Exercise Program weight Loss and Pregnacy

Jan 05 2008

During the first month of pregnancy, it is important to head your body’s signals and slow down. Even thought there are few visible changes, your body is handling immense adjustment. Adding too much exercise can seriously deplete your physical and emotional resources, so exercise in moderation.During pregnancy, being active for 30 minutes each day will provide many benefits stress reduction, improved sleep, increased energy, physical fitness, and reduced pregnancy symptoms. It may also benefit your emotional balance. Women who exercise regularly have better posture, which helps them alleviate or avoid back pain. They also tend to suffer less from swelling and bloating and gain less weight during pregnancy than women who don’t exercise.

If you are starting to exercise, consider gentle activities such as walking, pregnancy exercise classes or yoga. Seeing progress and having fun are good motivators for continuing an exercise program, and regular participation is the key to a beneficial regimen. It’s a good idea to get your care provider to approve your exercise program before you begin.

Intensity And Duration

Make sure your workouts energize you. If, at the end of your workout, you feel tired and discouraged, exercise less vigorously and less often. Alter any existing regimen to suit your pregnant state.

Finding the right intensityYou should be able to talk with out feeling breathless when doing gentle exercise (especially if you were unfit before pregnancy). This will be difficult during aerobic activity: If you have a heart rate monitor, keep to your target heart rate

Duration

Limit aerobic workouts to 30 minutes, with adequate warm-up and cool down periods. Nonaerobic exercise (like weight training) can be done for up to an hour, as long as it is gentle. During nonaerobic exercises, drink juices in order to maintain your blood sugar levels if necessary.

Target Heart Rate

To exercise safely and effectively, you need to calculate your maximum heart rate (MHR), and from this, your target heart rate for pregnancy. MHR is calculated by subtracting your age from 220. In pregnancy, a goal of 60-80 percent of MHR is acceptable. In women who are out of shape, a target heart rate of 50-60 percent of MHR is a good limit. In fit women, a target heart rate of 70-80 percent of MHR is safe. For example, if you are age 35 and were fit before pregnancy, you should exercise most energetically at between 130-148 beats per minute. If you were out of shape before pregnancy, this should be reduced to 93-111 beats a minute.

Exercising Safely

Avoid overheating, which may be detrimental to your baby’s central nervous system development in this trimester. Wear loose clothing and a well-fitting sports bra. Drink water at least 30 minutes before your workout and during your workout. Do not perform energetic exercise if you have a fever, or in hot, humid conditions. Do not exercise to exhaustion. Heed your body’s warning signals and, at any stage of pregnancy, stop exercising at once and call your care provider if you experience.

Uncomfortable or frequent contractions not near the due date.
Vaginal bleeding or leaking of amniotic fluid.
Headaches that do not go away.
Skipped or very rapid heart beats.
Dizziness.
Increased shortness of breath.
Extreme muscle weakness.
Calf pain or swelling.

There are several activities you should avoid during all stages of pregnancy. These include contact sports, scuba diving, gymnastics, horseback riding, and downhill or water skiing. Don’t do any form of sport or exercise that involves a risk of impact or falling.