Moderate physical activity during pregnancy is a useful and important part of successful pregnancy and preparation for a successful delivery. It is only necessary to choose the type of activity that will not endanger the health of the pregnant woman and her unborn child, or provoke a miscarriage or the development of fetal abnormalities.
Fitness for pregnant women is one way to prepare your body for the upcoming childbirth and keep your muscles toned. Far in the past are the attitudes that in this position women are contraindicated to any kind of load and exercise. Today’s medicine focuses on the fact that bearing a child – not an illness, and a special condition of the female body, which not only should not change her healthy habits and lifestyle, but also can help to strengthen their own health.
Benefits of fitness for pregnant women
One of the types of activities recommended for expectant mothers is fitness for pregnant women. Its benefits for women in this position are obvious – exercises improve metabolic processes, normalize cardiovascular activity, breathing, increase physical capabilities. The main benefits of such classes can be attributed to improve:
- the work of the digestive system – will be a thing of the past in the stomach, bloating, reduce the risk of constipation;
- Water balance, which will allow you to forget about swelling;
- Regeneration of the skin – stretch marks after childbirth are unlikely to occur with regular exercise.
In addition, pregnant women have lower back pain sleepiness, coordination of movements improves, exercise is an excellent prevention of varicose veins. Deliveries in such women usually take place without a cesarean section. However, only a doctor can give the “permission” to engage in fitness for pregnant women.
Contraindications to fitness during pregnancy
Despite the fact that fitness during pregnancy has many positive aspects, a woman should know that there may be contraindications for them. It is definitely worth consulting a doctor, especially if the pregnant woman is diagnosed with, for example, arrhythmia, anemia, diabetes. Obstacles may include:
- abundant congestion;
- placenta previa;
- multiple pregnancy in the third trimester;
- recurrent bloody discharge;
- rupture of fetal membranes;
- prolonged toxicosis of the 3rd degree;
- high blood pressure readings;
- Isthmic-cesmic insufficiency.
Women who are too thin or obese with minor arrhythmias and those who have minor bleeding in the 1st trimester can take fitness classes. Before exercising, just consult your doctor and get detailed instructions from a trainer who works only with expectant mothers.
The best types of fitness during pregnancy
Classes of fitness during pregnancy should give a woman pleasure. Swimming, for example, is recommended in any trimester of pregnancy. While a pregnant woman is in the water and performs swimming movements, there is a feeling of lightness in the body, because the water levels out excessive stress on the ligaments and blood vessels. A good choice of types of fitness for pregnant women would also be yoga classes, because the set of exercises usually includes meditation and breathing practices.
Such a set of activities lead to the fact that the blood exchange is adjusted, the state of the muscles of the back improves, and the whole body of the future mother is actively saturated with oxygen. An important factor is learning to control muscles with the help of such activities, which will come in handy during childbirth. Excellent for pregnant women and Pilates, as it will strengthen the abs, pelvis and back muscles, to focus on your body.
What exercises to do for pregnant women in different trimesters
Fitness for pregnant women in different terms of pregnancy has its own peculiarities.
With physical exertion and activities of various activities should be especially careful and cautious in the early terms. This is due to the fact that in the 1st trimester the embryo is trying to attach to the mucous membrane of the uterus.
During this period, despite the fact that the belly does not even begin to increase, you should not engage in fitness for pregnant women and burden the body with exercises. At this stage of pregnancy, the ideal option would be exercises that focus on strengthening the hips. A good solution would be breathing exercises or exercises aimed at strengthening the pectoral muscles. This time carries the risk of a possible miscarriage, so during fitness training in pregnancy, you should do exercises at a measured, relaxed pace, without exerting much effort.
The second trimester: what you can do
In the 2nd trimester comes the best time in the whole period of carrying the baby. The abdomen did not increase much, the toxicosis practically receded, the woman got used to the ongoing changes in the body and can safely engage in the improvement of her continuously changing body. In the 2nd trimester a pregnant woman will be able to increase physical activity, focusing on exercises that aim to develop and strengthen the muscles of the hip area.
During this period, a woman can go to a fitness club or do fitness for pregnant women at home. The first option is a higher priority, as there is an opportunity to be trained in special exercises under the guidance of experienced trainers. To reduce the load on the spine will allow the use of a bandage. Exercises are performed not on the back, but on the side, because in the first case, the fetus’s access to oxygen is blocked.
The third trimester: what to pay attention to
In the 3rd trimester, the situation with fitness classes during pregnancy changes. This is due to the fact that with the onset of the last months of pregnancy, the abdomen significantly increases. During this period, it is these changes in the female figure to a greater extent explain the special attention that is paid to the performance of exercises aimed at strengthening the muscles of the arms, chest and thighs. Whatever kind of fitness for pregnant women engaged in this period, it is important to perform exercises that will reduce the load on the spine and relax the spinal muscles.
The best solution would be aqua aerobics. Classes in this type of fitness for pregnant women will establish the correct breathing pattern and prepare the body for the upcoming birth. On the eve of childbirth, you should not overexert yourself, it is necessary to reduce the intensity of any physical exertion.
When to stop exercising
If exercises for pregnant women take place in a club under the guidance of an experienced and qualified trainer, who specializes in training for expectant mothers, and on the condition that the woman’s health is under the constant supervision of the gynecologist who is in charge of the pregnancy, such exercises may not be stopped until the last month of pregnancy.
Refusal of classes, as a rule, makes a woman abdomen greatly enlarged by this time, as well as the fear of provoking a premature birth, especially if the woman is engaged in their own home. If you go to the pool for aqua aerobics or swimming, your doctor will advise you to stop such exercises. This is because the mucus plug, which prevents the entry of pathogenic bacteria into the uterus, is already beginning to flake off, which can lead to infection of the fetus.
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