Are you prepared to stay fit during your pregnancy? You’ll want to keep strength, flexibility, and endurance during these months. Doing so means you’ll be able to handle the extra weight and you’ll be in better shape for the physical stress of labor.
Many fitness offerings for pregnant women are geared toward those who want to continue a modified form of their pre-pregnancy activities, including sports and vigorous cardio routines. But for those of you who are looking for a gentler way to improve strength and fitness while developing a calm, relaxed state of mind, you too have many options. Consider these exercise forms that are geared toward a mind and body focus routine: yoga, pilates, water exercise, and tai chi. Here’s a quick guide to the benefits of these uplifting exercise genres.
Yoga – It helps you breathe and relax. Yoga focuses on poses and stretches for both physical and emotional rewards. It can relieve fluid retention and cramping that are common in later months. Strengthening and massaging the abdomen with yoga helps stimulate bowel action and appetite. It raises energy level while helping to slow metabolism and restore calm and focus. Yoga can relieve tension around the cervix and birth canal.
