging long distances (pregnancy loosens your ligaments and promotes swelling, thus making jogging a dangerous thing for you)
Benefits of Sports for Pregnant Women
Scientists have long identified that the right exercises during pregnancy keep your body healthy, help you go through your pregnancy and influence your future baby in many positive ways. If you exercise on a daily basis while pregnant:
- Your baby has lower risk of diabetes and other autoimmune conditions
- You will deliver faster and easier if you exercise the right muscles
- You can have less swelling during pregnancy
- You will have much more energy
Tips for Staying Fit While Pregnant
Here is a list of healthy, safe and effective exercise options to do at any time during your pregnancy, as well as some useful tips on how to do them:
- Walking. Walk between 30 minutes and an hour a day. Fresh air and muscle tone will keep you healthy and energized. If you are prone to leg swelling or have a predisposition to varicose veins, lie down and keep your feet elevated on a pillow during 20 minutes after you come back home. This will help lift the pressure and reduce soreness.
- Sitting. Even sitting on an exercise ball while you’re watching TV, reading play keno info or working at your computer is better than just sitting on a couch. Your back muscles are tense and working, helps you exercise your leg and thigh muscles.
- The exercise ball is also a great exercising tool for pregnant women. Here are a few good ball exercises:
- get down on your knees in front of the ball, put your arms, chest, and head onto the ball and crawl like that around; this will loosen your pelvic muscles and help you deliver your baby faster. This exercise can be done in any trimester.
- lie down on your back, grab the ball between your knees, lift the ball up and squeeze between your legs. Start with 10 times each day. This exercise increases blood flow and keeps your legs and pelvis fit and healthy. This is ideal for the first two trimesters.
- Leaning. It is important to work on your back because as a pregnant mom, you very often lean back on couches and chairs. Get on your knees into a crawling position, and bend your back in and out. Make sure you make a nice arch from your spine, lifting it as high as you can. This goes for any trimester of your pregnancy.
- Butterflies. Butterfly exercise helps stretch and exercise your pelvic muscles for easier delivery and is good at any point along the way. Sit down on the floor with your back as straight as possible, and connect your feet close to your pelvis. Lift your knees up and down faster, and then pause them in the upper and lower positions for better stretching.
- Leg lifts. Lift your knee to the level of your pelvis and put your leg back down. Do the same thing to the side, at least 10 times for each leg.
- Bending. Take some light dumbbells and bend forward keeping your back straight at all times.
Courses for Pregnant Moms
Finally, you can try attending special courses for pregnant women that take care of your fitness and health. Among the most popular and recommended activities are yoga, swimming, and Pilates, which can be done throughout the entire 9 months.
About The Author:
My name is Jerry Fisher. I’m a 28-year-old photographer from Essex. Though I’m not a professional writer it’s my hobby to put together articles from time to time and share them with the audience. I have a master’s degree in Math actually. I have been working for 3 years in a small photo studio that I’ve established by myself. I’m looking for new inspiration and searching new topics to write about.
