Pregnant, menopausal women can run

by Rose Buenconsejo

A lot of women probably have this instinct that exercising, like running, during and after pregnancy has a lot of benefits. Unfortunately, it’s not a mainstream practice in our society.

As the first (youngest) to be a mother of plenty of kids among my friends and batchmates and who is into running, I am somehow deemed to be an authority on pregnancy and getting fit. So I receive quite a few questions from my friends like:

“Is it safe to run during and after pregnancy?”

The thing is I only got into running after my last delivery. My youngest was already 3-year-old when I started running so I could not really give them a concrete and detailed answer. And, I was not listening much to my OB-gyne back then when she advised me to go exercise during one of my post-delivery visits.

I know getting pregnant, lugging our huge tummy around, is never easy. It might feel already too much to be asked to add exercise on top of everything.

But why should we consider getting into running or other form of exercise when pregnant? It’s not really all about controlling weight gain and getting slim. It’s also about our baby. In an article written by Jenny Wright published on www.dailymail.co.uk, it says that one of the benefits of exercise is it helps strengthen the baby’s heart as it increases blood flow.

To be guided with how to get started with running during and after pregnancy; when and when NOT to start running; and also, for menopausal women, what to consider before engaging into running, watch this video:

Interview with Dr. Humility Igana, one of the organizers of “MATERNITY RUN 2012… STILL STRONG at 90.”

If you are still not assured with the information provided regarding pregnancy and giving birth, menopausal and running, join the fund-raising Maternity Run 2012, and see for yourselves strong pregnant and menopausal women running.

Want to get a free registration and race kit to the Maternity Run 2012, please like and share this article and also like Runroo on Facebook!

Pregnant, menopause or NOT can join!

 ~oO0~

Rose Buenconsejo is an ultramarathon runner mom-of-three, who loves pounding the trails of Cebu, Philippines. She writes ‘thoughts from the foot’ at rawsole.com.