{"id":861,"date":"2009-04-07T10:39:46","date_gmt":"2009-04-07T16:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/wordpress\/?p=861"},"modified":"2013-08-23T14:05:45","modified_gmt":"2013-08-23T14:05:45","slug":"is-it-safe-to-exercise-while-pregnant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/g\/is-it-safe-to-exercise-while-pregnant\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it Safe to Exercise While Pregnant?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve always enjoyed exercising and its benefits to my mind and body.\u00a0 With the permission of my doctor I continue to enjoy exercising in my last trimester of pregnancy.\u00a0 My favorite types of exercise include aerobics, yoga, and walking.\u00a0 The main reason I exercise is to release stress and to maintain muscle tone.\u00a0 Added benefits of exercising while pregnant include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Boosts energy level and improves mood.<\/li>\n<li>Improves posture and circulation which helps reduce backaches, constipation, bloating, and swelling.<\/li>\n<li>Promotes muscle tone, strength, and endurance which will come in handy during labor.<\/li>\n<li>Helps you sleep better.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is recommended that pregnant women who have been cleared to exercise by their physicians engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most if not all, days of the week.\u00a0 Walking, swimming, stationary biking and moderate-intensity aerobics are regarded as safe during pregnancy, even for beginners.\u00a0 Running, racquet sports, and strength training when done in moderation are safe for pregnant women who had been previously participating in these activities.\u00a0 The following activities should be avoided during pregnancy:\u00a0 downhill snow skiing, horseback riding, scuba diving, and contact sports.<\/p>\n<p>During this stage of my pregnancy I have certainly noticed a change in my balance and flexibility.\u00a0 When pregnant your body releases a hormone that causes the ligaments that support your joints to become more flexible.\u00a0 So I try to be extra careful not to over extend while exercising and try to avoid jerky motions that may result in injuries. \u00a0Another modification I&#8217;ve made to my exercise routine is to avoid any exercise that requires me to lay flat on my back.\u00a0 Lying on your back during the second and third trimester puts pressure on a major vain reducing blood flow to mom and baby.\u00a0 So instead of doing sit ups lying down, I do a modified version of them on an exercise ball.\u00a0 Additional exercise guidelines to follow:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wear a supportive bra and sport specific shoes.<\/li>\n<li>Drink plenty of water.<\/li>\n<li>Consume enough nutrient rich foods.<\/li>\n<li>Be cautious when exercising in adverse weather conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If something doesn&#8217;t seem right, it probably isn&#8217;t.\u00a0 If you experience any concerning side effects from exercising, call your physician immediately.<\/p>\n<p>For more information check out the following resource:\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.acefitness.org\/search\/searchresults.aspx?searchString=pregnancy&amp;site=default_collection\">American Council on Exercise <\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-862 alignright\" title=\"Pregnancy Exercise on YouTube\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/youtube-exercise-300x174.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"174\" \/>YouTube also has some helpful and free video clips of safe exercises to do while pregnant.<br \/>\nHere is a link to one of them:\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xukpu9Ls3As\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Xukpu9Ls3As<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve always enjoyed exercising and its benefits to my mind and body.\u00a0 With the permission of my doctor I continue to enjoy exercising in my last trimester of pregnancy.\u00a0 My favorite types of exercise include aerobics, yoga, and walking.\u00a0 The main reason I exercise is to release stress and to maintain muscle tone.\u00a0 Added benefits of exercising while pregnant include:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/g\/is-it-safe-to-exercise-while-pregnant\/\" class=\"read-more\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,125],"tags":[161,162,1089,163,164,165],"class_list":["post-861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-g","category-f","tag-exercise-while-pregnant","tag-physical-activity-while-pregnant","tag-f","tag-walking-pregnant","tag-weight-lifting-pregnant","tag-yoga-pregnant","cat-45-id","cat-125-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/ladiespregnantwalkc11.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8776,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions\/8776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nutritionknowhow.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}