Copyright (c) 2007 Jess Harley
So the rabbit died as they said in the old days. You got two pink lines on your home pregnancy test and your doctor confirmed it. You are going to be a mommy! Congratulations, you have an incredible journey ahead of you. You are going to need plenty of energy to grow a life inside of you and a good workout routine will help you.
A lot of women are under the misconception that exercise during pregnancy is bad. Unless you have complications such as a threatened miscarriage or you are a high risk pregnancy, most doctors will recommend you exercise throughout your pregnancy. Exercising during pregnancy can help you balance your hormones, help loosen your bowel movements, relieve stress, and help avoid or control gestational diabetes. It also can help you with your weight gain and make labor and delivery a little easier on you. There are some modifications though you will have to make to your exercise routine and some guidelines to follow especially if you have not really exercised before you were pregnant.
First get your doctors ok to exercise through out your pregnancy. As I said earlier, unless you have a complication your doctor will more than likely give you the ok. Once you have the ok, think about what exercises you did in the past. If you have not done much, start off slowly. Walk for about five minutes a day and add an additional five each week until you are up to thirty minutes. Even if you have worked out before you got pregnant, you do need to tone it down a little because you are going to be carrying extra weight.
You want to make sure you do low impact activities that will get your blood pumping but not get you out of breath. If you have exercised before you should keep your target heart rate at 140-150. It is going to be less if you never really exercised before. This does not mean you have to run out and get a heart rate monitor; you can do the talk test. If you are doing your exercise and you find that you can not talk without feeling winded, you are working out too hard. You want to find it a little challenging to talk but not be huffing and puffing.
So what kind of exercises should you do? Almost every doctor will tell you to walk. Walking just thirty minutes a day, three times a week will have a positive impact on your pregnancy. Yoga and Pilates is becoming the hip thing to do and help with your mental health while pregnant. Make sure you do a pregnancy geared class or video since they are designed specifically for your new body. Aerobics are good also, along with walking you have swimming, or even light jogging will work.
So what should you avoid, most doctors will recommend that you cut out any sit-ups and some weight lifting after your first trimester. This is because once you hit four months, your uterus will probably be slitting on at least one of your major veins and can slow your blood returning to your heart. So take it easy on those crunches. NO matter how many you do while your pregnant you are still going to get a baby belly!
How long should you exercise? Well, that is really up to you. Some women report being able to exercise all the way up to their delivery date while others have to stop by the time they hit their third trimester. When you are pregnant you really need to listen to your body and if you find you can not walk as much as you could a month ago, then you need to stop. Do not push yourself. It is not the time for the "no pain no gain" motto. Rest when your body tells you too.
Gone are the days when being pregnant meant you should do nothing. You can still exercise. Keep in mind though you are exercising to maintain a healthy pregnancy, not to lose weight during your pregnancy.
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