Exercise During Pregnancy – Fitness Routine While You Are Expecting
Exercise boosts energy. Doing regular exercise increases your muscle strength, heart and lungs health can improve we can easily tackle our daily chores. And did you know, exercise during pregnancy is equally important to have a healthy body and healthy baby. Most exercises are safe to perform during pregnancy unless you overdo them. So, here in this blog, I will share some of the exercises that I have done during my pregnancy.
What feels good is not always good for you (For pre & postnatal workouts)
Benefits of Exercise During Pregnancy
- The keyword of wellness is breathing, strength, flexibility.
- Helps to control your weight.
- Improve your quality of sleep.
- Improve your memory and brain functions.
When To Do Exercise During Pregnancy
You must not do exercise just after a meal. And particularly, there is no specific time, as you can do it at your convenience, but the hour gap is maintained after a meal.
However, early morning exercises always feel special and gives you a better results.
What Exercise Can Do?
If you approach a professional physio doctor, they will suggest the proper exercise to relax and stretch the pelvic muscles area and weight gain control exercise during pregnancy.
Commonly Preferred Exercises During Pregnancy
Walking
Walking during pregnancy is the best exercise. It’s considered a safe activity and an hour of walking is well enough.
Benefits
- Promotes good positioning of the baby for normal delivery.
- Ease back pain and other aches.
Breathing Exercise
Sit in the comfort position and put both hands on the belly, take a deep breath through the nose and breath out through lips.
Benefits
- Improve blood circulation, which is good for growing a baby.
- Boosts the flow of oxygen.
Butterfly Exercise
This the common exercise during pregnancy. You need to tuck both feet close to the pelvis area, with hands clasped tightly together. It appears like a butterfly flapping its wings.
Benefits
- Opens pelvic muscles, which makes normal delivery easy.
- Improve flexibility inner thigh, and hips relieve tightness
- Initiating fast delivery duration.
Seated Cross with a Twist
Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position, bring your right hand to your left knee. Turn and look over the left shoulder; let your eyes rest at a point as far to the left as you can see.
Continue to breathe smoothly and evenly as you twist. Release and back up to seated. Repeat the sequence on the other side.
Benefits
Adnominal health incorporates a side stretch that opens the chest and forward fold, which further works the abdomen.
Half Squats
Stand straight and place your hand on any rigid structure that may be a window but quite comfortable. Make squats and repeat 10 times.
Benefits
- Best exercise to maintain strength and range of motion in hips, glutes, core and pelvic floor muscles.
- Improves posture, and they have the potential to assist with the birthing process.
Single-Leg Swing
Stand side by holding any rigid structure, maybe window bars or chair, swing the right leg as far you can for 10 oscillations. Repeat it for the left leg.
Hip Circles
Stand tall with your chest up. Move your feet to shoulder-width apart & place your hands on hips. Begin the movement by rotating clockwise 5 times and anticlockwise 5 times.
Benefits
Helps to loosen the lower back and hip muscles, which is important for normal delivery, strengthen the core
and trims the waist.
Step-up
Find stool or steps in your home. Rest on the stool with one leg with the whole body in front, where the other leg is on the floor. Viceversa for the other leg. Repeat for 10 times.
Benefits
- Reduce the odds of needing a cesarean delivery.
- Help you sleep better.
Hip Abductors
Rest on the floor by one side (rest the left arm and leg on the floor), keep the legs straight and raise the right leg as far as possible. Then come to the rest position. Do the same for the left leg.
Benefits
- Relieve from back pain and constipation.
- Prevent from gaining too much weight during pregnancy.
Cat and Camel Pose
Put your hands and knee in an animal pose.
Cat Pose – Sink your back down the floor and lift your head up at the same time, sticking your tailbone out to make a curve with your spine. Take a big breath out at the same time.
Camel Pose – Tuck your head and tailbone in, arching through the spine like a camel hump. Take a big breath in at the same time.
Benefits
Help the baby descend into the pelvis.
Shoulder Mobility Exercise
Stand tall with chest up. Move your feet to shoulder width. Move your hands apart as far as possible. And then bring close at a point. The benefits of this exercise is that it increases flexibility.
Routine Exercise
Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position. Sit straight and lift your right arm towards the left. Now, sit straight and lift your left arm towards the right. Repeat for 10 times.
Benefits
- Reduce backaches, constipation, bloating, swelling
- Promotes muscle tone,strength and endurance
- Prevent excess weight gain
Other Things to Take Care During Pregnancy
Time Management
Doing exercise regularly during pregnancy may not be easy. But this is one of the most important routines to follow. So while watching tv or sitting on a sofa, you can take a breath in exercise. If time does not allow you to walk, you can simply walk in the home itself.
Diet
Best diet is to avoid all unhealthy food. Diet plays a vital role in pregnancy; taking healthy foods nourishes your baby. Make notes of taking foods at regular intervals of time.
Self-love
- Pamper yourself: spend some time massaging your belly with bio-oil or skincare oil for relaxing time.
- Rest time: take a deep breath and forget all the chores around you.
- Move it: go for a peaceful walk to lift your spirits.
- Snuggle up: keep those hugs coming in to raise the oxytocin levels, a feel-good hormone, for a healthy labor.
- Also, check here some fitness tips every pregnant woman should know so as to give safe, healthy birth.
Words From Author
Exercise during pregnancy helped me a lot. I followed regular exercises which are mentioned above. It made me fit and strong both physically and mentally in pre and post-pregnancy. “Think about making your core strong”. Normal delivery chances are more because of stretch and relaxing of muscles. Labor time may also shorten. So, what are you waiting for? Breathe in, breathe out till you get up for another exercise. Happy Pregnancy!
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