Tips on swimming whilst pregnant
Swimming is a fantastic way to maintain fitness throughout the whole pregnancy, through to the end of your 3rd trimester. It’s especially amazing during the 3rd trimester because of the buoyancy from the water, a time when carrying a lot more weight has a lot of train on your body. The Serenity of being weightless in the water, the joy of gliding through the water and just moving your body with much more ease.
Posing whilst the hubbie sorts out the room with all our new baby bits
My experience swimming whilst swimming.
Swimming has been my one consistent throughout pregnancy, but it hasn’t been without it’s challenges. During the 1st trimester I felt so sluggish and slow, I moved down from one of the fastest in my swim lanes in training, to last in the lane. My arms just couldn’t turn around as quickly, I was fatiguing earlier in the session and needing a lot more rest. My team mates and coach Dan from Swim For Tri all questioned if I was ok, but obviously as I was in my 1st trimester I couldn’t tell them I was pregnant. As I’ve known my coach for a few years now, I confided in him about the pregnancy, so he was able to support me, and adapt the sets for me. As 2nd trimester arrives I felt so much more energetic, the bump started to show and finally I could tell people I was pregnant. However I worked so much during my 2nd trimester, getting in as many personal training sessions as I could, that took a lot of my energy levels, meaning I was sacrificing my own training. 3rd trimester saw the biggest physical changes, but I’m slowly coming to peace with that and accepting that I’m slower in most of my physical activities.
As my belly grew, so did I… out of my swim suits. They became tight on my belly and pulled on my shoulders. So I opted for a training two piece suit. The lovely swimwear brand Funkita kindly gifted me a couple of training bikinis so I can continue my training in. These felt so much nicer wear in the pool, allowing me train comfortably throughout my pregnancy and my belly to grow.
Here’s a couple of reasons why swimming is a fantastic way to stay fit whilst pregnant
The water takes pressure off the joints and ligaments providing more buoyancy.
It’s a great cardiovascular workout. Cardio fitness which is needed during labour. RCOG recommend 150 minutes of weekly activity during pregnancy*
It’s a low/non impact sport
No pressure on pelvic floor as with running and other sports.
Great for mental health as well as physical reasons.
A relaxant. There’s a reason why water births are so used as a pain relief, because the feeling of being engulfed in the water is so relaxing.
Top tips swimming whilst pregnant
Here are some top tips which for swimming your way through the 3 trimesters. Thanks to the women’s health physio Clare Bourne for your advise on some of the adaptations that will benefit the pregnant body.
Utilise equipment for extra support throughout the trimesters
A Pullbuoy creates more buoyancy for legs and helps support the legs into a buoyant position.
Fins will give you more propulsion through the water. I opt for fins through most of my sessions.
Paddles allow you to work on technique and strengthen the upper body. Front crawl you’ll be using your lats, traps and deltoids, which are all key for keeping a strong, good posture during a period where posture is compromised.
A good time to focus on technique now that high intensity workouts aren’t recommended throughout pregnancy
Give yourself more rest between sets/at the end of the length
Avoid hypoxic sets (holding breath) for anymore than 3 strokes.
Be careful swimming Breastroke, The lateral hip opening movement of Breastroke legs could potentially aggravate Pelvic girdle pain (PVP). If you want to continue with breastroke arms, perhaps use a pullbuoy in the legs or frontcrawl kick the legs.
Stay well fuelled and hydrated before, during and after the swim.
If you already are doing flip turns, and they feel comfortable carry on. A couple of key adaptations I have made and would recommend - wider knees and don’t curl knees up to the chest, for obvious reasons.
Alice x
*ACOG recommendation of physical activity in pregnant women.
