Soldiers of Fitness Pensacola | Fred Malpica, LPN, CPT 1

PregnancyandExercise:Benefitsfor

MomandBaby

Every woman at some point in their life envisions themselves with a beautiful healthy family and

a wonderful setting full of love, warmth, and happiness. Exercising during pregnancy is one of the steps

towards ensuring that vision comes to fruition. We will show you the laundry list of benefits exercise

can provide and go over some guidelines for you to follow.

If you are not active at this time you can start with walking a few minutes a day. Keep adding

minutes to your total walking time until you are doing 30 to 60 minutes on most, if not all days of the

week. Once you reach that level of activity, then it would be a good time to consider more demanding

activities such as swimming, stationary bike, and/ or a local aerobics class. Most fitness clubs offer

aerobics with the pregnant woman in mind.

If you are currently active in daily physical activity, then you are already familiar with how great

it is to be active. Keeping your current exercise program when you become pregnant is not out of the

question, it is actually encouraged. Some caution does have to be taken into account before continuing

your routine.

Talking with your doctor is critical to ensure that you have no health issues that would impede

you from starting or continuing your current activities. High impact sports and activities which have a

high risk of falling should be avoided, due to the imposed risk on the unborn child. Usually, your first

trimester will give you more liberty as to what activities to choose from. During the second and third

trimesters things can get a little more delicate.

Due to the increase in energy demands, imbalances from the growing baby in your midsection,

and the increased ligament relaxation due to the hormones released during pregnancy, you may have to

alter your activities. Water aerobics, swimming, stationary bike, and the reclined stationary bike are

great alternatives. I particularly recommend swimming, because the water in the pool will support your

weight and it reduces swelling in the lower extremities. Plus, swimming can be as demanding as you

make it; so you can increase or decrease your cardio workout depending on how you feel.

Listening to your body is very important as your progress through the pregnancy stages. If you

are not feeling good enough to work-out, you may have to incorporate some more rest in between your

sessions and/ or try reducing the time of your workouts. Remember that this is not a time to set

personal goals of any sort. Try to keep your competitive spirit under control.

The benefits of performing exercise while pregnant are immense. Below we have made a list

composed from sources listed at the end of this article. Exercise during pregnancy will:

• Ease or prevent back pain

• Boost your energy

Soldiers of Fitness Pensacola | Fred Malpica, LPN, CPT 2

• Reduce and/or prevent gestational diabetes, pregnancy related high blood pressure, and

postpartum depression

• Increase stamina and muscular strength

• Help to prevent excess body fat gain

• Facilitate labor

• Promote good posture

What I found to be most intriguing was the research results summarized by Carmen Bott, BSc.

B.H.K., CSCS, in her article “Training the pregnant Athlete, Part 1: A summary of the Research”:

• The benefits of engaging in a regular, moderate- to vigorous-intensity activities (versus walking

and prenatal yoga, which would be considered very low-intensity activities) are ten-fold for the

mother-to-be. The research is now clear that the benefits far outweigh any risks, especially

when the expectant mother continues her program right to term. In the research, it has been

found that continuing weight-bearing exercise at the same intensity, duration and frequency

throughout the entire pregnancy leads to a 35% decrease in the need for pain relief, a 75%

decrease in the incidence of maternal exhaustion, a 50% decrease in the need to artificially

rupture the membranes, and a 75% decrease in the need for operative intervention such as a

cesarean section or forceps delivery (Clapp, 1998).

• Regular exercise during pregnancy also has some interesting and positive effects on the growth

and function of the placenta that helps protect the fetus from oxygen deprivation. Those

women who exercise throughout early and mid-pregnancy have a better adapted placenta to

deliver more oxygen and nutrients to the baby. There is also an improvement in alveolar

ventilation during pregnancy and the muscular effects of regular exercise on ventilation in

general, which enhances placental gas transfer of both oxygen and carbon dioxide between the

mother and the baby (Clapp, 1998).

• What was most interesting is that a whopping 86% of the exercise group in Dr. Clapp’s study had

uncomplicated, spontaneous deliveries versus only 53% of the control group of the active, but

untrained, women. Also, among the women who had vaginal births, the length of labor was

more than a third shorter in the women who continued to exercise right to term versus the

controls (Clapp, 1998).

I realize that there are a multitude of ailments that are experienced during pregnancy e.g. nausea,

vomiting, general malaise, etc. These symptoms would make the trip to the gym quite difficult. I

believe the effort put forth into getting to the gym, is a sacrifice well worth making.

Nutrition is also a very important step towards keeping you and your baby healthy. Drinking plenty

of fluids (about 10 cups), having a variety of whole grains, lean meats, fruits and vegetables are critical

to optimum health during pregnancy. Supplementing with prenatal vitamins about three months prior

to conceiving, and throughout the pregnancy is also recommended. For more help with nutrition you

can visit the USDA’s Daily Food Plan for Moms at

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/mypyramidmoms/pyramidmoms_plan.aspx#