Generic guidelines for you to follow whilst exercising Providing you are fit and healthy and ready to begin your workout, there are a generic set of guidelines that you should follow when exercising:
- Don’t start anything new (although this statement is currently under question)
- Do not become overheated or exercise until you can’t catch your breath to speak. Also suggested is that the pulse must not go above 140 beats per minute.
- Stay very well hydrated
- Get plenty of rest, eat well before exercising and look at increasing your daily caloric intake.
- Limit your consumption of alcohol and caffeine
- Avoid exercise in a supine position after the first trimester. (Supine positions may interfere with cardiac output to the foetus.)
- Upper body exercise is encouraged as it does less to divert blood flow away from the foetus than lower body exercise.
- Avoid movements with forward flexion of the thoracic spine and you should not elevate the chest and head into the sit up position because the linea alba separating the two sides of the abs opens creating a diastasis. Forward flexion increases the diastasis.
- Avoid extreme rotational movements of the spine, as there is a (small) chance of causing the placenta to tear away from the uterus.
- The transverse abdominal muscles should be exercised throughout pregnancy, as they are partly responsible for helping to push the baby out.
- Avoid positions and movements that present a challenge to balance in order to prevent falls.
- Continue strengthening and re-balancing the muscles around the joints - still trying to centre the body as it goes through many postural changes
- The overall intensity should be mild to moderate as pregnancy hormones "relax" ligaments and joints, making your client more susceptible to strains and sprains.
- Take care when changing positions from sitting to standing.
- Modify intensity of exercises according to how you feel on a session by session basis.
Warning signs to look for during the workout
Exercise should be immediately stopped if you experience any of the following:
- Bleeding
- Extreme nausea
- Sharp pain in the chest or abdomen
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Severe breathlessness
- Palpitations
- Excessive swelling
- Very hot or clammy
- Amniotic fluid leaking
- Difficultly walking
If you have any questions or are unsure about anything you have read here, please do not hesitate to contact our expert advisor Tasha Lawton.
Tasha has appeared on International TV as a pregnancy exercise expert and is an experienced pilates instructor specializing in pregnancy. Whilst pregnant herself with her second child, she produced a unique set of trimester specific workouts available to buy from www.pregalates.com |
