Pregnancy exercising - fitness for beginners

  Fitness for pregnant women

Good news: You can safely start an exercise program during pregnancy even if you’re been an avid couch potato until now.
For beginners, exercise three days a week, preferably with a day of rest between workouts, for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. If you were sedentary before you became pregnant, it’s doubly important to review your exercise plan with your healthcare provider before you begin. Pregnancy isn’t the time to try to lose weight or begin a vigorous exercise routine. Nonetheless, if you aren’t in any of the high-risk categories, you can pursue an exercise regimen at a mild to moderate level.

Safe exercises for beginners
If you’re pregnant and new to the joys of physical fitness, consider:

• Walking: This exercise receives top honors, and it’s the perfect way to get started if you didn’t exercise before pregnancy.

• Low-impact aerobic classes or videotapes: These exercise programs, many of which cater to pregnant women, can be beneficial and fun.

• Swimming: This is a great form of exercise since it uses many different muscle groups and puts less gravitational strain on your joints. An added bonus: the water supports your weight, giving you a temporary reprieve from feeling ungainly as your belly gets bigger.

• Prenatal yoga and stretching: These forms of exercise ease tension and help you keep your body flexible and strong.

Exercises or positions to avoid
High-risk sports, such as scuba diving, and activities with a potential for hard falls, such as horseback riding, downhill skiing, snowboarding, or waterskiing, are strictly off-limits to pregnant women. Some other forms of exercise, such as bike riding, should also be modified or delayed until after the baby is born. While biking enthusisasts may disagree, some experts say that biking during the your second and third trimesters is dangerous because your balance isn’t what it used to be and you risk falling if you can’t avoid an unexpected obstacle in your path. You’re also at risk of being hit by a car if you ride on streets.

Pregnancy is not the time to start running, either, although it’s fine if you jogged regularly before getting pregnant. Below you’ll find some suggestions for keeping your fitness regimen fun and safe.

• Don’t go for the burn and don’t exercise to exhaustion. You should generally stick to 60 percent of your maximum heart rate while pregnant. Your heart rate should not exceed 140 beats per minute. A good rule of thumb: slow down if you can’t comfortably carry on a conversation.

• Be particularly careful to eat properly and get enough fluids. Being pregnant means you need approximately 300 extra calories a day (depending on your prepregnancy weight).

* Stay cool while exercising. Wear a sun hat and layers of loose, comfortable clothing when exercising in hot, humid weather. Keep a bottle of water handy to replenish lost fluids.

* After the first trimester, avoid sit-ups and other exercises done while flat on your back — they can make you feel dizzy and decrease the blood flow to your uterus. Weight lifting or any other exercise where you might be tempted to stand motionless for long periods can also decrease blood flow to your baby. Keep moving: change positions, or step back and forth.

Warning signs that you’re overdoing it
If you have any of the following symptoms while you’re exercising, stop immediately and contact your doctor or midwife.

• Pain anywhere, but especially your back or pelvic region

• Excessive fatigue

• Dizziness

• Shortness of breath

• Feeling faint

• Vaginal bleeding

• Difficulty walking

• Contractions

• Unusual absence of fetal movements (Learn how to monitor your baby’s movements.)

You should also discontinue your exercise program and contact your healthcare provider if you have a rapid heartbeat even while resting.

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