Fitness in Pregnancy
Is exercise safe in pregnancy? For the vast majority of pregnancies, yes. The most current research shows that exercise is not only safe in pregnancy, but highly recommended! Some benefits of staying active during pregnancy include: reducing the risk of gestational diabetes, improving mood and coping ability, and limiting excessive weight gain. New research also shows that exercise and healthy eating may impact the genetic coding of your baby during pregnancy. This means that the good choices you make can influence your baby's health for the future, doing things like making his immune system stronger or turning off certain genes that give him chronic diseases. If you're not currently active or eating well, don't worry! As long as you don't have any serious issues with your pregnancy that would cause your care provider to advise against exercise, pregnancy is a fine time to start getting fit. Check out these tips below:
Listen to Your Body
This is a classic recommendation, but still a good one. Especially in pregnancy, it's important to be tuned in to the signals your body is sending you. If exercise is causing you pain, or making you dizzy or nauseas, ease off or stop! Of course, any fluid or blood leaking is a definite stop sign. Pushing through these symptoms is not going to be doing anything helpful for you or baby. Some days you may feel more energy and want to do more than others; go for it!
Don't Max Out
If you are feeling up to it, vigorous exercise in pregnancy can be fine. Just keep in mind your own exercise history and be active at a reasonable level. There are no longer any set recommended levels of heart rate or breathing to maintain in pregnancy; instead think of what percentage of effort you are exerting, or rate it on a scale of 1-10. In pregnancy you should never be at 100% exertion. For athlete or fit moms, up to 80-90% exertion can be fine, as long as your body is feeling good. For moms new to exercise, start out around 50% exertion and work up to 75% over several weeks. Keep in mind that a similar mindset to exercise may not be best for all moms. Athletes will likely need to focus on toning down workouts and listening to their bodies more, while sedentary moms may need to focus more on challenging themselves.
Avoid High Impact Activities
High impact to your body in pregnancy can cause injury to your unborn child. Activities where you have a high likelihood of hitting something hard with your body like ice skating, rock climbing, skiing, etc. pose a significant risk. If you feel like you can’t live without a certain high impact activity, at least consider ways that you can make it less dangerous during your pregnancy.