Keep moving to stay fit while expecting
PREGNANCY is a time when women experience many changes in their bodies, including hormonal fluctuations, food cravings and swelling. Despite these slight discomforts, pregnancy is a magical time and with small adjustments the nine-months can breeze by.
Expecting mothers nowadays have become more cautious about their health during pregnancy, and have more options to stay fit during this period. However, beyond maintaining your shape, exercise is so beneficial during pregnancy that gynecologists recommend at least 30 minutes a day for pregnant women. Coupled with exercise, gynecologists advise against weight gain and urge pregnant women to eat healthy.
It’s a little difficult to “keep the weight” off with all the weird cravings a mother-to-be experiences. We’ve all heard of the midnight pizza run or cravings for certain fruits that are not in season, and then the odd yearnings for sand or soap. It is suffice to say that this is a vacillating time in a woman’s body. Therefore, the easiest way to stay fit and adapt to your changing shape and weight is to simply exercise.
Exercise in pregnancy has many benefits, as it enhances the woman’s muscle tone, strength and endurance. It also boosts mood, improves sleep and reduces pregnancy aches and pains. Maintaining a regular exercise routine helps carry the weight gain during pregnancy, prepares the body for the physical challenges ahead of labor, and best of all, helps women get back into shape after the baby is born.
Pregnant women must be cautious about the type of exercise they undertake, as some might cause them harm, such as cycling and skiing.
Exercising while pregnant isn’t impossible, it’s simple, yet one must be careful. The first exercise that experts recommend is walking. Walking keeps the body fit by balancing the weight and allowing the growth of certain muscles that help during the pregnancy period. This type of exercise also helps keep the knees and ankles strong because most likely pain will be visible as the pregnancy progresses. In addition, as weight gain kicks in during the second trimester and swelling develops at the end of the third trimester, walking helps release these pains. Establishing a walking routine is easy and convenient because it requires no equipment, can be done anywhere and is safe throughout the nine months of pregnancy. Jogging might be a little more risky, especially in the beginning of pregnancy, however if your physician approves you can go ahead.
Swimming is another safe and suitable type of exercise for pregnant women, which works all the body’s large muscle groups, including the heart and lungs. The feeling of weightlessness benefits women throughout their pregnancy and helps reduce the stress on the pregnant women’s body. Moreover, swimming helps improve blood circulation and produces a refreshing feeling after the exercise. It’s very important to stay safe while swimming, risky moves such as back strokes or butterfly lunges add stress to the arm and back muscles and might cause unnecessary cramps, since many women suffer from lower back pain due to the natural arching of the back.
Prenatal yoga is also very popular nowadays. Combining yoga with one of the above exercises can be a very effective exercise regiment for pregnant women.
Yoga is an ancient East Asian technique associated with postures and stances that have been practiced for thousands of years. Prenatal yoga is an improved type of yoga made specifically to help women during their pregnancy. Modern yoga is based on five principles, which are relaxation, exercise, breathing, diet and positive thinking and meditation.
Breathing is the basis of prenatal yoga, learning how to breathe deeply will help relax the body and release any stressful physical demands the body is craving. At the same time, it helps teach the practitioner the basic technique of breathing while giving birth. Studies have shown that prenatal yoga helps the body deal with stress by slowing the heart rate and lowing blood pressure. Prenatal yoga classes also provide a good opportunity to interact with a community of pregnant women, share experiences between one another and be a part of a positive and supportive environment.
Yasmine Mahdi is a yoga instructor based in Jeddah, who has been offering yoga classes for the past five years.
“I’ve had many pregnant women come to my class and I adopt a delicate stance with them. Pregnant women are recommended to start prenatal yoga classes as they enter their second trimester, to ensure the postures will not be harmful to them and their babies.”