Pregnancy Exercises Dos and Don’ts

– Hey guys, and welcome back to my YouTube channel and welcome if you are new. I feel like I'm in some like TV set up, because this isn't normally my useable spot to do videos. And I'm just gonna put it out there. I am 35 weeks pregnant currently, and I am sweating because once again, it's super hot here in Lisbon. It's the middle of August and yeah, it's just a joyous time to be pregnant cause you're already sweating out anyway. And then you've got the temperature, and I've had to close all the windows. So you guys don't hear the noise outside. (laughs) But let's dive into this video of the do's and don'ts exercise during pregnancy. (cheerful music) Now, just as a quick disclaimer, guys, before we do get into the whole video, I just wanna make it super clear to please always make sure that you get your doctors or your physios consent before you do any exercise, and also take on any advice I'm giving. I'm not actually trained to prenatal, but I do well with the physio and everything that I've done, I've got her consent to move forward in when I'm doing my exercises. Every woman is totally different. Every pregnancy is different. So it's always best that you get yourself checked out before you take on any advice. Now, as a general rule of thumb before we dive into the exact do's and don'ts, one of the general things that, I learned when I actually got pregnant was, you can continue to do the exercises that you have previously done, but just don't take up any new sports. So for example, I am not a runner. I never have been and I probably never will be that's because I am terrible at it. But now that I am pregnant, I'm not gonna start taking up running, and go and do a marathon because that's something that my body's not used to, and it's not going to help the child. So it's best to stick to things that you have done prior to getting pregnant than normally okay to do as you're in your pregnancy. But obviously as you go along in your trimesters, you will have to do certain modifications. But again, it's always best to get yourself checked out. Now let's dive into those do's and don'ts. So let's just start with the… Oh my God! My baby is kicking. Let's just start with the don'ts to begin with. So number one is, don't exercise to exhaustion. Now this means don't exercise to the point that you're really pushing yourself. You're completely out of breath and you feel tired. They normally say that when you exercise, you wanna take it to about 60, 70%. That should be your absolute capacity. And then you should definitely bring it down. Now, one of the things that I learned when I was doing my research, when I got pregnant, when I was exercising, was the breath test. Now, if when I'm doing a routine, say for example, at home, if I could still manage to hold a conversation and talk with my partner or a friend, it means that I'm actually at a good pace. If I'm finding it very difficult to breathe and I'm going (gasps) trying to catch my breath, it means that I'm taking it too far and you need to bring it down a notch. So like I said, don't exercise to exhaustion. Tip number two is, don't do any sports where there's a risk of falling. So for example, I mean like horseback riding or skiing. The chances of you falling are a much higher probability than you're doing something like yoga or pilates. And obviously we don't wanna put any risk to yourself or the baby. So it's best not to do exercises with those risks. Number three is, don't do anything jerky or bouncy movements. Now this is something that I learned when I got into probably about the second trimester. So that was doing exercises where I could not physically jump anymore. And that's because of the pelvic floor. Now, not only is it gonna get uncomfortable as you get bigger anyway, trust me, you're probably not gonna wanna move around that much cause, I now, I certainly don't. You actually don't wanna be jumping too much because of your pelvic floor anyway. So just make sure that you're avoiding any sort of like jerky movements or jumping routines. Also, I was told to avoid too much twisting of the abdomen because you don't obviously wanna stretch your linea alba too much. I don't know the exact ins and outs of this exactly, but I have to just by show that I have completely avoided any of those types of exercises. Anyway, and now I just make sure that I just do smaller upper movements to help mobility and my back. And the last one is, don't lay on your back for too long. Now this is something that I learned when I was doing my research and I did speak to my prenatal physio about this. Now the reason being is because we have a long vein that runs down the back of our spine. And when we actually lay, on our back, the baby puts pressure on it. And then it basically cuts of our oxygen supply to our heart. So this isn't saying that we wanna do for long periods of time. Now, when I do exercise with my physio, there might be a couple of seconds where I'm laying on my back, but she is monitoring me the entire time. If you were on your own, I highly advise not to be laying on your back, but again, you will need to speak to a physio or your doctor about this. But the general rule of thumb here guys is not to lay on your back for long periods of time, whether that's sleeping or whether it's exercising on the floor. You're always best to lay on your side, preferably the left. I think it's all right to lay on the right, but Probably the left is the safest side. Now let's get into the fun stuff of what you can do and what you can actually do exercise when you are pregnant. So let's dive into these tips now guys. Now tip number one. I'm just gonna say again to make it blatantly obvious, is always speak to your doctor or physio, when you are doing your workouts. I actually get checked on a weekly basis with my core physio. That's because obviously as your pregnancy progresses a lot changes, you grow a lot in a week. I mean, my belly is growing nonstop, especially now in the third trimester. So it's good to always get assessed to make sure that you're doing things that are okay for you and your child. So please make sure you're always getting advice from them. Second is, do you make sure that you are doing your Kegel exercises as well as breathing. Now, kegel exercises are so important for your pelvic floor. It's super easy to do. There's tons of tutorials on it online. If you guys want me to talk a little bit more in depth about it, more than happy to do so. The base is, you just wanna imagine that you're drawling up, everything from below, you're sucking up into your body and then you're relaxing. This is gonna help to really strengthen your pelvic floor and give you more of a chance after you've had your baby to get that pelvic floor stronger. So my advice is just to practice it once a day, just to begin with hold for ten seconds and then let it go. It's honestly gonna help you so much after you've had the baby. The second point within tha