Get In! The Water's Lovely!

Land exercises are great for pregnant women, but as your body grows and the temperature rises, you’ll welcome the ease of floating around in cool water.

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The pool is beckoning, but in case you need more convincing that the time is always right for a swim, read on about all the benefits.

The buoyancy of the water releases the pull of gravity, and your pregnant body is freed, enabling you to exercise through a greater range of motion, for longer, enduring less stress and less risk of possible injury and fatigue. The buoyancy of the water also allows you to walk, run, jump, bounce or make any movements without the jolting impact that could cause injury if done on land.

Why does it feel so wonderful? Gravity causes the weight-bearing joints to compress against each other and, due to postural changes during pregnancy, this gets worse, causing much pain and discomfort. When you stand in water, the force of the water has an upward effect, therefore causing the compressing effect to open up and allow the joint to move through a greater range of motion.

Water resistance helps to improve muscle tone, strength and flexibility. All are essential components in your exercise programme during pregnancy. On land, intensity, speed and duration of exercises is important, while in the water, shape, size, speed and depth is important. The resistance of the water causes muscles to work harder, thus burning more energy. This would be at a greater rate in water than on land for the same kind of exercise performed. Resistance in water is 12 times that of air as water is a thousand times more dense than air.

THE PRESSURE IS PERFECT