Pregnancy can be a challenging phase for your spouse. Maintaining a healthy posture will help her keep back problems away. An exercise routine will especially help her to keep fit. Your spouse can begin an exercise routine even if she has never really exercised before. Walking, swimming, pre-natal yoga, and simple aerobics are ideal forms of exercise during pregnancy.

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After joyous journey of nine months and exhausting labor pains, when you hold your baby in your arms, you tend to forget everything except the pile of pounds on your body. The only safe and sure way to regain your pre-pregnancy body, without losing your mind is to exercise after pregnancy.

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Copyright (c) 2008 Dan Thompson

What should you consider during your pregnancy? What if any are the advantages when training during pregnancy?

How hard should I train? Is a question I get all the time as a personal trainer who specialises in pre and post natal exercise. Most people or your trusty next door neighbor will probably tell you to relax, put your feet up and have a cuppa, and your partner who are about to be dads can be very over protective when it comes to pregnancy and exercise. So what should you do?

The important point is you can train during pregnancy and achieve positive results. Research shows women who exercise regularly while pregnant have easier labours, deliveries and recoveries, you to be careful you don’t do too much. You should always be able to hold a conversation, if you can’t you need to slow down! (How often will you hear that from a personal trainer!) If at any point you discover bleeding, back or abdominal pain you should see you GP or midwife immediately. While pregnant you will be able to train most days of the week but at a moderate intensity and when lifting weights you should be lifting light to medium weights (40-60% of your one rep max). REMEMBER always consider your technique which should be smooth.

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Most women who become pregnant let themselves go only to regret the consequences later on. You can be active and fit with a good understanding of how to go about exercise but when it comes to pregnancy, your current workouts won’t suffice. That’s why you need to become better educated to avoid stacking on the pounds in all the wrong places and to pave the way for an easy labour.

Firstly, you need to understand your body type. There are four basic body types and designing a suitable exercise program requires an understanding of your body structure. What may be appropriate for one person may not be appropriate for another. Proper body diagnosis is essential to understand and consider when designing a pregnancy fitness program.

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Wouldn’t it be great if during your pregnancy…

You were able to maintain your fitness, your health and (most of all) your figure without piling on unnecessary pounds and losing your motivation to peel yourself off of the sofa? During pregnancy your body experiences dramatic physiological changes that require a carefully designed exercise program. But why should you exercise during pregnancy?

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