5 Tips for exercising while pregnant
1. Keep exercising
If you’re already exercising, there’s no need to stop exercising when you fall pregnant and there are actually benefits to be gained from continuing to exercise. Such as improvement in sleep, reduction in hip and back pain, weight control and faster recovery.
2. How much exercise to do
The guidelines state that pregnant women should aim for 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week. Some people prefer shorter and more frequent efforts of 15min-20min and some prefer to complete 30min or longer sessions of exercise. What you choose is up to you, so listen to your body.
3. What kinds of exercise to do
We’re looking for moderate intensity aerobic exercise. This might look like a brisk walking, swimming, low intensity aerobics (i.e. no jumping around) or stationary cycling- you want to be getting just a little out of breath. It’s also important to include some exercises strengthening the core and pelvic floor as these will assist with reducing pains, increasing speed of recovery and can even shorten labour. Look for classes like yoga and pilates which have been adapted to be pregnancy safe.
4. Core and pelvic floor
You hear about core and the pelvic floor at lot during pregnancy but what do they actually do and why are they important? The core and pelvic floor are groups of muscles that provide stability to the trunk and pelvis area among many other things. These muscles work hard during pregnancy and can strain and stretch, especially during childbirth. A stronger pelvic floor decreases the risk of damage to these muscles during pregnancy & childbirth and can increase the speed of recovery.
5. When to start exercising again
After giving birth you can return to exercising over the coming weeks, the general advice being that you can complete light aerobic and pelvic floor and core exercises within a few days after giving birth, though the exact timing of this is slightly different for everyone. It’s best to wait for your 6 week check up before starting back with gym or group based exercise and then it’s advised that you wait around 16 weeks before returning to your full pre-pregnancy exercise routine. Again, listen to your specialists and your body.
