Hi Everyone 🙋♀️
As you may have guessed, I am a huge advocate of regular exercise during pregnancy. Both in my work as an exercise professional and from my personal experience speaking woman-to-woman, I’ve been shocked and appalled at how little information there is provided to women, in regards to prenatal training.🤰 Not only this, but we see society question and sometimes even scorn women who are seen to be exercising when visibly pregnant! It is important to be aware of how incredibly beneficial exercise can be to both mother and baby. It’s also no wonder I am asked a lot of questions by my existing and prospective prenatal clients!
Please see below some of the most common questions about prenatal personal training & my responses for your information.
Enjoy!
Q&A
CAN I EXERCISE WHEN I AM PREGNANT?
Yes! For most people it is perfectly safe to exercise during your pregnancy, providing you make the appropriate adaptations. Before you start training you need to speak to doctor, who will advise you if it is not safe to do so for any reason. To keep yourself and your baby safe and healthy, it is important you make sure you understand the do’s and don’ts of exercise during pregnancy. Get in touch to find out more.
IS IT SAFE FOR MY BABY?
Yes! Exercising appropriately is perfectly safe for your baby. As well as keeping you fit and healthy, exercise has also been shown to have health benefits for your baby. E.g. promoting a healthy birth weight – linked to a reduced risk of obesity in later life, lowering babies resting heart rate and improving heart rate variability – associated with improved nervous system control. As a pre and post-natal specialist, I will guide you through how to safely and effectively train throughout the different stages of your pregnancy.
IS THERE ANY TYPE OF EXERCISES I SHOULD AVOID?
Yes. There are a couple of things you should actually avoid completely whilst training pregnant. For example, after your first trimester you should avoid exercising in the supine position (lying flat on your back) as this can increase the risk of supine hypotensive syndrome. It is certainly important to be aware of the changes occurring in your body throughout your pregnancy and how this might affect you exercising. Exercises to avoid/adapt will vary person to person, pregnancy to pregnancy, depending on your specific symptoms. An experienced pre and post-natal personal trainer will effectively adapt your training to keep you and your baby safe, healthy and strong, throughout your pregnancy and beyond.
WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER TRAINING DURING MY PREGNANCY?
Pregnancy is an incredible journey. Part of this required your body to undergo a lot of changes! The fitter and healthier you are, the better your body is able to adapt to these demands. Training during your pregnancy and beyond, has been shown to improve pregnancy symptoms, labor & recovery. There are SO many ways exercise can benefit mother and baby. See below a list of just a few of these and get in touch for more.
– Improves/maintains fitness, muscle strength and tone
– Helps maintain healthy pregnancy weight for mother and birth weight for baby
– Strengthens core muscles and pelvic floor muscles for carrying and delivering your baby
– Focusing on postural muscles can help prevent common pregnancy symptoms like lordosis
– Helps reduce other pregnancy symptoms such as fatigue, sleep quality, physical discomfort due to tight/weakened muscles etc…
– Women who exercise when pregnant have been shown to have reduced labor time and quicker recovery post birth
– Helps prevent unpleasant post-partum symptoms such as incontinence, prolapse etc…
– Helps aid and speed up your body’s transition back to its post-pregnancy state
As a pre & post-natal personal training specialist, my aim is to help you gain all the amazing benefits that come from exercising throughout your journey into motherhood.