Exercises » Exercise Intensity
Moniter how hard you are working (your exercise intensity)
HOW HARD AM I WORKING?
It is imprtant to moniter the intensity of how hard your heart and lungs are working when exercising in pregnancy to ensure that your not overdoing it.
However you also want your exercise session to be as effective as possible to get the best possible results!
There are many varied ways to moniter exercise intensity so we have taken all that info and devised an easy yet effective BloomingFit Intensity Scale specifically for pregnancy and post natally
WHY?
Because of the hormonal influences on your heart and lung system, the standard way of assessing how intensively you are working aerobically by checking your pulse, breathing and sweating rate is no longer reliably accurate
EXERCISE INTENSITY SCALE
By using other methods it is possible to assess your aerobic intensity. This ensures that you are gaining the fitness benefits but not overexerting yourself to an unsafe level.
It also allows for those who are new to exercise as well as those who are experienced exercisers and
even competitive athletes to individualise their apropriate intensity levels to perform a safe yet effective exercise program
ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS
To assess how hard you FEEL you are working you need to ask yourself the following questions and note the scale level indicated:
The scale goes from 1-10. (1 = virtually asleep to 10 = exhausted to the point of collapse).
ASK YOURSELF......
AM I?
- Totally relaxed and comfortable
- Able to sing out loud easily (doesn't have to be in tune!) or chat effortlessly without feeling the need to take a breath
- No signs of perspiration and full make up still on
- = Level 1 - 3
AM I?
- Aware of my heart beating faster
- Breathing harder at a slightly out of puff but still able to comfortably impart the latest bit of gossip to my best friend whilst walking
- Feeling warmer, slightly sweaty and rosier in the cheeks
- Would describe this as a fairly easy to maintain activity level
- = Level 4 - 5
AM I?
- Aware of heart beating faster but not racing.
- Feeling more breathless but comfortable to speak a short sentence without gasping for breath.
- Feeling warmer and a little sweaty but not excessively so
- Would describe this as quite hard to hard activity level
- = Level 6 - 7
AM I?
- Feeling your heart is pumping so hard that it is uncomfortable.
- Gasping for breath after each spoken word.
- Feeling hot, sweating like a horse and feeling unwell
- Would describe this as a maximum exertion and could only keep this up for a very short time
- = Level 9 - 10
The recommended level is:
Level 4 - 5 for a moderate intensity exercise session
Level 6 - 7 for an energetic exercise session
Level 9 - 10 is dangerous and can stress out you and your baby's body systems
ASK THE QUESTIONS ...... LISTEN TO YOUR BODY....... TAKE RESPONSIBLE ACTION