During pregnancy it is good to follow a routine of exercises that can be very varied and beneficial for the future mother and the baby, as we have seen in the case of yoga, swimming or pilates.
Walking is a daily activity that even less exercised women can begin to practice beneficially at this stage. Each woman should look for a rhythm that does not cause discomfort, feeling short of breath or excessive tiredness. The advantages that we will find along the way, never better, they are multiple.
- Walking effectively helps control weight gain, since being a low-impact aerobic exercise, you will burn the excess calories without forcing the body.
- Walking at a good pace during pregnancy activates blood circulation and prevents edema and its consequences, such as swelling of the feet and legs, reduces hemorrhoids or the effects of carpal tunnel syndrome.
- He pelvic swing It will help the baby's head to fit and, once fitted, the dilation is also favored by that movement, so we can facilitate labor.
- Also, at strengthen the muscles of our legs, we will arrive at the moment of delivery with strength, reducing the possibility of cramps, which could be so inconvenient when it is giving birth.
- By promoting muscle tone, strength and endurance, our postpartum recovery: walk or get up without help, whether the delivery has been vaginal or by caesarean section, it will be easier.
- By relieving pressure on the pelvic area, the discomfort of sciatica and hemorrhoids will also be reduced.
- The walk enjoying the outdoors will make us feel active, full of energy and good humor.
- In the last stages of pregnancy, when it is good to go for a walk several times a day, you can combine the breaks with the practice of breathing exercises that we will have to perform at the time of delivery.
Anyway, as we always remember, it's good check with our doctor before starting our exercise plan in case you consider that there is a particular risk in our situation.
Although, fortunately, in walking there are really very few cases in which gentle exercise cannot be carried out.
If we can really exercise in this way, there are some conditions that must be met so that walking benefits us from all those different ways we have just seen.
Here are some tips to make the experience, as well as beneficial, pleasant and risk-free.
- Must walk at a good pace, letting the heart work so that our respiratory cardio system is activated. A pace of walking, which makes our breathing accelerate but without excesses, is ideal.
- However, if the mother is not used to exercise, she should start at a very slow pace to gradually increase the speed and effort.
- Walking time is also important. 15 minutes is nothing and they are diluted in our activity providing few benefits: we have to look for more time a day, even if we start little by little and increase the walking time. One hour every day (or 5 days a week) throughout pregnancy and 2 hours a day (separated and with breaks) during the last month of pregnancy is what many specialists recommend.
- When walking, to avoid greater swelling of hands it is good to go moving your arms and place them high opening and closing the fists so that liquids do not accumulate in them due to the balance and gravity. Light weights to lift or rubber balls to crush while we also lift them are a good idea that will also strengthen the muscles of the arms.
- Clothes and footwear they must be comfortable, wide and made of fabrics that allow perspiration.
- We will have avoid extreme temperatures, or leave when it is very cold or when the heat squeezes. The central hours of the day in summer are very inadvisable. For cases where it becomes difficult to go outside, a treadmill Gym can be fine.
- If we go out during sunny hours, we will have to remember the protection for our skin and head, using sun creams and some cap or hat.
- A bottle of water or a juice are ideal companions for our walks that will prevent us from becoming dehydrated.
- Our balance is not at its most stable level precisely, so we must avoid walking through stony places, with potholes, with very steep or slippery slopes to prevent a fall.
