Pregnancy Exercises

Yesterday in my clinic, one lady asked me how to stay fit during pregnancy? She was wondering if this is possible and asked inquisitively whether she can exercise during pregnancy? I thought of writing an article on her question.

Today in this article I want to clear that it’s a myth that one should not or rather, cannot exercise during pregnancy. Looking it in scientific way, it is rather necessary for all women to exercise in order to stay fit and keep the baby healthy. Exercising during pregnancy is termed as “Antenatal exercises”. This not only benefits the mother but has its positive effects on the growing baby too. It will make your labour easier and reduce the effect of common problem known as “diastases recti” i.e. separation of the stomach muscles leading to weakness and weight gain after delivery.

Diastasis of the Rectus Abdominis in Pregnancy Risk factors and Treatment

By incorporating this exercising regimen you will solve the above problems to a large extent. So next question is when can you start exercising? After consulting your gyneac, you can start this from 4th month and continue till the delivery. Exercise regimen is as following:

1) Deep breathing exercises:

These not only helps you fight the nausea feeling during pregnancy but also helps in expanding the chest further leading to more intake of fresh air for the baby.
For this sit on the chair and then with your nose take a long deep breath trying to fill your lungs to the maximum and slowly release the air through your mouth. Repeat this whenever you feel nausea. This will help you a lot.

2) Relaxation exercises:

These are very important as when our brain is fully relaxed it helps the baby to grow in a healthier way. Various techniques can be used like:

a) Lying on bed: try to keep pillow under your knees if lying straight and between your legs when side lying.

b) Listen to the soft music before you sleep. Don’t use earphones rather play CD and for this you can try instrumental music. This will sooth your brain nerves.

c) At night a glass of hot milk will produce sedative effect on your brain and hence help you sleep well.

d) Sit on a table with head down and bending forwards. This position will counter act the feeling of vomiting and hence cause relaxation.

3) Strengthening exercises:

These are done to make your pelvic muscles ready for delivery and also to prepare your upper body for lactation after delivery. These are very light exercises and trust me can be done throughout pregnancy. Just consult your gyneac or some physiotherapist once before you start.

Prenatal and Postnatal Exercises

a) Wall slides: stand with your back, hands and feet touching the wall. start sliding downwards with all your body keeping in touch with the wall. Breath in while you slide down and breath out while sliding up.

b) Heel raises: standing in front of the chair and holding it. Try to raise both the heels as if increasing your height. Breath in while you raise and breath out while you come back.

c) Thoracic extension: sitting on chair, keep both the hands behind the head. Now take a deep breath and expand your chest while turning little backwards. Breath out and come to normal position.

d) Shoulder abduction: This exercise can be done both either in sitting or standing, whichever way you feel comfortable. Take lightest dumbbells in hands and then raise your arms straight on sides as if we use to do in school drills. Remember?
Breathe in while doing this and slowly get back your arms back again while breathing out.

e) Biceps curl: Again with the lightest dumbbells, do it with one arm first followed by the other. Repeat 10 times or adjust according to your comfort level.

f) Tailor position: this is to be done during 9th month. This will help widen your pelvis and thus helping during delivery. Sit on the floor with cross legs for 10-15 minutes.

So ladies “Get-Set-Go” and follow this routine. In case you feel any problem do consult your doctor but generally these are the safest ones and you can continue doing them and enjoy healthier pregnancy