Pregnancy Exercises - Physical Activities during Pregnancy

It is very important to stay active during pregnancy in order to make sure that you are in good shape and the baby develops in a healthy manner. However, one should not exercise without consulting the doctor in charge because any negligence or wrong move can harm the baby.

Here are some exercises that will help you stay fit during pregnancy:

• Stretching exercises

These exercises are very important to make the muscles warm and limber.

• Neck rotation

First relax your neck and shoulders. Then, drop your head forward. You must rotate your head slowly towards your right shoulder then back to the middle and hasty to the left shoulder. You must complete four rotations in each direction.

• Shoulder rotation

Start from bringing your shoulders forward and rotate them upwards to your ears thereafter, and take them back down. Do up to four rotations in each direction.

• Swim

Focus on placing your arms at sides. Now, bring your right arm up and then extend your body forward. Twist to the side just as if you are doing the crawl stroke. Now, follow the same with your left arm.

Repeat the sequence for about ten times. Most health care provides agree that swimming is the best and safest exercise for a pregnant woman.

It is considered to be ideal because it tends to focus on both large muscle groups and also provides good cardio-vascular benefits. This also helps in making pregnant women feel lighter.

• Thigh shift

Stand with one of your foot about two feet in front of the other. The toes should be provided towards the similar direction. Now learn forward and support your weight on the forward thigh. You must switch sides and repeat it for four times on each side.

• Leg shake

You need to sit with your feet and legs extended. Now move the legs up and down in a gentle shaking motion.

• Ankle rotation

Focus on sitting with your legs extended and keep your toes in a relaxed position. Now, rotate your feet and make large circles. Here, you need to use your whole foot and ankle. You must rotate about four times on the right side and four times towards the left.

• Kegel exercises

These facilitate in strengthening the muscles that support the bladder, bowels and uterus. This will help you to have relaxed labor. To do these exercises, you must imagine that you are trying to stop urine flow. Try not to pass gas. When you do this, you tend to contract muscles of the pelvic floor. You should not move your buttock, abdominal muscles or leg while doing these exercises.

The best part is that no one can make out that you are doing these exercises. Do at least five sets of kegel exercises on a daily basis. Hold for a count of five and then relax. Repeat ten times for each set of kegels.