Walking is the gentle exercise that the pregnant women can do. It is beneficial for the women who have not exercised earlier. Many women may get confused with the duration for which they should do exercise.
Walking is the safe and simple way of keeping yourself healthy during the pregnancy. It is beneficial for you and your baby. This simple exercise will yield many benefits and keeps you active. It makes your body to fight against the chronic diseases.
This article discusses the benefits of walking during pregnancy. It presents the time period of how long a woman should walk during the pregnancy.
Benefits Of Walking During Pregnancy
Walking makes it possible to maintain health and fitness at the same time. Walking is one of the safest exercises during the pregnancy unless you overdo it and your doctor has given approval.
Here are a few pregnancy walking benefits:
1. Physical Fitness
Walking during pregnancy makes you healthy, fit, and active. It improves the health of your cardiovascular muscles and enhances the tone of boneds.
2. Keeps excess pregnancy weight in check
Daily 20-30 minutes of walk will help to keep the excess wight during the pregnancy in check. It is the useful exercise which helps your to burn calories. It is a risk free exercise unless you don not have any pregnancy related complaints.
3. It helps in maintaining the muscle mass
Calories that your body burns depends on your body mass. The more lean body mass burns lot of calories. The lean body mass offers higher metabolism rate. If you maintain more muscle mass during the pregnancy then it will be easier for you to return to the pre baby body mass.
4. Lowers the risk of Gestational Diabetes
When you are pregnant insulin blocking hormones are produced by the placenta. If the mother’s body can not produce enough insulin to overcome the blocking effect they are at the risk of being affected by the gestational diabetes. The aerobic activity like exercise helps in reducing the levels of glucose in the body thereby reducing the demand to produce extra insulin to regulate it.
Proper and healthy diet habits along with the regular exercise will help in achieving the healthy weight gain and lowering the sugar levels.
5. Lowers the risk of Preeclampsia
This is a sign of pregnancy complication which is accompanied by the high blood pressure, and signs of damage to other organ system.
Here are a few triggers of Preeclampsia during the pregnancy:
- Obesity
- Carrying more than one baby
- Being over the age of 35 years
- History of diabetes or a kidney disorder
- History of high blood pressure
Regular walking during the pregnancy helps in reducing the cholesterol and the oxidative stress. Proper walk in pregnancy keep you away from the severe health conditions.
6. Lowers the risk of Fetal Macrosomia
High sugar levels and the excessive weight gain during the pregnancy may result in the big baby. Regular exercise will help to give birth to a healthy weight baby.
7. Reduces the levels of stress
Physical activities are the catalysts for reducing the levels of stress. Studies suggested that walking plays a prominent role in the mood profiles. Many hormones during the pregnancy may make you to experience the mood swings ranging from joy to sadness and stress. Walking releases the hormone known as the endorphin which is known as the feel good hormone. This chemical will help you to supress the levels of stress and elevate your mood.
8. It makes you well prepared for the labour
Pregnancy is the time to concentrate on both physical and mental fitness. We need to build the overall fitness of the body for the healthy delivery. If you are in a better shape that means you are well prepared for the pregnancy.
9. It increases the scope of normal delivery
Daily walking during the pregnancy helps in enhancing the flexibility and the strength of hip muscles.
10. Promotes easy stretching of the legs
Walking during the pregnancy will help in relieving the pain and any other discomforts that develop during the pregnancy. Walking facilitates the easy stretching of the legs and avoids any kind of swelling during the pregnancy.
11. Promotes better sleep
Proper sleep is more essential during the pregnancy. Doing exercises every day will help you in removing the excess energy from your body. This helps in promoting the longer deep sleep.
When To Start Walking During Pregnancy ?
You can start walking right from the first day of the pregnancy. It is the best exercise that is good for the better cardiovascular activity during the pregnancy. Walking and other small daily chores throughout the pregnancy promotes the normal delivery. Check with your doctor for any complications before starting the exercise.
How To Walk During Pregnancy ?
The first step to do when you are decided to walk during the pregnancy is to check with your doctor. They can advise you on the intensity and how much exercise can be performed during the pregnancy.
The second thing to keep in mind is the selection of the right shoes. The shoes that you choose should be fit to the size of your foot. The shoes should not produce any king of swelling in your legs. You can also use the gel liners for the better shock absorbance.
How long Should You Walk during the pregnancy?
The question of how long to walk during the pregnancy varies from trimester to trimester.
In First Trimester:
Morning sickness is more common in the first trimester and you might encounter the episodes of discomfort. Choose to walk when you are comfortable. You should incorporate the walking in your daily routine depending on the fitness levels that you have prior to your pregnancy.
