Playing Sports During Pregnancy: What You Should Know
Many people believe women shouldn’t play sports during pregnancy. However, they should change their minds about this! If you think you’re part of this group of people, try to change your mindset, and find ways of staying active during this period.
Physical activity can’t be forbidden during a healthy pregnancy. In fact, professionals even recommend it. Sport and exercise are beneficial for you and your baby. Besides, you can modify certain exercises, in order to adapt sports to your current state.
Playing sports during pregnancy
During pregnancy, your body goes through a special situation and tolerates many changes. This is logical because a baby is growing inside of you. However, this should never be an excuse to promote a sedentary lifestyle.
Therefore, it’s very important for you to be active during pregnancy, in order to stay in shape. Moreover, remember that a healthy diet and other healthy habits must be part of your routine as well.
What’s important to consider when practicing a sport?
In order to choose the right sport to practice during pregnancy, you must bear in mind some important aspects. So, even though it’s advisable to practice sports during this stage, you should plan it carefully and talk to your doctor first.
Talk to your doctor
First of all, before practicing any sport, ask for your doctor’s permission. In normal conditions, you should visit your doctor regularly.
Once you become pregnant, these visits become more frequent and necessary. This is because the doctor must monitor both your health and the health of the baby, especially if you’re planning to practice sports during this stage. So, your obstetrician will give you a set of recommendations and steps you must follow.
Avoid high-impact sports
Within the sporting world, there are many options to choose from. However, not all sports are suitable for pregnant women. Therefore, it’s important for you to bear this in mind, especially if you think about practicing high-impact sports.
Contact sports are absolutely forbidden. It doesn’t matter whether you used to practice them before getting pregnant or not. During this period, you must pause and look for other options.
How fit are you?
Every person is different and goes through a different process during their life. If you used to practice sports before getting pregnant, it’ll be different for you. If you didn’t practice any sport before getting pregnant, it’ll probably be harder.
Since sports require an adaptation period, it’ll be easier if you practiced them in the past.
Besides, it won’t be so traumatic for your body to experience new changes. In fact, that’s the importance of a previously good physical condition. On the contrary, if you’re planning to start practicing any kind of sport, start slowly.
What sports are safe during pregnancy?
We’ve already talked about sports you’re not supposed to practice during pregnancy, such as high-impact and contact sports. This is because you may take the risk of suffering from an injury or you may even harm your baby.
So, what sports are safe during pregnancy? Professionals will be able to advise you on sports that aren’t too demanding. These sports may include:
- Walking: even though this isn’t a sport per se, walking is the best activity for a pregnant woman. This is because, you’ll be moving your body, favoring blood flow and toning up.
- Swimming: this is one of the best sports to practice, whether you’re pregnant or not. This is because your body weight is reduced by the water, there’s no joint impact and it’s quite beneficial for you and the fetus.
- Yoga: the different breathing exercises and poses are absolutely advisable during pregnancy. This way, you’ll have better blood flow all over your body.
It’s very important to point out that there are many sports programs specially designed for pregnant women. Therefore, you should look for them and choose the one you like the most. They’ll ask for your doctor’s permission, a medical check-up, and they’ll probably check your physical condition. Remember that all this is advisable, in order to follow a proper process.
Find the best option to practice sports during pregnancy
No matter what sport you choose, make sure you enjoy it, while it suits your current state. Don’t do anything you won’t enjoy.
In conclusion, complete exhaustive research on all your options before making a choice. If you have family, friends, or a partner, ask them to join you, to make the process more enjoyable. Finally, don’t forget that this is supposed to be good for you and your child. It’s important to understand what you’re doing and how you’re going to do it.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Miranda, M., & Navío, C. (2013). Benefits of Exercise for Pregnant Women. Journal of Sport and Health Research.
- Vázquez-Lara, J. M., Ruiz-Frutos, C., Rodríguez-Díaz, L., Ramírez-Rodrigo, J., Villaverde-Gutiérrez, C., & Torres-Luque, G. (2018). Effect of a physical activity programme in the aquatic environment on haemodynamic constants in pregnant women. Enfermería Clínica (English Edition). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enfcle.2017.07.007
- Azón López, E., & Mir Ramos, E. (2011). Yoga en el embarazo. Medicina Naturista.
