Prenatal

Prenatal Exercise Guidelines

Get your Dr's OK!:

Before you begin an exercise program, make sure you have your health care provider's OK. Although exercise during pregnancy is generally good for both you and baby, you'll need to proceed with caution if you have a history of preterm labor or certain medical conditions, including:

• Poorly controlled diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Placenta previa, a problem with the placenta that can cause excessive bleeding before or during delivery

Benefits of Exercising While Pregnant:

Gone are the days of pregnant women being stuck inside for nine-months, eating ice cream out of the half gallon, and never moving except to walk to the bathroom. Most moms these days continue on with their daily lives as usual, and they should! This goes for exercising as well. Don't wait until the baby comes to work on your body and health.  And if you don't already exercise, you should start NOW!

Exercise during pregnancy can help with a ton of issues pregnant women are prone to.

• Ease or prevent back pain and other discomforts like indigestion, leg pain/cramps, swelling of feet
• Boost your energy level
• Improve sleep
• Reduce the risk of gestational diabetes, pregnancy-related high blood pressure and postpartum depression
• Increase stamina and muscle strength, which helps you prepare for labor
• Prevent excess weight gain*

*it is important to remember that gaining weight during pregnancy is vital to the health of you and baby. This is not the time to try and LOSE weight or avoid gaining weight. Talk to your doctor about what weight gain is right for you and be ready to accept the changing number on the scale.

Where are you in the scheme of working out?

If you haven't exercised for a while, begin slowly and build up until you reach at least 30 minutes a day. If you exercised before pregnancy, you can probably continue to work out at the same level while you're pregnant — as long as you are feeling comfortable and your health care provider says it's OK.

General pre-natal exercising rules:

• Stretch - remember to stretch before and after each workout.
• Stay Hydrated - drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated, and be careful to avoid overheating.
• Don’t push yourself too hard - No matter how dedicated you are to being in shape, don't exercise to the point of exhaustion.
• What is the ideal exercise intensity? - Since your heart rate will already be elevated due to being pregnant, measuring your physical effort with a heart rate monitor is not recommended. Instead, use the rate of perceived exertion scale of 1-10. 1 is very easy - lying on the sofa watching TV, 5 is hard - can talk while doing activity but would rather NOT, 10 is very very hard - all out sprint!
• The goal is to workout at a rate where you can carry on a conversation, somewhere between 3-5 on the scale! Remember to listen to your body and rest when you need to, and stop immediately if you notice any signs like:

• Vaginal bleeding

• Dizziness or feeling faint

• Increased shortness of breath

• Chest pain

• Headache

• Muscle weakness

• Calf pain or swelling

• Uterine contractions

• Decreased fetal movement

• Fluid leaking from the vagina

Exercises to AVOID:

• Holding your breath during any activity.
• Activities where falling is likely (such as skiing and horseback riding).
• Contact sports such as softball, football, basketball, and volleyball.
• Any exercise that may cause even mild abdominal trauma such as activities that include jarring motions or rapid changes in direction.
• Activities that require extensive jumping, hopping, skipping, bouncing, etc.
• Waist-twisting movements while standing.
• Exercise in hot, humid weather.
• Crunches/sit ups of any kind – this includes any abdominal exercise that requires you to crunch from the upper body downward - lying double leg raises, bicycles, side bends/oblique crunches*

*although crunches and sit ups are discouraged, this does NOT MEAN that you should neglect your abdominal muscles during pregnancy. Although they will be expanding, there is lots of evidence proving easier labor and easier bounce back post partum if you have strong abdominals during pregnancy!

Exercises TO DO:

Since abdominals are of many women's concern, here are some exercises that are AMAZING at strengthening your abs and preventing injury and diastasis recti - the separation of the abdominals that some women get during pregnancy due to incorrect abdominal work and other unknown reasons!

• Planks- all types, normal, side planks, reverse planks, etc. I cannot stress the importance of planks during pregnancy. They are THE BEST abdominal work both pre and post baby!
• Side plank hip drops
• Mountain Climbers/ Ground Rotations (slow speed)
• Single Leg heel extensions and variations (always prop your upper body up on your elbows!)
• Johnny C’s/High-Low push ups (both abs and upper body)

Also do:

• Weight lifting – weight training is very important to women's fitness and that is still the case during pregnancy. The only limitations would be to avoid any exercises where you could injure yourself with a weight. No bench press with a bar without a spotter, no catching medicine balls/sand bells. Also, do not work until failure during any exercise during pregnancy. Aim for a weight level where you can perform 8-12 reps 2-3 times.

Myths:

There are many old rules that are outdated and have been changed. Some are:

• No squats or lunges: as long as you use proper form during these exercises and prevent excessive joint movement ( do not let your tow go past your knee, squat or lunge to a 90degree angle, not any farther, so no butt to ground squats or deep knee bends, etc.
• No running - if you are already a runner, continuing running is fine as long as you listen to your body, you may need to change your routine, distance, pace, stride, etc. if you are not currently a runner, power walking, or other low impact cardio activities might be a better fit for you, but by no means should you NOT run if you feel up to it and enjoy it.  Avoid running trails due to the fall potential and on very hot days, opt to run on the treadmill instead to avoid over heating.

Pre-Natal Nutrition Guidelines

Nutritionist recommended guidelines here. 

Be sure to consult with your health care provider before beginning any workout or diet plan.