Exercise where the goal is weight loss has contrary results. I have blogged about this before (8 March 2011). Exercising to reduce weight is linked to disordered eating which can be caused by or trigger low self-esteem and can result in increased weight.
Exercise for health and wellbeing on the other hand is a most excellent idea, promoting suppleness, strength and stamina.
But what about when you are pregnant? I found the book Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year very helpful and it seems the author was many decades ahead of her time. New research suggests that stretching exercises are protective against pre-eclampsia.
Pre-eclampsia is more common when you are overweight. Exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia even when weight remains the same. Research in 2009 reported that simple stretching exercises consisting of slow muscle movements performed 5 times a week starting at 18 weeks, reduced the risk of pre-eclampsia significantly more than walking for 40 minutes 5 times a week. That report and another by the same researcher showed that more women will stick to doing stretching exercises than walking. Perhaps it fits in more easily to everyday life.
Research just published in the American Journal of Perinatology by Sowndramalingam Sankaralingam and colleagues suggests that this difference may be due to stretching exercises reducing oxidative stress in blood vessels. Oxidation damages cells in the body, and it seems that stretching reduces oxidation, whereas walking doesn't. (Most of us know now that dark coloured vegetables and fruit contain anti-oxidants which help to protect us from oxidative cell damage.)
The researchers tested biopsy samples obtained during cesarean sections from women who had been following either the stretching or the walking regime. The stretchers had more of the antioxidant Superoxide Dismutase and higher Plasma Transferrin levels (which shows that antioxidants are in the blood). Plasma Transferrin levels continued to increase throughout pregnancy among the stretchers but not among the walkers.
The researchers conclude that the beneficial effect of regular stretching exercises during pregnancy beat the benefits of walking and that this may be due to the higher antioxidant protective effect of this low-intensity exercise. So these exercises go beyond strength, suppleness and stamina, and increase our general good health. Perhaps all of us should give them a try, not just pregnant women.
Exercise for health and wellbeing on the other hand is a most excellent idea, promoting suppleness, strength and stamina.
But what about when you are pregnant? I found the book Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year very helpful and it seems the author was many decades ahead of her time. New research suggests that stretching exercises are protective against pre-eclampsia.
Pre-eclampsia is more common when you are overweight. Exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia even when weight remains the same. Research in 2009 reported that simple stretching exercises consisting of slow muscle movements performed 5 times a week starting at 18 weeks, reduced the risk of pre-eclampsia significantly more than walking for 40 minutes 5 times a week. That report and another by the same researcher showed that more women will stick to doing stretching exercises than walking. Perhaps it fits in more easily to everyday life.
Research just published in the American Journal of Perinatology by Sowndramalingam Sankaralingam and colleagues suggests that this difference may be due to stretching exercises reducing oxidative stress in blood vessels. Oxidation damages cells in the body, and it seems that stretching reduces oxidation, whereas walking doesn't. (Most of us know now that dark coloured vegetables and fruit contain anti-oxidants which help to protect us from oxidative cell damage.)
The researchers tested biopsy samples obtained during cesarean sections from women who had been following either the stretching or the walking regime. The stretchers had more of the antioxidant Superoxide Dismutase and higher Plasma Transferrin levels (which shows that antioxidants are in the blood). Plasma Transferrin levels continued to increase throughout pregnancy among the stretchers but not among the walkers.
The researchers conclude that the beneficial effect of regular stretching exercises during pregnancy beat the benefits of walking and that this may be due to the higher antioxidant protective effect of this low-intensity exercise. So these exercises go beyond strength, suppleness and stamina, and increase our general good health. Perhaps all of us should give them a try, not just pregnant women.
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