Running During Pregnancy: How Safe Is It? at Her Active Life

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Running During Pregnancy: How Safe Is It?

Posted October 9, 2007 at 09:00 AM by Shannon Clark

Section: Her Fitness, Her Health, Her News

Pregnant Woman Many women, after learning they’re pregnant, worry about the weight gain that is associated with it. It is not uncommon for some women to put on twenty to thirty pounds during their pregnancy, which, as you already know, can be tough to lose down the road.

Because of this fact, some women try to keep up their workout program for as long as they can in an effort to minimize the weight gained and stay in shape. Is this really a healthy thing to do?

A study that was recently published by the British Medical Journal involved more than 92 000 women who kept up their usual workout program while pregnant. The results showed that those who were involved in more high-impact types of activities had a much higher chance of experiencing a miscarriage than those who took a more moderate approach to their exercise training.

To build a more complete picture, half of the women who took part in the study exercised for between 75 minutes and two and a half hours per week doing activities such as walking, cycling or swimming.

The group that showed the highest rate of miscarriages were those who were exercising over seven hours per week and were specifically engaged in running.

Experts think this increased risk is because running creates so much up and down motion in the body, meaning the baby is going to be jolted to an extent that could cause problems. Additionally, as pregnancy progresses along there is going to be some additional weight gained regardless of how carefully you monitor your diet and exercise habits, and this is necessary for the baby to grow healthfully. This extra weight will make it even harder for the body to keep up with the demands of running, which can place considerable stress on your own body as well.

One interesting point to note is that experiencing a miscarriage is going to be a rarer occurrence after the initial 18 weeks of pregnancy, as it seems that the link to exercise was significantly weaker after this point. Furthermore, it seems that some types of exercise will not increase risk at all, swimming being the prime example of a low-impact activity that women can enjoy.

The best approach to take to fitness is a more moderate one. It is definitely good to keep moving, because for most pregnant women this will help to keep up mood levels and retain lean muscle mass (bed rest typically promotes the loss of muscle mass). That said, you’re safest bet is to do as many non-impact activities as possible, like swimming, weight lifting (using a resistance tube is the best option here) and walking.

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8 Responses to “Running During Pregnancy: How Safe Is It?” (Leave a reply)

top weight loss site said:

Many of my clients have asked me about exercise during pregnancy and my answer has been the same for all of them. Low impact exercise is the key. Walking, swimming and weight training are my absolute favorites.
October 9, 2007 at 11:25 AM
Abby Skurat said:

I ran through both my pregnancies, 32 weeks for the first and 30 weeks for the second. My doctor advised me with any activity to keep my heart rate to a max of 140. I had been running for 15 years and gained a total of 34 pounds with each pregnancy. I ran 3 days a week 5 miles and crosstrained with spin and the elliptical.
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