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Home arrow Pregnancy Exercise arrow Aerobic Exercise Guidelines For Pregnant Moms
Aerobic Exercise Guidelines For Pregnant Moms PDF Print E-mail
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Low impact aerobic exercises are a great way for pregnant women to tone and strengthen their muscles and to get in shape. Aerobic exercises can be enjoyed by most pregnant women, regardless if they have had previous exercise experience or not.

What are the benefits of aerobic exercise?

Aerobic exercises have many benefits such as:

-It strengthens your lungs and heart
-It maintains muscle tone
-It gives you energy
-It stimulates your mind and body
-It reduces stress

How should I engage in aerobic exercise?

You can purchase a video specifically designed for pregnant woman, so you can do the exercise at home. You could also sign up for a prenatal aerobics class. Many pregnant women enjoy going to a class as they get to learn from a qualified instructor and can meet fellow expecting mothers.

If you are already in an aerobics class, talk to your instructor and ask his/her opinion about different, or modified movements you can do to accommodate your pregnancy.

You shouldn’t attempt to do aerobics on your own without proper instruction. You can risk injuring yourself or your baby.

When you are doing aerobic exercises make sure you are always monitoring your heart rate. It shouldn’t exceed more than 140 bpm.

Make sure you are well hydrated and are drinking plenty of water before, during and after exercising.

As you progress in your pregnancy and your growing belly causes your center of gravity to change, you may find some of the exercises difficult to do. Don’t worry about this. Simply march in place to keep your heart rate up and wait until you can do the next movement. Never push your body to do a movement you’re not sure you can handle. It’s not worth risking injury to you or your baby.

How long should I do aerobic exercise?

You can do aerobic exercises for 20 – 30 minutes, essentially for however long your video tape or prenatal class is. Of course, if you feel exhausted, or are not feeling up to doing all of the moves, you can stop whenever you think it’s time. Remember, listen to your body.

Is there anything I should be aware of?

You need to make sure that you are only taking part in low impact aerobics. You should avoid exercises that require bending over, turning, spinning, or other movements that can make you dizzy or cause you to lose balance.

You also need to make sure that you don't overheat. If you become exhausted or overheated you need to slow your level of exercise or stop.

You should stop aerobic exercises if you experience any symptoms such as dizziness, blurred vision, fainting, or vaginal bleeding. If you have any of these symptoms, contact your health care provider immediately!
 
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