Throughout pregnancy, despite the fact that many believe that constant rest is the best thing to do, playing sports once the first few months have passed is highly recommended. We will gain weight as our future son or daughter is fertilized. It’s totally normal, but doing a little sport will help us control possible back pain due to excessive weight gain, in addition to improving our lifestyle by being in a better mood and coping with a better disposition the hard fact of a process as long as that of a pregnancy, with exercises to lose weight at home.
What are sports for pregnant women?
However, sports for pregnant women should be done at the right time and not before or after. The first few months are not easy, despite the fact that no one realizes that a child is growing in our belly. Therefore, during the first three months of pregnancy where you may notice nausea, fatigue, lack of sexual appetite or feel extremely tired, playing sports will largely depend on your physical condition. If you are used to intense training, lead an active life and your body is used to playing sports, you will be able to do it without any problem. However, you must have the authorization of a doctor, and do not submit to harmful practices such as high-risk sports, or those where there is the possibility of suffering a blow that could cause complications in your pregnancy. Otherwise, if you are used to leading a quieter life, you are not used to playing sports, in that case it is best to rest during the first trimester of pregnancy and wait from the fourth month to start practicing sports more demanding. Tiredness and dizziness are common and, therefore, in this first stage it is really necessary to take extreme precautions.
Do not forget that throughout these initial 15 weeks, the body has a huge job to start the process of gestating the baby. Diet, rest and different circumstances can be crucial in the development of pregnancy. Therefore, once this initial stage is over, we can start a sporting activity gradually without the need to force at any time for fear of suffering any type of injury. Obviously, at no time can we avoid all the changes in the state of our body that we can suffer. To begin with, the weight gain that we must try to control at all times. The level of blood in our body, as well as our heart rate, is also increased and these are factors that can be decisive when it comes to doing sports in a controlled way. At the same time, at the respiratory level it will also be difficult for us to control it in a continuous race since we must also give oxygen to the baby, at the same time that the breasts increase in size. Some physical factors also to take into account in pregnancy. Strength exercises are not recommended.
Despite everything, not everything ends here but the hormonal changes and changes in our body are also higher. After three months, performing sit-ups will also have an added complication. The uterus is getting bigger due to the growth of the baby, while this can become noticeable when going to the bathroom to pee, as well as in the entire part of the abdominal wall that can affect when making contractions in this whole area. On a mental level, a hormonal revolution will take place and this will cause the body to go through many different states from high motivation and full happiness to possible depression. In this sense, when we want to play sports, the most important thing is what our body can tell us. There will be days when we are much more tired than normal, but it is a totally normal effect of the enormous work and effort that our body is carrying out to fertilize the boy or girl. For this reason, before starting to play sports, let’s listen carefully to our body since it will give us more information than we think. If he tells us to rest, we will do so without question. Despite everything, let’s try to maintain the normal training rhythm of 2-3 times a week. Maintaining a normal routine will be positive for us since it will allow us to lead a normal life and avoid the abnormality that being pregnant may seem. Drinking water is always important when we play sports, but now more than before since energy expenditure is even higher. Any sign or discomfort we must stop immediately.
Benefits of playing sports while pregnant
All in all, playing sports while pregnant has enormous benefits for us as it allows us to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The most prominent are the following:
- Be psychologically strong. Despite being pregnant, our lives must remain totally normal. Playing sports is part of our routine and, therefore, we should not stop doing it unless it is an exceptional cause that requires rest.
- Control back pain. Weight gain that is too high can cause intense lower back pain. Thus, if we play sports we can control this possible weight gain and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
- Lead an active social life. Being able to disconnect from the entire pregnancy process is also really positive. For this reason, playing sports can be an escape route to maintain contact with our friends during all the months that the pregnancy will last.
- Healthy lifestyle. Playing sports is always very healthy, even for pregnant women. Therefore, maintaining an active life will facilitate breathing, personally and for the baby, as well as heart rate during pregnancy.
Types of sports allowed for pregnant women
Therefore, playing sports is always positive, starting from the basis that it is always done in moderation and never abused. The most important basis is to be clear about our limits, and never exceed them both in weight load and in the frequency of the exercises to be performed. For this reason, experts do not recommend carrying out work sessions that exceed two hours or starting at maximum intensity directly. Gradual work that increases the load and the pulsations in a calm way is especially recommended. And paused to avoid any type of physical discomfort that can be reproduced during sports practice. Breathing and hydration before, during and after exercising is also of vital importance, not only for health issues but to increase performance and meet the goals that we have set for ourselves even during the pregnancy phase. In addition, we must not forget the growth that we can experience in the belly throughout the months of fertilization and, therefore, the exercises must be varied and special attention must be paid to the entire area of the abdominal wall.
Based on these circumstances, and always taking into account all these factors, one of the most recommended sports for pregnant women is none other than going for a walk. Walking for 20 or 30 minutes has enormous benefits. The first, obviously, is that it does not require a great physical condition. In addition, it can be combined with any type of daily activity. We are going to buy bread and we can take a walk for half an hour that will allow us to do some sport. If we want something more intense we can also choose to go for a run, a good activity to meet people. However, this type of sport is only allowed during the first months of pregnancy since as the belly grows, the options for running will be drastically reduced. Therefore, it is a type of activity that has an expiration date for us. Swimming is also one of our options. It is a really recommended toning activity for the muscles, and it is also really healthy because it does not have any type of impact or possible problem with our physique. In addition, we will also find some type of directed aqua-gym activity if we do not want to do it on our own.
Along the same lines, we will also have the bicycle, although for safety, it is more advisable to do spinning. Its position is fixed and we do not run the risk of falling and putting our baby’s life at risk. We insist that hydration in all these activities is of vital importance because otherwise we can run health risks. If, on the other hand, we want more relaxing activities, we can opt for yoga or tai-chi. It is a mix between meditation and sport that will help our toning, as well as improve the mobility and flexibility of our different muscle groups. In the advanced stages of pregnancy they are really recommended. Playing sports when we are pregnant will give us a dose of vitality that will allow us to make this long exciting stage before becoming mothers more bearable. It will also keep us motivated and, obviously, use it as a link to have some social life during the first part of this stage that will last approximately nine months before reaching the birth.
