Walk plenty.
You’ve already heard pregnant women should walk a lot. That’s true and something you should take seriously. Walking is a simple but super tool for pretty much anything. From burning calories to keeping joints healthy to mobilising our almost-always-sedentary hips, walking does more than what it gets credit for. Get at least an hour of walking in everyday. How fast or slow you walk will depend on your energy levels and mood on that day. Just go with the flow. But get your 60 minutes in, every day.
Eat plenty of good food.
No, you’re not eating for two. But you do need to eat more and better than you usually do. Once again, more AND BETTER. This means you need to cut out some junk and add in some extra whole natural foods to your diet. How do you do this? Quite simple, actually. Take an account of all the junk foods and empty calories you eat every day. Drop that by however much you’re able to. If you can drop all of it, that’s just aces! This will mean you’re eating less than before and you’ll be hungrier. So fill up that void with other healthful foods. For starters, get about 3 cups of cooked vegetables and about 1 gram of protein for every kilo of your bodyweight daily. If you’re hungry after that, feel free to indulge in some starchy goodness in the form of homemade traditional comfort foods like curd-rice, biryani, daal-rice, ghee dosa or whatever else comforts you.
Squat.
Hip mobility is something you need during delivery. Women, in general, have better hip mobility than men, precisely for childbearing purposes. But a sedentary lifestyle has made the hips less open and mobile than they need to be. So work on opening and mobilising your hips. And one of the simplest ways to do that is by squatting. Squats are one of the most basic human movements. When executed properly, they are extremely safe too. So keep the load light or don’t use a load, but squat and work on keeping your hips mobile throughout pregnancy. Check with your doctor before you embark on this of course.
Load up on water.
You know how we spoke about eating more? This applies to hydration too. Dehydration is a serious risk during pregnancy, especially during the final trimester. Insufficient hydration could cause contractions that could trigger preterm labour or cause other more severe issues for the baby or mother. So be sure to drink more water than you usually do, especially if you are exercising or sweating much for any reason. About 2 litres of water every day is a good place to start at, though you can take it to 3. Also, keep caffeine to a minimum as it serves as a diuretic and makes you empty your bladder more often. The international guidelines say 200 mg, but check with your doctor.
Be greedy for activity.
If there is a time you should definitely be active it is during pregnancy. Why? Because with every passing day you are getting bigger and every new day you need to learn to adapt and control your increasing body weight and changing shape. Moving infrequently or rarely only results in you not being ready to handle your new bodyweight. And that usually leads to a series of issues from backaches to physical accidents. Your body is balanced on your two feet based on where you hold weight and as that changes, your body also needs to change the way it moves. So give your body every chance to get used to these changes: take the stairs, carry light-weight grocery bags, walk to as many places as possible, walk the dog and do whatever other low-intensity, safe activities come your way.
Sleep, a lot.
Sleep becomes even more important during pregnancy. It’s when all the necessary maintenance activities take place in your body. Unsurprisingly, it plays a major role in the mother and child’s health. A study from 2010 published in Sleep Medicine Reviews states that: “Sleep deprivation during pregnancy has been associated with longer labor, elevated perception of pain and discomfort during labor, higher cesarean rates, preterm labor, and higher levels of pro-inflammatory serum cytokines.” It also says that there is a possible link between sleep deprivation and preterm birth as well as post-partum depression. Listen to your body and sleep whenever you feel the need or feel very exhausted. It may not always be possible, but make it happen as much as possible. Ensure you get at least 7 hours of quality sleep every day.
Train light but often.
If you have been training regularly before you became pregnant, continue with that frequency. If you are new to training, start with 20-25 minutes of light training 2-3 days a week and work you way up to 30 to 40 minutes of low-intensity training 4-5 days a week, irrespective of how hard you were training before. It is recommended that pregnant women keep their heart rate below 140 beats per minute when training. So do things that don’t shoot up your HR without control. Instead, do things that enable you to stay in control and help you build up to a certain intensity. If heart rate is something you can’t measure, go by feel: You should not be gasping for breath at any point and should be able to speak full sentences while training. As you get to week 25 and more, the frequency can remain but drop the intensity further. This is for safety reasons as much as it is for physiological reasons which vary based on who you are and what your condition is at that point.
Pick low-risk, high benefit exercises.
Pick moves that are easy and safe to perform but have a positive effect on your body. Stay away from moves that could possibly hurt you even if you’re sure you’ll be safe when doing them. Workouts involving jumping, sprinting and other explosive moves are not recommended at any point during pregnancy. Safer moves like squats, cycling (in a safe area), band pulls, walking and swimming are recommended as they are both safe and effective.
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