Fit for Two: Awesome Benefits of Exercising During Pregnancy
We already know that exercise is good for us, and we know that it’s good for not only us, but also our developing baby during pregnancy.
But what are these awesome benefits you ask?
It decreases nausea, heartburn, constipation, indigestion, swelling and varicose veins . Increasing circulation and digestion helps to reduce these not so fun side effects of pregnancy! I know you might be thinking, “but I feel too sick/tired/insert awful feeling here to work out in the first place!” Totally understandable. And I’m also telling you to just start a workout and see how you feel! Maybe you set a timer for 3 minutes and commit to exercising for just those 3 minutes. Or maybe it’s 5. Or 10. If you still feel crappy after your time is up, then give yourself permission to stop. If you start to feel like you can do more, then keep going! It’ll be SO worth it, I promise!
It minimizes excess weight gain. I say this with a grain of salt because I’m a firm believer that if you are eating healthy and exercising regularly, that the weight you do put on is just what your body is going to do and what it needs for a healthy pregnancy. Note what I said about diet and movement though. If you are doing your best to continue those, then you will still gain less weight than if you didn’t! Which will make your recovery easier and decrease the risk of pain and injuries during pregnancy.
It decreases risk of gestational diabetes. Gestational Diabetes is when women develop high blood sugar during pregnancy. In addition to increasing the mother’s risk of developing diabetes post pregnancy, it also creates additional risks for your baby. It can cause your baby to put on extra weight, particularly in their upper body. Your baby is also more likely to be overweight or obese as children and more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes as an adult. Research has shown that women who participated in recreational activity within their first 20 weeks of pregnancy, cut their risk of developing gestational diabetes by almost half!
It helps prevent pregnancy pains and injuries. If you are pregnant or you’ve been pregnant, you know that the body undergoes tremendous physical and physiological changes that put a lot of stress and strain on your body. Injuries such as low back pain, diastasis recti, pelvic floor dysfunction, sacroiliac joint pain and more can occur as a result, and proper exercise can dramatically reduce the risk of getting nearly all of these. Win!
It decreases the risk of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure (Hypertension). High blood pressure during pregnancy can become dangerous if it develops into preeclampsia (high blood pressure plus protein in the urine which can warrant immediate delivery of your baby). Regular exercise helps keep your blood pressure down.
It improves energy, mood, stress, anxiety, self-esteem and sleep. Between hormones and body changes, pregnancy is a wild ride that is not always the most enjoyable. All the change (and impending change) can be a LOT to handle and process. Exercise releases feel good endorphins, which decrease negative emotions, directly improving your sleep. If you’ve ever laid awake during pregnancy with lists and worries running through your mind, you know what I mean!
It makes labor easier. Labor is a marathon (and sometimes a sprint!). It requires some serious endurance, which means the more cardio-fit you are, the better your body will handle it. One large study found the following benefits from weight-bearing exercise performed throughout pregnancy (Clapp, 1998):
▪ 75% reduction in maternal exhaustion
▪ 75% reduction in need for forceps or C-section
▪ 50% decrease in need for oxytocin
▪ 50% decrease in need for medical intervention due to fetal heart-rate abnormalities
▪ 30% reduction in the duration of the active labor phase
It speeds postpartum recovery and return time to pre-pregnancy fitness levels.
▪ Exercise has been shown to facilitate a return to Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) 40% faster following labor (Clapp, 1998) with less discomfort from the physical demands of motherhood
▪ Longer term studies showed that 1 year after delivery, 75% of women who exercised regularly during their pregnancies had returned to their pre-pregnancy fitness levels vs. only 30% of women who did not exercise regularly (Clapp, 2002).
Now for all the baby benefits of exercise during pregnancy! Remember this is Fit for 2, not for one. ;-)
Improves placental function. That means higher rate of uterine blood flow, oxygen and nutrients delivered to your babe! (Clapp, 1998; Wolfe, Brenner, & Mettola, 1994)
Improves baby’s ability to manage stress of labor & delivery and recover more quickly. Pretty self-explanatory. (Hall & Kaufman, 1986)
Improves baby’s health at birth. Higher APGAR scores and lowered risk of premature or low birth-weight babies. (Berkowitz et al., 1983)
Improves cardiorespiratory health of babies even into childhood years. Exercise has been shown to decrease the risk of congenital heart defects, which is one of the most common birth defects (Reynolds, 2015), as well as improving overall cardiorespiratory health. (Clapp & Little, 1995)
Reduces risk of being overweight or obese as children. Children of exercising mothers maintained lower body fat and weight than those of mothers who don’t exercise during pregnancy. (Moyer, Reoyo, & May, 2016)
May improve intelligence and memory. Longer-term studies have shown that babies born to mothers who exercised during pregnancy scored higher on general intelligence, memory tests, and oral language tests than children of non-exercising mothers -- even when factoring out parental weight, height, education, socioeconomic status and several other factors that could influence a child’s development (Reynolds, 2013).
Basically, working out during your pregnancy gives not only you a much better pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience, but it has a LIFETIME affect on your child.
So, what are you waiting for? Get moving! :)
