Prenatal exercise will help you have a more pleasant, healthier pregnancy by preventing common problems like lower back pain, urinary incontinence, and constipation. It also increases strength and endurance, reducing the risk of complications during delivery.
Prenatal exercises are not always designed in a similar way, and certain fitness routines can be more harmful than beneficial. When looking for the best prenatal workout, look for something healthy and gentle while also getting you to break a sweat. The following are some prenatal exercise classes you can go for.
Low Impact Cardio Exercises
Working out while pregnant is thought to be dangerous, but nothing could be further from the truth. Safe working out options while pregnant will lead to a healthier, happier pregnancy, delivery, and faster postpartum recovery.
This includes prenatal cardio exercises, and unless your OB or midwife advises otherwise, cardio workouts are a great idea.
Some of the cardio workouts you can try include the following.
• Elliptical
• Brisk Walking
• Swimming
• Indoor Cycling (Moderate intensity)
• Low-Impact Dancing (Refrain from jumping or any high impact moves)
High-intensity exercises can cause harm to your core and pelvic floor. They put undue strain on your abdomen, jeopardizing your core stability. This can exacerbate diastasis recti and cause or worsen symptoms such as back pain and incontinence, particularly in the second and third trimesters.
They can also put you at risk for external injuries. These exercises include running, rebounding, jumping, and contact sports, which you should avoid while pregnant.
Barre Exercises
These exercises are incorporated in a prenatal exercise class to help burn out your muscles. This makes it a perfect exercise for most pregnant women. The majority of courses have a ballet barre, a set of light weights, a small inflated ball, a strap to help you stretch, and a mat.
They also incorporate classic dance moves like plies, as well as static stretches. Barre majorly focuses on high reps of small range movements. Fortunately, barre doesn’t need the coordination of a dancer, and there is no choreography involved.
Barre students usually dress in yoga-inspired fitness attire and either go barefoot or wear socks with good grip to ensure maximum stability without slipping. Most barre exercise movements can be performed at home by substituting the barre with a bed frame. Some people prefer countertops or strong railings.
Barre exercise presents very little risk of falling, which makes it safe for pregnant women. It prepares you for labor and delivery and can also shorten postnatal recovery.
Prenatal Yoga
If you are pregnant and are looking for a way to relax or stay in shape, you have probably contemplated prenatal yoga. But did you also know that prenatal yoga could help you get ready for labor and improve the health of your baby?
Prenatal yoga is a multifaceted exercise approach that comes with several benefits, including relief of psychological distress. It facilitates stretching, mental centering, and concentrated breathing, similar to other forms of childbirth preparation classes.
According to research, prenatal yoga is safe and healthy for both pregnant women and their infants. Its benefits include:
• Reduced stress and anxiety
• Improved sleep
• Increased strength, flexibility, and endurance of muscles used for childbirth
• Decreased lower back pain, headaches, nausea, and shortness of breath
Yoga comes in a variety of styles, some of which are more strenuous than others. For pregnant women, prenatal yoga, hatha yoga, and restorative yoga are the best options. Before beginning a yoga lesson, talk to your doctor and your yoga instructor to know what is suitable for your body.
Avoid hot yoga, which entails performing intense poses in a space that has been heated to a higher temperature, or core intensive yoga, which could cause Diastasis Recti. Hot yoga raises your body temperature, which could lead to hyperthermia.
At the end of the day, the prenatal exercise classes you select are entirely up to you. It’s important to note that safety is all about listening to your body. When in doubt, use the gold standard: make sure you can have a light conversation with a friend while moving. If you can’t, stop and reconsider your workout. Don’t do it if anything doesn’t feel right.
