Pregnant women need to try some of the best prenatal exercises to manage the journey to motherhood. These exercises can help you manage the changes occurring in your body due to pregnancy. Backaches, swollen ankles, bloating, constipation, and sleepless nights are only a few of the distressing pregnancy symptoms you have to tackle. The exercises can minimize the common symptoms of pregnancy. Working out during your pregnancy has a lot of benefits for the expectant mother and unborn baby. It cures most of the aches and pains along with boosting your mood. With reduced distressing signs, you can enjoy a quicker postpartum recovery. Also, your baby will have a low BMI, a fit heart, and better brain health.
About Best Prenatal Exercises
Are you not an active gym-goer? It doesn’t matter if you are not a professional athlete or a regular gym person, you can still enjoy the benefits of an active lifestyle during pregnancy. But, choosing safe and effective exercises is the key to enjoy such benefits. Before you embark on an active pregnancy journey, you need to consult your gynecologist. Getting all-clear from the practitioner is essential before you start any new or familiar workout routine. Pregnancy treats every woman differently. So, you need to get professional advice before following the tips suggested. If you are cleared, then lace your sneakers and get ready to try some of the best exercises.
Best Prenatal Exercises And How Much You Need Them
According to gynecologists, expecting moms need to get at least thirty minutes or more of moderate exercise every day. It is fine if you can get the exercises for most of the day of the week. So, what do you need to do for thirty minutes? You can include the exercise, making you feel comfortable. Your body must agree to the activity you choose. So, you can divide the time to avoid getting exhausted. Three ten-minute exercise session like walking throughout the day offers the same benefits of walking thirty minutes continuously on the treadmill or bike at the gym. Including non-exercise activities like vacuuming your home or yard work can contribute to the daily goal of becoming active.
Are There Any Risks Linked To The Best Prenatal Exercises?
When you are pregnant, you need to take good care of yourself. Apart from including a diet rich in all vitamins and minerals, you need to follow the advice of the doctor. Drink plenty of water and include supplements suggested by the doctor. While it is good to add the best prenatal exercises to your routine, now is not the right time to learn new activities like learning water ski. You have to avoid strenuous activities like horse jumping, but you can enjoy most of the fitness activities. Learn about the off-limit exercises (like downhill skiing or mountain biking) that you have to avoid from the doctor. Getting all-clear from the doctor before starting any exercise during pregnancy is important.
Some women suffer from a condition that needs complete bed rest. So, women suffering from issues like placenta previa, severe anemia, incompetent cervix, or ruptured membranes must rule out any exercises during pregnancy. They need to follow the instructions of the doctor for the entire pregnancy to avoid any complications.
Best Prenatal Exercises: The Cardio Exercises You Can Try During Pregnancy
If you have no other medical problems, then your doctor will give you a go-ahead to exercise. You can try some cardio exercises to boost your blood circulation, muscle tone as well as endurance. The exercises are some of the best prenatal exercises, which will help you during the delivery day.
Swimming
Water aerobics and swimming are good pregnancy workouts. Wondering why? When you are in the water, you tend to weigh less compared to that on land. So, it makes you feel lighter and agile. Swimming also eases early pregnancy symptoms like nausea, puffy ankles, and sciatic pain. It also eases the distress caused due to pregnancy hormones like rigid joints and ligaments. It happens because your baby is floating along with you.
But, maintain caution when you are walking on the slippery pool sides. Also, slowly slide into the water instead of jumping in or diving. The sudden change in the altitude due to the pressure of water can create bubbles inside the womb. The unborn baby is not equipped to handle the bubbles. As the pregnancy progresses, the center of gravity becomes off. So, expectant mothers must stay away from scuba diving due to its potential risk.
One Of The Best Prenatal Exercises: Walking
Walking is the easiest exercise you can include in the busy schedule to become active during pregnancy. It is one of the best prenatal exercises that you continue until you deliver. Some women walk on their delivery day to ease the anxiety and get help with the contractions. It is perfect for anyone as you require no gym equipment or membership to participate. Invest in some good sneakers to walk and get all the benefits.
Running
If you want to go a little faster? Then, experienced runners can continue staying on track during their pregnancy. But, they need a doctor’s approval before they make the decision. While running, you need to stick to a level, terrain or opt for a treadmill. Also, never overdo it as pregnancy changes include loose ligaments and joints. Due to the condition, running makes it harder on your knees, which makes you prone to injuries.
Elliptical And Stair Climbers
Stair and elliptical climbers are the best bets to become active during the pregnancy. You can adjust the speed, tension, and incline to suit your current state and makes you feel comfortable. But, as your pregnancy progresses, it becomes harder with resistance. You need to listen to your body and pay caution to prevent stumbles.
