Looking to Workout During Lockdown? How to Choose Safe Pregnancy Exercises at Home
Being active during pregnancy can have benefits for both your mental and physical wellbeing, which ultimately benefits your growing baby. But what happens when we all have to stay home during coronavirus and can’t get to our prenatal fitness classes?
Maintaining strength and fitness through pilates, yoga, strength training, swimming, walking or anything else, will help your body prepare for labour and delivery. Regular exercise will also help you to cope with the huge changes occurring within your body as hormones fluctuate and your bump grows. Exercise can also help you avoid some back or pelvic pain, recover sooner after delivery and cope with the effort of labour.
For mental wellbeing, regular exercise can also help you to retain ownership over your body as it goes through significant changes, and it could help maintain your energy levels and your ability to sleep better at night. Having a routine also keeps you focused.
These are a lot of great reasons to keep up your prenatal fitness regime. But how can you do so during the Covid-19 lockdown?
The best place to look for prenatal exercise guidance or classes is online at the moment but everyone and their mum seem to be posting workouts on Instagram or running classes over Zoom. How do you choose which one to go with?
Here are some top tips to keep yourself safe when exercising online:
- The most important pointer is to check the qualifications of the instructor and to make sure that they are qualified to teach pre and postnatal women.
- Ideally, you should be asked to fill out a questionnaire prior to joining the session so that the instructor can be aware of any issues that might mean you need to modify some exercises.
- You know your body best, so if something doesn’t feel good or if the instructor is asking you to do something that you’re not comfortable with then don’t do it.
- The instructor will not be able to see your technique in as much detail as if you were in front of them so listen carefully to their cues as they take you through each movement and don’t be afraid to ask questions if you have the option.
- Don’t be afraid to ‘shop around’ for the classes or instructors that you like the best. It’s your body, your pregnancy and your precious time to move, so if you don’t like a particular session then try something else next time.
As you move into your third trimester and closer to delivery, you may wish to start looking for prenatal yoga, which is specifically designed to help prepare your body for labour and delivery as well as providing you with the mental tools to cope. The pointers above still apply, so pick your instructor and session carefully and keep moving safely.
Keep notice of your local government and health advisory guidelines as the situation with Covid-19 can change. As well, the information provided within this article is subject to change.