Exercise Thoughts for the Expecting Mom
"Researchers had expected that women who were fit before pregnancy might be able to exercise more often without affecting their babies’ birth weight, but this was not the case. And interestingly, women who did not exercise regularly before pregnancy, but started exercising moderately during pregnancy did not increase their risk of having a low birth weight baby. Women who stayed sedentary had an increased risk of delivering a low-weight baby." (American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology - February 2001)

Enjoy your exercise, the bottom line is that mentally, physically and emotionally exercise is good for you as an expecting mom and for your unborn baby.

Here are some pointers you can follow if you are pregnant and uncertain what you may and may not do.

First Trimester

What will NOT harm my baby or myself?
1. You may continue with your exercise level as is, but if there are any complications please contact your physician.
2. You must drop your intensity level e.g. you may do step classes but your heart rate must stay under 140 b/min.
3. You can still continue with abdominal exercises.
4. You must start slowing down on the running / bouncing exercises.
5. You are more tired during this first stage of your pregnancy, adjust your exercise programme accordingly.

What WILL harm my baby or myself?
1. Only if there are complications that can be detected by your physician.

Second Trimester

What WILL NOT harm my baby or myself?
1. Hand-weight exercises or group exercises like stretch and tone, body conditioning and yogo-flex can be done.
2. No more jumping.
3. Keep your heart rate under 140 b/min.
4. Abdominal crunches must be avoided.
5. Pelvic roles / pelvic lifts are very good exercises.
6. You will feel more energetic ð use this opportunity.
7. Depending on how far you are with your pregnancy and how much you have grown you will see there is some discomfort in some of the aqua-aerobic exercises. Make sure you consult with both the instructor and your physician. You will also see that you need to adjust some of the exercises just because your centre of gravity changes as you progress with the pregnancy and so you will find that sitting down of lying down on your side to do the exercises feels more comfortable.
8. Concentrate on your breathing. Exercises like yogo-flex and stretching are good options to choose from. Just remember you should do stretching for maintenance, this is not the time to try lose fat.
9. Keep up with the pelvic roles and pelvic lifts.
10. Do not use heavy weights.
11. Avoid deep flexion - like deep squats.

What WILL harm my baby or myself?
1. Lying too long on your back, it depends from mom to mom, can cause dizziness, because of
your baby pressing against a very large artery. If you experience this just turn on your left side and stay there for a few seconds and slowly push yourself up.
2. No abdominal exercises.
3. No running / bouncing / jerking exercises.
4. No cardio-respiratory exercises that will raise your heart beat above 140b/min.
 

Third Trimester

What WILL NOT harm my baby or myself?
1. Because your baby is growing more rapidly in this stage you could experience tiredness again,
adjust your program accordingly.
2. You can continue with cardio-respiratory exercises, moderately - like walking, swimming &
cycling.
3. Keep the heart rate under 140 b/min.
4. Its important not to exceed 20 minutes – reasons for that is because of the enhanced blood flow through exercising, after 30 minutes the Braxton Hicks contractions starts because of the increased blood flow. Your belly becomes very tight, and although not painful it could be very uncomfortable to continue exercises. If you stay under 30 min. the effect is less.
5. Really focus on relaxing exercises.
6. Exercises involving increased co-ordination are not a good idea because of the increased weight (10 – 12kg) that you’re carrying, which makes directional movement more difficult.
7. Do not use heavy weights.
 

WARNING SIGNS TO STOP EXERCISING:

• Sudden severe chest pains
• Sudden severe headaches
• Onset of uterine contractions
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Vaginal bleeding
• Leaking of amniotic fluid
• Confusion
• Fainting
• Palpitations
• Shortness of breath
• Back, pubic or hip pain
• Sprain / strain / injury
• Sudden onset of edema (swelling)
• Decreased fetal activity (there should be 10 – 12 movements per hour)

Related Links
Seated Calf Raise Machine
Pectoral Fly
Leg Extension
Abdominal Machine
Hip Abductors (outer)
Lying Leg Curl
Shoulder Press
Seated Leg Press
Tricep Pushdown
Arm (Bicep) Curl