Seven Essential Pregnancy Fitness Tips For A Happier Healthier Body
Following on from yesterday’s post; 10 Top Safe Healthy Fitness Tips For Pregnant Women in Trimester One today here are my seven essential healthy fitness tips for pregnant women in Trimester Two.
You may feel like you’ve come out the other side as you go into trimester two, we could almost call it the ‘honeymoon phase’ of your pregnancy!
By now, at 13 weeks, many women find the second trimester easier than the first. Morning sickness and nausea may now subside and feeling less tired, you may even get a new surge of energy.
Yet trimester two sees some new, more noticeable changes occurring to your body. Probably one of your key observations is the fact that you are now developing a true bump as your abdomen and uterus start to expand whilst the baby continues to grow.
Did you know? At 16 weeks your baby is the size of an avocado and by the end of the 2nd Trimester (23 weeks) about the size of a large mango!
You’ll also feel some aches and pains and notice, a ‘line’ start to develop down your abdomen. Hormonal and postural changes are all occurring so now is a key time to look at a health and fitness plan, call it your ‘pregnancy body project’! It’s also a great time to exercise which will further increase your energy levels and the right kind can improve back ache. Even though you may be feeling a lot better, don’t go over-board, try to get in tune with your body..
Pregnancy Fitness Tip; sit on a fitness ball with good posture to strengthen your back.
#Tip 1: Strengthen Your Back
Believe it or not the right kind of exercise can do wonders for back ache. Back strengthening exercises that are appropriate for pregnancy can do wonders for backache. The large fitness or Swiss ball is one of my favourite pregnancy fitness tools to improve your core and the muscles in your back. The ball is an unstable ‘wobbly’ surface, and when you sit on it, your body has to draw on the deeper, inner muscles of your core, technically known as the transversus abdominis, to remain stable. Simply sitting on the ball means these muscles engage. By then performing exercises whilst on the ball or incorporating the ball, your body calls more on your core than if you were just on a more stable surface such as the floor. Therefore you strengthen your deeper muscles more effectively, which in turn strengthens your back.
A simple exercise to relieve backache:
- Kneel upright with your ball in front of you and your hands resting on top of the ball.
- Breathe in and breathe out whilst rolling the ball away about half a metre and bringing your back down to a flat position forming a right angle with your legs. Your arms are now outstretched and your hands are still on the ball. Breath in and feel the stretch, you should feel your upper back flattening.
- Breathe out and curl your lower back upwards, drawing your belly button (navel) up and tucking your bottom under, hold this for 23 seconds continuing to breathe. Relax and then roll the ball back to the start position.
#Tip 2: Self Correct Your Posture
During pregnancy your posture changes. Typically, your shoulders ‘round’, and your lower back can change shape and appearance by either slightly flattening or progressively arching. Your pelvis usually tilts forwards although in some women it may tilt backwards, in both cases this causes muscles to be misaligned and imbalanced which leads to tightness and achiness in your back and hamstrings (backs of your thighs). Taking just 5 minutes a day to correct your posture gets you a fitter body that moves better and is in less pain, which is why it is one of my ‘fit tips’. Posture correction during pregnancy realigns the position of your pelvis to counteract the hormonal effects and the excess weight you are carrying out in front.
How to correct your posture:
1. Straighten your feet so your toes are in line with your heels.
2. Keep your knees straight and shift your weight back into your heels so your toes feel light.
3. Draw your belly button in towards the parallel point of your lower back and relax your ribs. Keep your ribs over your hips.
4. Squeeze your shoulder blades and lift your chin so your eyes are looking straight forward.
#Tip 3: Mind the Gap
Or rather; watch out for abdominal separation, which usually occurs during the last half of the second trimester! Technically known as Diastasis Recti this is a spreading of the right and left ‘rectus abdominus’ muscles (known as the ‘six pack’) at the midline. This midline is the Linea Alba, where you see a brown line developing. It is covered by connective tissue. The uterus pushing against the abdominal wall causes the separation and the pregnancy hormones softening the connective tissue, causing it to stretch, become thinner and weaken. If your gap is wider than 2.5 fingers or 2cm and if it is not addressed with the right exercises and nutrition, the separation causes lower back pain, hip pain and a weaker pelvic floor which doesn’t do it’s job. Ask a women’s health physiotherapist or pregnancy fitness specialist to check your muscles and perform standing pelvic tilts and good postural habits to help minimize the separation.
#Tip 4: Use it, don’t lose it!
We’re talking the pelvic floor here. Your growing foetus puts pressure on the pelvic floor muscles that support your uterus and bowel. When coughing or sneezing you may experience embarrassing little ‘leaks’. Pelvic floor exercises can stop this happening.
Here’s how to do a basic ‘Kegel’ to start.
1. Tighten the muscles you would use if you were trying to stop urinary flow or draw up the muscles between the legs. Keep your bottom muscles relaxed.
2. Hold for the count of 5, relax for another count of 5. Repeat this 20 times daily.
You can perform these standing, seated or lying on your back with your knees bent (during trimester one and two, avoid lying on your back after trimester 3). Once you have mastered these it’s important to move on to more dynamic movement based pelvic floor exercises such as squats and lunges where your body very effectively engages the pelvic floor muscle and your core.
#Tip 5: Weight Gain Check
Pregnancy weight gain comes from the baby, the placenta and amniotic fluid along with maternal stores of fat, protein and other nutrients, growing breasts and the uterus. It’s good to keep your weight in check without getting obsessed and aim for a healthy weight gain which is safe and won’t cause strain on your joints or health. If you felt like you were in shape and at a healthy weight prior to your pregnancy, then a healthy weight gain would be one pound a week during trimesters two and three, with a total weight gain of about 25 to 35 pounds or 11.5 kg to 16 kg. If you are underweight prior to pregnancy then aim for slightly more than one pound a week of weight gain. If you are overweight prior to pregnancy and during, aim for just under a pound of weight gain a week.
#Tip 6: Water and Fibre to Avoid Constipation
Constipation can be quite common during trimester two as there may be higher levels of hormones flowing into your body which slow your digestion and relax muscles in the bowels. Drink plenty of water, 8 large glasses a day, and eat fibre friendly foods. Add berries or a slice of orange, apple or lemon to your water and go for wholegrain varieties of carbohydrates and plenty of fresh green leafy vegetables in particular, these tend to be richer in fibre than root vegetables. Choose from kale, spinach, broccoli and then salad items such as watercress and rocket.
#Tip 7: Ease Anxiety
It is natural to have feelings of anxiety and stress during your pregnancy especially if you have other children or are working. Acupuncture treatment can be ideal for easing anxiety, stress as well as treating other pregnancy aliments such as tiredness, constipation, migraines, back ache, pelvic pain (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) and varicose veins.
Pregnant and want to get into shape with the right kind of exercises and instruction so you feel fit to deliver your baby and stay toned during your pregnancy? Vicky Warr is founder and master trainer of TheBeezKneez providing safe, effective pregnancy fitness classes in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK. Check out the timetable by clicking here.
She is also founder and CEO of online postnatal fit club, TheBeezKneez Hive which gets new mothers back into amazing shape and into their jeans post pregnancy. She is pregnancy and postnatal fitness specialist consultant to Mothercare and gurgle.com.
Do you know someone who has just had a baby and wants to get their body back, tone their tummy and feel more body confident? Are they short on time and need bite-sized workouts that fit into their busy life as a new mother?
Preview 2 minute postnatal workouts at by clicking here.
