Safe Pregnancy Exercise
In most cases exercising during pregnancy is really important and research shows it’s not only great for the mother but also fantastic for your baby, however we know that exercise during pregnancy it can be really overwhelming and hard to know what to do and what not to do. In this blog we’ll cover 6 important things you need to know about exercising during pregnancy.
1. Shift your focus to maintain rather than gain
During pregnancy it’s time to think of yourself as being in a maintenance phase rather than a time of achieving a new goal or personal best within your exercise programme. It’s not the time to try anything new in terms of exercise and is also a time where you’ll need to avoid exercise activities that could result in falling like; waterskiing, horse riding or motocross for example.
2. Be mindful of your heart rate
Working out to a perceived rate of exertion of seven out of 10 is recommended, with one being sitting down chilling out to 10 being unable to possibly push any harder. We always say it’s a good idea to be able to maintain a conversation - so while you are exercising check in with yourself ….. could you hold a conversation? If so, great you're working in a safe zone, if you’re struggling to chat it’s a sign to pull back a little
3. Commence a pelvic floor programme
It’s recommended that pelvic floor muscle muscle training should commence on a daily basis to reduce the risk of urinary incontinence.
Quick bit of anatomy for you: The Pelvic Floor is made up of layers of muscle that stretch between the tailbone, pubic bone and both sit bones. These muscles are literally a floor to your body supporting and keeping your internal organs in place - your bladder, bowel and uterus. When you get pregnant your pelvic floor gets placed under a lot of stress and tension as our baby grows. Think of your baby growing from a chia seed all the way to a melon and all that downward pressure!
Our recommendation if you can is to book into a women’s health / pelvic floor physio to discuss your pelvic health and have them put together a pelvic floor programme for you. Having an individualized plan is the best way to ensure you are activating your pelvic floor in the correct way, not overdoing or under doing it.
4. Modify from 16 weeks
You can continue your normal exercise routine up until 16 weeks. At 16 weeks it is recommended that you are taking pregnancy modifications in specific exercises and avoid exercising lying directly on your back. We also recommend that you shift to low impact exercise, this is a controversial topic in the fitness world and while some women continue to run and do high impact training in our opinion concentrating on low impact exercise is the best option.
Every time you run or jump your pelvic floor is put under more stress. There is little to gain in continuing with high impact and more chance of risk to the pelvic floor.
5. Stay cool
It’s important to monitor your temperature during exercise. In pregnancy a woman's internal temperature is higher than her external temperature and her baby has no way of cooling down. Prolonged periods of raise temperature may cause harm so be mindful of keeping cool, workout in an area with lots of air flow and keep hydrated.
6. Not all personal trainers or online programmes are created equal
In New Zealand to gain your personal trainer certification you do not need to study pre/postpartum exercise. 90% of trainers have not done the additional study and therefore have very little understanding on how to train a pre/postpartum body. Please do your research when signing up to programmes or signing onto a bootcamp / fitness class. Ask questions and never assume your trainer is qualified in this area. You deserve to be in safe hands!
Come join us for weekly pregnancy safe workouts and guidance inside our members community; https://www.she-moves.co.nz/online-membership
Ren & Jen x
Helpful links
Listen to the podcast: “Fit and Fabulous pregnancy! Top tips with Ren & Jen"
Read the blog: Trimester 3 - Staying Active and Healthy During Pregnancy, tips from Ren at 39 weeks!
The above has been pulled together from our studies with Jen Dugard Safe Return to Exercise Training, Girls Gone Strong and Well College Global.
