Pregnancy, for any woman, is a unique experience. It changes your life entirely adding more priorities to your already hectic life. However, it gets extremely necessary that you learn everything about pregnancy and how your body changes to have a healthy and safe pregnancy. One of the main questions most women have is whether they should continue with their health routines or not. Here, in this article you will get the answer to this question and also how simple and small workouts help you throughout the 9 months and after that.

Workouts are absolutely safe for you and your baby during the pregnancy. However, you should be careful that you follow simple and very small schedules, without adding strain to your health. Here are a few basic tips to help you fit throughout your pregnancy.

During Pregnancy

Pregnancy, for every woman is a completely different experience. It can be absolutely smooth for some, while for many others, a rough experience with excessive morning sickness, nausea and more. Hence, before you start with workouts, make sure you consult your doctor whether or not you should follow small workouts.

During the First Trimester, you can continue with your regular workouts, only if you have a normal pregnancy without any complications. Small workout sessions during this trimester will help maintain the blood flow in the body, and particularly to the growing fetus. However, make sure you ask your doctor about your maximum heart-rate. According to the old rules, 140BPM was the maximum for women. However, today doctors believe that every woman has a different cardio-vascular fitness level which further determines her maximum heart rate during pregnancy.

Remember, never exercise too much or let your heart-rate go too high.

• For your changing body, find a simple cardio equipment that adjusts according to your exercising needs. As your pregnancy progresses, you will find it more comfortable to do stationary exercises like stationary bike or a spin bike.
• Exercises that strengthen your arms and muscles prove to be extremely helpful, once your baby arrives. Lifting the baby, carrying him all across the house, etc. gets much easier when you have well-toned and strong arms. However, it is best if you listen to your body first and only then take the decision to follow these muscle toning exercises.
• Note: Some women have low hemoglobin in their blood or have anemia which makes them feel tired all through the pregnancy. In such conditions, exercising is not at all a good idea as it decreases the blood flow to the growing fetus.
• Stop crunches and ad exercises during the pregnancy. Instead, you can do plank and the modified plank position in the first few months to strengthen your abs. Follow light workouts by drawing the abs slowly during the spring and weight work. But, as you start growing big, these exercises should also be stopped.
• Squats are a good idea during pregnancy. You can simply place the ball on the wall against your back and perform the exercise. This will protect your lower back during pregnancy.

After Pregnancy

Once you have delivered your baby, through a caesarean operation or a normal delivery, things don’t stay the same for your body. Too much bleeding, pain due to stitches, lower back pain, tiredness, etc. are just a few of the conditions you may suffer from initially. Hence, it is essential that you consult your doctor before you start with basic exercises after pregnancy.

When you start your workouts, make sure you stay consistent and don’t miss your workout schedule.

• Start with Circuits after your pregnancy. This is one of the best ways to burn your calories. A simple 10min circuit includes everything from cardio, squats, abs, lunges, and also weights (upper body). Within 10 min. every muscle of your body gets stretched.
• Losing weight after pregnancy takes time. So, be patient and be consistent in your workouts. Remember, if you start working out more, your body fat that gets converted into milk will also be affected resulting to less milk for your baby.
• Instead of planning big goals, make small achievable goals and work hard to achieve them. You will not get enough time to do the things that you did prior to your pregnancy.
• Try walking around with your baby in parks and gardens. Take your baby on walks for 10 to 15 min. daily. This is a great way to lose weight and also make your baby enjoy some open breeze.
• After pregnancy, one of the biggest problems that every mom faces is time management. Thus, if you can’t manage to work out at a stretch, you can break-up your workout schedule as per your free time.