If you pay close attention to the last phase of your pregnancy, your energy level and how quickly you get tired, you will understand why mobility in the third trimester tends to decrease. That is why most experts recommend keeping up with some form of exercise routine and making adjustments to your schedule to maintain mobility approaching this last trimester. Exercise is essential throughout your pregnancy, but it is most critical in the last phase. It can be beneficial to you by alleviating distress in your body, and it can enhance mobility and flexibility as you prepare to welcome your baby. Besides, even if you have not been active since the first trimester, you can explore ideas, insights and tips that guide expectant parents on maintaining mobility in the third trimester to get you started.
Tips and Guides for Maintaining Mobility in the Third Trimester
1. Workouts and Exercises
While exercising during pregnancy can be beneficial, you need to be extra cautious, especially with how you carry out workouts in the third trimester. Primarily, it is best to watch your breathing to avoid panting or gasping for air. Avoid sports that possibly risk knocking your belly. Also, it is critical to ensure you are not lying flat on your back carelessly to prevent the uterus from pushing on the blood vessels, as it could delay blood when returning to the heart. The following workouts and exercises can ease your movement and flexibility if incorporated into your routine.
This activity maintains mobility in the third trimester because it aims to loosen hip flexors as it relaxes the pelvis. It involves sitting upright on a stability ball while fixing your feet firmly on the ground. Then you rotate your hips in circles in one direction, repeating about 10 to 15 times. Afterward, you switch directions.
This exercise is best for keeping the muscles flexed and loose. It requires you to tilt your pelvis back and forth while still sitting on the stability ball, but you should ensure not to engage your back.
Squat variations effectively build lower body strength because they aim at the hamstrings, hips, quads and glutes. Also, squats prepare pregnant women for labor because engaging in this exercise helps to open the pelvis. However, squat variations should be less vigorous as the baby is heavier.
This activity is said to open the pelvis properly: Lying on your back, bend your knees and allow one knee to fall to the side. Maintain the same position as long as you can withstand, and then repeat the process with the other knee. However, ensure you are not pushing through any discomfort because for exercise to be effective at this stage of pregnancy, it needs to simple.
2. Using Your Partner as Support
Another effective way to maintain mobility in the third trimester is to have a partner lending support not just emotionally, but also physically. For example, leaning against your partner and placing your arms around their shoulders allows them to take your weight and ease your body’s pressure.
3. Stay Hydrated
Mobility in the last trimester also gets boosted by proper hydration, as a lack of hydration at this stage in pregnancy could further distress your body. Since the last trimester includes exercising, experts recommend drinking water before, during and after the session.
4. Avoid Overstraining
As much as mobility is crucial in the third trimester, overdoing it can pose possible risks due to your body’s changed center of gravity. Therefore, paying close attention to your body is paramount so that, when anything feels heavy, it can be easy to avoid. For example, if you are working out on a treadmill, ensure you are cautious enough to balance your body using the handlebars.
Finally, as you practice maintaining mobility in the third trimester, remember to make it enjoyable. When you are exercising, hydrating and observing simultaneous steps, the stress level should decrease significantly. You also get to sleep better, experience pain and cramping relief throughout your body, and most importantly, you are working on decreasing the chances of last-minute complications such as blood pressure and gestational diabetes.