What are the benefits of exercising when you are pregnant? Sport and pregnancy form a winning duo. Physical activity is the guarantor of the good development of the baby. In general, the practice of a sport at moderate intensity during the pregnancy, is without risk in the pregnant woman in good health, and the sport can be practiced until term if the pregnancy goes well. a sport during pregnancy, and for recovery after childbirth, always ask your doctor or midwife for advice.

If you are in good health and the pregnancy is going well, get active to avoid or alleviate certain pregnancy ailments. Go for a walk, take a 30-minute walk to breathe better and get oxygen. It’s good for you and for the baby.

The act of activating the blood circulation and providing oxygen is a great help in relieving nausea.

Exercises to relieve the ailments of pregnancy

At the beginning of pregnancy, we move less because fatigue is present. One becomes sedentary, causing unpleasant and harmful effects for the body. The muscles are less stressed, and appear: back pain, constipation, nausea, heavy legs, pregnancy sciatica, and sometimes gestational diabetes.

• Dos disease:

Sport strengthens the deep muscles of the back and abdominals. It prevents back pain during pregnancy. In addition, it allows you to learn to have a better posture during daily movements, and helps to better sit and lie down, to relieve the back.

Stretch your legs. In addition to improving blood circulation and preventing varicose veins, stretching the lower limbs relaxes and prevents back pain. The gripper posture is excellent. In addition to stretching, it detoxifies the body and boosts your immune system.

Gripper posture

Sitting on the floor or on a cushion, legs straight, feet apart according to the size of your belly. Hands resting next to your buttocks, back straight but not rigid. Inhale and, keeping your back straight, push up on your hands to the floor, then breathe out and tilt your upper body, chest forward.

Raise your toes towards your face to stretch your calves. Hold the position between 3 to 10 breathing cycles (inhale + exhale), breathing deeply and calmly. You can also bring a strap or a sling that you will pass under your feet. Catch the ends with your hands, and be held by the strap. It helps relax the back and arms. Tilt the bust from the lower abdomen enough to feel the stretch in the calves, back of the thighs and lower back.

• Nausea

Going for a walk will make you breathe easier. Bringing oxygen is a great way to relieve nausea. When your cardio-respiratory system is sped up a little bit, the nausea really goes down.

Swimming or exercise biking are also very good sports for relieving nausea.

• Heavy legs

Exercising during pregnancy prevents heavy legs. The lymphatic system passes through the ankles. Move your ankles when you feel a feeling of heaviness in your legs. This sensation occurs when you are sitting for too long, in transport, when you stand or step.

Easy exercises to relieve heavy legs:

1. Twist the ankles 10 times one way, then the other.
2. Standing, gently rock back and forth without shoes on. Go from toes to heels, then heels to toes. It activates blood circulation, relieves your legs and feet, and stimulates the underside of your feet with pressure. It is a pleasant movement that relaxes.
3. Stand near a wall to hold onto, tiptoe up, feel your calves contract, stay 10 to 15 seconds. Try to hold yourself as little as possible. Release, come back with your feet hip-width apart for 10 to 15 seconds. Then release one leg far behind you, resting the heel on the ground, the other leg slightly bent in front. Parallel feet. Maintain the stretch by keeping your back straight without tensing up.

• Constipation:

Constipation often appears early in pregnancy, and can last 9 months. Under the effect of hormones, transit slows down. Exercising during pregnancy helps reduce unpleasant symptoms and eliminate them more easily.

Exercise to relieve constipation when pregnant:

1. sitting on a cushion cross-legged, or legs stretched out, straighten up by leaning on the right hand that you have put behind your buttocks. Your left hand is on your right knee.
2. go in rotation to the right, from your perineum, your lower abdomen. You will first feel the movement in it at an angle, then towards your waist, and under your ribs.
3. still breathe deeply, then lean on your left hand to rotate your shoulders last. The rotational movement spins up, from your pelvis to the shoulders.
4. Keep your back straight, chin a little tucked in to keep the neck stretched in line with the spine. Your head can then slowly turn to the right.
5. Hold the posture for a few breaths.
6. Slowly come back to the center.

• Sciatica in pregnancy:

The sport adapted to the pregnant woman allows to have a better placement of the body to avoid sciatica. Sciatica in pregnancy is the result of a uterus that grows and pulls the lumbar vertebrae forward. It usually happens at the end of the second trimester, or even during the third.

Dr. Bernadette de Gasquet recommends that pregnant women stretch the muscles around the pelvis and lower back, to release tension, and to provide range of motion around this highly stressed area during pregnancy.

There are yoga postures to release the sciatic nerve while stretching the muscles of the hips and glutes.

The cow pose

It is the best anti-sciatica pregnancy position. Contraindicated in cases of real sciatica, with herniated disc and pinching of the root of the sciatic nerve.

• Get on all fours;
• bring your 2 knees together;
• pivot on the knees bringing your legs (shins) to the right. You should feel the stretch at the waist, without squeezing into yourself.
• cross the right leg over the left, then spread your feet outwards;
• sit between your feet.

