Swimming – The Best Exercise For Mums-To-Be

Back in the days the doctors and midwives common recommendation was to avoid exercises, relax and try to eat for two while you are pregnant. Nowadays, provided you are having a low risk pregnancy, the advice is pretty much the opposite. The guidelines is to remain active and watch your diet as you and your baby will only really need extra calories in the last trimester.

Having said that, being pregnant is a challenging time. Our changing hormones, morning sickness and new levels of exhaustion may make it hard for us to find the energy and motivation to exercise. But please trust me on this – unless you have any adverse advice from your doctor squeezing a 30 minutes swimming session into your day will make you feel so much better physically and mentally throughout your whole pregnancy!

Below are the main reasons why you should give swimming a go while pregnant:

• Swimming is a low impact work-out. It is relatively gentle work on the body as we are weightless in the water, so any extra weight that we put on while being pregnant won’t be felt while swimming. Therefore, you can swim all the way through your pregnancy without changing much on your swimming routine, as you will find that the weight that you put on due to being pregnant shouldn’t affect you in the water.
• Swimming is gentle on the joints and ligaments – while we are pregnant we are more prone to joint injuries, this is because in order for our pelvic floor and uterus to expand to accommodate our baby our body produces a hormone called relaxin. The down side of it is the fact that relaxin also relaxes our ligaments and musculoskeletal system, thereby making pregnant women more likely to have a joint injury. With swimming you will be able to minimize that risk as you will be almost weightless in the water and the movements you do while swimming are very low impact.
• Swimming is a full body work out which uses all the major muscles. If you swim regularly you will see improvements in your strength (muscle), endurance(cardio) and flexibility (stretch). Also, swimming gets your pelvic floor and the muscles of your tummy engaged which helps during pregnancy and will be essential during labor.
• Reduce morning sickness. I had horrible morning sickness until week 16. However, I would find that my nauseas would easy down and that I would feel great whenever I was in the pool either teaching or swimming! I don’t really know the scientific reason for that, but it definitely worked for me and I have heard the same form other friends who also swam through their pregnancy! Maybe the water relaxes you? Or could it be a byproduct of the overall health benefits that come from swimming? All I know is swimming worked miracles for me during my pregnancy!
• Reducing back pain – Many women suffer from back pain while pregnant, swimming helps reduce such back aches as it really strengthens your back muscles while at the same time also relaxing them thereby alleviating the pain sensation.
• Shorten the labor and decrease the chance of birth complications – as swimming works on your endurance and strength it will help you with your overall fitness. Also, swimming regularly will seriously improve your lung capacity helping you in developing the respiratory system which will make it easier to go through labor and push the baby out. Also keeping active during pregnancy will fasten your recovery or healing process.
• Keep your weight in check- Swimming regularly while pregnant will definitely help you control any weight gain while pregnant which will make it easier to get back on your pre pregnant weight after the baby. In my case it took months for people to notice that I was actually pregnant.
• Swimming also helps you to sleep better, feel more energetic and happier as my London client’s who swam with me during my pregnancy will easily be able to attest! In fact, I was still happily giving swimming classes to some of my clients in South Kensington and Knightsbridge on the day before giving birth to my son in the Westminster & Chelsea Hospital!

If you are already swimming prior to get pregnant, it should be safe to keep your routine as long as you do not over exert yourselves. Add some extra rest between sets if you need to and also make sure to be hydrated throughout your session. If you are new to swimming and want to give it a go to be active throughout your pregnancy, please check with your doctor or midwife but my guess is that it should not be a problem and that they will encourage you to do so!

Start with an easy pace, rest whenever you need and maybe start with 15-20 minutes until you find that is becoming easier before doing full 30 minutes sessions. If you have an access to a swimming pool either at your home or in your building try to do a quick session every day, if not try to find a pool on your way to work as is much easier to stay committed if you have an easy access to a pool. Of course, if you would like more tips, an individually tailored program or one-to-one or group classes to keep motivated feel free to give me a shout;)

Juliana