Exercising during pregnancy

Although exercising may be the last thing on your mind when you're pregnant, staying active during this period of your life carries a long list of benefits. Below, we will discuss a few of these benefits.

Exercise will help you to generally feel better

Exercising releases chemicals in your brain called endorphins. These endorphins help to boost your mood and increase your energy level. This alone will help you to feel better in this new, awkward body. However, staying active can also:

• Improve back pain: By performing moves that tone and strengthen your back muscles, you not only improve your posture but can also alleviate back pain due to your growing stomach.

• Reduce constipation: By performing moves such as squats, you can actually assist your body's elimination process. These moves help to massage the intestines and makes elimination easier. If you are too late in your pregnancy to perform squats, a 30 minute walk or brisk 10 minute stroll should be enough to help get things moving.

• Protect your joints: Pregnancy hormones cause your joints to loosen, which can cause severe aches and pains. By staying active, you stimulate your joints ability to release lubricating fluid which will help keep joint pain to a minimum.

• Improve your sleep: Your body needs all of the rest it can get while pregnant. Exercising helps to expel excess stress and anxiety which are main causes of restlessness at night. Just make sure to exercise earlier in the day and not close to bedtime. Exercising late in the day can actually have a stimulating effect.

• Fight fatigue: Fatigue often sits in late during your first trimester and then reappears in the third trimester. Although this may seem strange, getting too much rest can zap your energy and make you feel even more tired. Although you should not force yourself to exercise if you are truly tired, many women find that a brisk walk gives them a burst of energy.

Exercise helps prepare your body to give birth

Although exercising does not automatically guarantee that you'll have an easy birth, it can certainly make it easier. Studies have shown that women who stay active throughout their pregnancy have shorter labor periods and have a decreased need for C-sections or other medical intervention.

Regular exercise also conditions the heart and lungs, which can help you to better control your breathing during the birthing process. Controlled breathing is key in reducing pain and can help build your endurance in the case of a lengthy labor.

Regain your pre-baby body earlier

Staying fit throughout your pregnancy will help you to gain less actual body fat and will make losing any body fat you do gain that much easier. Women who exercise on a regular basis during their pregnancy lose the majority of their baby weight up to six months faster than women who did not exercise. So, taking those few extra minutes per day to stay active will have you zipping up those pre-pregnancy jeans in no time.

Do you want a sexy, perky butt?

Did you know that whether you are a guy or a girl, one of the anatomies that are constantly being scrutinized is your behind? Many do say that a bubbly bumper is one of the most attractive parts of the human body.

Now take a minute and take a look at your own buns right now. Is it tight, buoyant and athletic or is it drooping and irregular? Worse, is it without any tone and just hangs there like deli meat just cut from the butcher shop? If you really want tight and provocative cakes that will make heads turn when you're in a pair of tight jeans or in a cute  bikini then read on.

Your Donk consists of three muscles, the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus. The gluteus medius and minimus are the muscles on the sides of the hip that are used for the internal rotation of your thigh. The gluteus maximus is the largest of the three muscles and is used for hip extension, outward rotation, leg adduction and abduction. These muscles are collectively called the "Glutes".

Besides looking good and inviting, a strong Money Maker helps us in our daily activities as well. Climbing stairs or squatting down to pick something up for instance. These muscles are also essential for performance. A strong tush will also help give you power in sports, like cycling and especially in sports that require quick acceleration and jumping such as football, volleyball, soccer, and basketball.

If your Cheeks are hanging and lumpy then there is a layer of fat covering these muscles. Simple fix! Lose the fat with a combination of cardio, resistance training and the proper amount of calories on a daily basis. This is where a well versed trainer comes in handy and I can think of one or two places to find one (**hint hint**).  

To have that extravagant looking Booty, weight resistant exercises is an absolute MUST to incorporate into your workout routines. For some people running, a stair-master or even an elliptical will have positive effects towards helping shape their Biscuits, but to have that jaunty, libidinous Caboose you will have to incorporate squats, dead lifts and lunges; just to name a few, which are fantastic Derriere shapers.

So in a nutshell, you need to lose the surrounding fat to build a well muscled Rump Shaker. In order to own a pair of sensuous tail feathers that make heads turn and eyes glued to your bottom posterity as you pass on by then you also need to be mindful of what else goes into your body. That isn't difficult. All you need is the knowledge and expertise of a professional, some commitment and determination on your part and you are already on your way there.

How important are calories to an active lifestyle?

One of the first things individuals who are looking to lose weight do when starting a new active lifestyle is to severely restrict their calorie intake in order to lose excess weight quickly. Even seasoned athletes may restrict their diets even further in order to slim down for an up-and-coming event. Whereas consuming fewer calories will definitely help you to lose weight, it is detrimental to those who are active. A few of the effects of a restrictive diet are:

Having sufficient amounts of energy is pertinent to anyone who leads an active lifestyle. Because calories and fat are your body’s main sources of energy, restrictive diets will cause fatigue because the body has nothing to draw energy from.

Testosterone is a sex hormone that can be severely affected by a restrictive diet. This cannot only adversely affect energy levels in men, but it can also drastically reduce their sex drive.

Leptin is a hormone that regulates energy production. It is also known as the ‘hunger’ hormone which signals you to eat. When levels of this hormone are low, your brain triggers your body to start eating in order to boost its energy levels. By severely restricting your calorie intake, you are setting yourself up to feel constant hunger, which can lead to binge eating later.

A diet that is severely deficient in calories places your body under tremendous stress, as it thinks it is starving. To compensate for this lack, the thyroid severely slows down the metabolism in order to preserve energy, which can actually lead to weight gain. You may also experience depression, brain fog, hair loss and constipation.

Muscle requires a high amount of calories in order to maintain itself. When you adhere to an extremely calorie restrictive diet, your body often times starts consuming its own muscle tissue in order to sustain itself. Fat provides your body with the energy it needs, but if it cannot be found, muscle tissue is the next best thing. This results in decreased strength and muscle atrophy. Even though you may perform strength training exercises, you will not see the results you want, simply because there are not enough nutrients to support the development of healthy muscle.

If you are trying to lose weight, a good rule of thumb is to consume as many calories as you can, and still lose 1 to 2 pounds per week. If you are an active person who is not seeking to lose weight, you should consume as many calories as possible until you start gaining weight. Then, reduce your intake to a point where your weight is stabilized.

There really is no magic number of calories one person should consume. Everyone’s body type and metabolisms are different, therefore everyone needs a different daily calorie set in order to achieve and maintain their ideal body.

Eat plenty of lean protein and fresh fruits and vegetables per day, and your body will receive the proper nutrients it needs. Eating healthy foods instead of processed ones ensures you are consuming the correct types of calories to keep your body functioning at optimal levels.