Shine OnThe dos and don'ts of exercising while pregnant
As if it’s not challenging enough to complete the Boston Marathon, a woman named Amy Keil drew attention this year for crossing the finish line while seven-and-a-half months pregnant.
According to the Daily Beast, Keil, who’s from Minneapolis, Minn. ran the 26.2-mile course in four hours and 19 minutes.
While some people may think running a marathon at such a late stage of pregnancy may not be smart (a lot of people would say it’s insane to take on even if you aren’t expecting), it isn’t necessarily unsafe. It is, however, probably safe to assume that Keil is a long-time runner who trained throughout her pregnancy and knew her limitations and capabilities.
What isn’t safe is to suddenly take up strenuous exercise if you weren’t physically active before getting pregnant. Pregnancy is about maintaining most fitness routines, not ramping them up. In other words, if you’ve never run a marathon before, now is not the time to start training for one.
Any progression is best timed for the second trimester, when the risks and discomforts of pregnancy are lowest. Previously sedentary women embarking on an aerobic exercise program should begin with 15 minutes of continuous exercise three times a week, increasing gradually to 30-minute sessions four times a week, according to the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.
Some other pregnancy don’ts:
Don’t exercise flat on your back, especially after 16 weeks. Doing so can put excessive pressure on a major vein called the vena cava, which returns deoxygenated blood back to the heart, and could reduce blood flow to your heart and your brain. “This can make you feel light-headed and nauseous,” says Melanie Osmack, founder of Fit for Two Pre and Post Natal Fitness.
Don’t do abdominal crunches if you have diastasis recti, or abdominal separation. Diastasis recti can result in back pain, pelvic pain, or pelvic-floor dysfunction but can usually be rehabilitated after birth.
You’ll also want to avoid front planks or V-sits. “Avoid exercises that put strain on your rectus abdominis—the ‘six-pack’ muscles—as this can make the separation worse,” Osmack says.
Don’t do contact sports or activities that may throw you off balance. You might love horseback riding, downhill skiing, mountain biking, or playing hockey, but these aren’t considered safe during pregnancy.
Don’t overheat. “No more hot yoga,” Osmack says, noting that during pregnancy, overheating is a teratogen, an agent that can disturb the development of an embryo or fetus and can cause neural-tube defects during embryonic development. “It can also make you feel light-headed and nauseous.”
Don’t do high-intensity cardio intervals. “Rather, choose an intensity where you feel like you’re working out, but you can still talk,” Osmack says. “On a scale of 1 to 10, that will feel like a six or seven.”
Don’t skip a proper warm-up and cool-down. These often get shirked, with people barely having enough time to fit in a workout. They should never be missed, especially during pregnancy.
A gentle warm-up prepares your muscles, joints, and brain for exercise and increases your heart rate up slowly. If you start exercising without it, you could strain muscles and wind up with post-workout pain. A cool-down, meanwhile, gradually brings the heart rate back down to its normal level.
Don’t overstretch afterward. After cooling down, it’s important to gently stretch all major muscle groups. You don’t want to overdo it, though, because of increased joint laxity. Pregnancy increases levels of the hormone relaxin, which reduces the ligaments' abilities to stabilize joints. Overstretching muscles surrounding unstable joints can result in injury.
Don’t ignore warning signs that you should stop exercising and get medical attention. These include excessive shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness or faintness, frequent and painful uterine contractions, vaginal bleeding, and any gush of fluid from the vagina (which could be premature rupture of membranes).
