**blog originally written by Tracy Abney, owner of RCD, in 2017 and posted on her prior blog. Copied with author permission.***
“I ain’t worried doing me tonight.
A little sweat ain’t never hurt nobody.
Don’t just stand there on the wall,
everybody just move your body.”
-Beyonce, Move Your Body
I love working out. It’s the number one thing I missed most post-foot and knee surgery, and one of the reasons I was determined to modify things to somehow work it in. I wanted to move my body. Moving my body helps me stay healthy and happy. It helps me process my thoughts, and it’s sometimes a type of therapy. (Hmmm, I love hiking therapy the best, in case you wanted to know.)
Thankfully, I’ve been able to find movement that I love AND that I can easily modify for my body’s particular injuries. (I’m also super fortunate to be able to instruct others in that, too!) Yes, I said “thankfully.” And I’ll add a “praise Jesus and Amen.”
I know. I know. I would’ve been annoyed by me and that statement years ago, too. But, friends, there’s something special that comes from not just pushing yourself and but from moving your body. Yes, the endorphins are great, and I have a sense of pride in my accomplishments, but I also enjoy a sense of self-care from taking care of my body. I’ve had to change my goals and my views of accomplishment from time to time, like after foot surgery, but it’s always there, no matter how big or small. And, y’all, it’s such a gift.
So, taking that knowledge about me, it’s no surprise that I am a firm believer in staying active during your pregnancy if possible. It isn’t just about the endorphins, or a sense of accomplishment, or even the therapy. There’s so much more. But, more on that in a bit.
For a while, pregnant people were told that exercise can lead to pre-term labor. A lot of pregnant people were even told to stop working out altogether, not based on their personal circumstances, across the board. You certainly weren’t supposed to add anything new. So, sucks to be you if you didn’t think to start working out BEFORE you got pregnant because you certainly can’t start now.
The good news is, we know better now. This systematic review says, “Aerobic exercise for 35-90 minutes 3-4 times per week during pregnancy can be safely performed by normal-weight women with singleton, uncomplicated gestations because this is not associated with an increased risk of preterm birth or with a reduction in mean gestational age at delivery”.
There’s been more time to study exercise and pregnancy and what we know now is that exercising is not just ok, it’s good for you. You can even start during pregnancy. (ACOG recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic workout. If you are just starting, they recommend starting with 5 minutes a day, then increasing that by 5 minutes every week, until you can stay active up to 30 minutes a day.)
Here’s why it is beneficial, (check out this list according to ACOG):
- less back pain
- keeps your bowel movements regular
- may reduce risk of gestational diabetes
- may reduce risk of preeclampsia
- may reduce risk of cesarean delivery
- helps promote healthy weight gain
- helps you lose the weight after baby is born
- helps with overall health-fitness, circulation, strengthen’s your heart, etc
Mayo Clinic also adds:
- reduces swelling
- helps you sleep better
- improves mood
These are all good reasons to move your booty. Bu, y’all, let’s just stop here and talk for a hot second about that underlined, in italics, bolded one there. May reduce the risk of cesarean delivery. (Reducing the risk of cesarean is a big deal in my world, I don’t know about yours. Well, maybe I do. I’m guessing it’s a big deal in yours, too.) In this study they found “Women in exercise groups had a significantly lower risk of cesarean delivery.” Significantly.
That right there is enough for me to sign up for a gym membership, or even just stick in my sweatin’ to the oldies VHS if I was pregnant.
Does it shorten labor? Well, some studies say it does. It would make sense. If we’ve prepped our body to do something physically hard it would be easier and faster than if we went into that hard work without training. Using a marathon for analogy, you could probably walk a marathon with little to no training, but you’d probably be a lot faster if you ran and prepared and trained beforehand.
What’s your experience been with staying active during pregnancy? Did you find it helpful? What types of activity did you do? Let us know in the comments.
sources to check out:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3563105/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24631706
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27319364
https://www.acog.org/Patients/FAQs/Exercise-During-Pregnancy#pregnancy
***If you’re interested in group classes for movement during pregnancy, check out Fit4Mom in Madison.
****Disclaimer*** I’m not a doctor. I am not giving you medical advice. You make your own decisions. Always ask your doctor before starting an exercise program, etc. There are reasons and indications to not exercise during pregnancy. Check out ACOG’s list for those here.
