Today in Tennessee the sun was shining and the air was warm. I decided to take advantage of the great weather and go for a walk outside. It was a great change to my routine of walking on a treadmill. My son and I played at the park for at least an hour after the walk. Then he took an extra long nap!! Exercise is good for everyone!
I decided to pull out a textbook and look up some information about exercise and pregnancy to share. A previous comment had questioned blood flow and oxygen to the baby during exercise (specially running a marathon). Here is what this source had to say, "An increase in the woman's blood volume provides adequate blood for heat dissipation, exercise, and nourishment of the fetus. Increases in ventilation and skin blood flow also help protect against excessive changes in body temperature. The increase in maternal blood volume coupled with a decrease in systemic vascular resistance results in an increase in cardiac output and provides adequate blood flow, and therefore oxygen, to the fetus. The fact that fetal HR is only modestly, if at all, affected by exercise provides evidence that this type of physical activity does not produce significant fetal distress. " (Howley & Franks, 2003)
Howley, E. & Franks, B. (2003). Health Fitness Instructor's Handbook (4th ed.). Champaign, IL:
Human Kinetics
So from this research go ahead and run your marathon! I still wonder about the stress on the joints and specifically during the 3rd trimester when the body is secreting the hormone relaxin to make the joints more flexible in preparation for the baby moving through the birth canal. What do you guys think?
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