Exercise & Pregnancy - The facts from medical professionals and journals!
I did SO much research across medical professionals regarding exercise. I wanted to find out EXACTLY what was safe to do. OKAY - we all know what is recommended to the average person (walking is recommended as one of the best cardio exercises for pregnancy) But going from training for Team GB to Ironmans, I couldn’t just suddenly stop and start walking instead. What advice is given to athletes? What can people who train 9-10 hours a week do now they are pregnant? I feel there’s a huge gap in the industry with REAL advice for people.
I lost faith after my GP’s response was “oh don’t go over 120bpm” for intensity and had to google about training in heat.
It’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of the internet with advise from Mum forums and commercial pregnancy websites.
It really is important to take advice from professionals, so below is my findings from these guys:
The best professional, Medical advice:
ACOG - American College of Gynaecologists
BMJ - The BMJ is a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals
RCOG - Royal College of Gynaecologists
NICE - National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Findings:
NICE recommend 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week
Strengthening of abdominal and back muscles could minimize this risk of low back pain
The most distinct changes during pregnancy are increased weight gain and a shift in the point of gravity that results in progressive lordosis. These changes lead to an increase in the forces across joints and the spine during weight-bearing exercise. As a result, more than 60% of all pregnant women experience low back pain *ACOG
Avoid Motionless postures, such as certain planks, yoga positions and the supine position
These may result in decreased venous return (blood flowing back to the heart) and hypotension in 10–20% of all pregnant women and should be avoided as much as possible *ACOG
