Exercises For Keeping Fit During Pregnancy

Safe exercise throughout a healthy pregnancy gives you more energy during what can be a physically draining time. It also keeps you fitter for the demands of childbirth and promotes faster physical recovery postpartum. Unless your obstetrician or midwife has given you specific exercise guidelines to follow, it’s generally safe to perform low-impact activities at a moderate to moderately intense level, depending on your fitness level prior to conception. Always check with your health care provider before beginning or continuing an exercise program while pregnant.

Resistance Training

Resistance training two to three times a week with bands, free weights and your own body weight helps you maintain muscle tone throughout your pregnancy, with the additional benefit of facilitating quicker weight loss after delivery. In general, you should lift lighter weights for more repetitions than you did before pregnancy, using slow, controlled movements. Modify body weight exercises, such as squats and push-ups, as your pregnancy progresses by using a stability ball up against a wall. Sit on the ball or shift your weight often while using dumbbells; due to its increased volume, blood tends to pool in your feet when you stand for extended periods.

Prenatal Yoga

When combined with regular cardiovascular exercise, such as swimming or walking, a prenatal yoga practice is an ideal way to maintain muscular strength and endurance. Yoga is known for reducing stress, and certain poses can help alleviate common pregnancy discomforts, such as lower-back pain. If you regularly practiced yoga before becoming pregnant, you might be able to continue your practice by making certain modifications, such as avoiding deep abdominal twists, inversions and prone or supine poses. Prenatal yoga classes are specifically designed for each trimester and don’t include contraindicated poses.

Walking and Running

Walking is a low-impact aerobic exercise that doesn’t require a gym membership, special skills or equipment, aside from a good pair of supportive shoes. You can walk throughout a healthy pregnancy to maintain your fitness, and it transitions easily to your postnatal routine because you can bring your baby along, weather permitting. Even brief walks on days you feel more fatigued can boost your energy and elevate your mood. If you were sedentary prior to becoming pregnant, begin walking for short stretches, gradually increasing the length of each walk, with your health care provider’s approval. Longtime runners who become pregnant can usually continue until it becomes uncomfortable.

Swimming

Swimming is a nonimpact exercise that provides a full-body, muscle-toning cardiovascular workout. Water workouts, including swimming and water aerobics, are among the safest prenatal exercises, in part because they're so easy on your joints. Water exercise poses no risk of falling due to imbalance, a common experience during pregnancy as your belly grows and your center of gravity shifts. Your body’s buoyancy while in the water can also give you momentary reprieve from the extra weight. It’s harder to gauge thirst during a water workout, so it’s important to consciously hydrate.