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Should I Exercise Through Pregnancy?

By: Dan Thompson

This article will highlight considerations and advantages when training while pregnant.

How hard should I train? Is a question I get all the time as a personal trainer who specialises in pre and post natal exercise. Most people or your trusty next door neighbor will probably tell you to relax, put your feet up and have a cuppa, and your partner who are about to be dads can be very over protective when it comes to pregnancy and exercise. So what should you do?

The important point is you can train during pregnancy and achieve positive results. Research shows women who exercise regularly while pregnant have easier labours, deliveries and recoveries, you to be careful you don't do too much. You should always be able to hold a conversation, if you can't you need to slow down! (How often will you hear that from a personal trainer!) If at any point you discover bleeding, back or abdominal pain you should see you GP or midwife immediately. While pregnant you will be able to train most days of the week but at a moderate intensity and when lifting weights you should be lifting light to medium weights (40-60% of your one rep max). REMEMBER always consider your technique which should be smooth.

What are the advantages? There are a number of physical and psychological benefits from exercising while pregnant. It has been found that active women suffer from less amounts of insomnia, less bouts of stress, anxiety and depression as feel good endomorphins are released when exercising which promote the feeling of well being and help to reduce fat storage.

Evidence suggests that carrying out weight bearing exercises reduces the length of labour and limits complications during delivery. Not exercising during pregnancy leads to the waste of muscle and strength loss, decrease in CV fitness and weight gain which can increase the chances of diabetes.

One of the obvious problems that can occur during pregnancy is lower back pain due to the load that you are or will be carrying. There is strong evidence concerning this topic, which is that strengthening the back can have a number of advantages during pregnancy such as making mobility and day to day movements a lot easier.

Babies born to fit mothers are likely to be fitter, leaner and healthier. Babies born to fit mothers are also likely to be sportier later on in life, therefore leading healthier styles. Does that sound like a good start to you. It is true what people say, children are likely to pick up habits off their parents and take after their parents genetically.

What can't you do? During pregnancy I advise you do not stretch for longer than 5 -10 seconds, as your body prepares the body will produce and promote a hormone called relaxin. This hormone can increase flexibility at a joint and increase the damage to ligaments, tendons and cartilage around the joint. With this in mind dynamic exercise and movements should be avoided as due to the increase in flexibility you are at greater risks of falls that can cause serious injury. So I recommend that you avoid contact sports at all costs.

Copyright (c) 2008 Dan Thompson

Article Source: http://www.healthandwellnesscentral.com

This article was written by Dan Thompson, Dan is a personal trainer in Colchester and specializes in exercise during and after pregnancy. He is the author of the 'Pregnancy Exercise Plan' You can download 'The importance of pelvic floor exercises and Why you shouldn't do abdominal exercises during your pregnancy' at www.pregnancyexerciseworkout.com


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