If you’re trying to conceive. Or considering adding to your family in the future, you may be wondering about the best way to get your body ready for conception and pregnancy. Preparing your body for trying to conceive before you even become pregnant will have many benefits, for you and your future baby.
Develop healthy habits now
By starting to develop healthy habits now and considering how best to prepare your body you can reap the benefits, including:
- Developing good exercise and nutrition habits. Which will increase the likelihood of these continuing throughout pregnancy and beyond.
- By learning the strengthening and mobility exercises while trying to conceive, that you’ll need throughout pregnancy and into the postnatal period. Your body will be familiar with the movements and they’ll feel much more natural.
- You’ll set yourself and your baby up for success. Your health during conception can be incredibly important for setting the foundation of growth for your baby. Good exercise and nutrition in pregnancy can also have an impact on your baby’s future health and development. Research has suggested that the children of fit mothers may have an advantage when it comes to cardiovascular health.
- Exercise and good nutrition have positive impacts on mental as well as physical health. This can be hugely important when trying to conceive as there can be a huge amount of stress. Exercising can help to reduce the effects of stress.
Preparing for pregnancy
In terms of exercise specifically, we want to prepare the body for pregnancy. The goal should be to set the body up for a pregnancy that will carry the baby safely and comfortably to term. That has as few aches and pains as possible. That will help keep you feeling supported, strong, and as energetic as possible!
Exercise for trying to conceive:
When you’re trying to conceive you want a body that is fit, strong and as stress free as possible. That’s why you need to balance your fitness efforts with some stress relieving practices.
Pelvic floor:
- We want a pelvic floor that’s functioning well before pregnancy. A healthy pelvic floor will be able to deal with the growing weight and pressure of a baby. And allow you to recover well afterwards. We want to ensure that we’re learning how to relax as well as lift the pelvic floor. A tight pelvic floor can cause as many issues as a weak one.. Learning exercises that match the release and lift of the pelvic floor to the breath (such as those taught in Stronger Mother) will hold you in good stead from pre-pregnancy to many years postnatal.
Strength training:
- Strength training concentrating on creating strong glutes, back muscles and leg strength will make your body perfectly prepared for pregnancy. Back pain and weak glutes are common in pregnancy and postnatally. Get those muscles strong now with strength training and you’ll be in a much better position to stay strong throughout the pregnancy.
In terms of exercises – the big movements of push, pull, squat and hinge will stand you in good stead. Add in some specific glute and pelvic floor work and you’re good to go!
Restorative/stress relieving movement:
- Restorative movement should be a part of any exercise regime. Rest and relaxation is where the body does its healing and growing. But this is especially important while trying to conceive. Stress has a huge impact on hormonal balance, and hormonal balance affects menstrual cycles. We need exercises that will help balance stress hormones with more intense exercise, such as strength training. If you do a lot of intense cardio then you may want to consider cutting this back a little and adding in relaxation once or twice a week.
Ideas for restorative work can be as simple as leisurely walks, getting outside in the fresh air can make you feel amazing and relieve the pressures of the day. Restorative yoga, meditation and mindfulness exercises can all be a wonderful way to unwind and help your body release stress. Pick what works best for you.
Need help?
Need some help with getting your exercise routine balanced when you’re trying for a baby? Get in touch! I offer virtual and face to face training for women at all stages of life.