Working Out During Pregnancy

Hey girl, I get it. You’re tired, you’re hungry, you’re uncomfortable, possibly nauseous and you’re inevitably going to be gaining weight for the foreseeable future. Why bother working out during pregnancy? Why not just start back up after the baby comes?

Many women feel this way; however, staying sedentary during pregnancy can be a huge disservice to you and your growing baby.

What if I told you that mothers who worked out during pregnancy had shorter labor times by 1/3, had less emergency interventions (vacuum, foreceps, C sections), recovered faster AND went on surpass previous fitness levels?

Think about it! You wouldn’t run a marathon without proper training, right? Then why go through labor without training? The average person runs a marathon in 4-5 hours after months of training, and the average labor is about 20 hours! Training for the marathon of motherhood is crucial. Also think about working out for 40 weeks and adding 1 pound to a weight vest every week for those 40 weeks. Then one day you remove the vest. Your body has trained with extra weight for months, it’s now going to adapt to those demands placed on it.

Now what if I said babies who are born to mothers who maintained a fit and healthy lifestyle during pregnancy scored better on stress tests during labor (resulting in smoother deliveries and less C sections), scored higher on IQ tests, were born with less fat but still at a healthy weight and were able to combat obesity later in life?

Would that change anything for you? Would it increase your motivation a little bit?

Those benefits listed above are my favorite benefits of working out during pregnancy, but the list goes on and on. Other benefits include reduced backaches, constipation, bloating, varicose veins, leg cramps, swelling, may help prevent or treat gestational diabetes, keep weight gain steady and in normal range, improved mood, sleep, increase energy and decrease stress.

Gone are the days that you should be “eating for two” or “staying off your feet”. (Unless ordered by your doctor, you should be moving and staying active during pregnancy.)

Studies show that 3-5 days of 20-30 minutes or more of challenging exercise can give you all of these great benefits. It doesn’t have to be something you commit to every day for hours but it does have to be a consistent commitment.

For more information about pre and postnatal fitness, please visit www.YourFitMom.com or reach out directly to Hello@yourfitmom.com

Guest Blog Written by: Kayla Mehr

Originally from Rhode Island, Kayla Mehr began her fitness career when she successfully transformed her lifestyle and lost 30 pounds. Kayla has been a Personal Trainer for over 10 years and pre and postnatal certified for 7.

She’s worked with tons of expecting moms and when it came time for her to become pregnant she took a harder look at all the conflicting and confusing information out there about working out while pregnant. She dove in and did extensive research and even interviewed doctors, nutritionists and moms to fully understand how working out effects the mom and growing baby.

Kayla has created a tried and true prenatal; postnatal training program that is safe, effective and enjoyable. Not only does she keep her clients strong throughout pregnancy and prepare them for the marathon of motherhood, but she helps them recover quickly and safely! She teaches mom and baby classes, stroller bootcamps, prenatal workshops around Boston and has an online training company where clients can workout from the comfort of their own home, affordably, regardless of location!

Kayla is a true testament that her program works. She gave birth to her first son in June 2018 and within four and a half months postpartum from a C section, without any dieting, she was back to her pre-bably weight. Within 7 months postpartum she was maintaining faster speeds on the stair master and sprinting faster than she was before she was pregnant!