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Walking During Pregnancy

Walking and pregnancy go hand in hand as walking is said to be the best exercise that helps the body in a number of ways. Walking helps to keep your muscles toned, enables you get fresh air, keeps your body fit and working, aids in getting a good sleep in the night and so on. Walking during the third trimester is particularly important so that the muscles are flexible which in turn help in easy delivery and also faster recovery after delivery. If you were walking already before pregnancy, continue walking on a regular basis and walk for about 30 minutes everyday. If you are beginning it for the first time, you can start getting into the habit of walking during your first trimester itself. You should walk for around 20 to 30 minutes everyday and follow this for at least three days in a week. You could slowly increase the time and then try walking for 40 to 60 minutes for most of the days of the week. However, you need to take care to ensure that you do not overexert yourself at any point as it is not good for the health of your baby. Abdominal pain when walking during pregnancy may occur if you stress yourself unnecessarily.

You need to remember that during your walks, your pulse rate should not exceed 140 beats per minute and you can ensure that by the talk test. In this test, you need to check if you are able to talk in full sentences without huffing and puffing or making short sentences in order to breathe. Walking in a good posture is equally important to avoid backache and while walking, you need to be straight without arching your back. You need to keep your shoulders loose and not lean forward or backwards while walking. You should also keep your chin up ensuring it is parallel to the ground as it reduces stress on your neck and back. Walking and labor is also very important and walking during labor is rather common wherein your doctor will ask you to walk in the labor room for a number of reasons. Walking reduces the level of anxiety in many women that is very high during these times and also causes stimulation of the muscles and in turn enables contractions. You might experience some pain while walking during pregnancy especially when you are in your ninth month and if the pain is a lot, it is best you relax yourself.

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