If you want your spirit to be lifted most days during your pregnancy, lower your risk of depression and anxiety and boost your self-esteem then exercising may be your best option.
Last week we established the fact that it is important to stay safe while you exercise. You may even continue with weight training if it was part of your routine before becoming pregnant. If you have never tried weights, then choose another form of exercise.
Exercising can become very monotonous and sometimes the boredom may cause us to stop suddenly. Below is a guideline of a typical exercise day during your pregnancy. You may vary it to suit your needs and also to keep the rut away.
- Preparation
- Discuss your plan to exercise with your healthcare professional during your antenatal visit.
- Your body gets easily overheated during pregnancy, ensure you wear the right clothing during exercising and also drink adequate amounts of water.
- Do not starve yourself. Make sure you are not hungry while you exercise.
- Warm-up
- Walking, riding a stationary bike or using an elliptical machine are great choices in most cases. A treadmill is great if you are in an area where power fluctuation does not occur otherwise stay off.
- I encourage you to warm up for at least 5minutes. This should be at a very low intensity that will only make you break into a light sweat.
- Strength Training
- Squat with biceps curl
- To get this right, you may have a chair behind you. With your feet shoulder-width apart attempt to sit without rounding your back. Just before your buttocks touches the seat, move to the upright position again.
- Hold light weights in each hand, your arms straight by your side while standing. While you squat, bend your elbows and bring the weights towards your shoulders. Repeat five to eight times. You may even do without weights or separate the squats and the biceps curls if it feels clumsy combining them.
- Standing hip abduction
- Feet together, hold onto the back of a chair then move one leg away from the other till it is off the ground and you can no longer move it outwards. Bring feet together and repeat with other leg. Repeat whole process at least five times.
- Wall push-up
- Just as the name implies – stand with stretched arms against the wall and then push your weight against the wall with your elbows bent.
- Lateral shoulder raise
- With light weights in hand, extend both arms maximally on either side at shoulder level. Lift arms slightly above and then move below while keeping arms extended. Do this for a count of ten.
- Squat with biceps curl
- Cardiovascular/Aerobics exercise
- As discussed earlier riding a stationary bike, brisk walking, low-impact dance aerobics sessions and even swimming are great options. You may increase your pace or intensity compared to your warm up session but remember to take things slowly and listen to your body. Depending on your fitness level, five to thirty minutes should be reasonable for most people. Take breaks as needed.
- Cool Down
- Time to bring your heart rate and muscles to as close to resting state as possible. Slow the pace of your exercise. Three to five minutes is a good estimate.
- Stretching
- Neck: sit comfortably and look straight ahead of you. Turn your neck to the left to look at your left shoulder tip, count up to five and repeat on the right.
- Shoulders: bring your shoulders forward and then rotate then up towards your ears and then down. Repeat five to eight times.
- Legs: while sitting, extend your legs and feet then lift the right slowly and then put it down slowly. Repeat with left leg. You may repeat whole process at least five times. Then while maintaining the same position, and rotate your whole foot and ankle making large circles.
- Sit and bend your knees while putting the soles (bottoms) of your feet together. Place a hand under each and press your knee down while resisting with your hand. It helps to relieve back pain. Hold for five seconds and release.
- Stand with your back against a wall and your feet apart. Tighten your buttocks while pressing our lower-back into the wall. Count up to five and release. Repeat as appropriate.
- Breathing Right
- DO NOT hold your breath while you exercise. Remember to exhale while you do the “difficult’ phase of your strength training and inhale as you relax.
- Breathe right by breathing through your nostril and “making your abdomen “bulge out while you breathe out slowly through partially closed lips and your abdomen (stomach) flattens out.
- Remember to take such deep healthy breaths throughout the day.
- Place of Kegel’s
- Kegel’s is not only for pregnancy but an all season exercise, which should never be ignored especially after delivery. It strengthens the muscles that support the womb, bladder and large intestines.
- Imagine you are trying to stop the flow of urine or trying not to pass gas. This process strengthens the muscles we are targeting.
- Each time you contract the muscles, hold and count up to five slowly.
- When done right, no one can tell you are doing kegel’s so you can do it at anytime and anywhere as often as you like. At least 5 sets a day may be a great idea.
Congratulations! You have successfully completed your first safe day of a safe full-body workout. Keep up the good work and remember this is right for both mom and baby and you have already started your post delivery recovery.
You may spice things up by changing the order of strength training and cardiovascular (aerobics) exercises on some days. You may even have days when you have an extra long warm up session and stretching only and why not you may restrict some days to brisk walking only.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
*Dr Essel is a medical doctor and is ISSA certified in exercise therapy and fitness nutrition.
Thought for the week – “Even if you feel very fit, remember you have to attend all your antenatal visits”
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials Ltd
References:
- Webmd – Exercises for pregnancy
- Gaiam – Fitplan for pregnancy
