Fitness & Wellness

Whether it’s your first child or not, staying healthy during your pregnancy is vitally important. A fitness program not only helps you do that, it also helps make delivery easier. Pregnancy workouts can help prepare your body for the exhausting times that will come when the baby arrives. They also help you maintain a healthy weight without dieting, so the baby will have the benefit of all the nutrition necessary to grow strong, without you facing some of the dangers of too much extra weight.

You’ll lower the potential for complications with a program designed for pregnancy.

There are risks with every pregnancy, a program of regular exercise helps reduce those risks. Gestational diabetes is just one risk and studies show that women who exercise lower their risk for this serious condition. Preventing this problem can not only help keep you fitter and help prevent unplanned C-sections, it also can improve the potential for a healthier baby.

You’ll keep your blood pressure lower during pregnancy with a program of regular exercise.

Higher blood pressure during pregnancy often occurs, but when that blood pressure rises significantly, it can be dangerous to both mother and child. Lowering your blood pressure can be as simple as exercising on a regular basis, whether it’s walking or an exercise program designed specifically for pregnant women. While any form of exercise is good, guided exercise, such as mentioned previously, helps all areas of the body, while also keeping blood pressure normal. One of the biggest dangers of high blood pressure during pregnancy is both the danger to the mother and the child. Exercising regularly at this time is for both the sake of the baby and yourself. It’s a responsible loving act.

Help keep your mood in check.

The ever changing hormonal balance can lead to anxiety and depression both during pregnancy and after the birth of the baby. Regular exercise helps the body by burning off the hormones created by stress and triggering the release of those that make you feel relaxed and at peace. You’ll enjoy your pregnancy more and be doing yourself and your baby a favor with a program of regular exercise.

Exercise helps you get a good night’s sleep. Sleep is vital to good health and regular exercise helps improve the quality and amount of sleep you get.

Even though exercise helps you sleep, it also energizes you. It’s so amazing that working out can give you energy, but it does. The longer you exercise on a regular basis, the more your energy level grows.

Exercise helps prevent back pain. The extra weight from the baby on your body can produce stress on the back. Exercise helps build the muscles to relieve that stress.

Constipation can be prevented by eating healthy and following a program of regular exercise. Of course, you won’t cure all problems of slow bowel action, but it can help most.

Exercising burns calories. It’s a fact most people know immediately. When you’re trying to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. A healthy diet helps you consume fewer calories and exercise burns more. It also does something else. It builds muscle tissue. Muscle tissue requires more calories than fat tissue does, so you’ll be burning more calories 24/7, boosting your metabolism higher to make weight loss easier.

A healthy diet and regular exercise does even more.

This dynamic duo not only bashes fat, it also makes you feel good. You’ll start to see your energy level rise the longer you workout and the healthier you eat. That’s because you’re providing all the necessary nutrients it needs. The exercise builds endurance and strength, which in turn allows you to feel more energetic throughout the day. You’ll also be boosting your immune system so minor illnesses won’t get you down either.

You’ll be amazed at how much more fun it is when you workout with others. Don’t worry about not keeping up. Everyone is working at his or her own pace. The only person you’ll be competing with is yourself.

You’ll be starting a lifetime of health when you start a program of regular exercise. Exercise helps prevent serious conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and osteoporosis.

You’ll look years younger. Exercise not only stimulates circulation, which sends oxygen and nutrient rich blood to all areas of the body, it also stimulates the production of antioxidants in the body. Yes, the body does produce its own antioxidants to protect cells.

Regular exercise also stimulates the production of adult stem cells that create new cells throughout the body. It’s another reason that exercise can help keep you looking young, besides the fact it helps you shed pounds.