Pregnancy - how to stay active and what is safe and beneficial to do?

How is working our during the pregnancy supposed to look like? How to keep it safe, beneficial and fun?

Let’s start with that good old - it’s INDIVIDUAL! Like everything in the life, like every person is unique, also the prenatal exercise in unique and individual for everybody. Every mom-to-be has different needs, different fitness level, different level of energy etc. Also every pregnancy is different - what worked and was good during

your first pregnancy might not work with baby #2.

Learn how to listen to your body. Sometimes you just need to rest more than actually working out. Sometimes the workout can actually help you to feel better.

Some moms are not able to exercise during the pregnancy because of many reasons and I fully understand and accept that.

Let’s try to focus on those lucky moms-to-be who are able to actually enjoy the physical activity with their baby in the tummy :)

We all probably know that physical activity during the pregnancy is good.

So what are the benefits of prenatal fitness/pilates/yoga/ any type of workout? Just to name few:

• Improves your overall general fitness and strengthens your heart and blood vessels

• Helps maintain gaining the weight during pregnancy

• Helps to reduce backaches, constipation, bloating, and swelling

• Improves stamina, decreases fatigue and constipation, boost mood and energy levels, enhance sleep, and improve muscle strength

• Helps to get back to pre-pregnancy condition after the delivery

I recommend to read this article to get some more specific and special information about prenatal exercises: https://www.acog.org/Patients/FAQs/Exercise-During-Pregnancy?IsMobileSet=false

That being said when you workout during the pregnancy you can create a good base or starting point to your postpartum recovery. From my experience the moms who have been working out during the pregnancy recover/get back in shape faster than the moms who weren’t physically active during the pregnancy.

Remember any physical activity is better that nothing - even active walking is great. It will increase the blood flow and walking is actually a great exercise for strengthening the pelvic floor (if you can maintain your posture correct).

How should the prenatal workout look like?

What I specifically focus during the prenatal pilates and fitness is mainly the legs, abductors, back muscles and core. But we do full body workout so I always target all main muscle group but these four above get always special attention. My prenatal classes are more about stretching and also relaxation. We mainly focus on hip opening positions, reducing back pain, opening the shoulders and chest, breathing.

To keep your prenatal workout safe I would again recommend to listen to your own body. Please don’t judge those moms-to-be lifting the heavy weights. I believe they know what they are doing. They don’t do it to harm the baby. I was lifting heavy weights during the pregnancy as well. But I was decreasing my maximums to keep the workout safe. But people who didn’t know me only saw the heavy weight and thought I was crazy. I wasn’t, believe me. I was lifting only maybe 25% of my maximums.

How to make the workout fun?

As everything - this is so individual. Some people like to workout by themselves, some have a personal trainer who motivates them (and tells them jokes :)). Some people prefer group exercise - it motivates them and they might find new friends in the class! For the prenatal workout I believe this is pretty actual because all other people in the room working out together are pregnant - so you have a thing in common :). I have seen many moms in my classes networked and became friends!

I would like to encourage all moms-to-be to add or maintain their physical activity during the pregnancy (again - of course if their health condition allows that). There are so many benefits about this. And it will make your postpartum recovery much more easier!

As always please let me know if you have any questions, what are your thoughts or ideas what you’d like to read about. Thank you!