Exercise during pregnancy prepares your body for giving birth and offers a variety of emotional and physical benefits such as stress relief, improved energy and stronger back muscles. However, because some exercises are dangerous to you and your baby, it is imperative to understand what types you must avoid during natural pregnancy.
Racquet Sports
Racquet exercises and sports such as tennis, racquetball and badminton are dangerous during pregnancy because they require you to jump, change your position quickly, and stand on your feet for a long length of time. All of these actions strain your joints and can lead to injury. In addition, it is easy to lose your balance while playing racquet sports, which is harmful to both you and your unborn baby.
Flat-On-Your-Back Exercises
Avoid exercises like situps and crunches that require you to lay flat on your back during pregnancy. These types of exercises tend to decrease your blood pressure and compress the blood vessels that go to your heart, which deprive your unborn baby of both blood and oxygen. In fact, Raul Artal on the BabyCenter website warns that the blood pressure rapidly drops for about 10 percent of all pregnant women who lie flat. In addition, flat-on-your-back exercises are uncomfortable and difficult for pregnant women to do, especially during late pregnancy.
Contact Exercises
Contact exercises, like basketball, ice hockey and soccer require you to leap, bounce, jump, suddenly change directions and perform lots of jarring movements. In addition, it is possible to collide with another person or object while playing contact sports. It is also easy to get lost in the competition and ignore signs of fatigue or any pain while playing. All of these pose risk of injury, such as abdominal injury, which are harmful and dangerous to both you and your unborn baby.
Exercises From an Elevated Position
Any exercise from an elevated position, such as bicycling, gymnastics or downhill skiing must be avoided during pregnancy. These types of exercises change your center of gravity quickly. Because your balance is already compromised by your expanding belly, this often leads to falling or balance problems that can severely harm you or your developing baby. In addition, exercising at an elevated height, such as when downhill skiing, makes it hard for you to breathe, which interferes with your baby's oxygen supply.
References
- BabyCenter; Is it Safe to Do Sit-ups or Abdominal Crunches During Pregnancy?; Raul Artal
- KidsHealth; Exercising During Pregnancy; November 2010
- The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Exercise During Pregnancy; June 2003
- What to Expect: Exercises to Avoid During Pregnancy
- Better Health Channel; Pregnancy and Exercise; June 2011
