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Home :: Strength Training :: Strength Training For Pregnant Women

Strength Training For Pregnant Women

According to the experts, moderate to vigorous exercise is considered safe fro the baby and extend benefits to the pregnant exerciser during the normal and healthy pregnancy. The pregnant women who exercise regularly are less likely to get the back pain, exhaustion, varicose veins and hemorrhoids besides they could improve maternal well-being, self esteem as well as lead to make the labor rather bearable.

The known and proven advantages by the maternal exercises usually include: providing physical and mental benefits, feeling better and recharge energy, help maintaining the fitness, helps averting excess weight gain, enhance posture, minimizes occurrence of back pain, motivates body for extra weight load, facilitates blood circulation, helps in recovering, decreases the occurrence of varicose veins and hemorrhoids and enhances self respect.

Certain medical conditions make exercising during the pregnancy inadvisable or justify several modifications, hence all the clients should get permission for exercises. The well planned exercise program that is of mild to modest intensity and averts exercise to the point of exhaustion: if you are already fit, by just making little alterations to your program for keeping you safe will be appreciated if you are new to exercise, starting with the low level program and progress gradually is the ideal way.

The pregnant ladies should exercise at least three days every week as the regular activity is safer and rather advantageous as compared to the irregular or on-again & off-again exercise sessions. It is suggested to use the recommended types of exercises only that incorporate low-impact activities such as: swimming, walking, stationary cycling stretching and resistance training. Remember to avoid jerky, ballistic bouncy or movements that entail extreme range of motions. The balancing or hormonal changes during the pregnancy phase make the activities with such types of movements at increased risk. Also the extended period spine exercises must be averted after the first trimester, as lying on the back because of possibility of fetus compressing the vena cava vein that brings back blood to the heart.

Never exercise in the hot or humid environments and drink plenty of water - at least six ounces of water at an interval of 10 to 15 minutes during the exercise, typically during the first trimester when the increase in the maternal body temperature could lead the fetus at risk for neural tube defects. The pregnant ladies should invariably improve their calories intake based on the advice of her doctor. The average weight gain is around 25 to 35 pounds as the pregnancy is the time for gaining and controlling weight by restricting calories. During the first trimester, the pregnant woman gains around 2 to 4 pounds, 10 to 11 pound during the second trimester and 12 to 13 pounds during the third trimester.

It is reported that many pregnant women just do not wish to give up their routine of strength training or resistance training fitness regimen, so in that case it is advisable to know how to continue the strength training program rather safely. Lower weights and higher repetitions would maintain tone and strength with reduced risk of damaging ligaments.