17 Jan Kickboard Exercises for Pregnant Women
Are you wanting a more challenging but less strenuous workout? One without risk of injury, preventing muscle strain but safely bringing your heart rate up? These water exercises are perfect for you!
Grab a kickboard, and let’s get in the water! Below are five (5) exercises designed to be a fun and low impact way to improve balance, increase strength and safely get a full body workout during your pregnancy. Kickboards are accessible and affordable exercise equipment and great for adding resistance in the water. Most swimming pools have kickboards available for the public to use.
It is important to always use caution in the water. People often underestimate how much they are actually working out with the relief the water can give you. Feeling weightless with the buoyancy of the water can fool you. No matter what your fitness level, you need to let your body adapt to the water. Pool workouts should not exceed 60 minutes, and if the water is warm, you need to get out sooner.
Regardless of you comfort level in the swimming pool, never swim alone. Please be sure there is always a lifeguard present while you are exercising in the water.
Squats
Warming up with a little “Poolaties” (pool Pilates) is a great way to engage your core and enhance your balance.
Begin by pushing the kickboard down to the floor and standing on it. Once you feel balanced bring your arms down to your side and stand up tall. Slowly bend your knees and raise your arms to your side until you are neck-deep in the water. Slowly press your hands back down to your side and stand up. Repeat 10 times.
Push down and Pull up
This is a gentle but more challenging exercise. The faster the pace, the more difficult the exercise. Please listen to your body and do what feel most comfortable to you.
Standing shoulder width apart and resting the kickboard on the top of the water, hold on to the kickboard and press down, then pressing down on your heels, pull the kickboard up to the surface of the water. Try doing it at different speeds, beginning slow and speeding up each time. Repeat 10 times.
Pushing with Jog
This is a good full body workout intended to get your heartrate up safely. Go at a pace that feels most comfortable to you.
First, find an area in the pool where you can run a minimum of 10 feet without the water level changing. Standing in shoulder-width water, turn the kickboard to it’s side and push it across the pool. The deeper it is submerged, the more difficult it is to push, and the faster you run, the greater resistance you will have. Keeping your arms stretched out in front of you, press the kickboard forward as you run across the pool. Keep the momentum for 5 minutes, running back and forth before resting.
Pulling with Jog
This is a great way to open your chest, improve your breathing and stretch out your arms
This is similar to the previous exercise. With this exercise move the kickboard behind you, stretching your arms back and keeping good posture. This time you will run pulling the kickboard behind you. If you feel a strain on your chest or arms, please slow down or stop this exercise. Go at a pace that feels comfortable to you.
Push/Pull
This is another exercise designed to bring your heart rate up with little strain on your body. Again, the faster the pace, the more difficult the exercise. Please listen to your body and do what feel most comfortable to you.
Standing chest-deep in the water, stand in a wider stance with knees gently bent, turn the kickboard to it’s side and push to the right, pull back to your chest, and push to the left. The more submerged the kickboard is, the more resistance you will get.
