Exercise During Pregnancy

Although the majority of women can benefit from exercise during pregnancy, it is not advised for all pregnant women so the first step is to discuss your exercise plans with your physician or qualified medical care provider.

With that important step out of the way most women can begin a healthy exercise program which will be beneficial in a number of ways. Exercise will help you prepare for childbirth by strengthening your muscles and building endurance, and makes getting your body back in shape once the baby’s born much easier. Strength training during pregnancy may be particularly helpful because it enhances muscle strength, which allows activities of daily life to be performed with greater ease, and it may minimize low back pain, which is common during pregnancy.

Your program will be cautiously designed to incorporate all American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology guidelines for exercise during pregnancy. For most women this means an adequate warm up followed by 30 or more minutes of low-to-moderate-intensity exercise. As in all programs, strength, endurance and flexibility exercises will be included but modified in a way to be safest and most beneficial for a pregnant woman. Your heart rate will be monitored to keep it below a recommended 140 beats per minute and you will be reminded to breathe naturally throughout the session, particularly when you are lifting light weights. The environment will be kept comfortable, avoiding excessive heat, and you will stay adequately hydrated. Throughout the exercise session we will be communicating to ensure the exercise intensity is safe and comfortable for you and we?ll avoid any exercise which would increase susceptibility to injury.

It is difficult to document but exercise during pregnancy is believed to increase psychological well-being, reduce fatigue and result in an easier delivery.