Can i continue to workout while pregnant

Discuss your exercise plans with your doctor or other health care provider early on. The level of exercise recommended will depend, in part, on your level of pre-pregnancy fitness. No doubt about it, exercise is a big plus for both you and your baby if complications don't limit your ability to exercise. It can help you:. While the jury's still out on the additional benefits of exercise during pregnancy, some studies have shown that exercise may even lower a woman's risk of complications, like preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.

It depends on when you start and whether your pregnancy is complicated. If you exercised regularly before becoming pregnant, continue your program, with modifications as you need them.

If you weren't fit before you became pregnant, don't give up! Begin slowly and build gradually as you become stronger. The U. If you're healthy, the risks of moderate-intensity activity during pregnancy are very low, and do not increase risk of low birth weight, pre-term delivery, or early pregnancy loss. Before you continue your old exercise routine or begin a new one, you should talk to your doctor about exercising while you're pregnant.

Discuss any concerns you have and know that you might need to limit your exercise if you have:. Many women enjoy dancing, swimming, water aerobics, yoga, Pilates, biking, or walking.

Swimming is especially appealing, as it gives you welcome buoyancy floatability or the feeling of weightlessness. Try for a combination of cardio aerobic , strength, and flexibility exercises, and avoid bouncing.

Many experts recommend walking. It's easy to vary the pace, add hills, and add distance. If you're just starting, begin with a moderately brisk pace for a mile, 3 days a week. Add a couple of minutes every week, pick up the pace a bit, and eventually add hills to your route. Whether you're a pro or a novice, go slowly for the first 5 minutes to warm up and use the last 5 minutes to cool down.

If you were a runner before you were pregnant, you might be able to continue running during your pregnancy, although you may have to modify your routine.

Whatever type of exercise you and your doctor decide on, the key is to listen to your body's warnings. Many women, for example, become dizzy early in their pregnancy, and as the baby grows, their center of gravity changes.

So it may be easy for you to lose your balance, especially in the last trimester. Your energy level might vary greatly from day to day. And as your baby grows and pushes up on your lungs, you'll notice a decreased ability to breathe in more air and the oxygen it contains when you exercise.

Also, if your instructor hasn't worked with pregnant women, find one who has. Do you want to start working out while pregnant? Here are the most common classes you'll find at the gym:. Pilates helps maintain your abdominal muscle tone , which will support your growing belly, minimize back pain, and give you more oomph for pushing during labor. But mat classes can be problematic after the first trimester because so much work is done lying on your back.

Either opt out of these exercises or use an angled foam spine support found in most Pilates studios but not many gyms ; this will keep your head higher than your belly. You can still do the side-lying leg work, upper-body exercises, and stretches. Prenatal yoga not only strengthens your core and improves flexibility, but with its gentle movements and emphasis on breathing and meditation, it also fosters a sense of calm. In the second half of your pregnancy, avoid exaggerated twists and movements that tug on your belly, moves that require you to lie on your back or belly for prolonged periods, and inversions like headstands and shoulder stands.

You can't trip and fall; you won't overheat; and for once you won't feel like a big clod. No wonder water aerobics is a third trimester favorite. Your joints will thank you! Wear aqua shoes so you don't slip on the bottom of the pool.

Worried that resistance strength exercises will cause joint injury? It's true that pregnancy floods your system with relaxin, a hormone that loosens ligaments to prepare your body for delivery. But a University of Georgia study found that a low-to-moderate-intensity strength program is safe, even for novices. Though the study mostly involved machines, free weights and body-weight exercises such as push-ups and squats are safe, too.

No, squatting won't trigger labor. O'Connor notes that the women were supervised and recommends that anyone who is new to weight training should be as well or consult videos to learn proper technique. If you want to train your core, know that doing crunches or other exercises on your back is a no-no after the first trimester: Your growing uterus can compress the vena cava, the major vessel that returns blood to your heart, potentially reducing blood flow and making you feel dizzy or nauseated.

O'Connor's study included an ab exercise performed while standing: The women exhaled and then drew in their navel toward their spine "as if they were trying to button up pants that were too tight in the waist," he says.

If you weren't, now is a good time to become active. Treadmill : Walking on the treadmill is ideal since you can control the terrain. Add moderate hills when you're up to it; go flat when you're not or if hills trigger calf cramps.

If you're a runner, let your body tell you when it's time to switch to walking; nearly everyone does. And don't worry about "shaking your baby loose," since she's plenty safe swimming around in amniotic fluid while you jog at the park. Elliptical : The elliptical trainer places little stress on your joints. However, the motion may feel uncomfortable if you're experiencing symphysis pubic dysfunction SPD , a pain in the front of your crotch.

Stationary bike :The recumbent and upright bikes are both good options. Many women like the back support the recumbent offers, though in the third trimester your belly might get in the way of your knees. During pregnancy you'll need to scale back on the intensity. Gauge your intensity using the Rate of Perceived Exertion RPE scale from 0 to Aim for an intensity between 3 and 5 you should be able to talk but not belt out show tunes.

Ignore heart-rate readouts on the cardio machines; since your blood volume increases during pregnancy, and your resting heart rate is considerably higher than normal, heart rate isn't an accurate gauge of intensity. While there are some things to avoid, such as scuba diving, horseback riding, or any contact sport that could cause blunt-force trauma to the abdomen, there's relatively little that pregnant women can't do. Even the longstanding prohibition against exercising on your back is somewhat of a myth, Dr.

It's true that lying flat on your back late in your pregnancy can cause your growing uterus to push down on the veins whose job it is to deliver blood, leading to decreased blood flow. These types of exercise will strengthen your muscles to help you carry the extra weight of pregnancy.

They'll also make your joints stronger, improve circulation, ease backache, and generally help you feel well. As your baby gets bigger, you may find that the hollow in your lower back increases and this can give you backache. These exercises strengthen stomach abdominal muscles and may ease backache, which can be a problem in pregnancy:. Pelvic floor exercises help to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor, which come under great strain in pregnancy and childbirth.

The pelvic floor consists of layers of muscles that stretch like a supportive hammock from the pubic bone in front to the end of the backbone spine. If your pelvic floor muscles are weak, you may find that you leak urine when you cough, sneeze or strain. This is quite common, and there is no reason to feel embarrassed.

It's known as stress incontinence and it can continue after pregnancy. You can strengthen these muscles by doing pelvic floor exercises. This helps to reduce or avoid stress incontinence after pregnancy. All pregnant women should do pelvic floor exercises, even if you're young and not suffering from stress incontinence now. As well as these exercises, practice tightening the pelvic floor muscles before and during coughing and sneezing.

Find out more about keeping fit and healthy after you've had your baby. In this video, a midwife explains how to do pelvic floor exercises and when you can practise them. Get activity ideas from Change4Life to help get your family more active. Please bear in mind that the activity plans are not designed for use during pregnancy, but can be useful for your partner, children and other family members.