Exercising through pregnancy
Exercising through pregnancy, one of the most confusing topics with all the conflicting information out on Dr. Google. Should you exercise even if you weren’t before you fell pregnant? Can you keep doing the same thing? What should you change? When do you change it? When do I stop laying on my back? Can I run?
Let’s go through what exercising means for you and your bub. As well as what changes and expectations we should see throughout the next 40 weeks.
What are the benefits of exercising through pregnancy?
Prevention of excessive weight gain (we are always going to gain weight, but if we can manage excessive increase in weight, it helps prevent other potential health concerns for you and bub down the track)
Improvement of overall mood and energy
Reduction in excessive swelling
Reduction of aches and stiffness from changes in the body (like; growth of breasts, pelvic shifts and changes, growth of your bump)
Prevention and management of pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes
Strength for labour and assistance in recovery
Now that we know WHY we are exercising throughout our pregnancy…. How long? How often? How hard?
FREQUENCY
If you were someone that loved to hit the gym, go for a run, and stay active most days of the week before you fell pregnant, I definitely suggest keeping up with your current routine as much as possible, IF you can (I’ll cover this more in a sec).
If you were someone that wasn’t as active prior to falling pregnant with bub, you can start exercising, we will just start at a lower frequency to ensure we have enough time to recover and aren’t going to be running ourselves into the ground. Keeping in mind we still have work, a life and potentially other children to run after! I would suggest starting with trying to exercise on non-consecutive days and monitoring how you feel. If you are feeling good, add in an extra day, and go from there.
Now, let’s back track to where I mention IF you can. I know a lot of women I have looked after during their pregnancy have really struggled through their first trimester. That is OK! During that first trimester, we have fluctuations of hormones, it is more common than not to experience morning sickness (even though we all know it doesn’t discriminate when it comes to being “morning”), and we will most likely feel super fatigued. So, if you feel like you can’t make that 5.30am gym session because of how exhausted and nauseous you feel…. don’t. Try make it up later in the week, or, missing a session here or there so you can ensure you and bub are healthy and thriving is more than ok.
As you come closer toward your due date, however, you will most likely start to feel uncomfortable. Try to stay as active as possible depending again on how you are feeling. Towards the backend of pregnancy, it is normal to drop a day or two or even switch up the type of exercise you are doing which we will go through further down.
DURATION
How long your exercise should last is very dependent on lifestyle factors as well as how you are feeling throughout the pregnancy. Ideally, we want to be able to accumulate 150-300 minutes of exercise across the week. What that looks like will be a combination of; the type of exercise you enjoy, the time available through the week around work, family, and social commitments and what your body can tolerate. For example:
You want to be able to exercise 5x per week:
Option 1: 2x 30 min walks + 3x 45 min strength sessions
Option 2: 3x 60 min walks + 2x 30 min strength sessions
Option 3: 2x 45 min walks + 2x 45 mins strength session + 1x 60 min pregnancy Pilates class
The options are endless! This is why seeing a health professional that works with pregnancy is very beneficial. As they can tailor the type of exercise to the goals you want to achieve based on the physiological adaptations required to achieve them as well as working around your hectic schedule to make sure it works for YOU!
As we discussed earlier, if you haven’t been exercising prior to falling pregnant and are beginning to set up a safe routine that works for you. I would suggest starting small and building each week as you go. For example:
Week 1: Start with 3x 15-20 min walks + 1x strength or pregnancy Pilates class
Week 2: 3x 30 min walks + 1x strength session or pregnancy Pilates class
Week 3: 3x 30 min walks + 1x strength session + 1x pregnancy Pilates class
Again, the options are endless. We just need to find what works for you, your schedule and how your body is recovering after exercising.
Side note: I love our pregnancy Pilates classes here at Inspire! It is the perfect way to ensure we build up the strength endurance in all the areas we need in preparation for delivery and assist in recovery post-partum. My favourite part is seeing the community between the ladies’ form as they share past experiences, especially if they already have little ones to some of the first-time mums. Or, even just sharing how they are feeling, as it is generally a common consensus in the group, and it’s always great to know you aren’t the only one, and most of the time completely normal!
INTENSITY
Intensity is the more important things we need to monitor throughout your pregnancy. As the closer you get to your due date, the more we will likely decrease how hard you are working out. This is due to a range of factors, however, most importantly:
Monitoring body temperature (making sure we don’t get too hot)
Monitoring heart rate and blood pressure
Ideally, we want to stick to around an 6-8/10 RPE – which means, rate of perceived exertion, when we are exercising. This is to ensure we don’t overheat (which can cause harm to our bub), and our blood pressure and heart rate aren’t spiking, potentially causing us to faint.
A perfect way I love to use is the ‘talk test’ for any of my women when training throughout their pregnancy no matter how far along they are. The ‘talk test’ is when you can hold a comfortable conversation whilst exercising. If you can’t, we probably need to take it back a notch as the intensity will probably be too high.
TYPES OF EXERCISE
Now, in terms of the type of exercise you should engage in. If you have no contraindications (listed below), you will have no issue with participating in either aerobic or strength-based exercises.
However, I suggest to anyone I work with, if you weren’t a runner before you fell pregnant, you shouldn’t try to become a runner now. As our fitness level aren’t at a point where building our aerobic capacity with running will be safe (increase in body temperature and spikes in heart rate).
Examples of aerobic exercise you can and should participate in:
Brisk walking (with friends is even better so you can put into practice the ‘talk test’)
Cycling on a stationary bike (we definitely don’t want to be on a road or mountain bike with an increased fall risk)
Swimming (in temperatures no higher than 33.4 degrees Celsius, for no longer than 45mins)
Examples of strength-based exercise I highly suggest you participate in:
Resistance training (ideally looking at minimum 2x week to ensure you have a well-rounded routine and can see the changes you are chasing!)
Pregnancy Pilates
The only other thing we need to keep in mind is when to change from laying on your back during exercise to more upright or elevated options. For most, around 16-20 weeks is generally the ideal time to begin to use things like; bolsters, incline benches, BOSU Balls, Swiss balls, towels, or pillows (just to name a few) to elevate your torso when exercising. This is so we don’t have too much compression on your descending aorta (the artery that transports blood down from the heart) which can cause feelings of light headedness or dizziness. However, if you start feeling this earlier, please do not try and push through. Change the exercises to a slightly modified version, as the age-old saying; better to be safe than sorry!
Now with all that said… what things do we look out for to know to stop and seek medical attention?
If you are experiencing ANY of these, please STOP and SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY:
Chest pain
Unexplained shortness of breath
Dizziness
Feeling faint
Unexplained Headaches
Muscle weakness
Calf pain
Sudden swelling or redness around the ankles, hands, or face
Vaginal bleeding or amniotic fluid loss
Decreased foetal movement
Uterine contractions or pain in the lower back, pelvic area, or abdomen
And finally, the things we should DEFINITELY avoid whilst pregnant, no matter how far along we are…
Scuba diving
Bike riding outdoors
Sitting in hot saunas or hot tubs
Swimming in heated pools
Play contact sports
Skiing
Ice Skating
Rock Climbing
Rid rollercoasters
Heavy lifting (e.g. Hitting PB’s or more than an 8/10 RPE)
As always, if you have any further questions that is more individual to yourself and your situation, please feel free to reach out!
Rhi
Email: Rhiannon.zuch@inspirehealthservices.com.au
Insta: @rhiannonharbour.aes