Thursday, June 16, 2011

Exercise During Pregnancy

For some women the thought of exercise during pregnancy is as appealing as a root canal without novacane.  In their minds they have a nine month pass to keeping up with their gym routine.   The first three months they are battling morning sickness and exhaustion.  The next three months they are beginning to show.  The last three months are so uncomfortable that walking ten feet to the bathroom is pure torture, so there is no way they will be able to walk on a treadmill for ten minutes.

On the other side of the coin, there are some women who do not let something as little as creating a life stand in their way of exercise.  These are the women we might see actually teaching a class at the gym, or speed walking throughout our neighborhood with their protruding bellies.

Most of us however fall somewhere in the middle and that is just how their doctors like it.  Exercise comes highly recommended when pregnant.  Not only does it help control weight gain, but some women swear it helps with delivery also.  There are some things to keep in mind in order to protect yourself and your growing little one.

For starters you need to keep an eye on your heart rate as you are working out.  Letting your heart rate rise to high could be dangerous to your little one especially in your first trimester.  You want to maintain a steady heart rate and should do the talk test throughout your workout to make sure you are at a safe level.  The talk test is when you talk during your workout.  If you are having a hard time talking and wind up huffy and puffing more than getting out actual words, then you are working too hard and need to take it down.  Most doctors recommend that you work at a pace where talking is challenging but still doable.

Source:  Exercise During Pregnancy

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