Exercising is a simple way to ease your pregnancy struggles and help to prepare your body for delivery. Cardio workouts have great advantages for your pregnancy. It helps to boost your energy levels, make you feel positive and relieve pains and aches which are a common complain during pregnancy.
If you are someone who never exercised before pregnancy, begin at a slower pace but do follow a simple workout routine. Make it a goal to workout thrice in a week for half an hour for each session. Pro individuals can carry on the way they exercised before but avoid vigorous workouts. Make sure you consult your doctor before you start off with any exercise in your pregnancy phase.
Here are some helpful cardio exercises that you can do during your pregnancy:
1. Swimming
Swimming is one of the most recommended exercises for expecting mothers. The reason is that you only weigh one tenth of your actual weight in water. Swimming helps to boost your flexibility and power. Swimming cools your body while other exercises overheat your body. Swelling of feet and legs is a common problem during pregnancy and swimming helps to reduce swelling.
2. Walking
If you find other exercise tough, then walking is a great option. 20 minutes of walking is good enough for a day. You can even listen to your favorite songs during this time. a good way to do it is by starting with a 5 minute brisk walk but do not exert yourself. Then slow down and walk at a slow pace for another five minutes. Next, do the brisk walking again for five minute and then walk at a slow pace for yet another five minutes. Make sure you do your stretching exercise at the end of your walking session.
3. Climbing Stairs
Climbing steps is yet another simple exercise that can have great positive effects without causing any problems in your pregnancy. You can keep this in mind while coming back home or going to your office or any other place that has stairs. Make sure you climb the stairs at a slow pace. Think about the number of steps you want to climb every day. You can increase that number gradually and do wear comfortable shoes. Also, do not talk on your mobile phone while climbing stairs.
4. Low Impact Aerobics
Low impact aerobics can be of great help during pregnancy. Low impact aerobics does not include kickboxing, running at fast pace and jumping. Whenever you perform the exercises, remember to keep one of your feet on the ground. It is also a good idea to keep your water bottle near you to prevent dehydration. Do not forget to eat properly before working out and also rest for a while.
5. Recumbent Bike
It is completely safe to exercise on a recumbent bike during pregnancy. However, it is not a good idea to overdo it. A great way of doing it is by warming up for five minutes at a speed you are comfortable with. Then increase your speed for the next three minutes. Now, lower your speed for the next three minutes. This ends one set. Depending on your comfort level, you can do three to six sets. At the end of your exercise session, do some stretching exercises.
