For our next instalment in my weekly pregnancy series, I have a
wonderful guest post from Maria Barker on exercising and pregnancy. Stay
tuned next Friday for some great things to wear while exercising while
pregnant!
Exercise and Pregnancy
Some of us have never considered the word
exercise in our lives, or at the worst the only exercise that we’ve ever
considered is the inevitable cleaning of the house! When we fall pregnant we all know that our
lives our about to change, but should we also consider changing our
lifestyles? There is no doubt that
exercise during pregnancy can be a real benefit to you and your experience, so
why not consider trying it? Even a small
change in your exercise regime can lead to great results for you later on!
Stamina,
Me?
You’re probably thinking, why would I want
to do exercise? Well there is no doubt
that if you consider how it can help your body you will probably be running
down to the shops by the end of this article!
Doing exercise during pregnancy can help in various different ways. You’ve probably read some horror stories
about women in labour, but it is proven that doing some slight exercise
throughout your pregnancy can benefit you when you reach this stage. Making your more flexible and doing some
stretches can aid any problems with pushing during labour, and doing slight
exercise will also give you more stamina.
More stamina is a bonus for anyone in labour, we all know how tough it
can be, so that little bit of extra effort you can put in at the birth could be
really important. And for the sake of 30
minutes of exercise every other day, why not?
What
exercises can I do?
With prevention of things like gestational
diabetes also helped by exercise, there are many reasons why you might begin to
consider that jog. What exercise could
you begin to consider that would actually help though? How about something like Yoga and Pilates? These kinds of exercises can give you the
extra stamina that you need, and also give you the opportunity to make your
body more flexible. With the bonus of
flexibility, you can be sure that the back pain you are experiencing will be
cut down. For many back pain is a really
frustrating part of pregnancy, and if doing some slight exercises throughout
the pregnancy can help, why you would you not even consider it? If you don’t want to consider Yoga or
Pilates, then why not just a gentle walk, run or jog to the local park or shop. Anything that you can think of which will add
to your exercise can be a real benefit, so don’t count anything out!
OK,
so where can I do it?
So why not consider trying something out? We all worry about lots of things from our
first pregnancy symptoms so a little advice can be a real benefit. I’m not advising that you go to the gym and
try and become a body builder, but some gentle exercise can really help you
out! If you visit your local health
centres, gyms or swimming pools, then there is no doubt that they will offer
some classes for pregnant women. Even if
you don’t want to do this, a jog to the park is free, and any little bit of
exercise that you want to consider can really help. Remember, it’s only going to benefit you, it
wont be a hindrance at all, and if it can cut a few minutes of your labour,
then you know as well as I do, that is a massive bonus!
image sourceLabels: exercise, health, lifestyle, maternity, pregnancy