Exercise during Pregnancy - Yes or No?
Exercise During Pregnancy - Why?
There are so many “wives tales” about why women’s should not exercise during pregnancy - Or how high the heart rate should get - or who should avoid it - or someone’s too out of shape - or you only can do low impact exercises.
I want to stand up for women and mothers here to say we are strong. We are resilient. We can do hard things. We are built to do hard things. AND, birth is a hard thing so why are we not training for it?
Some say that the labor and delivery process is likened to a marathon! It’s truly one of the most crazy, scary, spontaneous and amazing things that we can experience as humans. We should not be limited by old sayings or poorly educated people telling us their opinions.
Why should I even try to exercise?
What does the literature say about mothers who exercise?
We reduced our likelihood of a C-section chances.
We potentially reduce our length of time between stages of labor.
We are less likely to have gestational hypertension.
We are less likely to have gestational diabetes.
We have reduced weight gain throughout pregnancy.
We are less likely to have fetal microsomia.
Labor and recovery are often shorter and easier.
We are less likely to develop postpartum depression.
AMAZING!! Why would you not want to exercise??
Probably because there are so many scary things that are being said about it!! So many unfounded and poorly researched items.
So now that you know what you should be doing…what is the best exercise?
According to guidelines we should generally get 150 minutes of accumulated moderate physical exercise a week. It is recommended for us to get aerobic and resistance strengthening exercises. This can look like a number of things and it all depends on your preference!
It is safe!
Weight training, yoga, pilates, bootcamps, Crossfit, running, cycling, walking, cardio…Try!
What do I need to watch out for?
There are several rationales to stop exercising for the moment and some even limit you from even trying.
Lets start with the RED LIGHTS - or those who need medical clearance before they begin if possible
Unexplained persistent vaginal bleeding
Ruptured cervix
Triplets+
Pre-eclampsia
Placenta previa after 28 weeks
Uncontrolled gestational diabetes, hypertension, or thyroid issue.
Your provider should educate you on your restrictions.
If they do not - find a specialized provider who can!
Ok…i’m good there…what are the next considerations?
recurrent pregnancy loss
gestational hypertension
history of spontaneous pre-term birth
Twins after 28 weeks
Malnutrition or eating disorder
OK Ok - I am not any of those…now what?
In my words, go play!! Find something you will stick with. Find something you love or enjoy and can do consistently. Find something you can feel plugged into for your mental health. And listen to you body…
When do i modify during workouts?
Severe chest pain
Persistent shortness of breath
Regular and painful contractions
Vaginal bleeding
Persistent loss of fluid from vagina - possible water breaking
Dizziness or faintness
Yay! I feel safe to start! What else?
If you have no idea where to start, there are a lot of different highly trained and specialized in training pregnant women. If you have pain - I would recommend starting with a Physical Therapist or we consider ourselves Pelvic Floor, Pelvic Health or Women’s Health Physical Therapists due to our training. There are a lot of other trainers, instructors and teachers who can take good care of you too if they know how to modify and can help you listen to you body.
It’s not can you do it…it’s should you do it!
Also consider
It’s not WHAT you do but HOW you do it that usually matters most!