Pregnancy is one of the most special moments in a woman's life: we see how little by little the body is changing while our son grows inside us and a bond is created that will last forever with him or her. Whether or not our first pregnancy, there are always doubts, questions and questions about how we are going to take it or what awaits us during those nine months of gestation.
One of the issues that arouses most questions is how our body will change during pregnancy and how we can keep fit, both for our health and for that of the unborn child. Here you have some guidelines about the physical activity you need during pregnancy.
Health ahead of everything
"Can I exercise during pregnancy?" This is usually the star question when we know that we have become pregnant. The generic answer is usually "yes", but with nuances: first of all, the first thing we should do is check with our gynecologist To ensure that we can practice physical activity without any risk to ourselves or the baby. With the OK of the doctor in hand, we can begin to ask ourselves what kind of activity benefits us the most.
Sport (always adapted to our special needs in this period) and physical activity are very beneficial during pregnancy: they help us prevent preeclampsia (hypertension and excessive weight gain), reduce the risk of varicose veins and thrombosis, prevent the appearance of low back pain and gestational diabetes, among others.
A moderate and adapted physical activity, guided by a professional and accompanied by proper nutrition and hydration (forget the myth that pregnant women have to eat for two) will be our best companions to ensure a happy and risk-free pregnancy.
The first quarter: the key moment
The first trimester of pregnancy is usually the most critical in the mother, both in physical changes as emotional: We learn that we are pregnant and totally change the perspective of our day to day. We go from "being one" to "being two" and become aware that, in addition to us, now we have to look for our future son.
During the first trimester we experience the first morning nausea and the first mood swings that exercise can help us stabilize. It is very important that let's consider how we are physically: If your body asks you to rest to face these changes, there is no problem in doing so and limiting physical activity to some walks to postpone it to the second trimester.
If, on the contrary, we are fit, we can start training or continue with our usual training, always modifying its intensity to adapt it to our new needs. Three weekly training sessions, in which we will combine aerobic and anaerobic work, are enough to enjoy the benefits of sport.
We will emphasize the improvement of our body posture, preparing our body for the changes that lie ahead: the growth of the belly will move our center of gravity forward, which is the cause of most discomfort in the back during pregnancy. Working the back muscles with different means such as elastic bands, pulleys or TRX will help us prepare for the coming months.
The second quarter: more energy but less resistance
During the second quarter important changes continue to occur in our body: the diastasis of the rectus abdominis (The two bands that form this muscle are separated to make room for the growing baby) and we began to have the first cravings. The most normal thing is to feel much more energy during this quarter, although our aerobic capacity has been a bit depleted.
This is the perfect time to introduce training with the Pilates method in our routine: a great help during pregnancy and at the time of delivery, as it helps us improve our postural correction (adapting it to our new center of gravity) and to work the pelvic floor musculature, something we can also do with the traditional Kegel exercises.
Our belly already has a considerable size, so it will be necessary modify some positions to make them more accessible: Obviously, we will avoid the positions that put us lying on our stomachs, but we can benefit from working in quadruped (on all fours), thus releasing the weight of the belly of our back.
Refering to cardiovascular physical activity, it is important that we moderate both the intensity (we must not exceed 140 beats per minute) and the duration of it. Remember that right now the most important thing is that this physical activity is beneficial for your health and control it through a heart rate monitor and a quantifying bracelet.
The third trimester: final stretch of pregnancy
During the third trimester the countdown to the arrival of our baby begins: it's normal that we feel nervous and even with some fear in the face of what lies ahead, that is why it is best to keep calm with gentle activities that help us to arrive in the best possible physical state on "D-day".
With the growing weight of our belly it is possible that it will cost us more to move and do aerobic activities: we will continue to lower their intensity and shorten their duration. The walks or workouts in the elliptical (a machine that allows us to train with a low impact on the joints) they should not take more than 20 minutes, and always at a moderate pace. Walking is one of the most recommended activities during pregnancy: take the opportunity to share these moments with your partner, with your family and with your friends.
Learning from correct breathing and pelvic tilt They will be very helpful at the time of delivery. In addition, during the last weeks we can begin with the preparation by learning to open our hips well, something that will help us to place the child in the womb in our womb and prepare him for the exit.
Nutrition and hydration during pregnancy
During pregnancy, although it depends a lot on each person, the ideal is to gain between 9 and 12 kilos to ensure the optimal development of the baby. For this we must Progressively increase the calories we eat, reaching approximately 2,000 calories daily (from the second trimester: during the first we can take our usual diet).
It is time to take much more care of what we eat, ensuring a good contribution of macro and micronutrients: We must focus primarily on making a correct contribution of iron, iodine, calcium, folic acid and omega-3 so that our baby grows without problems.
In addition, we must pay close attention to how we cook what we are going to eat: cleaning food (especially fruits, vegetables and vegetables) and cooking meat and fish for the necessary time (never eating anything cooked below 75 degrees) will help us avoid very typical pregnancy diseases such as toxoplasmosis, Salmonellosis or listeriosis.
Refering to hydration, our needs will also increase as our baby grows: the right thing is increase our daily water consumption between half a liter and a liter. A correct water-based hydration, which we can complement with natural fruit juices, infusions or soft drinks without gas of different flavors (such as those of Solán de Cabras, which also provide us with vitamin C and folic acid), will help us avoid some problems of gestation state: we will avoid constipation, improve our digestion and have no fluid retention or a feeling of heaviness.
The SoMum app by Solán de Cabras accompanies you during your pregnancy
To help us take care of ourselves during pregnancy and also during breastfeeding, Solán de Cabras has designed the SoMum application, which takes advantage of new technologies and wearables or quantifying bracelets to recommend what is the ideal daily hydration.
This application works in conjunction with a quantifying bracelet that sends the information of our daily activity and turns it into custom tips made by medical specialists and adapted to the exact moment of pregnancy or lactation in which we are.
Hydration plays a very important role in pregnancy, and SoMum takes into account various factors when making personalized recommendations: from our physical activity or body mass index to the outside temperature or the month of pregnancy in which we are.
In addition to advice, in the SoMum application we can find personalized information of our day to day, achievements that encourage us to lead a healthy life during the period of pregnancy and lactation, the measurement of all our physical and sports activities and a history that allows us to check the evolution of our hydration, calories consumed and movement throughout all these months.
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