Your journey through a comfortable, safe, and confident pregnancy begins with Pregnancy Fitness. This practical guide answers your questions and delivers the information, exercises, and workouts you need to maintain your personal fitness and enjoy the best possible experience in welcoming your baby to the world. Written by three experts in prenatal and postpartum fitness, pelvic floor exercise, and core restoration, Pregnancy Fitness covers all physical and physiological aspects of pregnancy, birth, and recovery so you can enjoy peace of mind throughout your pregnancy and long after delivery. You’ll get complete need-to-know information about hormones, body and posture changes, and common pregnancy aches and pains, along with critical information on diastasis recti and pelvic floor health, which aims to support and protect your body from core dysfunction. A full spectrum of stretching, strengthening, and functional exercises provides the focus, description, safety tips, and variations that allow you to progress safely through your pregnancy and to be physically prepared for birth and optimal recovery. The sample workout programs guide you through each phase of pregnancy, including postpartum, to help you establish and meet your personal fitness goals with comfort and confidence.

"Presents various benefits of exercising during all the stages of pregnancy, and gives exercise recommendations for pregnant women."--Résumé de l'éd.

The Complete Guide to Pregnancy and Fitness is an invaluable reference manual for anyone involved in prescribing exercise programmes for pregnant women. Packed with practical tips on designing activity programmes, as well as how to apply the correct techniques to over 40 exercises, aided by full colour photos. This is an up-to-date practical guide to the underpinning theory and includes comprehensive recommended reading for each chapter. Learn about the physiological changes during pregnancy and how this affects exercise programmes, including contra-indications to be considered when working with pregnant clients. Also covered are the required legal and insurance elements.

Get Your Body Ready for the Marathon of Labor! If you're newly pregnant, you're probably watching your diet carefully, getting plenty of rest, and preparing for the arrival of your new baby. You're also thinking about the big day itself and what the experience of labor will be like. Even if you're following a regular fitness program, you'll want to do everything you can to strengthen and prepare your body for the rigors of labor. Maternal Fitness features clearly illustrated exercises that focus specifically on the muscle groups you'll use throughout labor, especially the transverse abdominals -- the stomach muscles that play a critical role during delivery. A powerful set of transverse abs can speed labor and delivery and make for a quick recovery. By learning how to strengthen your abdominals and relax your pelvic floor muscles, you'll be able to push more effectively. While the Maternal Fitness program is designed specifically for the big moment, it also has other benefits, from minimizing backache and fatigue to giving you a welcome head start on getting back into shape after childbirth. Developed by a professional trainer who is also a registered nurse and childbirth educator, the Maternal Fitness program is safe for you and your baby and easy to do. Once learned, it can be incorporated into any workout.

A simple, easy-to-follow guide for staying fit while pregnant and shedding the post-baby pounds after! Being a mom is the toughest job in the world. It's difficult to take time for yourself. Now, in How to Exercise When You're Expecting, even the busiest moms can learn how to stay strong and fit during their pregnancy and lose the post-baby weight after. Lindsay Brin, a women's fitness expert and creator of #1 bestselling Moms Into Fitness DVD series, shares insider tips to: -Understanding and tackling food cravings -Exercises that are safe to perform during different stages of pregnancy -Preparing for labor through relaxation and yoga techniques -How your body and metabolism changes after childbirth -Keeping fitness and nutrition a priority when time is scarce Battle-tested through Lindsay's own pregnancies, How to Exercise When You're Expecting offers a before, during, and after guide that will get moms back in pre-baby shape-or better.

This clinically and practice oriented, multidisciplinary book is intended to fill the gap between evidence-based knowledge on the benefits of physical activity and exercise during pregnancy and the implementation of exercise programmes and related health promotion measures in pregnant women. It will provide medical, sports, and fitness professionals both with the knowledge needed to allay undue fears regarding the consequences of exercising during pregnancy and with the practical expertise to offer optimal guidance on exercising to pregnant exercisers and athletes. Readers will find up-to-date evidence on the psychological, social, physiological, body composition, musculoskeletal, and biomechanical changes that occur during pregnancy and their implications for physical activity and exercise. Detailed descriptions are provided of the components of exercise testing and prescription for pregnant women, the current evidence-based and practice-oriented guidelines, and exercise selection and adaptation during pregnancy. Exercises specifically targeting musculoskeletal health are discussed separately, and a concluding chapter explains the nutritional requirements in pregnant women who exercise.

Are you intrigued by the idea of working out during pregnancy, but think it can’t be safe? Are you unsure how the words fit and pregnancy actually make sense in the same sentence? If so, you’ve come to the right place. This easy-to-follow guide shows you how you can be fit and pregnant, whether you’re new to exercise or have been working out for years, and whether you’re in your second week of pregnancy or your 32nd. Fit Pregnancy For Dummies is for you if you’re pregnant, if you’re thinking about becoming pregnant, and You want to be as fit and healthy as you can be — whatever your current fitness level — without in any way jeopardizing your health or the health of your baby. This guide gives you the straight facts on: Staying safe when you exercise Developing a plan with your health provider Choosing the right equipment Modifying your routine for each trimester Eating well for nine months and beyond From yoga and swimming to weight training, aerobics, and much more, you’ll see how to get started with a fun, step-by-step fitness routine that will make your entire pregnancy easier to manage. Postpartum expert and prenatal fitness class instructor Catherine Cram and fitness expert Tere Stouffer Drenth give you the scoop on the activities that work best for pregnant women and how to set up a routine that works best for you. You’ll understand how a fit pregnancy helps you with delivery and postpartum shape-up. Plus, you get expert advice on activities to avoid, eating well, and staying motivated during and after your pregnancy, as well as: Dressing comfortably for your workout Warming up and stretching to increase flexibility and avoid injury Modifying your exercise routine Staying fit after giving birth Finding the time for exercise and motherhood Complete with special tips on exercising indoors, staying motivated, getting your family hooked on fitness, and helping your child grow up healthy and fit, Fit Pregnancy For Dummies is the key to exercising safely and staying fit throughout your pregnancy and beyond!