Group Dance/ Aerobics Classes
Low-impact aerobics as well as dance workout classes can increase your heart rate and keeps you fit. Dance workouts like Zumba can release endorphins to make you feel good. It is ideal even for beginners who are looking for the best prenatal exercises. But, you need to avoid any activities requiring a careful balance once your abdomen expands. For experienced sportspersons and athletes, listening to the body can help avoid any complications. Avoiding any high-impact movements or jumping can eliminate any risk. You must never exercise to the point of exhaustion. Pregnant women can opt for water aerobics.
Indoor Cycling
If you are spinning for at least 6 months or more, then you can continue it after getting the all-clear from the doctor. But, you need to tone the workout as you cannot exert your body. Indoor cycling is a great exercise. You can pedal at your pace without any risk of suffering from falling down or putting excess pressure on your knee joints and ankle.
Never overdo indoor cycling. If you are a professional athlete, then your instructor must know about your pregnancy. If you feel overheated or exhausted at any point, then sit out the sprints. During the pregnancy, you need to avoid pressure on the lower back. So, you need to adjust the handlebars to sit in an upright posture and avoid leaning forward. If you feel the routine, then take a break from professional cycling until you give birth.
Kickboxing
Experienced kickboxers can continue to work out in the ring after they get approval from the doctor. Due to pregnancy changes in your body, you find yourself less graceful or quick compared to your pre-pregnancy form. Therefore, you need to start slow. Also, you need to avoid getting jabbed in your abdomen. You need to maintain a distance of two lengths of space from the other kickboxers and yourself. Inform everyone in the class regarding your pregnancy to avoid such unfortunate incidents. If you are keen about kickboxing, then find a class with pregnant moms to maintain caution.
High-Intensity Interval Training Workouts (HIIT): Do Doctors Consider Them As Best Prenatal Exercises?
If you are concerned about pregnancy weight gain, then you may think about including HIIT workouts in your routine. But, is it advisable? High-intensity interval training is not the best prenatal exercise for expecting women. These workouts involve severe hardcore moves to increase the heart rates, followed by a short period of rest. The exercises are too intense to begin when you are pregnant. For women who have practiced HIIT, then you need to consult your gynecologist to get the green signal. You need to talk to your consult the instructor to design classes with modifications suiting your current state. It means the workout must avoid the following:
- Avoid jarring movements
- Refrain from jumping
- Never make quick changes in any direction
- Avoid higher weights (compared to weights you normally pick up)
You need to stop the exercise immediately when you feel exhausted or out of breath. You need to drink sufficient water to prevent dehydration. Also, you need to maintain caution when you perform exercises involving balance. So, it is better to avoid any HIIT to safeguard your unborn child.
Outdoor Sports
What about outdoor sporting activities? Can an expectant woman take on outdoor sports? If you are not an experienced athlete, then it is not the right time to start a new sport. If you like outdoor sports, then you can continue it after getting approval from the doctor. But, you need to make a few modifications to suit your current condition.
Hiking
When you are hiking, avoid uneven terrain as it can affect your balance and increase the risk of falls. Avoid hiking in the latter part of your pregnancy as the protruding belly can obstruct the view of your path. Also, avoid the slippery condition, and high altitudes.
 Biking
Women who are avid outdoor cyclers need to talk to their gynecologist regarding the safety of continuing biking after you see early signs of pregnancy. You need to stop after some point when you feel it is affecting the balance. The extra weight of the baby in the abdomen region can affect your balance. So, if you want to avoid the risk of toppling over and harm your baby, then stop biking. Follow the safety precaution like wearing a helmet to keep yourself safe. Avoid wet pavement, bumpy surfaces, and roads with steep curves.
Skating Is Not One Of Best Prenatal Exercises
You need to avoid any type of skating. So, stay away from ice skating or in-line skating. While people with experience can keep these activities in the early stages of pregnancy, you need to get approval from your doctor. But, these activities are not ideal in the later stages of pregnancy due to balance issues. It also applies to horseback riding.
Cross-Country Skiing And Snowshoeing
You can try these two workouts during pregnancy. But, you need to take precautions to avoid tripping. Avoid snowboarding or downhill skiing to avoid the high risk of serious falls or collisions.
