Benefits of Working Out While pregnant
I am currently in my 9th week of pregnancy. I am feeling great and not very sick, definitely not like my 2 other pregnancies. I am able to teach all my classes plus get in my workouts. Not everyone should do that. If you did not have a regular exercise routine before you got pregnant while you are pregnant is not the time to start. If you were regularly exercising then you can keep doing what you were doing. As your pregnancy progresses you may need to modify things to adjust for your new rounder shape.
Exercising during your pregnancy will help give you strength during your pregnancy. Your body will be carrying a lot of extra weight. Being strong and able to support that new weight will help.
Exercising during pregnancy will also give you strength and endurance during labor. It is called labor for a reason. It is tough. It is taxing on your body. If you take care of your body before and an in essence are training for labor you will be able to have more endurance and a quicker recovery.
Exercising during pregnancy will also help when the baby is here. The baby requires a lot of holding and cuddling and feeding. It may not seem like the baby is that heavy but if you are holding the baby for longer than a minute then they will start to get heavy. If you have built up strength before baby got here you will be able to cuddle and hold baby longer and will less soreness.
Exercising during pregnancy will also help you to not gain as much weight. A normal pregnancy should gain about 25-35 pounds. The more weight that you gain the heavier the baby, which makes it harder to deliver. The more weight gain makes it harder to carry about during your pregnancy thus making your more tired. Also, the more weigh that you gain the more weight you have to loose after baby comes. You will gain weight and that is a part of being pregnant but you want to make sure it isn’t out of control. Talk with your doctor about a good amount of weight gain for you.
Even if you have to lower your intensity doing any sort of exercise is beneficial. Say you use to run but running during pregnancy is uncomfortable. Don’t just ditch exercising all together. Switch to something more low impact like the treadmill, elliptical or swimming.
Make sure to consult with your doctor and let them know what you are doing.
