Five tips for exercising while you’re pregnant

If you’re a gym bunny, yoga guru or running addict, chances are you’ll want to keep up some sort of fitness regime into your pregnancy. But it’s important your routine is bump-friendly. We‘ve got five tips for exercising while you’re pregnant, from London PT Emma Pollard (emmapollardfitness@gmail.com)

1. Keep it up, but take it easy

Pregnancy isn’t the time to take on a tough new fitness challenge, but if you’re fit you should be able to keep up a reasonable routine. ‘If your body is used to exercise it is more than likely that you are safe to continue what you are doing,’ says Emma. ‘However you may need to make some modifications to your workout, perhaps by decreasing the length of your session or choosing to use lighter weights, in order to lower its intensity. In the later stages of the pregnancy further changes will need to be made to accommodate the changes in the body and to protect the growing baby, for example after the first trimester any exercises that involves lying on your back should be avoided.’

2. Avoid jerking around

Try to do activities that don’t involve too much dashing around and things that don’t risk you falling over – contact sports are out! ‘You can still play some sports however it is best to avoid anything that involves jerky movements such as tennis or squash; has an increased risk of you falling over, like horse-riding; or runs the risk of you getting hit anywhere near the stomach such as football,’ says Emma.

3. Listen to your body

Take things at your own pace. ‘When exercise becomes too difficult or uncomfortable it may be time to slow things down or stop,’ says Emma. ‘However for some mums-to-be lower impact exercise, such as walking, can be carried out right up until the birth.’ It’s important not to over do it and to stay in your comfort zone.

4. Stay safe

Light exercise is the key to exercise success when pregnant. ‘Brisk walking and swimming are the safest forms of exercise for mums-to-be, offering a full-body workout and improving cardiovascular fitness,’ says Emma. ‘Pregnancy yoga is also a great way to keep the body toned and flexible without any harmful impact on the joints.’

5. Make sure you’re comfortable

Appropriate clothing is essential to make sure you feel comfortable. ‘During pregnancy it is important to wear a maternity bra that offers you suitable support and stretchy vests that work with your bump,’ says Emma. ‘Maternityfitwear.com is a great website with a huge range of fitness clothing for pregnant women.’