Five Safety Points for Exercising During Pregnancy
Exercising through pregnancy has many great benefits for mother and baby. Once you have clearance from your LMC you’re good to go, as long as you observe the five key safety principles.
The most important thing to avoid is overheating. The baby can’t cool itself in the womb so it’s critical to avoid over-exerting yourself, stay hydrated and dress for success with cool comfortable clothing in removable layers.
Changes in blood pressure can also be a challenge. It’s important to warm up and cool down thoroughly and change positions gradually. Avoid exercises that position you on your back after the first trimester because this position can hinder blood flow to and from the heart. Standing still for prolonged periods is not recommended, especially beyond 20 weeks.
The third area to be aware of as pregnancy progresses is increasing levels of the hormone relaxin. It softens muscle fibres and ligaments in preparation for birth. This makes it easy to overstretch and tear muscles so it’s important to avoid high impact activities, quick direction changes and over-enthusiastic stretching.
Abdominal exercises are another area to watch. Avoid any exercise that places significant load on the abdominals or pelvic floor including abdominal curls and hovers.
The fifth important safety point is to keep an appropriate intensity. When I first trained 25 years ago the rule was that pregnant women were not to elevate their heart rate over 140 beats per minute. We now understand that everyone is different and appropriate intensity depends on the individual, her level of fitness prior to the pregnancy and of course health and mood on the day which can be extremely variable! It is ok to start an exercise program in pregnancy even if you were inactive prior to pregnancy but the intensity must begin at a low level and progress very gradually. Intensity, pace and volume of all exercise should be set according to your ability to keep good form, core stability and regular breathing.
Once you have clearance to exercise and you’re confident with the safety requirements you can move on to consider the five areas to focus on during pregnancy.
The most important thing to avoid is overheating. The baby can’t cool itself in the womb so it’s critical to avoid over-exerting yourself, stay hydrated and dress for success with cool comfortable clothing in removable layers.
Changes in blood pressure can also be a challenge. It’s important to warm up and cool down thoroughly and change positions gradually. Avoid exercises that position you on your back after the first trimester because this position can hinder blood flow to and from the heart. Standing still for prolonged periods is not recommended, especially beyond 20 weeks.
The third area to be aware of as pregnancy progresses is increasing levels of the hormone relaxin. It softens muscle fibres and ligaments in preparation for birth. This makes it easy to overstretch and tear muscles so it’s important to avoid high impact activities, quick direction changes and over-enthusiastic stretching.
Abdominal exercises are another area to watch. Avoid any exercise that places significant load on the abdominals or pelvic floor including abdominal curls and hovers.
The fifth important safety point is to keep an appropriate intensity. When I first trained 25 years ago the rule was that pregnant women were not to elevate their heart rate over 140 beats per minute. We now understand that everyone is different and appropriate intensity depends on the individual, her level of fitness prior to the pregnancy and of course health and mood on the day which can be extremely variable! It is ok to start an exercise program in pregnancy even if you were inactive prior to pregnancy but the intensity must begin at a low level and progress very gradually. Intensity, pace and volume of all exercise should be set according to your ability to keep good form, core stability and regular breathing.
Once you have clearance to exercise and you’re confident with the safety requirements you can move on to consider the five areas to focus on during pregnancy.