Staying Active During Pregnancy – 5 Great Tips
Being pregnant can be tough – especially if you are used to being active. I know how tough it can be because I experience the difficulty of trying to stay fit even while pregnant.
Learning that I was pregnant was wonderful news for my husband and me. I was determined to maintain my healthy lifestyle during the pregnancy – I was going to eat healthy and be as active as I was for as long as I could until the baby was born. Now, I have always enjoyed being active – my husband and I camped and canoed regularly. I entered 10 km road races on a regular basis and we have a pool so I wanted to continue to swim.
I was caught by surprise by how tired I was during the pregnancy – and as I started to put a few extra pounds on it became easier and easier to `pass` on any form of exercising. It was long that I decided I was going to make a promise to myself to get back to being active for as long as possible while I was expecting our son.
Here is my advice for keeping active during your pregnancy…
1. Start early. You may find that you are tired through the first part of your pregnancy. Try and continue to be active during this time, so that when the second trimester begins and you are not as tired, you are able to continue being active.
2. Tell your partner, friends and other family members of your plan to stay active during the pregnancy. They may chose to be active with (that`s a wonderful added bonus) – but more importantly is that they will remind you of your commitment to be active. They can provide you with the encouragement that you may need on those days when you just don`t want to work out.
3. Most of us know people or have family members that enjoy running, swimming or walking. Invite one or two of them to join you on a regular basis to exercise with you. My dad and I became running partners. Each week we would identify three days that we would run together – and we both kept the schedule. We would run 5 km. together. Knowing that someone else has your exercise time in their schedule makes it very difficult to `bail-out` on exercising.
4. Set goals. Losing weight should not be a goal you set for yourself in pregnancy, because weight gain is healthy and very important for you and the baby’s well being. Instead set goals like: participate in a road race, participate in a fundraiser that involves being active (like a walk-a-thon), or be active 3 times a week, for at least 30 minutes each time. This will help keep you motivated to keep going, even on those days you would rather have a nap.
5. Mix it up. Maybe today you will swim some laps at the local YMCA; and then tomorrow you will take a brisk 30 minute walk through the neighbourhood; and maybe later in the week take an hour-long bicycle ride. Try different things – they are all beneficial and it reduces the boredom of doing the same activity over and over again.
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