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Home › Articles › Exercise in Pregnancy › Fitness Fanatic?

Fitness Fanatic?

Why You May Need to Tone Down Your Workout

By Catherine Cram, Fitness Expert

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  • Exercise in heat and humidity can be dangerous. It is safest to exercise in an air-conditioned facility during the summer months. If you do choose to exercise outdoors during warm weather, avoid the high heat times between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. and reduce intensity and duration to prevent overheating.
  • You should frequently monitor yourself during exercise for signs of overheating such as dizziness, faintness or nausea. Drinking plenty of water before, during and after exercise to replace the fluids lost will help prevent dehydration and overheating. Hot tubs and saunas may cause core temperature to rise to unsafe levels and should be avoided.

    • A simple method for monitoring your intensity level during exercise is to assess how hard the exercise feels. A pregnant woman should feel that her exercise level is moderate to somewhat hard. If you feel out of breath or are unable to talk, you're working at too high a level and should decrease intensity, or stop and rest. Your exercise level should feel challenging but not so difficult that you feel exhausted during and/or afterwards. You may find that some days exercise feels easier than others, and as you get closer to your due date you may need to reduce your exercise intensity and duration to maintain a comfortable level.

    Self-assessment is one of the best ways for a pregnant woman to monitor her exercise program and assure herself that her activity level is safe. It's a good idea to ask yourself the following questions several times each month and follow up with your health care provider if you experience any problems:


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