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Therapeutic Exercise Regarding Musculoskeletal Health of the Pregnant Exerciser and Athlete

  • Chapter
Exercise and Sporting Activity During Pregnancy

Abstract

Physical activity during pregnancy is recommended and has been shown to benefit most women. However, some modification to exercise routines may be necessary due to normal anatomic and physiologic changes and fetal requirements. Therefore, knowledge about the systemic changes of pregnancy should be taken into account when counseling women who wish to exercise through their pregnancy and should be complemented by the knowledge about the potential effect of exercise (therapeutic exercise) for prevention and resolution of some common pregnancy-related musculoskeletal conditions. Therapeutic exercise is the systematic and planned performance of exercises which aims to improve and restore physical function.

This chapter presents the scientific evidence foundation on the effect of therapeutic exercises for the prevention and resolution of three common pregnancy-related musculoskeletal conditions: pelvic floor dysfunction, diastasis recti abdominis, and low back and pelvic girdle pain. The chapter emphasizes the potential effect of exercise on prevention and resolution of these musculoskeletal conditions and provides useful information when tailoring therapeutic exercise programs for pregnant women.

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Pascoal, A.G., Stuge, B., Mota, P., Hilde, G., Bø, K. (2019). Therapeutic Exercise Regarding Musculoskeletal Health of the Pregnant Exerciser and Athlete. In: Santos-Rocha, R. (eds) Exercise and Sporting Activity During Pregnancy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91032-1_10

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