Your Pregnancy Fitness Journey

Until relatively recently, it was very much discouraged to take part in exercise during pregnancy and in the initial stages post-birth. Thankfully, research has evolved and we are now uncovering the real benefits of exercise pre-, during and post-pregnancy.

If you are planning on trying for a baby in the near future, it’s beneficial to be in the best possible physical condition. Regular exercise can offer several benefits to women trying to conceive, such as improving hormone balance, increasing blood flow to reproductive organs and managing stress. It also helps maintain a healthy weight, which is crucial for fertility, and can lead to more regular menstrual cycles and improved ovulation. For some women (particularly those with PCOS) exercise can also improve insulin sensitivity.

Now imagine you have finally had that dream positive pregnancy test… you are excited but also nervous and keen to do whatever is best for your baby. It can be tempting to reduce physical exercise in fear of harming yourself and your unborn child, but provided it is done in a safe environment, there are many benefits to maintaining your exercise routine throughout pregnancy. These include reducing your risk of hypertension, lowering gestational weight gain, improving sleep and mood, and improving posture, resulting in reduced back pain (to name a few).

Obviously, each trimester comes with different symptoms, and these can vary greatly from woman to woman, but provided you consult with an exercise specialist these can easily be managed and exercises adapted accordingly. The later on in pregnancy you can continue to exercise, the faster you will bounce back after giving birth — trust me, I have seen it time and time again with clients!

Once you have received your postnatal go-ahead from a medical professional to return to exercise (normally around 6 weeks for a vaginal birth and between 8 and 12 weeks for a C-section), it’s time to get back to it! Exercise has been proven to aid in faster postnatal recovery and speed up the return to normal weight. It can also help to strengthen and tone the abdominal muscles and slow bone loss during lactation, not to mention relieving stress and improving mood, sleep and energy levels. It also helps provide functional fitness for the role of motherhood, improves self-image and may reduce the risk of postnatal depression.

This is still relatively new knowledge and you may find friends or family members of a certain generation are wary of the concept. Try to be understanding and realise that they may have been given very different advice, but stick to your guns.

It’s your body and your choice, and ultimately it’s you who will reap either the consequences or the benefits in the end.