Fit Pregnancy & Exercise for Pregnant Women

Fit Pregnancy

Fit Pregnancies require you to carefully plan your moderate exercise.

Moderate exercise during your pregnancy is important, however it should not be too strenuous because your body is already under stress from the changes that are happening from your pregnancy. Your joints and tissues become softer and more prone to injury, the amount of blood pumping around your body has increased, and your lungs will not be able to expand as much as it could before you were pregnant.

The best form of exercise for a fit pregnancy is aerobic exercise such as walking or swimming which are less weight dependent.

You need to be extra careful of exercise that involves a lot of jumping or twisting or any other strenuous exercise that results in increased body temperature for a prolonged period of time.

You shouldn’t really start to do any exercises that you haven’t done before you were pregnant – so don’t decide suddenly to become a triathlete just because you are now pregnant and want a fit pregnancy.

Your fitness in pregnancy is determined by your fitness before the pregnancy, your age, and whether there are any medical conditions or medical complications.

It is always worth checking with your Doctor what exercises they would advise for you during your pregnancy.

Keeping fit during pregnancy

A lot of women blame their pregnancy for them putting on long term weight.

Getting depressed when the clothes they used to wear before being pregnant no longer fit.

There are a number of reasons why women find it hard to go back to the pre-pregnancy weight, such as:

• the hormonal changes
• new eating habits
• stress
• lack of time and energy to do regular exercise

Finding and sticking to a regular exercise regime may be the best answer to avoid the disappointment of having to try to squeeze back in to your old clothes.

Regular exercise will help you to have a fit pregnancy which can help overcome some of the common pregnancy problems such as: backaches, hemorrhoids, muscle stiffness, loss of bladder control, bad posture and a general lack of energy.

Pregnant Exercises

Here are some general common sense exercise do’s and don’ts for a fit pregnancy

Do’s

• Do drink water before, during and after any exercise. Make sure you don’t get thirsty or dehydrated
• Do get medical or expert advice before continuing with a regular exercise regime
• Do stop exercising before you become tired or exhausted, or before you feel pain or discomfort, or short of breath

Don’ts

• Don’t do any exercise involving jumping or twisting
• Don’t do any exercise that involves having to lay on your back after you are twenty weeks pregnant
• Don’t do any exercise that involves any heavy lifting.

Links for help on Pregnancy Exercise

Follow these simple tips and you can enjoy a fit pregnancy