The following are the few things to remember to start with walking in the first trimester.
- Your prime focus should be sticking to the activity. Gradually increase the duration and the intensity.
- Start walking for 15 to 20 minutes in the alternative days in a week.
- Gradually increase it to four days and depending the levels of your comfort extend the duration of the walking by 5 minutes.
- Increase it to five days after few weeks.
- When you are at the end of first trimester your walk should be 10-20 minutes.
If you are at the intermediate fitness levels here is how your walk should be
- If you are into occasional walking before you conceive start with 5 days with the duration of 20 minutes.
- If you are comfortable, then you can increase it to 6 days with the duration ranging from 20 to 40 minutes.
If you are at the advanced fitness level, here is how your walking should look like:
Start with five days a week with the duration of 30 minutes.
- Depending on your comfort levels increase it to six days and increase the duration by few more minutes.
- You may also add the stairs and hills without crossing the RPE of 7 (only if you do not have any complaints of pregnancy)
- At the end of the first trimester, you should be able to walk for 30 to 60 minutes.
In the second Trimester:
Morning sickness gradually reduces when you reach the second trimester and it is the best time to boost up your physical activity for staying fit during the pregnancy and to promote the healthy growth of your baby.
If you are a beginner, you can start your walking in the following way:
- Start walking for four to five days in a week with the duration of 10 minutes.
- If you are comfortable, you can extend your walk by one more day and increase the duration by 5 minutes.
- By the end of the second trimester, you should be able to walk between 15-30 minutes for four to six days.
If you are at the intermediate level, here is how your walking should be:
- Walk for about 20 minutes for 4 to 6 days in a week.
- Depending on your comfort levels you can gradually increase the walking duration for at least 30 to 40 minutes.
- By the end of the second trimester, you should be able to walk for 25-40 minutes for 4 to 6 days in a week.
If you are at the advanced level of your fitness, here is how your walk should look like:
- You can walk for 30-40 minutes everyday for 5 to 6 days in a week
- If you are comfortable, gradually increase the duration of your walk for 50 minutes.
At the end of second trimester, you should walk for 40-50 minutes for 5 to 6 days with 60 minutes of walk in any one day of the week
In the Third Trimester:
The third trimester is very crucial part of your pregnancy. Give your comfort priority and stop doing the activities that you can not do.
If you are at the beginning of the third trimester and a beginner, then here is your walking duration should be:
- Start walking for 10 minutes for 5 days a week.
- If you are no longer able to walk with the growing belly, stop walking.
- Try if you can walk slowly for 10 minutes for 5 days.
- Slowly increase the walking duration, and increase upto 30 minutes concerning the levels of your comfort.
If you are at the intermediate level of your pregnancy, here is how your walking should be:
- Begin with 10 to 20 minutes of walk for four to six days a week.
- Maintain the speed and distance as per your growing bump. Keep them short if you are unable to walk.
- At the end of third trimester, make sure to walk for about 20 to 45 minutes for about six days in a week
If you are at the advanced level of the exercise, here is how you have to plan your walking.
- Begin with 20 to 50 minutes of walk for about four to six days in a week
- By the end of the third trimester, your walking has to be 25 to 50 minutes for five to six days a week.
Tips for Walking During the Pregnancy:
Here are a few precaution tips to follow during the pregnancy.
- Talk to your doctor before you start walking.
- Do not overdo. Take the rest whenever you feel tired.
- Keep yourself hydrated by drinking sufficient amounts of water
- Stay cool by dressing in breathable layers
- Maintain the walking at the comfortable pace and it should not be too fast.
- Choose the appropriate environment for the walking. Don’t walk in extremely hot or humid conditions.
- Back pain is most common during the pregnancy. If you experience back pain make sure that it is not the reason of your exercise.
- Make sure that you should not exceed the rating of perceived exception.
- Wear proper shoes while walking.
- Stop walking if you come across any danger like lack of normal fetal movement, abnormal rapid heartbeat, pain, bleeding, dizziness, and bleeding.
- Wear a belly support band during the third trimester that supports your belly and back while walking.
- Always carry your phone to stay connected to someone while you are walking.
In conclusion, walking is a very simple exercise and yields many effective results. Introduce the walking into your daily routine in a proper way and enjoy the benefits offered by the walking during pregnancy.
FAQ’s:
Can Walking in early Pregnancy cause miscarriage?
Exercise is a great way to improve the physical health and the well being throughout and after the pregnancy. Exercise is a low impact exercise and do not lead to miscarriage if done with comfortable pace with the advice of your health care provider.
