5 Incredible Benefits of Exercise for Pregnant Women (Infographic)
Many of you know I am a huge advocate for regular exercise and constantly stress the importance of low intensity ‘steady state’ as well as high intensity (interval or weight training) exercise routines for injury prevention, longevity, mental health and and overall well-being.
It’s commonly unknown, however, how vital exercise is for pregnant women.
In our physiotherapy clinic I commonly see pregnant women concerned or afraid of being physically active, and rightly so (to an extent). Overly strenuous physical activity can be harmful and could put you in a position to hurt yourself or your child. Heavy lifting, intensive sport activity and high intensity weight training should be avoided or minimised where possible – and it’s important you review any activities such as this that you feel you can’t avoid (for example, if your work activities involve constant heavy lifting) with your GP and midwife.
However, light and moderate exercise is completely safe for all healthy pregnant women and should be encouraged, as it comes along with multiple surprising benefits. So what are the benefits of exercise for pregnant women?
I’ve created an infographic to explain some of the more interesting and beneficial side effects of low/moderate exercise for pregnant women:
I hope you have found this useful and encouraging for you to begin focussing on regular exercise during your pregnancy, and be sure to focus on enjoyable forms of exercise that are safe and supervised, where possible.
If you have a friend or family member who you feel may benefit from learning from this infographic, feel free to share it with them.
Physiotherapy BSc MCSP HPC PAS
Founder of Crawley Physiotherapy Clinic
HCPC Registration Number PH97986
CSP Registration Number 089576