 Best Prenatal Exercises Enhancing Strength And Flexibility During Pregnancy
When you include strength workouts, you can build and maintain muscles. With stronger and flexible muscles, you can carry the weight gained throughout the pregnancy. It also protects your joints from any injuries. Strength exercises can also relax the ligaments. But, you need to get the all-clear from the doctor to work out. Here are some strengthening exercises:
Weight Lifting
For women who are fitness buffs, or who like to work out occasionally, pregnancy can trigger many questions. You may worry about the safe ways to stay active while enjoying the pregnancy without any complications. Do you know weight lifting is one of the best prenatal exercises recommended by the doctor to improve mood, alleviates backaches, and prevent excess weight gain? Lifting weight can increase your muscle tone while you are pregnant. But, opt for more reps instead of increasing weights. So, you can do twelve to fifteen in a set using lower weights. You need to avoid lifting weights limiting your range of motion. It reduces any chances of getting injured. Also, skipping isometric movements, during pregnancy will avoid complications as you can hold your breath when you hold still. Holding breath during pregnancy makes you lightheaded.
After you complete weight lifting, you must never forget to stretch. Always consult with your doctor regarding making modifications to the TRX (total resistance) routine. Women must avoid practicing Crossfit during pregnancy unless they get the all-clear from the gynecologist.
Pilates: One Of The Best Prenatal Exercises
Pilates are no-impact workouts, which is appropriate for pregnancy. It mainly focuses on strengthening your core and offering flexibility as well as strength to the muscles. So, practicing it regularly will improve your posture and alleviate backaches. When you boost your flexibility, it comes in handy during labor. Seek assistance from an instructor who can offer tailored classes to avoid overstretching. Your instructor will avoid moves incompatible with pregnancy. Pilates has a series of controlled movements, which you can try on an exercise mat. You can enjoy these moves throughout your pregnancy. You can modify the moves around the belly to meet the changing needs.
Barre
Barre is a potent mix of yoga, Pilates, and ballet-inspired moves. It is one of the best prenatal exercises for expectant mothers. When you practice barre, it strengthens the lower body along with your core without any jumping. It is a low-to-no-impact exercise, which you can customize according to your needs. The balance exercises use a chair, wall, or a bar. So, it provides additional assistance for stability and balance. It keeps you stable even when the baby bump throws off your balance. Consult an instructor and let them know about your pregnancy before beginning the class. They can modify the exercises to prevent any extra strain on the abdomen.
During pregnancy and postpartum, you rely on certain muscle groups to stabilize as well as support the different changes in the body. When you practice barre, it helps build as well as maintain those muscle groups. Therefore, you can breeze through the pregnancy with less pain, aches, and head-noise.
Yoga
Prenatal yoga is a multifaceted exercise every expectant mother needs to follow to ensure flexibility, relaxation, improve focus, and encourage deep breathing. With the stretching and mental centering, you become mentally ready to give birth to your child. Prenatal yoga is tailored to provide many benefits for expectant mothers and their babies. These classes offer safe poses (it avoids deep backbends along with full inversions as they can increase blood pressure), which you can try with ease. Eliminate Bikram yoga as it increases body temperature. Prenatal yoga has several benefits like:
- It improves your sleep quality
- Pregnant women can reduce the stress and anxiety they face
- Reduce discomfort associated with pregnancy like shortness of breath, nausea, back pain, and headaches
- Increase the endurance, strength, and flexibility of muscles required for childbirth
Tai Chi: One Of The Best Prenatal Exercises
Tai chi is the ancient form of meditation. It involves slow movements. But, even the least flexible movement of the meditation can strengthen your body without causing any risk of getting injured. So, it is one of the best prenatal exercises offering you several benefits. It is ideal for people who feel comfortable with meditation and have experience practicing it. Try to look for pregnancy-specific classes or the ones you know well. But, maintain caution when you perform moves involving balance.
The ancient Chinese exercise consists of several graceful movements. So, when you try the moves, it flows like a dance. The moves can offer relaxation and make your body strong. Trying the moves during pregnancy will help you support the changes occurring in your body. It can lower pressure, manage back pain, and swelling.
Tips To Perform Best Prenatal Exercises And Get Benefits Without Complications
Working out during pregnancy is very safe. But, you must never put stress on your body. It will do more harm than good. You need to follow a few precautions to work out safely and get the benefits of the best prenatal exercises:
Start Slowly
When you are planning to start exercising during pregnancy, start slowly. Exerting yourself while starting the exercise can only lead to sore muscles, injury, and sagging resolve. Instead, you need to start exercising for twenty minutes. In the routine, you need to include warm-up as well as cool-down. Gradually increase it to thirty minutes or more if you feel comfortable.
Never Go Overboard
If you are a gym rat and have just found out about your pregnancy, then you need to take care. Women who hit the gym regularly, need to consult the doctor regarding your workout routine. You need to choose the best prenatal exercises. Increasing the intensity of exercise during your pregnancy is not the right decision. You can save it after you deliver.
