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Exercising is just as important when you are
pregnant to build bones and muscles. Exercising gives your energy
and keeps you healthy during pregnancy.
During your pregnancy many changes are taking place. With regular
exercise and staying active this can benefit your pregnancy and your
health.
Some changes will affect your ability to exercise. During pregnancy
you are carrying some extras pounds, this extra weigh can contribute
to the front of your body having shifts in gravity and places stress
on joints and muscles, mostly those in the pelvis and lower back.
The hormones that are produced during pregnancy causes the ligaments
that support your joints to become relaxed. Your heart rate is
sometimes affected by this extra weight and that makes your body
work harder then when you were not pregnant. So it is important for
you not to overdo it.
The benefits of exercise helps reduce backaches, constipation,
bloating and swelling. It can help prevent or even treat gestational
diabetes. Exercise will improve your mood, posture and even increase
your energy level during pregnancy. Exercise helps with muscle tone,
strength and endurance. During pregnancy sometimes you find sleeping
difficult, exercise helps you sleep better.
Choosing safe exercises during your pregnancy is important. Some
exercises involve different positions and movements that might be
uncomfortable, tiring or even harmful for pregnant women. While
exercising try to avoid jumping, jarring motions, or even quick
changes in direction. After the first trimester pregnant women
should not do exercises that require then to lie flat on their
backs.
Always warm up for five to ten minutes prior to starting an exercise
program. Start slow, work yourself up to 30 minutes per day.
Some sports that are safe during pregnancy are walking, swimming,
cycling and aerobics. Running, racquet sports and strength training
are safe done in moderation for pregnancy women who regularly
exercised before becoming pregnant.
Some activities should be avoided altogether during pregnancy are
downhill snow skiing, contact sports and scuba diving.
Always pay attention to your body, don’t exercise to the point that
you are exhausted. Remember, pregnancy brings many changes to your
body.
Exercising during your pregnancy can help prepare you for labor and
delivery. Exercising after the birth of your baby is beneficial as
well. Remember having a baby and taking care of your new baby is
hard work. Give yourself time to regain your strength. Check with
your doctor before starting your exercise program after childbirth.
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Making a commitment to walk your dog, can
lead to increased exercise and weigh loss.
The goal of a recent study, was to encourage sedentary
overweight people to exercise and specifically to walk.
"We know that walking is good for people but we don't know
how to get people to continue do it. We wanted to see
whether bonding with a dog might be a motivator to continue
walking," said Johnson, who is an associate professor of
nursing and director of the College of Veterinary Medicine's
Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction at the
University of Missouri-Columbia.
The dog-walkers in the study started by walking 10 minutes
per day three times per week and eventually walked up to 20
minutes per day 5 days per week. One group walked for 50
weeks while another walked for only 26 weeks.
For the study, the participants walked with loaner dogs --
trained and certified "visitor" animals that were provided
by the Pet Assisted Love and Support (PALS) Program.
According to Johnson, the 50-week walkers lost an average of
14 pounds during the one-year program. "That's a better
result than most of the nationally known weight-loss plans,"
she told Reuters Health.
The walkers "bonded with the animals, improved their
flexibility, balance and ability to walk, lost weight and
felt better about themselves so it was a very positive thing
all around," Johnson added.
It's important to realize, she said, that these were a
sedentary, economically disadvantaged group of people with
multiple chronic illnesses. Some had trouble walking even 10
minutes per day three days per week at the beginning of the
study but they gradually improved their ability to walk.
"We had one lady," Johnson said, "who relied on an electric
scooter when she was outside of her apartment and by the end
of the 50 week program she was able to walk to the
neighborhood grocery store and back."
The 26-week walkers did not lose as much weight as the
50-week walkers "so we know that it takes a year see the
weight come off," Johnson said. Having a dog or being
responsible for walking someone's dog may be just the
motivating factor to keep people walking or encourage more
people to walk, she said.
Source: Reuters Health
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