Top 5 Reasons Moms Should Exercise During Pregnancy
Enjoy this excerpt from THE HAPPY MOM BOOK!
5 top reasons Moms-to-be should exercise consistently during their pregnancies:
For Baby:
- You are contributing to the neurological, mental, and physical development of your child in utero.
- Studies have shown that if you exercise during your entire pregnancy, consistently your child’s APGAR scores are higher at both the 1 min. mark, which shows how the baby did during the birthing process and at the 5 min. mark, which shows how baby is coping outside of the womb.
- Your child is more alert, calmer and leaner, at birth.
- Minimizes your child’s chances of having a weight problem later in life.
- May reduce the chances of birth defects.
- Improves your strength, endurance, fitness level and muscle control for a faster, easier, and less painful labor.
- Less excess weight gain.
- Allows faster recovery from pregnancy and labor.
- Helps you get back into shape easier, faster, and more safely.
- Relieves tension, stress and possible depression.
What are the exercises that Moms-to-be should be doing?
Remember variety is the spice of life. If your doctor has cleared you to exercise, you may do the following
- Aerobic exercises like walking, running, and swimming are recommended for a duration of twenty to forty-five minutes a day, three to six days a week.
- Toning exercises like lifting weights, using bands, and tubing for resistance is recommended twenty to sixty minutes a day, two to three days a week.
- Warming-up and Cooling down are important components of your daily workout routine.
- Kegels, Kegels, Kegels! Work your Pelvic Floor muscles daily. Think breakfast, lunch and dinner and do 5 sets of 10 Pelvic floor holds, and 5 sets of 10 Pelvic floor pulses each time.
- Ten to thirty minutes after every workout, and in between exercises when you are lifting weights.
Moji Doyle
Prenatal & Beyond FIT
www.prenatalandbeyondfit.com
561-376-4305
Sources utilized by Moji Doyle:
“Exercising Through Your Pregnancy” by James F. Clapp III, M.D. And “Expecting Fitness”, by Birgitta Gallo for the higher Apgar score.