Many women are often very hesitant about whether or not to continue exercising throughout their pregnancy, even if they have kept very fit leading up to their first trimester, for fear of overdoing it and potentially harming themselves or the baby.

However, providing you check that your pregnancy is a healthy one, and that your doctor and midwife has run the relevant medical checks, it is usually a very positive experience to be able to carry on a manageable, albeit reduced, level of activity during the months when you are with child.

Jenny Blizard recently published a fascinating and informative article in Athletics Weekly which delves into what happens to the body when we exercise while pregnant, and we have attached the three pages of her feature below in PDF links for you to learn more.

To summarise, Jenny explains how the aims should and can be to maintain - or even improve - cardiovascular fitness in pregnancy, with many resulting benefits, including maintaining fitness, respiratory and musculoskeletal health, and a healthy weight, improving circulation, stamina and endurance, and increasing feelings of well-being. Of course, any woman who continues to run through pregnancy will undoubtedly return to their pre-baby fitness levels a lot quicker than those who give up activities for nine months.

Jenny goes onto list the cardiovascular changes, including increased blood volume, respiratory changes, such as an increased rate of breathing at rest, musculoskeletal changes, including altered body biomechanics, and physiological changes in the foetus during exercise, such as an increased heart rate to protect itself from harm.

Our physiotherapy and women's health expert explains how you can ensure you don't exercise too hard by running to an agreed heart rate (this can be set in a lactate test before pregnancy) or a perceived rate of exertion, to ensure you run within your capabilities and not to pace.

Most importantly, she emphasises how you must be sensible and adjust your training as necessary, and remember, always speak to your GP and midwife, and a physiotherapist if you are experiencing any kind of discomfort, such as pelvic pain, before continuing to exercise when you find out you are expecting.

Read the full article here:

Physiological changes in Pregnancy article p1

Physiological changes in Pregnancy article p2

Physiological changes in Pregnancy article p3