Running to Think

Dear future mums,
your little dear one is waiting to pop out and fulfil your world with love, happiness and laughter you've never experienced? If you love sport and want to stay healthy in your condition, keep reading, this post might be of interest.
If already mums, congrats! I wish you a long life to your sporty and healthy family. Still, keep reading :)

Maintaining regular exercise routine throughout your pregnancy can help you stay healthy and feeling at your best. It can also improve your posture and decrease some common discomforts like back aches and fatigue, among other things. There is scientific evidence that it may prevent gestational diabetes, relieve stress, and build more stamina needed for labor and delivery.

If you were already physically active before your pregnancy period, you should be able to continue your activity with moderate pace. Of course, do not try to exercise at your former level. Do what's more comfortable for you at the moment, instead. 
As a general rule, low-impact aerobics are to be preferred to high-impact. Do not let your heart pump more than 140 times per minute. The athlete who is pregnant and does competitions would better be followed by a doctor (possibly one of those who knows what sport is).


The type of sport you practice will definitely determine your possibility of doing it during your pregnancy. Here are some general rules, I strongly recommend: 

• Non-contact sport: within this category there are all those sports that do not involve any contact with another player or competitor, such as swimming, walking and jogging. In most cases, it is safer for pregnant women to practice non-contact sports during their entire pregnancy (again, as long as they get their doctor's approval) 

• Minimal contact sports: here are the sports that involve minimal contact, such as racket sports and netball. These sports are considered safe during the first three months with the possibility of continuing into the second trimester depending on the circumstances, such as the level,  the fitness of the mother and the state of her pregnancy.

• Contact and collision sports, such as soccer and basketball, are considered safe only in the first trimester.

• Lifting and high-intense effort: exercises that involve such types of intensity, such as lifting heavy weights or sprinting are also potentially dangerous, in particular in the later stages of pregnancy. They are therefore not recommended.