I recently read an article on Today about a mother who is a serious runner, even through her pregnancies. Then I remembered a local article I had read about a pregnant mother being criticized about her weight lifting routine.

Many people criticize the pregnant women exercises that they don’t agree with as seeming “normal.” I read comments criticizing these women as if they aren’t thinking of their babies, but only of themselves. That they are only worried about putting on pounds and wanting to still look thin. That these mothers are SELFISH.

I’ll tell you what: the exact OPPOSITE is true.

Pregnant Women Exercises – These Mothers are SELF LESS

These mother know exactly what they are doing–they are giving their baby wonderful health by keeping themselves healthy still. It is completely well for a mother who had an exercise routine before she became pregnant to continue it afterwards. If she feels well and able, then it’s just fine. Ask your doctor and he’ll agree with me.

I’m a bit of a runner myself, certainly not a professional one, but enough to call it part of my exercise routine. I continued jogging through my first trimesters and somewhat into my seconds. I would get tired easier, so I simply had to slow down a little. But I still felt GREAT! I was glad that I was able to give that much time of jogging with my child.

The only reason that I stopped jogging in my pregnancies was the subtle bouncing around of my belly that wasn’t very comfortable. Some women don’t have that problem. But I just switched over to stair walking, elliptical, and hiking hills. And they felt just as good. I didn’t have any issues with gaining weight, I still put on about 35 pounds each time, no trouble.

And I plan on keeping my exercise routine throughout my next pregnancies as well. (I do the best pregnancy exercises to stay strong.)

I had two different doctors for each of my pregnancies, and BOTH stated that getting their patients to exercise is the number one thing that they wish happened more often. They were glad to hear that I still was.

I IMPLORE you to continue your exercise routine throughout your pregnancy

It will give your baby so many additional benefits than just eating a healthy diet can. But the BEST part is that it will make your Labor & Delivery EASIER and shorter when the time arrives. If you haven’t been exercising regularly beforehand, that’s OK. You can still start simple and have mountains of improved benefit over time.

What do you think is too much, or maybe not enough for a pregnant mother to be doing for her exercise?