The Best Exercises for a Pregnant Woman

Once you find out your pregnant you want to maintain good health for you and your growing baby. However, some woman do find many questions arising on which exercises are the best for them. I know when I was pregnant with both my children I wanted to keep a good exercise routine in tact, but I did have to do some research on which routines would be best for me, my baby and the stage of pregnancy I was in. Read below to find out more on what exercise is best for any pregnant woman!

Walking

This exercise routine is great for any stage of pregnancy. During the first trimester you may find yourself able to walk a normal 30 minutes a day three days a week. Once you hit your second trimester you will start to feel a little more weight gain so you will want to slow down to possibly 15 minutes a day, three days a week. Now once you have hit the last trimester you will start to deal with your feet and legs swelling so try to at least walk 10 minutes a day, at least four to five times a week.

Swimming

Swimming is a great exercise for all nine month of pregnancy as well. Everyone knows that you are weightless in water, so you will be able to have a longer exercise regime with swimming because you are not putting weight on your legs. However, there are a few things you want to know about swimming. In the first stages of pregnancy laps are OK to do, however watch your belly that you do not slide it against anything. During the second and last trimester you will want to stop the swimming laps and do more of a ballet style exercise with working your legs as in kicking, and moving your arms around. No matter what your swimming exercise consists of, as long as you do something, swimming allows you to work your cardiovascular system extremely well!

Dancing

Dancing has to the most fun you can have while you are exercising, pregnant or not. You can pop in your favorite CD and dance in circles around the living room while doing knee to elbow touches, and squat thrusts. It is a great way to get the blood flowing through out your heart and body. However, dancing can be a bit dangerous, so try to only do this during the first five months of pregnancy. Once you start gaining pregnancy pounds your body will be off balanced while trying to adjust to the new weight. Being off balanced while spinning around in a dance move can be potentially dangerous for you and your unborn child.

Weight Lifting

Most woman want to keep their muscles toned with weights. Even if they are pregnant. Lifting weights is not a bad thing as long as you are lifting with your arms and never your back or stomach muscles. Make sure you also drop the weight limit to at least 10 pounds and under, to be on the safe side. Also this exercise routine is really only ideal for the first trimester!

If you need to know more about the above exercises for pregnant woman, more exercising routines, and great safety tips for pregnant woman working out please read the article The Best Kinds Of Exercise for Pregnancy.