Pregnancy Exercises

Pregnancy is the most wonderful period of your life; but it is also a great challenge for your body… You have to be prepared to go through the birth moment when you make a lot of effort and you need a lot of strength. You will surely not achieve this by lazing during your pregnancy. Pregnancy is not all about being extremely careful with yourself and sleeping and eating a lot; physical exercise are a ‘must do’ during this period…you and your baby need them.

There are several sports you can practice but you have to take them step by step and stop when you feel tired; if you feel you can’t breathe, that means your baby has a lack of oxygen.

‘Walk this way’. Walking is one of the greatest methods to strengthen your organism during pregnancy. It is recommended that pregnant women should walk at least 30 minutes a day. It is the best way of being and feeling active: it stimulates equally the entire organism, it doesn’t require any special equipment and it is a sure method that doesn’t harm the fetus. Its advantage is that it increases your effort resistance and you will have more strength at the birth.

The best walking program begins with a 10-15 minutes warming. Walk slowly while rotating your shanks, shoulders and neck. Maintain your walking rhythm but sometimes stop suddenly in order to stretch by lifting your arms. Keep it that way for 30 seconds and then start again.

‘Just keep swimming…’ Swimming involves a greater preoccupation and a lot more time to do it. On the other hand, it is more relaxing than walking. With the doctor’s permission you can even go daily to the swimming pool. Combining walking with swimming is a great idea, as it increases the effort resistance and it gives you more flexibility. The time recommended by doctors is 8-10 minutes for warming while you slowly rotate your shanks, your shoulders and your neck. Then gradually enter the water; first up to the hips, then up to the shoulders and finally, up to the neck. For 10 minutes, try to walk in the water. Do small but quick steps, then big but slow steps; try to hit the water with the foot and to walk backwards. Take a little break, and then start again.

‘Watch your back!’ Always be attentive at your body position. The best pieces of advice for an easy pregnancy refer to the body position. Therefore, always keep your back in a vertical position, even though you have the tendency of bringing your shoulders forward.

‘Enjoy yourself!’…and go out biking. Biking is an excellent method of maintaining your health…Stop only if your belly is too big and affects your weight center.

‘Have fun!’ As long as you are not making a big effort, you can go out dancing the whole pregnancy period. It is a great method of doing pelvis exercises.

The best exercises are the ones which use a chair. Stand with your legs apart, prop your right hand on the back of the chair and try bending slowly. Breathe regularly and deeply before every bending. Bring your legs together and do the specific exercises for strengthening the back, shoulders and arms muscles. Put your right knee and right hand on the chair and keep your left knee bent. Hold a small weight in your hand and lift it up to your shoulders. Do that with your other hand too.

Another exercise is: sit on a chair with your back in a vertical position and your hands on the arms of the chair. Breathe in and out while contracting your abdomen. This exercise helps you to increase you abdomen resistance especially for the birth moment. Maintain this position and try simultaneously a back stretching and a quick bending.

Avoid ridding and skiing! No matter how much experience you might have, there is always a chance to fall down.
These exercises will only help you to go easily through the moment of birth, to maintain a healthy body for you and your little one. Keep up the good work!