In no way is pregnancy a stage in which we have to stop doing physical activity.
Quite the contrary, it is highly recommended for a healthy pregnancy and a good birth to practice some exercise, always in its proper measure and according to certain criteria.
Mercedes Blanquet, president of the Association of Spanish Physiotherapists of the Pelvic Floor, gives us some general recommendations about prenatal exercise as an introduction to the next installments that we will do on specific exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor.
Within the general standards recommended by The American College of Obstetrician and Gynaecologists are:
Regular exercise is preferable to intermittent activity. Competitive activities should be discouraged.
Intense exercise should not be performed during a period of febrile illness.
Abrupt movements, jumps, etc. must be avoided. The exercise must be performed on a wooden floor or protected surface to reduce impacts and have a safe ride.
Flexion and wide extension of the joints should be avoided because of the laxity of the connective tissues. Activities that require jumps, rapid movements or abrupt changes of direction should be avoided due to joint instability.
Intense exercises must be preceded by a period of 5 minutes of muscle warming.
Intense exercises have to be followed by a period gradually decreasing and that include gentle static stretching. Because of the laxity of the connective tissue increases the risk of joint injury, stretching should not be done at the point of maximum resistance.
Heart rate must be measured at times of maximum activity. The heart rate limits established in the consultation with the doctor should not be exceeded.
You have to be cautious when getting up from the ground and do it little by little to avoid orthostatic hypotension.
It is convenient to drink plenty of fluids before and after exercise to avoid dehydration.
