Appropriate pregnancy exercises are beneficial to both moms-to-be and the fetus. Firstly, it helps to maintain muscle tone and make the progress of labor easier; Secondly, it helps to control body weight within a healthy range, and helps postpartum mothers recover their body shape easier as well. However, pregnant women should keep in mind that you can only exercise during certain stages of pregnancy, providing adopting suitable exercises for different stages and individual physical condition. In this article, we will discuss the ways that are not suitable for moms-to-be.
(1) Fit pregnancy – exercises that are not suitable for expecting mothers
If you are in pregnancy 3 months to 28 weeks, you should pay attention to the exercise types you choose. It is wise to do some leisure exercises such as swimming, tai chi, walking, yoga and other relatively simple sports. Do avoid strong abdominal exercises, or movements that require lots of jumping or sprinting such as badminton, tennis, horseback riding and scuba diving. Among these, diving is the most dangerous as it can easily make pregnant women in hypoxia state and thus cause fetal malformations.
Moreover, exercises that cause fatigue or over-sweating are not suitable to pregnant women. In addition, you should drink plenty of water during exercise, and it is best to add some fruit juice instead of drinking plain water. Cola and sports drinks are definitely a big no-no to a healthy pregnancy.
When you experience vaginal bleeding, fluid flow, unusual pain or sudden pain, chest pain, difficulty in breathing, severe or persistent headache or dizziness and other issues, you must stop exercising immediately and visit your doctor.
2) Fit pregnancy – exercises for different stages of pregnancy
You must be very careful in choosing exercise types during the first trimester. Strenuous exercises must be avoided during this period. In pregnancy for 3 months to 28 week period, pregnant women can do some appropriate exercises. But after 28 weeks in pregnancy, it is not advisable to do sports because the fetus has grown very large at this time, and inappropriate body movements may cause allergic contractions, leading to premature delivery and other issues.
(3) Fit pregnancy – how to exercise during pregnancy
Breathing exercises are often the best for pregnant women as it can help pregnant women relax, being present and also help in the delivery process with the contractions.
Shallow breathing: sitting on the floor, crossed legs in the front, back straight, exhale with mouth breathing.
Deep breathing: sitting on the floor in a comfortable position, crossed legs in the front, keep your back straight, deep breathing and then slowly exhale, repeat the exercise.
Other than breathing exercise, pregnant women can also do some muscles exercises including pelvic muscle and thigh muscles exercises. Pelvic muscles are likely to be weakened during pregnancy. Strengthening these muscles is very important for pregnant women to have a smooth delivery. You can do pelvic muscles exercise 300 to 350 times a day. This exercise is very simple, you just need to hold back as hard as possible to tighten the muscles (just like holding back when you feel like urinating) and then relax. Repeat this exercise 30 times and take a break when you feel tired.
Thigh muscles exercise is quite simple as well: sitting straight on the floor, keep soles of your feet tight and opposite to each other. Use your hands holding the ankles, and try to move them closer to your body. Then use your elbows pressing down your thighs, keep this position for 10 seconds. Repeat 15 times.
Overall, it is advisable to keep your doctor informed if you want to engage in any regular exercise. For pregnancy exercises, warm-up activities are very important. Aerobic exercises such as walking and gentle stretching are good exercises for a full warm-up.
