Exercise during pregnancy
Exercise during pregnancy
During pregnancy, your body goes through many changes. Physical activity can be a tool to help support your body through these changes. It can help you have a healthy pregnancy overall and may help you manage physical discomfort, improve your mood, have more energy, and have a smoother recovery after your baby is born.
Regular physical activity before pregnancy may also help prevent common pregnancy concerns like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia.
Physical activity during pregnancy can benefit your baby. It can support their brain development, help them be stronger, and decrease their risk of several diseases.
There may be things in your life that make it difficult to get physical activity during your pregnancy, but they can often be overcome. Learn more about overcoming these barriers.
Exercise may look different for you than it did before pregnancy, and that’s OK! Listen to your body and talk to your doctor or midwife to figure out what activities are best for you.
Exercise guidelines
Most of the time, if you were physically active before your pregnancy, you can continue to exercise at a similar level during pregnancy. If your pregnancy is healthy and not complicated, it’s usually safe to exercise and adjust what activities you do as needed. Here are some things to consider:
- Strive to get at least 150 minutes of cardio each week. Cardio is movement that raises your heart rate. Some of these activities include running, walking, stationary biking, or swimming. You can split this up during the week, for example, do 30 minutes of cardio on 5 different days throughout the week.
- Include 2 to 3 strength training workouts throughout your week. Strength training exercises are important to keep you strong throughout your pregnancy. You can use your body weight, resistance bands, or weights for strength exercises.
- Walk often. Walking is a great way to increase your heart rate and include movement throughout your day.
- Make movement your goal. Any movement is better than none. You don’t need a gym membership to stay healthy. Try finding at-home workouts, ways to get outside, or other activities you enjoy that keep you moving every day.
- Do core and pelvic floor exercises regularly. Your pelvic floor is the group of muscles in your pelvis that hold up your bladder, uterus, and bowels. Pregnancy stretches these muscles, which can make them weaker. Exercising them while pregnant helps keep them strong and helps you heal after birth.
Activities to avoid
Talk to your doctor or midwife about any activities you should avoid. Here are some things that all pregnant women should generally avoid.
- Contact sports, which is anything where you could come in contact with another player, like ice hockey, boxing, soccer, and basketball.
- Exercises that require you to lie on your back during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters.
- High-intensity exercise in hot, humid environments.
- Activities that could cause serious harm from a fall or injury, like downhill skiing, horseback riding, bike riding, etc.