Exercise is good for your physical and emotional well-being. When it comes to having a baby bump, you should never skip exercise. Staying fit and keeping your body in top shape should be one of your foremost priorities before and after pregnancy. Being fit enables you to easily go through the stages of pregnancy and cope with any complication you may encounter. Here is a tiny guide on the benefits of exercising before and after pregnancy.

Exercise before pregnancy

If you and your partner have decided to have a baby, there is a possibility that you might give up exercise. That is because you probably don’t know that working out and eating healthy can increase your chances of conceiving. Women who are overweight tend to suffer from the dilemma of infertility due to irregular menstrual periods, which disrupt the reproductive cycle. Once your body has gained healthy weight, there is the likelihood of your ovaries releasing an egg during ovulation every month. Therefore, you must exercise for about 30 or 60 minutes five days a week, so that you can maintain a healthy weight and give your libido an extra boost.

Exercise after pregnancy

After labour, most women struggle with the challenge of losing weight. During this period their biggest concern is usually how to get back in shape. It certainly was great fun flaunting that baby bump while it lasted. Unfortunately all you have left, after nine months, is nothing but flabby flesh. To get rid of it, all you need to do is to start exercising. Regular exercise will also help to improve cardiovascular fitness, fortify your core muscles, enhance energy levels, release stress, relieve depression and improve sleep.

If you’ve had a normal delivery, you can start exercising a few days after giving birth. However, if you’ve had a Caesarian Section or complicated birth, then you must ask your doctor for recommendations as to when to start. Since your body changes after giving birth, you should always start with low-impact exercises, which strengthen your abdominal and pelvic muscles.

You can begin by joining a local gym or a community centre for the purpose of working out regularly. You can also start going out on walks. Do this for about 30 minutes every day. If you’re fond of working out at home, you can try pelvic tilts, baby yoga poses, leg extensions and toe taps, etc, for starters. You can also try pelvic floor exercises where you sit on the floor and slightly bend forward with a straight back. Hold the position for about 8-10 seconds, then relax and repeat 12 times. Other than these, you can give a try to yoga, pilates, low-impact aerobics, cycling, or swimming.

Ihuoma Nwigwe
Website | + posts