Staying fit during pregnancy is crucial for every mother – the more active you are, the easier it will be for you to adapt to your changing shape and weight gain, as well as helping you cope with labour and get you back into shape after birth.
For part 1, where we discuss some great tips to ensure you have a healthy pregnancy, can be found here.
In this article we will be discussing what exercises to avoid whilst you are pregnant. Let’s start off with what to avoid:
One crucial tip we would like to give you is to not lie flat on your back for extended periods of time, particularly 16 weeks into your pregnancy – this is to avoid you feeling faint as what can happen is, the weight of your baby would press on the main blood vessel that brings blood back to your heart and this would then restrict blood flow, causing you to feel faint. Hence, we recommend laying on your back as much as possible.
Don’t participate in exercises where you risk getting hit, such as kickboxing, judo or squash
Strictly do not go scuba-diving! This is because your baby has no protection against decompression sickness and gas embolism. Gas embolism is when gas bubbles form in the bloodstream – this is very harmful for your baby!
Do not exercise at altitudes higher than 2,500m above sea level – doing so would put you and your baby at risk of altitude sickness.
When exercising, avoid holding your breath. This is because you and your baby constantly need a steady supply of oxygen.
Avoid activities where you risk miscarriage, for example, horse-back riding or skiing
Avoid doing long period of exercise followed by long period of inactivity as this will cause a sudden change in your body homeostasis.
Avoid deep knee beds, full sit-ups, double leg raises and straight leg toe touches
Avoid exercising in hot or humid weather as this will cause you to feel exasperated far quicker than usual.
In the next part of this series, we will be discussing what exercises to do during your pregnancy, so stay tuned to find out!
Our personal trainers at PardaFit are qualified and trained to help you exercise best to meet your needs. If you are pregnant, you should let our personal trainers know and they will take their utmost best to ensure you have the most optimised exercise experience.