Getting Pregnant
Why be active
There are many benefits of being active when trying to conceive, such as a better labour, improved mental health and reduced risk of gestational diabetes (diabetes of pregnancy) and pre-eclampsia (pregnancy problems of high blood pressure).
Planning your exercise
See Tommy's for more information on how to start exercise gradually if you are inactive, how to continue to be active if you already exercise, and to find out more about how exercise and body weight can affect fertility.
Building up to the suggested physical activity levels for adults in the UK (see infographic to the right) is a great place to start but if you were not this active before start slowly and build gradually.
Body weight matters
Take a look at the NHS pages on secrets to success for more information on how your weight affects fertility and pregnancy and for useful tips on how to achieve a healthy weight, or manage your pregnancy if you are overweight.
Activities you can try
Home workouts and more - The Sport England Join the Movement campaign has loads of home exercise and activities you can follow along with.
To get outside for some fresh air you could try walking, jogging or cycling, but be sure to follow the current government guidelines on social distancing. How about increasing your walking and daily step count using a fitness app such as the Active 10 app or the Moving Medicine step counting booklet. Or why not try jogging and give the Couch to 5k programme a go? Go from couch potato to running 5k in just 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week for 9 weeks. Cycling is also a great way to improve and maintain mental and physical health. British Cycling have guidance on how to get out on your bike while following the government guidance on COVID-19.
What does the recommended amount of physical activity look like as sessions across a week? And how can we use all these activities to get fitter and keep to a healthy weight? The NHS have put together a 12 week programme using their free content that you can access here to get you started.
Want to set a personal goal but not sure where to start? Why not try using the Moving Medicine goal setting booklet to turn your ideas into SMART goals.
