Second trimester pregnancy workouts are very important especially if you must stay fit during the mid-point of your pregnancy. Thus, engaging in a second trimester pregnancy workout is really important.
To begin with, keeping in good shape during your pregnancy is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your baby. Engaging in exercise can help you gain the appropriate amount of weight that gets you ready for the rigors of childbirth. Also, it can help you feel and better.
With all of your body’s changes, you may be wondering what healthy exercise is like. Examples of likely thoughts that will probably run through your mind are:
- “to help myself and my baby, what sorts of workouts am I able to do?”
- “how much should you be doing?”
However, the good news is you don’t have to give up on most of the activities you enjoyed in your first trimester. This is as long as your pregnancy is healthy and you aren’t in danger of falling.
See, First Trimester Pregnancy Workouts – 2020 Update
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Second Trimester Pregnancy Workouts
A lot of activities are safe in moderation, as long as you and your baby are healthy. Therefore, you can carry out second trimester pregnancy workouts if you and your baby are healthy.
Furthermore, stay away from activities where you could easily take hard falls. Maybe you safely rode on a bike in the first trimester, but it may not be a risk to take now. However, if bike riding is an important part of your exercise routine, choose a stationary bike from here onwards.
Again, if you’re an avid skier, stick to the bunny slope, or change to cross-country. Anything that reduces potential oxygen flow, like scuba diving or activities at high elevation, isn’t safe for you.
Additionally, take a break from exercising if you:
- feel queasy
- get too hot
- feel dehydrated
- experience bleeding, vaginal discharge, or abdominal or pelvic pain
Always keep plenty of water closeby when you exercise. Additionally, there isn’t any recommendation for an ideal heart rate during a second trimester pregnancy workout. Thus, if you can’t carry on a normal conversation while you’re working out, you’re probably working out too hard.
Below are some second trimester pregnancy workouts:
Swimming and Water Aerobics
This is one of the best exercises you can add to second trimester pregnancy workouts. Water exercise is really helpful during pregnancy, if for no other reason than its little risk of a fall. The water is soothing and motion is low impact, and you can build strength and aerobic capacity at the same time. Make sure you focus on swim exercises that strengthen your core muscles without twisting your abdomen.
Furthermore, if you’re already exercising in the pool, continue. However, if you’re new to swimming, ask a swim coach or trainer at the pool where you swim to help you develop a safe routine.
In addition, you can engage in this second trimester pregnancy workout three to five times a week. Each session should be for half an hour per time.
Walking
Walking is a basic human activity and perfect for second trimester pregnancy workouts. Furthermore, numerous modern birthing centers allow mothers to walk in the hours and at times, even the moments that lead up to delivery.
Again, when you use your arms during walking, you build upper body strength and flexibility. Also, walking at a fast pace is a heart-healthy exercise.
Additionally, you can do it for thirty minutes daily, three to five times a week is a healthy walking schedule. However, if you’re not an exercise walker already, you can work up to that level by starting with 10 minutes a day.
Running
Firstly, if you were a runner before getting pregnant or safely ran in your first trimester, you probably can continue to adhere to your safe running routine. Again, remember that your body is changing, specifically, your center of gravity is shifting.
Furthermore, this implies you should be careful not to fall. Stick to flat running tracks, or run on a treadmill that has safety bars. Stay away from the trails and broken sidewalks for now.
Very importantly, if you weren’t a runner before, now is not the time to start.
Additionally, if you feel joint or back pain or any other concerning symptoms, stop running.
Finally, follow your previous running routine, or target 30-minute runs, three to five times weekly.
Yoga
Gentle, strengthening yoga can be the best friend of the pregnant woman. It helps you stretch muscles, reduces pregnancy pains like those in your lower back, and reduces blood pressure.
You can read Ways You Never Knew That Reduce High Blood Pressure
An essential part of practicing Yoga is learning to breathe with your body’s movements. And, this is a practice that will serve you well during labor and delivery. Also, in the future, it could help in stressful parenting moments.
Furthermore, if you already practice yoga, maintain your routine, as long as it’s comfortable for you. Stay away from positions where you might fall, like Warrior pose and Tree pose. Also, you could have a partner support you for these exercises. Again, avoid twisting your abdomen.
Additionally, avoid inverted poses (where your feet are over your head) and backbends (poses where you’re on your back). If anything doesn’t feel right, avoid it because you have the rest of your life to learn challenging yoga poses.
Again, you should avoid hot yoga (Bikram) during pregnancy. This is because these classes generally heat the exercise room to 104ºF (40ºC). Getting your body temperature above 102ºF (39ºC) can put your baby in danger or cause you to get dehydrated.
In addition, if you’re a first-time “yogini” during your second trimester, try out prenatal yoga classes or video instruction. They will focus on healthy yoga poses for you and your baby.
Finally, three to five times a week is very good. However, if you want to practice every day, you can go ahead. Engaging in thirty minutes of yoga is a healthy routine, but you can do more if you feel like it.
Conclusion
One thing you must do is check with your doctor throughout your pregnancy to make sure you’re exercising appropriately. Also, pay close attention to your body’s new limits.
Furthermore, even if you weren’t much of an athlete before pregnancy or maybe you were held back from doing much exercise in your first trimester because of queasiness, you can start gentle exercises now. However, just don’t push yourself too hard. Very importantly, don’t forget to relax and have fun.
Finally, these tips can be helpful for a safe exercise routine:
- Engage in exercises that have low-impact like walking, swimming, and yoga.
- Begin with a low level of exertion and work up to half an hour daily. Do this three to five times a week.
- Work with a trainer who has expertise in working out during pregnancy if you can.
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