Take it gradually and gently, breathing deeply to gently lower your buttocks to the floor. If you have trouble resting your two buttocks, place a cushion under your right buttock. You will do the opposite when you start over by changing the crossing of your legs, left to right. The cushion under the left buttock. Take the time to relax in the posture, you will feel that it becomes pleasant.

Pregnant sport suitable for pregnancy, 30 minutes 2 to 3 times a week, is ideal for avoiding or relieving all these ailments.

Exercising while pregnant prevents muscle wasting and helps you get back in shape more quickly after childbirth.

Build muscle and eliminate pregnancy cellulite

Building muscle or maintaining muscle mass creates a network of microvessels that supply blood to your muscle cells. This intramuscular blood circulation causes internal drainage which reduces the orange peel appearance. Also the fatty layer on toned muscles is less visible.

Manage weight gain during pregnancy, and regain weight after childbirth

Sport during pregnancy is your best ally to manage your weight gain, keep and quickly regain weight after childbirth.

Besides, if you had a few extra pounds before getting pregnant, exercising during pregnancy will help you lose them after the baby is born.

Move, dance, walk, swim, pedal at moderate intensity. It’s good for you, for keeping the figure and preventing cellulite. It is good for the good development of your baby in utéro, and for his stealth life, as I explain a little further down in this article.

Choose the sport that suits you best during your pregnancy.

Fatigue in early pregnancy is due to the increase in the level of progesterone in the blood, as well as the formation of the placenta, and the vital functions of the unborn baby. It makes you want to sleep.

Finding a balance between rest and sport

It is therefore important to find a balance between rest and sport. Move in moderation to chase fatigue and regain energy.

It is well known that sport increases energy and drives away fatigue. Indeed, pregnant sport improves blood circulation and breathing of the mother-to-be. She sees her cardiovascular and respiratory cardio conditions improving. So she has more endurance and is less tired.

Sport hormones to the rescue to ward off pregnancy fatigue

In addition, sport helps to secrete the hormones of well-being endorphins and dopamine. They help to drive away stress and fatigue, and regain energy.

• Endorphins are neurotransmitters similar in structure to morphine, they are a source of pleasure and a powerful pain reliever.
• Dopamine is the hormone of pleasure, and alertness. Thanks to it we feel less tired and more productive.

Prefer gentle sports at moderate intensity such as:

• walking;
• swimming;
• the exercise bike;
• prenatal yoga which is a good preparation for childbirth.

Avoid extreme sports, group, contact and risk of falls such as horse riding, mountain biking or climbing.

If you already play sports and want to continue, listen to yourself and avoid shocks. It is a matter of common sense. It may also be the opportunity to discover another sport, more suited to pregnancy.

If you are wondering about what sport to practice during pregnancy, ask your midwife or doctor for advice.

Sport will help you listen to your feelings so as not to strain. It will help you get to know your body better and manage your efforts. Listen to his reactions during your workouts when you are pregnant.

This will help you let go more easily during pregnancy and childbirth. To let go is to welcome, to accept what is, without judgment or criticism:

• accept the fact of breathing less well during your session while adapting to the effort;
• accept to feel certain muscular tensions;
• welcome pain;

This reception decreases the intensity of the pain. Resistance amplifies it.

The pregnant woman is like an athlete

Preparation for childbirth is:

1. physical preparation: breathing, strength, endurance, opening of the pelvis;
2. mental preparation: preparing psychologically for the physical effort of childbirth and the pain, in order to better accept and manage them.

Live your childbirth fully with serenity

Too often the pregnant woman is passive during childbirth. Sport will allow you to take charge of your childbirth, because it is yours, and it only happens once.

Sport during pregnancy will help you breathe better and oxygenate you better. A well oxygenated blood decreases the pain of contractions, and helps baby in the passage of your pelvis.

A sporty mom furture breathes better and is less stressed. She has a good posture and ample breathing which provides a relaxed tummy for her baby. Baby who is looking for his place, develops better and feels less stress from his mother in a relaxed tummy.

In addition, the future athletic mother knows how to avoid or calm contractions by good breathing and a good position. This will prevent the premature arrival of the baby, and allow a serene and easier delivery for you and him.

A sporty mother carries her child better, so she is fitter, more relaxed and more in harmony with her baby. She comes into contact with him more often, communicates with him more, during and after the pregnancy.

Baby has his preferences; he prefers you in certain positions. Listening to him allows you to relieve yourself, avoid medication or advice that is not suited to your situation.

Pregnancy, an apprenticeship for the mother and for the baby

“Pregnancy is a very good school for life”— Dr Bernadette de Gasquet

The athletic mother corrects her posture, develops self-confidence, autonomy, a better relationship with herself, a strong self-awareness, and constantly renewed, an inner strength and a fighting spirit to bring her baby into the world. This unborn baby carries her heritage and her experience of pregnancy. It is a legacy that she leaves to him, knowledge that she passes on to him.

Thanks to sport, she is more aware, and will know how to listen to her child to accompany him on his life path.

A gentle sport during this prenatal period should in any case be able to bring you. Whether you are serene or plagued by doubts, anxiety and the minor inconveniences of pregnancy, the sport you choose should be your ally.