Pregnancy & postnatal

In pregnancy

The NHS and the UK CMOs recommend aiming for 150 minutes of moderate activity a week — the same as other adults — including 2 sessions of muscle-strengthening exercise. You can talk but not sing at moderate intensity. If you're new to exercise, start with about 10 minutes a day and build up gradually. If you were already active, you can usually keep going, adapting as your bump grows.

The NHS advises:

• tell your instructor you're pregnant, drink water, keep cool and stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell;
• avoid sports with a risk of falling or bumping your tummy (such as hockey, rugby or mountain biking), exercising on an empty stomach, and scuba diving;
• in later pregnancy, avoid lying flat on your back for more than a few minutes;
• don't start a new vigorous activity, such as running.

The CMOs sum it up: listen to your body and adapt — and don't bump the bump.

After birth

After a straightforward birth, the NHS says you can start gentle exercise — walking, gentle stretches and pelvic floor exercises — as soon as you feel up to it. Get advice at your 6-week postnatal check before high-impact exercise such as aerobics or running. After a caesarean or complicated delivery, recovery takes longer: talk to your midwife, health visitor or GP before anything strenuous.

The CMOs advise starting pelvic floor exercises as soon as you can and continuing daily, and building back up to muscle strengthening twice a week. After the 6–8 week postnatal check, more intense activity can gradually resume, building up over at least three months.

Your tummy muscles

It's common for the tummy muscles to separate during pregnancy. The NHS suggests avoiding sit-ups, planks and high-impact exercise to start with, and contacting your GP if the gap is still obvious 8 weeks after birth — they can refer you to a physiotherapist.

Kit

The NHS suggests not relying on your pre-pregnancy sports bra — get measured for a new one — and possibly getting measured for new shoes, as feet can change during pregnancy.