If your are active during pregnancy, it will be very good for you to coping with shape changes and weight gains. It will also help you to cope with labour and to get back into shape after the birth.
To keep active during pregnancy you should continue your daily life activity and exercise. Just stop very hard physical work out or activity. In general do not exhaust your self, you should be able to hold a conversation as you exercise. If you become breathless as you talk, then you are probably exercising too strenuously.
If you were inactive before pregnancy then do not suddenly take up strenuous exercise. Start with 15 minutes aerobic exercise programme, three times per week. Increase this gradually to a maximum of 30-minute, four times a week. It is always better to consult an expert.
Exercises to avoid during pregnancy
- Lying flat on your back – particularly after 16 weeks. The ‘bump’ presses on the big blood vessels and can make you feel faint.
- Contact sports where there is a risk of being hit, such as kickboxing, judo or squash.
- Horse riding, downhill skiing, ice hockey, gymnastics and cycling, because there is a risk of falling.
- Scuba diving, because the baby has no protection against decompression sickness and gas embolism.
- Exercising at heights over 2,500 metres until you have acclimatised. This is because you and your baby are at risk of acute mountain sickness (decrease in oxygen).