Stay Cool
You need to skip activities, raising the body temperature. The increased body temperature of the expectant mother can cause complications to the unborn. So, avoid anything increasing the temperature by more than 1.5 degrees F. Skip hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas, and hot yoga. If the outside temperature increases, stay inside. For prolonged workout sessions, stay in an air-conditioned environment.
Warmup And Cool Down
It is essential to warm up and cool down when you follow an exercise routine. The best prenatal exercises offer effective results when you follow them. Warmup makes sure the heart, as well as circulation, never feels taxed all of sudden. So, it reduces the chances of suffering from injuries. As stopping the workout abruptly traps the blood in the muscles along with reducing blood supply to other areas of the body, including the uterus (to help the growth of the baby), you need to cool down. Finish your workout after walking for a few minutes along with a couple of minutes of relaxation before you continue tackling the rest of your day.
Never Overdo
You must never exhaust your body during pregnancy. Exercising to the point of exhaustion can cause harm to the baby. But, checking your pulse is the not the right way to figure out if you are overdoing it. You can continue the exercise if you feel good. Suffering from pain or strain is the indication to stop the exercise. While sweating a little may not harm you, getting drenched in it is not a good idea. Some expecting women perform vigorous exercise. It is not ideal for everyone as every woman may not feel the same. Ask your doctor about the intensity level you can maintain. Keep your workout at the level that ensures you can still talk when you move. The workout should make you feel energized, not drained of energy once you complete it.
Listen To Your Body
You need to observe your body closely. It will help you know when something is wrong. Stop any workout when you feel pain in your calf or develop swelling. It is important to avoid exercises when you develop muscle weakness causing problems to your balance. Contact your gynecologist immediately when you see the following symptoms:
- A sudden headache
- Unusual pain in your body (from the head to hips)
- Cramping not easing after you stop the workout
- Chest pain
- Difficulty walking
- Regular painful contractions
- Increased swelling
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Reduction in fetal movement (after week 28 of gestation)
- Bleeding
Keep Off The Back
Avoid exercising, making you stand still for a long time without any movement or makes you lie flat on the back. It is essentially true after the fourth month of your pregnancy (second trimester). Wondering why? After the fourth month, the weight of your expanding uterus can cause compression of the blood vessels. So, it restricts blood circulation.
Avoid Certain Moves
Certain moves and exercises can affect your pregnancy. Avoid exercises affecting the abdomen. Double leg lifts or full sit-ups can pull the abdomen. So, you need to avoid it. Also, you need to skip activities requiring deep flexing or extension of joints, deep backbends, bouncing, jumping, jerky motions, and sudden changes in direction.
Drink Water
Workout can result in loss of fluids from the body. When you are pregnant, excess loss of fluids during a workout can lead to dehydration. It is harmful to the body. So, for every half an hour you work out, drink at least a full glass of water. You need to start sipping water at least thirty to forty-five minutes before you begin exercising. Continue to sip water during and after the workouts.
Carry Snacks
When you perform the exercise for more than forty-five minutes, then you need to eat snacks. It is because exercising for a long time can lead to low blood sugar, which is not good for the baby. Therefore, you need to eat light snacks. A protein-carb combo snack is ideal. You can eat the snacks before and after the workout sessions to manage the blood sugar levels.
Choose Dress With Care
When you are planning to work out during the pregnancy, choose your dress with caution. Due to hormone fluctuations, you feel hot. So, wear loose and breathable clothes. Choose clothes that can stretch to accommodate your changing figure. Also, invest in a good sports bra to support the breasts. The bra must never pinch as it can cause distress while working out. When you choose shoes, find the pair offering support to your feet. Replacing aging sneakers will help reduce the risk of any injuries or falls.
Stay Motivated With Best Prenatal Exercises
You need to choose a pregnancy routine with the best exercises. Keep it simple to stay motivated. When you pick exercises you enjoy doing, it will help you follow it. Consider switching your workouts to keep things interesting. It will help you follow the routine, even when you feel like sitting at home and eating ice cream. The interesting routine will help you self-motivated and keep yourself fit during the pregnancy.
Conclusion
You can keep fit during pregnancy with the best prenatal exercises to ensure you deliver a healthy baby. The exercises have several benefits to ensure you face no complications. But, try to avoid exercises that affect your unborn baby’s health. Talk to your gynecologist regarding the exercises you can follow and the ones you must never try during the pregnancy. Follow the advice of your doctor to ensure you will never face any complications. Never exert yourself too much as it can affect the unborn baby. Choose safe exercises and have fun during the beautiful journey towards motherhood.
References
https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/pregnancy-workouts
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290217
https://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/exercises-for-pregnant-women