I do. Get the all-clear from your midwife or doctor before you start, and ask them if you are unsure about anything. Thank you.
How Much Exercise Should I Take When I’m Pregnant?
Ahhh, a subject of such debate, confusion, conflicting advice and worry. When you are pregnant you will feel quite protective over your bump, and the idea of putting your growing baby at any risk at all seems unthinkable. To counter this, you will also feel fat and large and huge and wobbly, and you will probably want to do some exercise to try and keep things in some kind of toned order, which is absolutely fine.
It all just depends on how much and what kind of exercise your body is used to, and whether it still feels OK to do it when you have a baby taking part as well. ‘If it feels bad, don’t do it’ seems like sensible advice to me. Something to bear in mind is that your body will be producing a hormone called relaxin, which is not a natural laxative as its name suggests, but just loosens all your joints in preparation for the you-know-what. This means you should be more careful about how much high-impact exercise you do, even if you are used to that sort of thing.
For me, it was running. I’ve been running competitively since I was a little girl (why? am I mad?), and my poor body is quite used to being put through its paces, on the road, in the gym, along a beach or wherever. In fact, if I don’t go running for a few days I get as grouchy as a pre-menstrual banshee wearing newly washed, slightly-too-tight jeans. It’s just who I am and what I’m used to.
Given this starting point, I decided I would try to carry on running, lifting weights, cycling and doing everything else I usually do, until it felt wrong or I just couldn’t manage any more because my bump got in the way, and it worked very well.
NB: Doctors advise against doing any exercise lying on your back after the first trimester, because the baby puts pressure on your vena cava, (the big vein carrying blood from your legs to your heart) which reduces the blood flow to the uterus, and to your brain, both of which are bad.
Here are some types of exercise you can do when you are pregnant:
Running: The most vigorous and probably ill-advised type of exercise during pregnancy, but it worked for me. I ran until I was 20 weeks pregnant, at which point it started to ache a little, so I stopped. Also, I got funny looks from people as I jogged along with my paunch, and I felt embarrassed.
Cross-Training: A perfect way to burn unnecessary calories you felt you ought to eat at the time: it’s non-impact, aerobic, and you can read about beautiful, non-pregnant people while you’re doing it to remind yourself why you’re bothering.
Weights: Very important, because moving your heavy body around in the later months will become hard work, and there will be lots of lifting and carrying to do after your baby is born. The stronger your muscles are the easier both will be. Your legs and arms aren’t pregnant, so you can have fantastically toned limbs to make up for the fantastically un-toned tummy. Apparently doing weights is very good for reducing your risk of getting osteoporosis too, so start now and carry on forever…
Sit-ups: I’m nervous about this bit, because I did them until I was about five months pregnant, but I would hate anyone to feel they ought to do this and do themselves or their baby an injury. If you’ve done your pre-pregnancy work and have strong abs before you start, then you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting back into shape. Do them if you want to, but never do anything which feels bad, and ask your doctor before you start.
Cycling: There is a point beyond which this becomes impossible because your knees bash into your huge bump. This isn’t usually until the very last month or so, and until then I found cycling a fantastic way of keeping fit and having toned legs. If you can cycle outside then so much the better: fresh air is great for growing babies. Just be aware of your changing balance as you get bigger—it can get quite wobbly on there towards the end.
Swimming: Probably the best exercise you can do, according to all the experts who know about this sort of thing. It’s cardiovascular, all your muscle groups get a workout, and it relieves the weight on your tummy and back, which is wonderful. I swam dozens of lengths every day as soon as I stopped being able to run, and until two weeks after my due date. It was so boring that it nearly killed me, and now I can’t go anywhere near swimming pools, but watching the attendants panic as a very overdue lady entered the pool again was well worth it.
Dancing: Not only good exercise but also very relaxing and good fun. I’m a hopeless dancer, and was even more ungainly and hopeless when I was pregnant, but I found it very calming and relaxing. Not sure about tangos and vigorous dancing, but ballet is perfect. If Darcey Bussell can do it, then so can you. Some gyms offer balletcise (what a word!) classes, which sound very soothing, and aim to tone you up gracefully. Ha ha.
Walking: Everywhere. If you really can’t find the opportunity to do any of the above, then walking is a highly overlooked form of exercise, and when you’re lugging a heavy baby around at the same time it becomes quite effortsome. Be warned, though: walking can become painful later on, as the baby puts pressure on your back and you start to get pains and twinges in your legs. In the final weeks walking is a great way to get things moving south, which you’ll be very keen to do.
Pilates: Apart from being the most fashionable form of exercise, Pilates targets the tummy and pelvic-floor muscles, which weaken during pregnancy. Many Pilates exercises are performed on your hands and knees, which is an ideal, if rather inelegant, position: it helps to take a lot of stress off your back and pelvis, and towards the end of your pregnancy can help to position your baby well when it’s time for lift-off.
Aquaerobics: I never did this, as the idea of a pool full of pregnant people was too grim for me, but those Mums I know who tried it said it was better than dry aerobics because the water made the bump less heavy.
Activities You Should Avoid
Some of the activities I was advised to avoid during pregnancy made me laugh until my stomach hurt. So there’s one for starters. As well as stomach-hurting laughter, I have read that pregnant women should also avoid waterskiing, horse-riding, sky-diving (!), downhill skiing, fencing, and ice-skating. Other no-nos include doing strenuous exercise if you are suffering from vaginal bleeding, premature labour or heart disease. You don’t say!
NB: In my experience, no matter how much you exercise, and how careful you are about what you eat, you will get a bit fatter during pregnancy. It’s nature’s way of preparing your body for the exhaustion which follows, and of cheering you up when the bulk starts to fall off at the far end. Don’t try to be a weight your body doesn’t want to be by doing too much exercise, and try to enjoy your new shape. Most men love the curves, and you will honestly look wonderful in your new, womanly silhouette.
TOP TIP:You will need new sports gear: a better, more supportive bra, a longer vest or T-shirt (to avoid exposing several inches of highly stretched midriff to the hunk of muscle on the machine next to you), and a very high quality pair of gorgeous trainers to protect your legs, joints and back. This is one item of
