How To Follow A Pregnancy Workout Video

Staying fit and healthy during pregnancy is important. Many doctors recommend a gentle exercise routine. Get tips on how to follow a pregnancy workout in this video on healthy pregnancies.

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Communicate with doctor
Exercise three to five days per week
Don't work to exhaustion
Listen to your body
Hydrate
Avoid any exercise on back that lasts more than seven minutes

About this Author

Known as the trainers' trainer, Carol Ann has 19 years of professional fitness training experience, a Master's degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion, and CEC provider status with AFAA and ACE. She holds current fitness certifications including Group X Instructor, Personal Trainer, Pilates, Yoga, Aqua Fitness, Kickboxing, and Lifestyle Fitness Coaching. Carol Ann has traveled nationally and internationally training fitness professionals, presenting certifications and workshops, and sharing her knowledge for specific training techniques and application. Along with various fitness training DVD's, she is the creator and star of the fitness DVD series called The Steel Physique System. She also is a freelance fitness expert writer for several publications. In 2008 she is launching Studio Group X, a premier state-of-the-art group exercise studio in North Tampa, FL. The focus is to engage her clients into leading healthy lifestyles for a lifetime through an educational and fun process.

CAROLANN: This is how to follow a pregnancy workout. Now, the moment that you find that you're pregnant, all the things that go through your head are, "Oh, what am I going to do with my weight?", "How am I going to eat?", "What should I do for exercise?" So, the most important thing that you want to remember is you want to keep in communication with your doctor, that's number one. Next, if you do follow a workup program during your pregnancy and everything is cleared by your doctor, you can exercise anywhere between three to five days per week. The idea is to just make sure that you're moving and you could do as much as the general population can do. Just never work to exhaustion. Intensity, it used to be that the guidelines where you don't want to work over 140 beats per minute. Now, we've changed those guidelines by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Now, they say the rating of perceived exertion is a better chart to follow. So, on a scale from one to ten, when you're exercising, you want to be between a five and an eight. Somewhat hard to very hard but never work to exhaustion. And then, time. You can exercise anywhere between 20 to 60 minutes during your program. Now, make sure you're well hydrated and make sure that you don't over do it and try to avoid exercises on your back longer than 7 minutes. So, again, keeping communication with your doctor, make sure you're well hydrated, and make sure you listen to your body as you're working out. Never over do it. If it hurts, stop. It's not worth it for you or your baby. And that is how to do a pregnancy workout.

How to Follow a Pregnancy Workout Video

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