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Whether you are a workout fanatic or not, you may be wondering whether prenatal exercise is safe during pregnancy and what movements you should and shouldn’t attempt. During pregnancy, you may be bombarded with an array of conflicting advice from family, friends and even online influencers hyping unsafe prenatal exercises. This situation may be overly challenging when you try to listen to the advice immediately. 

So, is it okay to work out during pregnancy? And what are the specific safe workouts for you as an expectant mother? Well, there is no doubt that even a simple walk around the block or session of stretching can lead to improved mood and better sleep. Make it a routine, and you’ll find it easier during labour and recovery. Need some motivation, here it is.

What are the benefits of prenatal exercise?

There are numerous potential health benefits for women who exercise during pregnancy. Numerous studies indicate that exercise during pregnancy greatly decreases the risk of pregnancy, improves weight control, and enhances fitness, among others. As such, women who exercise during pregnancy are more likely to have uncomplicated vaginal delivery and a quicker recovery post-delivery. As such, during pregnancy, you need to keep moving, even if you haven’t had a prior exercise routine. 

The importance of exercise during pregnancy cannot be overstated, and here’s why:

1. Improves your stamina and heart health

Performing exercises regularly strengthens your heart and lungs and improves your circulation, building stamina and endurance. By strengthening your heart and lungs and improving blood circulation, you prepare your body to tackle labour and delivery appropriately. 

2. Improves sleep

Exercising during pregnancy can help improve your sleep. Research indicates that practising relaxation techniques such as yoga before bed may help lower anxiety and awakening periods. During pregnancy, many pregnant women report having a hard time falling asleep. However, pregnant women who exercise consistently say that the quality of their sleep has improved, and they wake up feeling relaxed. 

3. Fights fatigue

Hard as it may be to believe when you’re feeling flat-out exhausted, exercise can leave you feeling more energized than lying down. You may experience low-level plagues during your first and late trimesters. So, while you should never push yourself to exhaustion, a little exercise can positively affect your energy level. 

4. Eases back and pelvic pain

As your pregnancy progresses, your growing baby bump begins to put extra pressure on your half, leading to lower back pain and achy pelvis. As such, you need to strengthen your abs to lower back and pelvic pain during late pregnancy. When you hit the gym, avoid exercises that may worsen the backaches.

5. Boost your mood

Physical activity can also assist you in managing symptoms of pregnancy and make you feel even better, knowing you’re doing something good for yourself and your baby. By doing regular exercise during your pregnancy, you shall enjoy benefits such as increased energy, improved mood, and diminished stress and anxiety. 

6. Lowers the odds of delivery complications

Regular exercise during pregnancy can also decrease the risk of pregnancy-related complications such as pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia. Research by Hopkins et al. found that women who exercised regularly (at least three times a week) were less likely to have macrosomic babies (bigger babies). Having a macroscopic bay can result in complications for both you and your baby during delivery. 

What PRENATAL exercise should you do?

Exercises that incorporate cardiovascular fitness are beneficial to you. The specific exercises include: 

• Walking
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Aerobics
• Exercise in water (aquarobics)
• Yoga
• Running 
• Pilates 
• Kegel
• Jogging

While doing the above exercises, listen to your body and drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated. Kegel exercises strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which support the uterus, bladder, small intestine and rectum. You can do them discreetly at just about any time. Squeeze the pelvic floor muscles for five seconds and relax and squeeze again; try to do 50 a day.

Which PRENATAL exercises should you avoid?

While in the prenatal phase, there are some exercises that you need to avoid. For instance, avoid contact sports, as well as activities where there is a high risk of falling. Additionally, avoid hot yoga, downhill skiing, hockey, basketball, soccer, wrestling, fight club, scuba, gymnastics, water skiing, and horse riding. You can use free weights, but a caution is that there is a risk of hitting the abdomen. You can use resistance bands in this case. Furthermore, stay off your back after the first trimester and avoid activities that require balancing skills later in pregnancy. 

How much should you exercise?

Depending on your state of fitness, you should take note of the following important guidelines:

• Start slow and increase gradually. Since you haven’t exercised for some time, it is important that you begin with as little as five minutes of physical activity a day. Gradually increase to 10 minutes, 15 minutes, until you achieve 30 minutes daily. 
• Consider your comfort and advice from your healthcare provider even as you begin or continue your workout routine.
• Let your body be your guide. You know you’re at a good exercise intensity when you can talk normally (but cannot sing) and do not become exhausted too quickly.
• Be guided by your doctor, physiotherapist or healthcare professional.

Cautions for Prenatal Exercise

Since you are expectant, you need to take high precautions when doing some exercises. Take note of the following precautions: 

• Avoid raising your body temperature too high. Reduce your level of exercise on hot or humid days.

• Avoid exercising to the point of exhaustion

• When you are weight training, avoid lifting heavy weights altogether

• Conduct controlled stretching and avoid over-extending

Avoid increasing the intensity of your sporting program during the prenatal phase. Always work at less than 75% of your maximum heart rate. 

Consult your doctor before continuing or restarting your exercise program.