Presented by ACSM in partnership with Clinical Exercise Physiology Association (CEPA).
Please visit this page for more information on CEPA.
This course will provide an overview of the history of exercise during pregnancy from the past to the present. We will discuss the benefits of exercise during pregnancy and the physiologic changes that occur during pregnancy (cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, thermoregulatory). These changes affect the recommendations for exercise in this population. We will examine each trimester of pregnancy and provide examples of functional movement exercises to better prepare the prenatal client for the stresses of labor, delivery and parenthood. The overtones of this discussion will focus on how so often when we discuss exercise during pregnancy, the focus remains on what the pregnant individual cannot do, versus what they CAN do in order to improve their outcomes. Lastly, we will identify the importance of step-by-step progression back to regular exercise in the postpartum period, and the need for more structure and support of this population in return to exercise.
