Many women consider nine months of pregnancy a period of forced inactivity, when not only is it allowed to skip workouts, but they should be abandoned altogether. In fact, this is not correct. It is extremely important to consult with your doctor and inform him about your physical activity, but in general, sports activities are very useful for you now, and here’s why:
- Exercise helps reduce pain
Lifting light weights will strengthen your muscles to help them handle the total weight you will gain by the time your baby is born. The right stretching and flexibility exercises will help you cope with tying your shoelaces in the last weeks before childbirth!
- Sport will give you the energy boost you need
It seems illogical, but it is true: what in itself requires energy expenditure can give energy. Studies have shown that exercising increases your energy levels and makes you feel much better.
- Exercise improves sleep
Like any physical activity, a good workout ensures that excess energy is burned out, which guarantees you a quality night’s sleep – even in the last weeks of pregnancy, when sleep becomes very uncomfortable, and many people suffer from insomnia.
- The right exercise will increase your stamina during labor.
Childbirth is a laborious process and is usually a marathon rather than a sprint. Training, especially certain exercises, during pregnancy will be a gradual preparation for the finish line.
- Sport helps you feel good
Physical activity promotes the production of the hormone serotonin, which is known to be responsible for good mood and well-being. And this is especially important now, when your hormones are raging and make you at times more sentimental than usual.
- Fitness helps maintain good self-esteem …
While nine months of watching movies on a soft couch can be tempting at first, an energetic walk in nature will make you feel so much better. You will find that self-care is much more rewarding during this unique period of life.
- … and will help you return to your waist size after childbirth
By maintaining muscle tone, you make it easier to rebuild your body after childbirth. And you also prepare yourself for a new life, in which you will have to constantly lift and carry the baby in your arms, control the stroller and collect the scattered toys from the floor.
- This will give you the opportunity to meet other moms-like-minded women
Pregnancy classes will not only give you the opportunity to work with an experienced professional, but also help you meet a large number of like-minded mothers. Often the women you meet during this period become friends. This happened to me in perinatal yoga classes during my first pregnancy.
- Physical activity contributes to the development of the brain of the unborn child
A study from the University of Montreal in Canada showed that babies whose mothers played sports had higher brain activity than those whose mothers were inactive. It’s worth getting off the couch!
WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER:
- Always check with your doctor.
- Make sure to refuel before class.
- Avoid dangerous and contact sports such as martial arts, cycling, skiing.
- Warm up and cool down gradually.
- Drink plenty of water during exercise.
- Slowly get up off the floor when doing the exercises while lying down.
- Choose activities that you really enjoy and will easily become a habit.