Safe Pregnancy Exercise - How to Warm Up and Cool Down

Safe pregnancy exercise of any kind -So, before you do anything - even before you
cardiovascular or strength training - requires extrastretch - get a light sweat going with 5-10
circulation of blood throughout your body.minutes of light to moderate activity. Walking,
As you move, your muscles require morejogging, rowing and biking are just a few
oxygen and nutrients to keep them going. Yourexamples of activities that will start you off on
blood carries these essentials throughout thethe right foot.
entire body. As your muscles begin to workAt the other end of the workout, cooling down is
harder, your heart needs to pump faster to keepjust as important as warming up.
up.Your body required extra circulation in order to
If you jump right into a workout with outkeep up with the demands of your workout, so
warming up, your heart is not pumping fastyou'll want to give yourself some time to return
enough to the oxygen and nutrients around in anto normal before going back to your daily routine.
efficient manner. This is especially important forUsing the same light activities as your warm up,
expectant mothers because you need blood nottake 10 minutes after your workout to let your
only for your hard working muscles, but for yourheart rate, blood pressure and body temperature
baby as well.drop before sitting in your car to head home,
A good warm up ensures that your body ishopping in the shower, etc.
prepared well enough for both in advance, keepingComplete your safe pregnancy exercise session
you and your baby safe during your exercisewith these simple tips - your body and your baby
session.will thank you!