Exercise During Pregnancy

Pregnancy can be one of the most magical times of a woman’s life. Her body will experience things you probably never even imagined. Often times when a woman becomes pregnant, she gains weight as part of needing to keep up with the nutritional needs of her growing baby accompanied by taking naps, sleeping longer at night and often times caving to her food cravings. Listed below are reasons why it’s suggested to exercise during pregnancy by medical doctors and some of the best exercises to try.

First of all, in most cases, yes, you can exercise during your pregnancy. To begin here’s a list of reasons why exercising is beneficial during pregnancy.

1. Exercise can increase your energy levels – Even a short, ten-minute walk around your neighborhood can give you a healthy boost of energy.

2. It decreases your chances of constipation – Due to an increase in progesterone levels, a woman’s intestinal tract can get backed up during pregnancy. Regular exercise and a high fiber diet can help the digestive system to move things along.

3. Your risk for gestational diabetes is lowered – Gestational Diabetes can come about during pregnancy due to high blood sugar levels and it’s been shown that regular exercise while pregnant can help to decrease the risk for developing it.

4. You will probably experience less leg swelling – Exercise helps to lower swelling by increasing blood flow.

5. Chances are, it’ll help you to sleep better – Even though exercise can give you a positive boost of energy when it comes time to sleep, exercise often helps to improve the duration of and restfulness of sleep.

6. Exercise helps to decrease depression – Exercise is known to help decrease depression by increasing stress-relief and by increasing your serotonin levels.

7. Exercise could lead to your baby having a healthier heart – You being healthy directly translates to your baby being healthy too.

In a high-risk pregnancy, exercise has the chance to do more harm than good and those women should be taking it easy and many will need to be on bed rest for much of their pregnancy.

However, for those lucky ladies that are free to exercise, here are some effective exercises that will help to aid with posture and fatigue, but won’t put too much stress on you and your baby.

Prenatal Yoga

Walking

Swimming

Squats

Low Impact Aerobics

Stationary Cycling

Elliptical Machines

Exercise can help mother and baby to both live healthier lives both physically and mentally. The exercise helps to alleviate stress in the mother, which in turns helps the baby to be much healthier. Even if you can only exercise a couple of times a week, you’ll find it to be beneficial. Additionally, it’s a chance to connect with other nursing mother’s if you join exercise groups specifically geared towards pregnancy.