10 Safe Exercises You Should Try When You Are Pregnant
Exercising during pregnancy, is important because it can improve your stamina, reduce the risk of excess weight gain and strengthen your back. A well-chosen exercise program approved by your doctor is needed to make sure you are doing the right kind of exercise. You can find a range of safe and easy exercises for pregnant women in this article.
How much exercise should a pregnant woman do?
Gynecologists suggest that pregnant woman should get at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise per day. However, it would be better when you divide the duration i.e. 10-minute walks, 15 minutes of vacuuming and 15 minutes of light yard work.
Benefits of exercises for pregnant women
Well, particular exercise work on the particular portion of your body, but together it will provide great benefit for both mother and child. Exercise during pregnancy can benefit in:
- Reducing the labor process
- Doubling the chances of a natural birth
- Lowers the need for pain relief medication
- Speeds up recovery after delivery
- Lower down the risk of gestational diabetes and hypertension.
Top 10 Exercises For Pregnant Women
Today, we have shortlisted 10 best exercises for pregnant women:
Read: How much weight gain is normal during pregnancy?
1. Swimming:
Yes! swimming is the best water aerobics exercise because it helps in relieving nausea, sciatic pain, and puffy ankles. When you are in the water, you ponder less than you do on land, so you’ll feel lighter and energetic. But, be little cautious as walking on slippery pool sides and inside it can be risky. Also, avoid diving or jumping, as this could impact the abdomen.
2. Walking
Walking is one of the best exercises to fit into your busy schedule. Doctors highly recommend this as you can continue this right up until your delivery date.
3. Plie
This is another simple exercise which comes with several benefits like strengthening your lower body, quadriceps, hamstrings, butt and improves balance.
How to do it?
Stand parallel with hip-distance apart to the back of a sturdy chair along with your hand closest to the chair resting on it. Make an angle of 45 degrees with your toes & knees. Bend your knees, lowering your torso as low as possible while keeping your back straight. Slowly, come to the normal position.
Also Read: 8 Incredibly Comfortable Footwears for Pregnant Mums
4. Side-Lying Inner and Outer Thigh Exercises
Exercises focusing on your side-lying inner and outer thigh are good for strengthening the core and inner thighs.
How to do it?
Rest on your right side, use the forearm to support your head. Now, bend your right leg at a 45-degree angle and keep the left leg straight. Make sure to place your opposite arm on the floor for stability. Raising left leg to about hip length and repeat for reps. Now, gradually bend your left knee & rest it on top of cushions for comfort. Align your right leg and lift it as high as you possibly can. Repeat the same process when switching sides.
5. Plank
At the time of pregnancy, planks are one of the best exercises you can do for your core because it makes you gain isometric strength. And by doing plank you can strengthen your back, arms, shoulders, glutes, and hamstrings.
How to do it?
Lie down on your knees and hands, making sure your hand wrists directly under your shoulders. Now, slowly raise your knees and arrange your legs after you until your body forms a straight line. Pause for a while then repeat it again.
6. Curl and Lift
This exercise would be good to make your shoulders and hands stronger. You will need strong hands to rock the baby to sleep!
How to do?
Take a sturdy chair & sit on the edge of it with your feet on the floor, back straight and arms at your sides. Grap weight or 5-8 pound dumbbells in each hand, palms facing your body. Now, slowly bend your elbows to make a 90-degree angle by using arms. Now, keeping your elbows turned, lift the weights to shoulder height. Drop your arms to your sides, then align to back on original position.
Also Read: 10 ways to ease labour pain during delivery
7. One-Arm Row
The one-arm row is beneficial during this time as it helps to strengthen your back muscles – which are strained because of the extra load.
How to do it?
Take a firm bench or chair and place your left knee on the seat and right on the floor and place your left hand on the seat, bend forward, back parallel to the floor. Grap a dumbbells in your right hand, arm extended down and in line with your shoulder, palm facing in. The slowly bend your right elbow up to form a 90-degree angle by arms. Pause for a while and back to normal position. Repeat for reps, then switch sides.
8. Dance
Dance workouts like Zumba and belly dancing are a great idea during the time of pregnancy to strengthen your body. Joining a group dance class can make you feel happy from inside and you can able to maintain the mood swings.
9. Kegels
Kegels is good for strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and also treat urinary stress incontinence. This exercises can even reduce the risk of anal incontinence.
How to do it?
Take an exercise ball and sit comfortably over it and do belly breathing. Like, when letting your belly rise, inhale and exhale to let it fall. Make sure to match the length of inhaling and exhaling. Free your shoulders, face, and neck, so that only your pelvic floor muscles are tight.
Also Read: 14 easy tips for normal delivery for all pregnant women
10. Standing crunch
Standing crunch is a very gentle abdominal exercise that can be performed by you during all stages of pregnancy.
How to do it?
Stand straight with your hands behind your head, feet about hip-width apart. Bend your knees and slowly inhale opening your elbows out to the sides and lifting your chest. Taking your tailbone in & curl in towards your belly button, exhale matching the length of inhaling. Make sure you don’t strain your neck & your back should be rounded here. Now, inhale again to back on original position.
So, all the mom-to-be regular exercise to boost maternal and fetal health as well as it will make pregnancy, labor, and post-delivery recovery easier. We hope that these exercises for pregnant women will be helpful for you.
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