Sex efficiency through exercises : special physical culture for women / by Th. H. van de Velde ; [photos, by E. Steinemann].
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There are certain groups of muscles on which pregnancy- casts extra strain, both owing to the increase of weight and the disturbance of equilibrium : I refer to the tendons of the feet and of the back. The many small bones of the feet are laced together by muscles which are often painfully stretched by their increased load ; therefore every woman will do well to exercise and develop the muscles and tendons of her feet, either before she enters the pregnant state, or at least as soon as she perceives that she has done so. And this applies not only to the feet, but to the whole length of the lower limbs which are affected by the increasing bodily weight and must also be prepared and strengthened. The main reason for foot and leg exercise during preg- nancy, however, is indirect. It should prevent stagnant congestion—for the enlarged womb hinders circulation—and the results of such congestion, namely, varicose veins. The muscular development and tonicity of abdominal walls, pelvic zone and pelvic floor have been dealt with in the first section of this book as they affect pregnancy and parturition. I will, therefore, merely refer to the detailed treatment in those earlier chapters. But, it should be noted that pelvic exercises during preg- nancy should be executed with great vigilance, and only in certain forms which will be described ; other types of pelvic exercise must be quite ruled out. We must now turn to the negative requisites, having dealt with the positive benefits of exercise during pregnancy, for there are certain precautions to be observed and certain definite contraindications. Instead of recounting these, point by point, let us refer to basic principles : what should be avoided and why ? Even in the breathing exercises a certain care is advisable : women who have not previously accustomed and developed their lungs on these lines should not breathe deeply too often in succession, for a slight dizziness might supervene. Expectant mothers are more liable than other persons to attacks of vertigo, and should, therefore, avoid overstrain, especially if they perform breathing exercises either in the seated position or standing upright. S.E.