Preparing for Baby while you’re pregnant means more than just painting the nursery or picking out a crib. Babies take a great deal of emotional and physical investment, and smart women prepare themselves long before their wee ones arrive on the scene. One of the best ways to ready yourself for the physical challenges of motherhood is to strengthen your calves and thighs before parenthood places a demand on them.
Lynelle Wilcox, a mother of two from Salem, Ore., was able to enjoy her leg toning passions right up until she gave birth. “I worked, walked, hiked and biked right up until the day before I had my first child,” says Wilcox. “I did the same with our second child, two and a half years later, with the addition of one or the other of us having our first child in a sling or baby backpack for hikes and walks and a bike seat for biking. For me, it was wonderful to be able to do the things I loved doing and to feel like pregnancy is a natural part of life and not a reason to stop my life.”
While Wilcox isn’t sure that strong legs necessarily make for an easier birth, she is fairly certain that all the walking, biking and hiking she did during her two pregnancies helped her face the rigors of mothering! “Strong legs do seem to be a huge benefit after having the baby, since you now have this child, getting heavier and heavier, to carry around,” says Wilcox. “Whether it’s in my arms, in a sling or in a baby backpack, they get heavy and it’s hard work carrying them around everywhere! So I’d guess that even if walking, hiking, and biking were not beneficial to childbirth, it was quite helpful for the ongoing work afterwards.”
Look Out for Symptoms
Pregnancy brings all sorts of leg issues into play. Fatigue, swelling and cramping are only a few ailments that could possibly strike a woman’s legs just at a time when she needs all the energy she can muster. Part of the reason is the extra weight women gain during pregnancy. The average weight gain is 25 to 40 pounds from start to finish. This is quite a bit of extra weight your legs are being asked to carry around. This, along with the changes in your veins during pregnancy, often cause cramps and swelling in your legs. Strong, fit legs and regular stretching can help lessen some of these problems.
Vasanthi Bhat is the founder and director of and a teacher at Vasantha Yoga Health and Fitness Center in San Jose, Calif. She believes strong legs are essential for both pregnancy and motherhood. “Having strong legs will definitely help support the abdominal weight which the legs have to bear,” says Bhat. “In addition, strong legs can help in taking regular walks and help in practicing balancing poses that stimulate the entire spine, which has a positive effect on the emotions.”
Bhat believes yoga and strong legs can help alleviate uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms. “Yoga stretching increases the circulation while toning the muscles and joints in the legs,” she says. “Many of the leg exercises are equally beneficial to tone the lower back and lower abdomen while strengthening the bladder. It is most important to know that having a toned back and strong bladder, abdomen and hips, along with strong legs, contributes to having a pleasant pregnancy and positive childbirth and postnatal experiences.”
One of the best exercises you can do for your legs while you’re pregnant is walking. Walking tones and stretches your legs and prepares them for all the running around you will be doing as a mom! If you don’t walk for exercise on a regular basis, remember to talk to your doctor before starting a regular exercise program. In this case, it is crucial to begin slowly and build your stamina over a period of time. Also remember that your center of gravity is shifting and falls are a very real possibility, so be extra careful while walking.
Swimming is another quality overall exercise for pregnant women and gets your legs into great shape. Exertion is at a minimum, and there is no danger of overheating as there is with other workouts. Check your local swim center to see if they offer prenatal exercise classes.
Dr. Lauri Grossman is a licensed chiropractor and homeopath and an integrative care expert who consistently works with paediatricians, OB/GYNs and surgeons to offer patients the maximum treatment options. She believes there are many options for pregnant women who suffer from swollen legs during the last trimester of their pregnancies. Dr. Grossman understands that sometimes no matter how fit you are and how well your pregnancy is going, your legs become fatigued or swell up. She offers the following tips to help reduce leg swelling:
- Continue to exercise during the pregnancy.
- Wear comfortable flat shoes.
- Raise your legs upon waking (so the blood runs from your legs), and put on support hose before you get out of bed.
- Avoid standing in one place (sitting or moving about is better).
- Raise your legs whenever possible.
Remember that no matter what sort of workouts you do to strengthen your legs while you’re pregnant, you are now walking for two, so fit and healthy legs are more important than ever!
By Teri Brown
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