Congratulations! You’re now carrying a baby, which means you’ll have a wonderful 9-months journey until you meet the cute little angel. From now on, everything you do will affect both of you and your baby, including exercise you might perform during pregnancy. Mostly, exercise for pregnant women is quite terrifying while they’re afraid it may be risky. Well, it might be true if you don’t know what to do or what to avoid.

This article focused on detailed information about exercise for pregnant women, such as: the benefits of exercise during pregnancy, some useful tips, examples of light exercise for pregnant women and yoga as another option for this exercise.

 

Why Moms-to be Should Do Exercise for Pregnant Women

Below are some benefits of performing exercise for pregnant women:

1. Keeping your muscles strong.

2. Builds moms-to be stamina.

3. Increase ability to handle the stress during labor and delivery

4. Helps the body releasing serotonin. Serotonin is a happy hormone which helps you feel more pleasure by minimizing aches and pain during pregnancy.

5. Helps get your body back after delivery

 

Although there are lots of negative opinions that exercise for pregnant women can put both mother and baby in danger, what you must put into consideration is what your doctor recommend and do the recommendation in the right way. Hopefully, you’ll get through this amazing 9 month journey with less stress and more energy.

 

Right Intensity of Exercise for Pregnant Women

 

When you decide to perform exercise for pregnant, you’ll probably ask this question: what is the right intensity is safe during pregnancy? The easiest indicator is by measuring your heart rate; don’t let it exceed 140 beats per minute. However, while heart rate is different so massively, there is one preferred methods commonly use: RPE scale.

RPE or Rating of Perceived Exertion is a measurement of exercise intensity. It describes how difficult you find an exercise. Below is an example of the scale:

0 – Nothing at all
1 – Very light
2 – Light
3 – Moderate
4 – Somewhat hard
5 – Hard
7 – Very hard
10 – Very, very hard

In this case, 2-4 is the intensity you should maintain during exercising. When you’re fitter you can stay closer to a 4 or maybe 5, but if you didn’t exercised before pregnancy you can stay closer to 2 and build up the intensity slowly.

To make sure you’re exercising in the right intensity, there are at least 2 indicators: you can breathe properly and you still able to hold a conversation while exercising.

6 Safe Exercise for Pregnant Women

The goal of performing exercise for pregnant women is not only maintaining healthy muscle or building stamina during pregnancy, but also to prepare non-stress labor and delivery process as well as getting back to your pre-pregnancy body easier.

Obviously, it’s not recommended to do heavy exercise for a long amount of time. Provide no more than 30 minutes a day for doing these exercises is more than enough to increase your energy and reduce many uncomfortable side effects while you’re pregnant.

Below are some examples of safe exercise for pregnant women:

 

1. Swimming. While water provides a cushioning effect, many pregnant women found it comfortable to exercise in the water. However, it depends on your own physical condition, the age of your pregnancy and what the doctors told you.
2. Walking. This is probably the easiest as well as the cheapest exercise for pregnant women. You don’t have to strenuous walking, just keep your body moving for about 30 minutes and feel the difference.
3. Leg Lifts Exercise. Stands on your hands and knees, make sure your back is flat. Then lift your right knee forward and extend it backward until it’s straight. Repeat this movement 10 times on each leg. If you require, you can combine this exercise by lifting your opposite arm. So if you lift you right leg, you lift your left arm and vice versa (You’ll feel like Superman while doing this).
4. Pelvic Exercise/Cat Stretch. While you stand on your hands and knees, drop your abdominal so that your back arches downwards, then tighten your abdominal upwards slightly as a cat would do. Repeat 10 times and make sure to breath slowly.
5. Squats Exercise. Stand with your back against the wall then slide down into squat position. After that squat right back up. Repeat this exercise 10 times.
6. Pushup against the wall. Place your hands on the wall and bring your body toward the wall until your nose almost touches the wall, then push your body off.

 

What Should be Avoided when Doing Exercise for Pregnant Women

As many moms-to be realized the importance of staying fit by performing exercise during pregnancy, there are-somehow-some points that pregnant should avoid during their exercise. Below are some points you must avoid as they can put unnecessary strain on mother and the baby:

1. Lying on your back, especially after the first semester.
2. Hold breathing long periods
3. Excessive bounce or stretch
4. Doing contact sports such as basketball or football.
5. Give undue strain in abdominal area.
6. Performing exercise for pregnancy without consulting with your doctors. It’s very important while not every pregnant woman have the same conditions as others.
7. Doing exercise without warming up, while it can cause injury.

 

8 Tips on Exercise for Pregnant Women

 

Exercise for pregnant women might be very beneficial, but somehow there are some points you should put into consideration while working out:

1. Do this exercise for approximately 30 minutes daily with mild to moderate routine.
2. Avoid any kind of back exercise after first trimester; it can decrease blood circulation to the uterus.
3. Don’t exhaust yourself.
4. Don’t do exercise during hot or humid weather while it can cause dehydration.
5. Take extra water.
6. Avoid doing exercise that can cause balance lost, especially during third semester.
7. Stop your exercise when you feel discomforts or experience any of the following: vaginal bleeding, pain, dizzy, shortness of breath, contractions or vaginal fluid leak.
8. It’s all right to have your exercise at home, but it’s better to join maternity class which also provides class of exercise for pregnant women. You can be guided by certified instructors with effective and safe exercise. After you know the right exercise, you can practice it at home.

 

Yoga-Another Option of Exercise for Pregnant Women

Many peoples believe that yoga is very beneficial. The aim of yoga is to achieve breath control concentration as well as mental and emotional well-being. Although yoga is not recognized as an exercise for pregnant women, in fact some poses of yoga are very beneficial for them. It can reduce stress and helps them have a natural birth without complications. Try following pose for pregnant women:

Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

This pose is good to strengthen the spine, open the chest and allow the lungs to breathe easily. This pose is also effective in stimulating thyroid gland.

Start back on the back, bend your knees, cross your fingers and bring them on the back. Then increase the size of the body toward the ceiling. Stretch your fingers close to the ankles of the legs as possible. Now, pull the shoulders on the floor, exhale and relax your fingers.

Cobblers pose (Badhdha Konasana)

Sitting on the ground and bend your legs at the knees to create a structure like a wing butterfly. Keep your hands on your knees, legs and gently squeeze everything you can. Then slowly release. This position stretchs the abdomen, hips and groin.

 

Placing children (Balasana)

This pose is very useful to open the chest and pelvis. Start with knees on the floor, wider than the hips. The stretch your hand with palms facing down and put your forehead on the floor, exhale as you position. Raise your hands on the floor so only your palms touch the floor.

 

Below are some tips when you practicing prenatal yoga exercise:

1. Follow prenatal yoga class to make sure you know the technique of doing the right pose and breathing methods.
2. Stay away from yoga before the birth.
3. Listen to what your body says. If some position gives you feeling of discomfort, then stop and switch to another pose.
4. Don’t compress the abdominal area

It’s possible for you to stay fit during pregnancy. In fact, it’s the best thing you can do for this amazing journey. Make sure you’ve consulted with your doctors before practicing any kinds of exercise for pregnant women.

Finally, happy exercising and have a wonderful journey of your joyful pregnancy ^-^