Creating a safe and effective workout

Remember those pre-pregnancy days when you’d rise early, dash to the gym, and finish, feeling more in control over the stresses of everyday life? Do you need to give that up from the moment the little pink line creeps across the pregnancy test window? For most women, the answer is no, as long as you slightly alter your exercise routine to take into account your new physical state. So go ahead and ride that bike, walk the treadmill, and swim those laps: You will join the millions of other women who sailed through their pregnancy staying healthy, strong, and invigorated through exercise.

Benefits of exercise

There are a number of excellent reasons to exercise during pregnancy, including:

1. Increasing self-esteem while lowering depression and anxiety levels
2. Helping mom-to-be maintain a steady and reasonable weight gain
3. Reducing pregnancy-associated discomforts
4. Lowering a woman's chance of having a cesarean
5. Shortening recovery time after giving birth
6. Accelerating postpartum weight loss
7. Increasing energy levels
8. Improving sleep quality