Getting pregnant is one of the most natural events in the world, and yet, even in this modern times, not everyone understands the extreme importance that needs to be placed on the health and fitness of a pregnant woman.

Unless you are already grounded in the value of keeping fit through a regular exercise routine and keeping to a proper diet, you will need to carefully map out your health concerns months before you get pregnant. If you do not prepare ahead of time, you could run the risk of experiencing elevated blood pressure, depression, diabetes, as well as excessive weight gain.

You could also be doing yourself a disservice by adhering to a poor diet, as well as a lack of physical activity at the levels you need to stay fit and healthy.

Changes During Pregnancy

Depending on your physical condition before you got pregnant, any or all of these changes and their effects may occur during your pregnancy:

• Your centre of gravity will shift as your abdomen increases in size – this can affect your posture and sense of balance.

• Your muscles and bones could get stressed as your weight increases – the stress is usually proportional to the amount of weight that you gain. Generally, average weight gain is about 2 to 4 pounds during the first trimester, and an additional pound a week as your pregnancy progresses. This should be less if you’re overweight, and more if you are underweight.

• Your metabolic rates will increase – this could cause you to feel hungry more often, which is why you could end up overeating and piling on the extra weight.

• Your joints and ligaments could become more lax, due to the extra-increased production of progesterone – this could also affect your sense of balance and ability to have well-coordinated movements, as well as result in dislocations and weakness, and sprains in your ankles or knees.

• You may find that some physical activities (such as climbing stairs) which used to be easy for you to do before, are becoming harder due to increased weight –  this could result  in some difficulty in breathing, slight dizziness, and weakness in your lower extremities.

These are just some of the changes that could happen while you are pregnant.

Consulting an obstetrician and making known your health concerns, as well as any medical issues that you may have, will help go a long way towards laying the groundwork for your safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery of your child.

Exercising After Delivery

Once you have delivered your baby, your focus, as is the case with all new moms, will be twofold. These are caring for your newborn, and caring for yourself, so that you can recover your strength and stay healthy. Both things are important. Never totally neglect yourself, post pregnancy, because if you do, you won’t be able to give your baby the postnatal attention and care s/he deserves.

A tried and tested way for strength recovery and health promotion of new moms is by undertaking a personal training program. Your post pregnancy weight loss and fitness program should be done with a personal trainer, in order to maximise your health gains, while protecting yourself as a woman who has recently delivered her baby.

Choosing Your Trainer

There are numerous trainers in Singapore, but it is not advisable to just get anyone to help you manage your personal training goals, particularly if you want to  lose weight properly. The fitness trainer that you choose should be one who is able to appreciate what your obstetrician has advised for your physical recovery.

In effect, the precautions that your obstetrician undertook for you during pregnancy and delivery will be complemented by your personal trainer, as far as any special considerations of postnatal training are concerned. A professional fitness trainer can personalise your weight loss regimen, so that any medical concerns or issues that you may have are factored in while creating the training program.

Having a professional trainer by your side not only protects you and your health, it also has the extended benefit of making sure that you lose weight as stress-free and naturally as possible, in order to give you more strength, a more even disposition, and greater peace of mind – all of which are important for helping you take care of your baby and yourself properly.

Yours in health,

Sharm, MSc
sharm@gurufitness.com